Do you feel apprehensive/worry about spending a large wad of cash on a musical instrument or kit?

Rocker

Lately I admit I do. My recent purchase of a keyboard is a typical example. I decided early on that a Yamaha Piaggero NP 32 was good enough for my rather basic needs. This was as a result of several visits to music shops. Costing <€300, it did all I needed. And more. Further internet browsing resulted in a concern that the Yamaha would hold me back. Or be a poor mans Roland. Or a more upmarket Yamaha. Or whatever. Further rounds of the music shops convinced me that €500 to €700 was needed to get a decent keyboard. Eventually, a few wasted weeks later reason set in, I looked at the Yamaha again and bought it. And it is more than enough for my needs.

Last year when I decided to upgrade my bass, much the same thing happened. I wanted a Precision, was inclined towards a Fender but hoped a Squier would be "the bass" for me. Round and round the music shops looking at MIM models, Squier basses and USA built basses. Very significant price differences, almost as much playing differences with the USA built instruments being consistently head and shoulders ahead of the others both construction wise and more importantly playing and sound wise. A couple of months fretting over this purchase resulted in the realisation that the Squiers were not much better than my Aria bass. The MIM Fenders were better but not by much, so I bought a USA built bass, one that killed all my GAS feelings about basses.

All this uncertainty was not in evidence when I bought my Anderson. I went to the UK to check it out, played it and bought it there and then. I did compare it to high end PRS guitars but I preferred the Anderson. I still have it and always enjoy playing it. In 2019 it will be 20 years old!

The conclusion is that the more choices available, the more worry I feel that I might get it very wrong. There was one Anderson in the shop, I liked it and bought it. Everything else had multiple choices hence my concern that I could be making a costly mistake. Am I alone in feeling these concerns or is it the same for everyone?

57Deluxe

Always. When I was on my 'spree' for all the things I had put off for too long, the recession hit and was a constant moral battle to justify to myself (and others around me) to keep adding.

Upside was that a lot of what I acquired came by virtue that no-one was spending and I got some great deals.

Now I have a balanced collection I don't feel the need to chase high price ticket items. So, maybe there is a moral here after all??

VimFuego

so long as I have the money to spare, then no, I don't worry about splashing large sums of money out. IME, you're often better off buying 1 good instrument than many cheap ones, as they generally maintain their value (unlike many things we need to buy nowadays). 
As for buying the wrong instrument, again at the higher end, you will rarely buy a bad instrument, though you may not buy the ideal for you, but it won't be a bad 'un. 

DrCornelius

If I had the money I'd have no problem spending £10,000 on a guitar if I knew I wouldn't lose a ton of cash if I needed to sell it to pay for more important stuff. It means I pretty much always buy used unless it's things like Katanas and pedals where a 30 % loss doesn't equate to a great deal.

I've recently bought a  Feline and a J20 for that very reason, very happy with both but if all of a sudden my Mrs wants a new en suite then they are for the block !

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

I worry about spending large amounts of money on anything, but then again I'm a tight Northerner so it's to be expected! 

TheMarlin

Never

Nunogilberto

Always, yes. I think it's the same with any big purchase you make but especially so with guitars as they're not a necessity.

In my case, I haven't forked out a large amount of cash on a guitar since about 2012 (£750 on an Ibanez PGM) but I've made one or two musical purchases on credit in recent years, only to get bored with them a few months down the line and remain tied to a credit deal. I think it's the initial wow factor of being able to 'afford' a decent instrument that I always liked the idea of, but a short while later it dawns on me that it probably wasn't what I was looking for...

I'm still learning in that regard.

hobbio

I've recently come to the conclusion that if I want something, I want that thing and no amount of cheaper alternatives will scratch my itch. I have something like 9 or 10 guitars, but they are all cheap and I'm not satisfied with any of them really. I want a thinline tele, but the Harley Benton one I bought sits there unplayed even though it sounds decent. I have a few strat copies, but I only play the Fender MIM I bought recently. If I have sat tight and waited, I'd have the Gibson LP I want, the Strat I want (I have that now!) and the Helix I want rather than a cupboard and pedal board full of pedals I don't really use.

Moving forward, I'll only be buying the actual thing I want rather than trying to kill the urge with a cheap alternative.

Nunogilberto

hobbio said:

I've recently come to the conclusion that if I want something, I want that thing and no amount of cheaper alternatives will scratch my itch. I have something like 9 or 10 guitars, but they are all cheap and I'm not satisfied with any of them really. I want a thinline tele, but the Harley Benton one I bought sits there unplayed even though it sounds decent. I have a few strat copies, but I only play the Fender MIM I bought recently. If I have sat tight and waited, I'd have the Gibson LP I want, the Strat I want (I have that now!) and the Helix I want rather than a cupboard and pedal board full of pedals I don't really use.

Moving forward, I'll only be buying the actual thing I want rather than trying to kill the urge with a cheap alternative.

