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Post by gravesnumber9 on Dec 29, 2022 20:18:37 GMT -6
Case in point... I was just about to list my LTL Chroma's for sale. Such cool pieces but I just don't use them enough to justify the cost and the precious 500 series space. Sure enough, working on a mix last night and the only thing that gave the right dirt to the vocals and guitar was my pair of Chroma's.
So now I'm second guessing a couple of other things I was gonna sell just to open up rack space/make good use of resources. But I'm sure the moment I do it'll be like "dammit, the best thing for the sound I want here is the [insert hardware] I JUST sold!!!"
Surely I'm not the only one with this problem.
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Post by Quint on Dec 29, 2022 20:32:53 GMT -6
Case in point... I was just about to list my LTL Chroma's for sale. Such cool pieces but I just don't use them enough to justify the cost and the precious 500 series space. Sure enough, working on a mix last night and the only thing that gave the right dirt to the vocals and guitar was my pair of Chroma's. So now I'm second guessing a couple of other things I was gonna sell just to open up rack space/make good use of resources. But I'm sure the moment I do it'll be like "dammit, the best thing for the sound I want here is the [insert hardware] I JUST sold!!!" Surely I'm not the only one with this problem. I pretty much just don't sell anything. Like ever. |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Dec 29, 2022 20:47:46 GMT -6
Case in point... I was just about to list my LTL Chroma's for sale. Such cool pieces but I just don't use them enough to justify the cost and the precious 500 series space. Sure enough, working on a mix last night and the only thing that gave the right dirt to the vocals and guitar was my pair of Chroma's. So now I'm second guessing a couple of other things I was gonna sell just to open up rack space/make good use of resources. But I'm sure the moment I do it'll be like "dammit, the best thing for the sound I want here is the [insert hardware] I JUST sold!!!" Surely I'm not the only one with this problem. I pretty much just don't sell anything. Like ever. That's one solution. I've been taking that approach for years, maybe the old ways are the best ways. |
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Post by phdamage on Dec 29, 2022 21:18:17 GMT -6
I’m hemming and hawing listing some things as well. I thought for a few the other day how if I had to record two (maybe even three) full rock bands simultaneously, I could easily mic up everything just how I liked without having to really compromise anything.
I mean how many mics and pres are really “enough”?
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Dec 29, 2022 21:32:41 GMT -6
I’m hemming and hawing listing some things as well. I thought for a few the other day how if I had to record two (maybe even three) full rock bands simultaneously, I could easily mic up everything just how I liked without having to really compromise anything. I mean how many mics and pres are really “enough”? That's one of the things I'm considering right now, selling some pre-amps. I did a demo using a my A&H GS3000 board that I have for my rehearsal space and, even though the room is ultra dry, the drums came out sounding pretty darn good. So now, as my 15x12 space becomes more of a mix/acoustic tracking/overdub room and less of a tracking room (thank God), I'm thinking about selling some preamps and upgrading monitors. But... as the title says, the moment I do? You know the rest. |
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Post by chessparov on Dec 29, 2022 21:47:01 GMT -6
For stuff that goes very occasionally nowadays... Either Gift/Trade (Rarely) I've hung on to some weird stuff, like my Warm 47jr, since on certain of my "voices" it can sound cool. Giving away my Blue Baby Bottle SL, to some extended family soon. It's a young couple that just married. Wife has incredible Mezzo. So she can use it and pass it down, as they raise a family.  Fun to be "Uncle" Chris. Hate selling on Reverb/ebay/Craigslist. Too much hassle. Even without fees. Chris |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Dec 29, 2022 22:04:30 GMT -6
For stuff that goes very occasionally nowadays... Either Gift/Trade (Rarely) I've hung on to some weird stuff, like my Warm 47jr, since on certain of my "voices" it can sound cool. Giving away my Blue Baby Bottle SL, to some extended family soon. It's a young couple that just married. Wife has incredible Mezzo. So she can use it and pass it down, as they raise a family. Fun to be "Uncle" Chris. Hate selling on Reverb/ebay/Craigslist. Too much hassle. Even without fees. Chris Oh yeah, giving away all day. As long as it's not big-ticket. I have a lot of family members that get odd gifts from time to time. "Yeah, that's the same mic that Amy Winehouse used. Isn't that cool? You're gonna love it! Happy Wedding Day!!!" "Umm... thanks?" |
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Dec 30, 2022 13:48:04 GMT -6
If its just sitting there and I know I will find something else more usefull or need the cash it goes.
