Ways of justifying a new guitar purchase?

Bigsby

Hattigol said:

The argument that usually persuades my conscience that it's alright is the one that if you buy at the right price, you're not actually 'spending' any money at all. 

I've used that one a lot. Even buying new (at clearance prices), and when I've ended up selling, I've usually done so for a tiny profit, which just makes it even easier to convince yourself the next time.

However, there is a 'downside'. I now have a collection of guitars that I really don't want to sell - in those cases that cash has really been converted into a long term guitar asset. The guitar account is filling up, and the cash account is looking severely depleted.

soma1975

It’s an investment. 
If I just sell a/b/c that’s ALMOST the same price anyway...
It’s not like I go out and piss money up the wall any more. 
I work hard. I DESERVE it. 

I usually i try any one one of these. 

johnl

I often wonder if all of us doing that sort of justification is the reason that second hand asking prices are so ridiculous sometimes - "If I can get £2.5k for my "rare" squier strat then that PRS I want is basically free" sort of thing....

jellyroll

My rule of thumb on the “investing” mentality...i assume that I’ll lose 50% on a new guitar and 25% on a used one. 

Blueingreen

Hattigol said:

Just been lucky enough to splash some cash on a NGD. As ever, it took some internal wrangling before I pushed the button and went for it. I'm guessing that most people have the same thought process:

Do I need it?
Can I justify it?
Can I cope with the financial hit?

The argument that usually persuades my conscience that it's alright is the one that if you buy at the right price, you're not actually 'spending' any money at all. What I mean is that if you buy a guitar which you know you will be able to sell on at that price, there's an argument for saying that you haven't actually spent any money at all - you have just shifted your assets. In accounting terms, you have debited your cash account and credited your guitar account - but you still have the same overall net worth and you can always liquidise your assets if you need to by selling the guitar.

There. I've convinced myself again.

Anyone else got any ideas on justifying purchases?

I use a similar argument, although I'm not bullish enough to say the cost is nil.  But if I spend (say) £1500 I'll think "worst case scenario, I'll get £1200 for it on a quick resale.  So I've spent £300 max.  Hardly an extravagance given it's my main interest and I only do it (on average) every couple of years or so."

This impeccable logic has led to 7 guitars, 3 basses and 4 combo amps cluttering up the spare room.

Must sell stuff.

dazzajl

robinbowes said:

Q: Do I want it?
A: Yes

Ker-ching.

Pretty much. Circumstances take over at that point.

Philly_Q

I don't have any dependents, I don't have a mortgage any more so my biggest restriction is space....

Having said that, I bought a guitar this week, for the first time in well over a year, and it was a bit harder to make the decision than it was in the days when I used to buy them every few weeks.

Jack_

Being alive?

fretfinder

amarok1971 said:

just get it, you might get run over tomorrow 

^^ This! 

octatonic

This is me:

Q: "Do I want it"?
A: Yes.

[Goes and buys it.]

or 

Q: "Do I want it"?
A: No.

[Does not buy it.]

midlifecrisis

i can use that 50 quid i earnt for last nights gig to buy that £1200 guitar

SexualChocolate

Life would be great if I only had to justify guitar purchases to myself

Phil_aka_Pip

SexualChocolate said:

Life IS great as I only have to justify guitar purchases to myself

what I'd say

The only reason for not buying more guitars is that I also neeed HiFi.

scalino65

I used to very often stop myself from buying an expensive guitar by figuring that my level of playing didnt justify it.  Somehow I wasnt good enough for that guitar. So I had a daft idea that I needed to serve my dues on a squier and then move up to more expensive instruments as I got better,etc. Figuring that a custom shop fender was only for really wonderful players. 
I'm not sure when I stopped thinking like that but I just dont give a monkeys about that sort of justification nowadays. In fact, now I think about that concept, its maybe more logical in reverse in that a really top quality instrument would be of more benefit to a novice and that a great player can make cheaper guitars sound amazing (I'm thinking of the Joe Satriani clip thing when he played surfing with the alien on a squier and it sounded great)
I love finding guitars that simply suggest something a bit different to my ears. Thats a good justification for giving into the GAS.

mbe

NelsonP said:

Hattigol said:

you have debited your cash account and credited your guitar account

There you go. It's simply an investment, and one that you can enjoy at that. Otherwise the cash would just be sitting in the bank gathering dust.

One last question you should probably ask:
Do I have space to store it?

Well lack of space is my big problem now.

My box room/studio is crammed with guitars I don't want to sell. Mainly because over the years I have had to part with too many to get through some rough financial times.

Don't want to sell any now because I don't have to, so I'm stuck with what I've got.

Now amplifiers, that's an entirely different matter.  There's always room for one more I keep telling myself.

hotpickups

My guitar aspirations certainly don't match my playing ability. It's the experience I'm up for and getting a guitar made for me is one of those expensive experiences I want to do. But I do feel a bit guilty. Just a bit ,)

Iamnobody

Flanging_Fred said:

Do I need it?  No
Can I justify it? No
Can I cope with the financial hit? Probably not
Is the Mrs going to use my gentleman's veg as a necklace if I get another guitar? Definitely
Does it look cool? YES

= NGD

You say that like it’s a bad thing every time my gentleman’s veg is used to make the wife a necklace it’s been a happy ending for both of us...

I use the buy at the right price example, used guitars don’t lose much value.

I also bought one when my daughter was born as a YOB gift type thing. The Mrs swallowed that one...

antonyiv

Well, I tend to make goals and then buy a guitar as a reward if the goal is completed. My current goal is to quit smocking. It’s been three months since the last time I smocked...And every time I have a craving, I think about that beautiful Tom Anderson or Suhr that I’m gonna get. It’s a bit like bribing myself...but it worked in the past. It makes me feel more accomplished and less spoiled.

HAL9000

octatonic said:

This is me:

Q: "Do I want it"?
A: Yes.

[Goes and buys it.]

or 

Q: "Do I want it"?
A: No.

[Buys it anyway.]

FTFY

JerkMoans

antonyiv said:

 My current goal is to quit smocking. It’s been three months since the last time I smocked...

My mum did that for a while. Lovely gathering. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smocking

Glad you seem able to beat the craving.