Selling guitars with sentimental attachments

ben_wuh

I'm in a bit of a quandary.

I have an SG standard I've owned since I was a teen. There's a lot of fond memories attached to it - the anticipation of saving and finally getting my grubby mitts on it, how me and my dad used to marvel at it like it had been beamed down from space.

But truth be told, I don't really like playing it anymore. There are a bunch of guitars that suit me better, and I'm the sort of principled (translation: tight) bastard that won't buy another guitar while one sits there unplayed. 

I know I'll never be able to replace it once it's gone, but guitars are made to be played, and having it sitting there as a momento seems like a waste of good mahogany.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation, what did you do, and was it the right decision?

AndyR

If you have space to keep it, keep it, feel no guilt over it not getting played.

On the other hand, if you have to lose it, it won't be the end of the world - you'll miss it a bit, but you'll still have the same memories you do now.

If you think there's any danger of wanting to play it again - do your utmost to find a way to hang on to it.

Bridgehouse

I had a Jap Strat in the late 80's (my first electric) and I sold it on a long time ago. 

I wish I still had it. I don't really like Strats and I probably wouldn't play it much, if at all.

But I bloody regret getting rid of it.

Shark_Eyes

Personally, I'd see what could be done to the SG to make it more of a player.

I still have the first instrument my dad ever bought to me, it's not great and it rarely gets used, but its sentimental value outweighs its monetary value by a factor of ten. I had someone offer to exchange it for something I needed but I declined and don't regret it.

sw67

Yes - saved for years to buy a Rickenbacker 330. Played it all the time when younger but sold it after 26 years as it sat in its case for years at a time. The wife was more bothered than me when it went last year. Don't regret it at all but i did replace it with a guitar that i play every day

stimpsonslostson

I'd do whatever I could to keep the SG.

I sold the acoustic I bought for my 18th birthday. It wasn't special in any way, it lived in its case under my bed most of the time due to me playing bass in the bands I was in... About 6months after I sold it I realised I shouldn't have, but that was too late. 

Fretwired

Sold the first proper guitar I had as I didn't play it .... some 38 years later I wish I'd kept it. Just nostalgia and a reminder of when I was young and some good times - no logic. If you don't need the cash keep it.

merlin

Two things.

1. Don't live in the past, live now. If you don't play it, then move it on to someone who will really enjoy it. 
2. Might you ever play it again? Tastes change, but they also change back. 

Take it out once a week, plug it in, try it out again. If after the third week you can affirm that it's not for you, go to point 1. If after the third week you find that you're still not sure, rinse and repeat until you are sure either way. 

I once bought a Harmony H75 that I craved and wanted and when it arrived I played it for a while and decided that it wasn't for me. Big regret, I played another a couple of weeks ago and really want one. Different story, but as I mentioned, tastes do change. And back. Personally, if you're asking, I'd sell it as SG Standards are fairly easy to come by. 

DrJazzTap

I feel the same with my SG. Had it for 18 years and its not the guitar i gravitate towards these days. I know I would kick myself if I sold it though. If you have room and don't need the money I would just hang onto it.

english_bob

I sold my first guitar- a MIK Squier Strat. I've never missed it. It's surprising how that sentimental value diminishes when you realize a guitar isn't actually all that great, but is worth some money (not a lot in my case).

On the other hand, I don't think I'd ever sell my first good guitar- a CIJ Fender JD Telecaster.

Play a couple of other SG Standards. If there isn't anything unusual about yours, sell it, safe in the knowledge that if you ever desperately need another SG Standard, any one will do.

Twinfan

If it was your first guitar keep it - I've still got mine even though I never play it.  That's something special.

I've sold subsequent guitars that I was very emotionally attached to (for various reasons) in order to upgrade to a better instrument.  I've never once regretted selling any of them.

Voxman

My first decent guitar was a Shaftesbury Les Paul that came in a plush case (unusual for 'copies' in those days). I upgraded it with a DiMarzio in the bridge, Schaller machines, a phase switch, & a pro-set-up. I lusted after it when I was 15 and bought it new from the Arcade Music Shop in North Finchley for £65 - with its gloss black body & gold fittings I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, paying a deposit and paying a bit each week until I could take it home!  When I bought my Gibson LP Custom, I couldn't justify keeping it and sold it for £175.  

It was a brilliant guitar in its day, and I had many happy memories including doing (support) gigs as 2nd guitarist for a night or two with various bands at the original Marquee in Wardour Street, Roundhouse Chalk Farm, Greyhound Fulham, umpteen pub gigs and a 3-4 week university stint (all squeezing into a Ford Transit with rented gear!).  If I'd have kept it, the likelihood is it wouldn't have got played much and it would have gathered dust.  I sold it to a  lady guitarist who loved it - I was sad to see it go but also needed the dosh to help pay for the LP Custom.  Kept a pic of it (with my 69 Strat) here: 

Alnico

Never sell special stuff.

I now ask myself this question regarding selling, as long as i'm not selling because i *really* need the money, which is of course very different......

Would you want to sell it if the Fretboard website didn't exist ?

I find that helps me make sense of what i actually want and what this place seems to do to me in terms of making me want stuff. I'm not very strong in will so i have to keep an eye on what i think is cool from time to time and make sure i stick to a basic plan of what i know will never change.

My biggest regret is my JCM800 2203.
Special stuff should never be sold, just put away when you need to.

Good luck with whatever you do.

richh

If you sell it, maybe ask the person who buys it to give you first dibs if / when they move it on?

Chances are you won't really miss it when it is gone, but you need to be sure you won't regret it.

ben_wuh

Shark_Eyes said:

Personally, I'd see what could be done to the SG to make it more of a player.

merlin said:

Take it out once a week, plug it in, try it out again. If after the third week you can affirm that it's not for you, go to point 1. If after the third week you find that you're still not sure, rinse and repeat until you are sure either way. 

These are two really good ideas. Just because I don't like it now, doesn't mean I won't like it again.

Would you want to sell it if the Fretboard website didn't exist ?

Now that really has hit the nail on the head. I'm pretty sure I had no desire to get rid of it until I started lurking around these parts.

UnclePsychosis

I sold my first guitar after agonising over it for ages.

Don't regret it at all, only ever think about it when people ask this question. Guitars are just tools. Fun tools, but they're not magical.

downbytheriver

What Merlin said! 

Its just a bunch bunch of wood and stuff. Get one you like. 

Brutal eh?

Evilmags

The first playable guitar I got my mitts on (a Yamaha SG200) gest played by the son on my Cousin in Australia. By all accounts it´s still going strong. My first good electric (an RG 550, later fitted with EMGs) was so fucked by the time I traded it in for the Heritage 575 20 years later (cash on my part was involved) that it was not even close to the instrument it was. The Jaden Rose more than makes up for it. Similar neck, but Rosewood so denser and better sounding. Blackbirds are also a lot nicer than EMGs!!! 

Once things like mortgages and school fees are in the past, you tend to be freer to gas. Sadly none of us can buy our 20 year old hands again but 25 years of listening to other players and absorbing more styles tends to compensate for that. 

Gassage

I am so in this position at this very moment in time.

I've bought 2 pre CBS strats in last 4 months and my beloved Cunetto strat isn't being played - owned it 20 years.

octatonic

I keep these things above all else.
I have a black Kinman Telecaster that I learned to play on- I don't play it nearly as much as I used to but I'm not going to sell it.
It isn't magical but it is important, to me at least.

BintyTwanger77

My first proper electric was a (now battered) old Korean Squier Tele (butterscotch, white pickguard) from the early 90s, think it's still in my folks' loft. I'd rather upgrade it than sell it, though.