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Post by Omicron9 on Dec 31, 2022 10:03:29 GMT -6
After I realize that there's a piece of gear I'm not using, I'll usually give it a year or two to verify that I'm really not using it. The only thing I've sold that I've regretted selling was a matched pair of Shure KSM-141s. I've sold/bought a pair twice. I'm on my third pair now and they're not going anywhere, ever. Lesson learned on the 141, which has become my favorite mic (in omni) for classical guitar well beyond anything else (AKG 414 pair, C-460-B pair, various Neumanns, Gefells, etc.).
-09
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Post by thehightenor on Dec 31, 2022 11:52:25 GMT -6
Case in point... I was just about to list my LTL Chroma's for sale. Such cool pieces but I just don't use them enough to justify the cost and the precious 500 series space. Sure enough, working on a mix last night and the only thing that gave the right dirt to the vocals and guitar was my pair of Chroma's. So now I'm second guessing a couple of other things I was gonna sell just to open up rack space/make good use of resources. But I'm sure the moment I do it'll be like "dammit, the best thing for the sound I want here is the [insert hardware] I JUST sold!!!" Surely I'm not the only one with this problem. I pretty much just don't sell anything. Like ever. You must have a big house! When I was younger I was always selling A to buy B. In recent years I've fortunately not needed to do that and I've sold virtually nothing in the last 10 years (just the odd few small bits and pieces) The only downside of that is my lovely understanding wife has had to put up with me spreading out into 3 rooms of the house (one partly for storing all the boxes!) So 2023 and onwards .... no more new gear - focus on using what I've already got! |
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Post by Quint on Dec 31, 2022 12:07:04 GMT -6
I pretty much just don't sell anything. Like ever. You must have a big house! When I was younger I was always selling A to buy B. In recent years I've fortunately not needed to do that and I've sold virtually nothing in the last 10 years (just the odd few small bits and pieces) The only downside of that is my lovely understanding wife has had to put up with me spreading out into 3 rooms of the house (one partly for storing all the boxes!) So 2023 and onwards .... no more new gear - focus on using what I've already got! That's how it used to be years ago. Now I have a dedicated standalone studio building. There's no way I could ever, at this point, keep all of this stuff in a house, even if I wanted to, and I don't. It's much nicer having a large dedicated building. Plus, no arguments with my wife. She can do what she wants with the house, but the studio building is mine. |
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Post by ironinthepath on Dec 31, 2022 12:11:01 GMT -6
I mowed lawns in the summer heat in early high school, saved up to buy a brand new Joe Meek VC1q…was a big step up from my Mackie mixer. It’s still a solid preamp but with the more “high end” stuff I’ve bought since, it doesn’t get much use. It’s been over 20 years and I can’t bring myself to sell it (and it’s been babied, not a scratch on it, almost NOS). I’ve got a laundry list of other similar items I need to sell from that era. I’m basically an audio gear hoarder 😅
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Dec 31, 2022 13:33:06 GMT -6
After I realize that there's a piece of gear I'm not using, I'll usually give it a year or two to verify that I'm really not using it. The only thing I've sold that I've regretted selling was a matched pair of Shure KSM-141s. I've sold/bought a pair twice. I'm on my third pair now and they're not going anywhere, ever. Lesson learned on the 141, which has become my favorite mic (in omni) for classical guitar well beyond anything else (AKG 414 pair, C-460-B pair, various Neumanns, Gefells, etc.). -09 I was just about hitting the 9 month mark with the Chroma's. And now they're back in favor for me! Probably your strategy is about right for me. If something doesn't come back around after 2 years, it's probably not going to. That's recording gear though. Actual musical instruments? Never sell no matter what. I sold a Gretsch 6120 JR2 to pay some bills (it was desperate, like losing the house desperate) 13 years ago and the pain never went away until I finally replaced it earlier this year. Never again. (Which reminds me. What a thing to be grateful for at this end of year reckoning. Maybe I'm not young and cool anymore, maybe my hair has turned a bit gray in spots... or all spots. But at least I'm not selling cherished guitars to pay my property taxes. Could be worse!) |
