Should it stay or should it go...

Parker

I may have mentioned once or twice that I’m off to Singapore for the foreseeable. I now have a dilemma where you guys could help (I miss the old MR polls!)

My main axe is a 1980 LP Deluxe. It’s battered and played to death. I bought it as a teenager from a pawn shop, sold it in my mid twenties, hounded the guy to sell it back and it’s been back with me for about 4 years. It played nearly every gig since. If I’m honest, it hasn’t hit the spot in the way I remembered it did, but it’s still ‘my’ guitar and is steeped in nostalgia for me.

Faced with 2-5 years away, I need to either leave the Lester here in storage with a mate, or physically take it with me (due to CITES restrictions on shipping). As I am relocating 7000 miles with wife and two small children, lugging a Hiscox is far from convenient! I’m also unsure how soon I’ll return at a convenient point to grab it. 

So, do I:

A) Keep it with my buddy. (It’ll be safe and may appreciate anyway).

B )Say goodbye to a longtime friend (again), close that chapter and buy something new to start my new adventure with (with an ebony or maple fingerboard!!)

I have a couple of other guitars staying in the U.K. 

ICBM

Unless you need the money, keep it here. The worst that can happen is that when you get back you find you don't care about it any more and sell it. It's highly unlikely to go down in value in the mean time.

If you take it with you, the worst that can happen is that it gets smashed or 'lost' by airline baggage handlers, and the second worst is that the climate change does something nasty to it in Singapore.

Buy another guitar when you get there, don't bother getting one to take with you - it's a hassle to carry another thing with you on the plane, and for the first couple of weeks you'll be settling in and won't have time to play it much anyway.

In my opinion obviously...

Teyeplayer

Option c) sell it to someone reliable on here. I know that’s subjective, so has to be someone you are comfortable having a gentleman’s (or gentle-ladies, no intention of offending) agreement with. That agreement being that they won’t sell the guitar before your return and that when they do you’ll get first refusal. 

Stranger transactions have happened on the fretboard and it could give you peace of mind about an instrument you are clearly attached to.

tony99

Option D) can you trust your friend ? Let's face it, no one's 100% reliable

except for me of course, and for an extremely reasonable storage fee plus commission, I'd be happy to look after it for you

PM me for details

stonevibe

I'd leave it in the care of your friend, makes more sense.

tony99

Seriously though, you going for that long and not taking a container of gear with ya?

jellyroll

Leave it with your mate and consider taking it over to Singapore on your next trip home. 

gusman2x

Yup, leave it with your mate. Seems like the best option all round.

stickyfiddle

I brought 7 guitars and a bass with me when I moved to the Middle East. One came on the plane (Tele in a Hiscox - about as bomb-proof an option as possible), and the rest were packed carefully and put in a container.

I will do the same in reverse when we leave (and if we also do a 2-yr stop in Singapore as is currently mooted). 

Can't you sort out the necessary CITES paperwork and get it shipped with everything else you're presumably taking?

JerkMoans

I’d leave it here. As @ICBM cautioned, I’d be very concerned about the effects of the insane humidity levels in Singapore on a treasured veteran guitar. I’d anticipate rust forming on the metallic parts and potential for mold growth at the very least, and wood swelling with all the attendant problems that causes at the worst. 

That said, a quick google search gives a host of conflicting information. As ever.

octatonic

If it goes, there will be trouble....

octatonic

... And if it stays it will be double

Neil

It depends how much it means to you.

It will be no bother to get a CITES certificate and put it in the container.

Teetonetal

You have a couple of guitars staying in the uk already.. so just add this one to those.
This of course means that you need to buy a new guitar when you get to SG. A couple of really nice guitar shops out there

amarok1971

leave it here with a mate, buy a cheapy over there, id hate to think what that climate will do to a guitar 

pmbomb

Store it with a buddy or lend it to me, you know I'm reliable (I think you bought my PRS Stripped 58?).

If you love it keep it, for you it's irreplaceable.

If it's just a thing, move it on.

stickyfiddle

amarok1971 said:

leave it here with a mate, buy a cheapy over there, id hate to think what that climate will do to a guitar 

It's really not that bad, as you'd keep any nice gear in your house/flat with AC running 24/7. It's actually more likely to suffer problems from being too dry than too humid.

amarok1971

stickyfiddle said:

amarok1971 said:

leave it here with a mate, buy a cheapy over there, id hate to think what that climate will do to a guitar 

It's really not that bad, as you'd keep any nice gear in your house/flat with AC running 24/7. It's actually more likely to suffer problems from being too dry than too humid.

good to know, i'm just going on some of the pics ive seen on various forums where the strings have mould growing on them! ewww.

Parker

Think it’ll stay for now!

welshboyo

Just to put it into perspective from both our angles...

I still to this day regret selling the 72 Deluxe to you (not you, the guitar!!) - should have kept it even though it had its issues...

Keep it, you will at some point regret selling it if you did...especially if you have already bought it back once...

Parker

welshboyo said:

Just to put it into perspective from both our angles...

I still to this day regret selling the 72 Deluxe to you (not you, the guitar!!) - should have kept it even though it had its issues...

Keep it, you will at some point regret selling it if you did...especially if you have already bought it back once...

Yeah - it’s been through most of my bands and I have pics from when I was 18 gigging it. Shame - gonna need to look closely at that Huber as an alternative to ship to myself out there....