Do you know what though? I also find the reverse is true - I once had an Epi SG for several years and played it to death. Eventually I went and and bought an SG Standard only to be left cold by it, for example.

JerkMoans

Always. 

When thrown in with my GAS based kleptomania it's why I exist in a state of near constant existential despair.

Collings

I don,t worry about spending significant amounts on instruments but it's guaranteed that I will start off looking and then start doing some research and there's always something just a little bit better for a bit more and before I know it I'm spending double what I had planned. However I,ve never really regretted buying the best i could afford even if I ended up spending more than originally intended.

I guess it's only a problem if you start buying kit you really can,t afford and then can't pay your bills etc.

I say buy the best you can afford and enjoy it.

usedtobe

Doesn’t have to be that large a sum, either..

hobbio

Nunogilberto said:

hobbio said:

I've recently come to the conclusion that if I want something, I want that thing and no amount of cheaper alternatives will scratch my itch. I have something like 9 or 10 guitars, but they are all cheap and I'm not satisfied with any of them really. I want a thinline tele, but the Harley Benton one I bought sits there unplayed even though it sounds decent. I have a few strat copies, but I only play the Fender MIM I bought recently. If I have sat tight and waited, I'd have the Gibson LP I want, the Strat I want (I have that now!) and the Helix I want rather than a cupboard and pedal board full of pedals I don't really use.

Moving forward, I'll only be buying the actual thing I want rather than trying to kill the urge with a cheap alternative.

Do you know what though? I also find the reverse is true - I once had an Epi SG for several years and played it to death. Eventually I went and and bought an SG Standard only to be left cold by it, for example.

I've got an Epi 339 that I love, but I wasn't lusting over the "proper" Gibson alternative to begin with. I meant that, for me at least, trying to scratch an itch for a Fender Strat with cheap copies just didn't work. I could buy an Epi Les Paul, but it wouldn't satisfy me even if it was the best guitar ever built because I've wanted a Gibson for so long.

matt.drink73

I only ever feel apprehensive about owning expensive stuff if it's new, weirdly. I bought a Les Paul Traditional new a couple of years ago, I got a decent deal on it so it wasn't THAT expensive, but still I was very protective over it. Looked stunning and because it was new I didn't want to ding it up so was reluctant to gig it etc. That's long gone but it's recently occured to me that one of the most expensive guitars I own is the one I gig all the time and have a tendency to drop and throw at stuff without even thinking about the cost.
Moral of the story is to buy second hand, 90% of the time if you shop around enough you can easily flip it for what you paid for it if you don't bond with it, you don't mind as much if it gets a few knocks because it isn't the first one.

And mainly you get a lot more for your money. You can pick a second hand US P bass up for almost the same as a new Mex, and you're getting a vastly superior instrument that's already been played in for a bargain. I understand people wanting to buy amps etc new because they're a little more prone to going wrong, but you could throw a P bass off a building and it would be fine, there's almost no risk going used.

VimFuego

matt.drink73 said:

 but you could throw a P bass off a building and it would be fine, there's almost no risk going used.

you work for yodel and ICM £5. 

matt.drink73

VimFuego said:

matt.drink73 said:

 but you could throw a P bass off a building and it would be fine, there's almost no risk going used.

you work for yodel and ICM £5. 

Well no risk if you don't use Yodel or Hermes, they could break a Nokia 3310

jeztone2

No. My father in law spunks massive sums on a new telly every six months. To me musical gear at least some sort of residual value. The only problems are the rough gigs. I almost took the headstock off a PRS at the St Moritz club in Soho. So I bought a Strat to play in the places where space is at a premium.

Nick

I do, because they vary so much from instrument to instrument. Having handled several hundred and probably sold that many in a professional capacity, there were only ever 9 or 10 that felt "special" to me. 

But since it's probably all in my mind anyway, the money would be better spent on psychiatry  

Voxman

Nope I have no such worries...simply because I don't have a large wad of cash to worry about! 

Phil_aka_Pip

VimFuego said:

so long as I have the money to spare, then no, I don't worry about splashing large sums of money out. IME, you're often better off buying 1 good instrument than many cheap ones, as they generally maintain their value (unlike many things we need to buy nowadays). 
As for buying the wrong instrument, again at the higher end, you will rarely buy a bad instrument, though you may not buy the ideal for you, but it won't be a bad 'un. 

And it it turns out to be not right for you, but it's a good'un you'll be able to move it on easier.

slacker

The concept of a large sum is variable. The op mentioned Squier v MIM, I'm comfortable with AVRI and less so with custom shop. I struggle with spending more than £1k, A friend of mine has just bought a pre war Martin to go with his 50s J50 56 LP custom and 61 Jazzmaster. Another has just bought a mint 65 bound and dots JM. 

I sold my SG in 2015 because it was redundant. I'm still looking for a replacement. I have not bought a guitar since 2008.