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Post by gravesnumber9 on Dec 31, 2022 13:44:05 GMT -6
I mowed lawns in the summer heat in early high school, saved up to buy a brand new Joe Meek VC1q…was a big step up from my Mackie mixer. It’s still a solid preamp but with the more “high end” stuff I’ve bought since, it doesn’t get much use. It’s been over 20 years and I can’t bring myself to sell it (and it’s been babied, not a scratch on it, almost NOS). I’ve got a laundry list of other similar items I need to sell from that era. I’m basically an audio gear hoarder 😅 I think a lot of us are collectors (hoarders?) in that sense as well. There's some sort of connection between the personality that gets into engineering and a collector mentality. And I feel you. For me the hardest stuff to get rid of is the stuff I got when I was younger that was painful to acquire. Like I have a Studio Projects C1 that I haven't used in centuries but when I bought it $200 was a LOT of money for me. So it sits in its little flight case like a sad old toy waiting to be loved again by someone. You know what? Maybe I'll set that baby up in my rehearsal space. Boundary mic! |
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Post by thehightenor on Dec 31, 2022 13:45:14 GMT -6
You must have a big house! When I was younger I was always selling A to buy B. In recent years I've fortunately not needed to do that and I've sold virtually nothing in the last 10 years (just the odd few small bits and pieces) The only downside of that is my lovely understanding wife has had to put up with me spreading out into 3 rooms of the house (one partly for storing all the boxes!) So 2023 and onwards .... no more new gear - focus on using what I've already got! That's how it used to be years ago. Now I have a dedicated standalone studio building. There's no way I could ever, at this point, keep all of this stuff in a house, even if I wanted to, and I don't. It's much nicer having a large dedicated building. Plus, no arguments with my wife. She can do what she wants with the house, but the studio building is mine. You're very lucky, I'd love a dedicated large studio building - it must be amazing. It will have to wait until we move out of the city I live in - we bought 20m2 of garden extension from a neighbour and that alone cost us $20K! Land is too expensive around these parts. One day - hopefully I'll be able to do as you have. |
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Post by Quint on Dec 31, 2022 14:20:36 GMT -6
That's how it used to be years ago. Now I have a dedicated standalone studio building. There's no way I could ever, at this point, keep all of this stuff in a house, even if I wanted to, and I don't. It's much nicer having a large dedicated building. Plus, no arguments with my wife. She can do what she wants with the house, but the studio building is mine. You're very lucky, I'd love a dedicated large studio building - it must be amazing. It will have to wait until we move out of the city I live in - we bought 20m2 of garden extension from a neighbour and that alone cost us $20K! Land is too expensive around these parts. One day - hopefully I'll be able to do as you have. I was lucky and bought at the right time. It would be a lot more expensive now. I actually bought the house because of the building. The house was secondary, and I always planned to remodel the house. I do wish I had higher ceilings in the studio, but I may do something about that one of these days.... |
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Post by chessparov on Dec 31, 2022 15:05:36 GMT -6
I pretty much just don't sell anything. Like ever. So 2023 and onwards .... no more new gear - focus on using what I've already got! A likely story... Chris |
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Post by Tbone81 on Dec 31, 2022 19:11:45 GMT -6
For a time I was actively buying (any) gear when I found amazing deals, then I'd flip it and rinse and repeat until I could slowly work my way up the food chain and buy something awesome. Several macro economic factors have changed that...its getting harder and harder to get your money back on used gear.
Now days I'm actually really enjoying selling stuff. Stripping down my setup to fewer and fewer pieces has been very satisfying because 1) the pieces I do keep end up being really nice, top shelf outboard, synths, amps, mics etc. And 2) At some point putting all my attention into gear was getting in the way of just getting better at my craft.
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Post by sean on Dec 31, 2022 19:35:32 GMT -6
I definitely get swept up by "deals" but I think I'm getting close to selling off some outboard to invest in microphones (although I did just buy a Sta-Level). I thought once I moved all my outboard into the studio and wired it all up I'd use it more but often a good microphone into a good preamp in front of a good player makes all that compression actually a hinderance and it's better just spending 10 minutes doing some automation instead of compressing (most of the time). That's just the reality of the music I work in and as much as I enjoy owning, say, an Inward Connections Vac Rac, I'd probably use something like a Chandler REDD or Soyuz Tube 017 a lot more
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Post by indiehouse on Dec 31, 2022 19:50:32 GMT -6
For a time I was actively buying (any) gear when I found amazing deals, then I'd flip it and rinse and repeat until I could slowly work my way up the food chain and buy something awesome. Several macro economic factors have changed that...its getting harder and harder to get your money back on used gear. Now days I'm actually really enjoying selling stuff. Stripping down my setup to fewer and fewer pieces has been very satisfying because 1) the pieces I do keep end up being really nice, top shelf outboard, synths, amps, mics etc. And 2) At some point putting all my attention into gear was getting in the way of just getting better at my craft. This is me. |
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Post by johneppstein on Jan 1, 2023 12:19:23 GMT -6
Case in point... I was just about to list my LTL Chroma's for sale. Such cool pieces but I just don't use them enough to justify the cost and the precious 500 series space. Sure enough, working on a mix last night and the only thing that gave the right dirt to the vocals and guitar was my pair of Chroma's. So now I'm second guessing a couple of other things I was gonna sell just to open up rack space/make good use of resources. But I'm sure the moment I do it'll be like "dammit, the best thing for the sound I want here is the [insert hardware] I JUST sold!!!" Surely I'm not the only one with this problem. I pretty much just don't sell anything. Like ever. I've been that way pretty much forever - but now I'm getting old and my body won't support doing a lot of the work I used to do, so I'm starting to look into selling what I can no longer maintain adequately. Know anyone who needs a 24 track Studer? |
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Post by Quint on Jan 1, 2023 13:27:18 GMT -6
I pretty much just don't sell anything. Like ever. I've been that way pretty much forever - but now I'm getting old and my body won't support doing a lot of the work I used to do, so I'm starting to look into selling what I can no longer maintain adequately. Know anyone who needs a 24 track Studer? Once upon a time, that person might have been me, but I've moved on from my desire to own a multi track tape machine, and if I were to cave and buy a multi track machine, it would be a 16 track Ampex MM-1200. |
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ericn
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Balance Engineer
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Post by ericn on Jan 1, 2023 21:46:50 GMT -6
I've been that way pretty much forever - but now I'm getting old and my body won't support doing a lot of the work I used to do, so I'm starting to look into selling what I can no longer maintain adequately. Know anyone who needs a 24 track Studer? Once upon a time, that person might have been me, but I've moved on from my desire to own a multi track tape machine, and if I were to cave and buy a multi track machine, it would be a 16 track Ampex MM-1200. I fall in the want? Hell yes! Want to put in the effort to keep it working Hell No! |
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Post by notneeson on Jan 1, 2023 22:35:54 GMT -6
I've been that way pretty much forever - but now I'm getting old and my body won't support doing a lot of the work I used to do, so I'm starting to look into selling what I can no longer maintain adequately. Know anyone who needs a 24 track Studer? Once upon a time, that person might have been me, but I've moved on from my desire to own a multi track tape machine, and if I were to cave and buy a multi track machine, it would be a 16 track Ampex MM-1200. I know where you can likely get one, I believe my friend and former studio partner is selling his gear. |
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Post by Quint on Jan 3, 2023 20:15:09 GMT -6
Once upon a time, that person might have been me, but I've moved on from my desire to own a multi track tape machine, and if I were to cave and buy a multi track machine, it would be a 16 track Ampex MM-1200. I know where you can likely get one, I believe my friend and former studio partner is selling his gear. Man, don't tempt me. I don't dare ask the price, but I'm gonna, if just for grins. That said, I really do think I've moved on from the idea of a multi track tape machine for good. |
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