Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

I had a funny thought. What if a 15 year old could sign a finance contract for the rig he has when he's 35. Then, instead of spending a decade losing money on a bunch of tradeups, he could just go straight to the stuff he finally ends up with in life anyway.
Like a deal with the devil. LOL

If I had the stuff I have now, when I was 15, I woulda been in tone nirvana throughout the whole time it took me to progress on guitar. I know I would have been stoked when I was 21, having an amp that wasn't even built yet.

 

[hellatone]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

if the cheaper gear is cheap because the various accessories aren't top-notch - i.e. pups or tuners in a guitar, speaker or tubes in an amp (as in my Peavey Classic 30) -- but the basic build quality is good, then you can upgrade with better parts of your choice and end up, possibly, with semi-custom gear for less, or at least no more, than stuff that costs more at the get-go. Using my peavey amp again as an example, it was quite a bit cheaper to buy than a comparable fender, say a deluxe reverb. i put some $$ into it with a new speaker and tubes, and voila, as they say. Now i'd put it up against a DR any day. And it was still cheaper.

 

[twoheadedboy]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

This thread makes total sense. I tried to make really smart, cheap investments for the first few years of playing - things that I knew I would be able to sell for close to what I paid for them. In the end, I ended up making money selling everything. All the while of owning cheap gear, I started thinking about what I really wanted, and eventually I just saved until I could afford it. Not that many 19 year olds have custom designed, hand wired amps with hand built custom cabinets. I do, because I wanted to eliminate amp GAS for a really long time, and because I didn't lose all my money on my beginner gear.

 

[shreder75]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

another thing is don't buy something just cause of the name or because such and such guitar player uses it!

I've bought SEVERAL amps when I was younger because of that...for several reasons..oh, this guy plays it, or it's costly so it must be good! I bought several mesa rigs because of that

while my amp might not be the most costly and it sure ain't boutique, it sounds a hell of alot better to me and those in my band than most things I've played that cost two to three times as much..

another thing I see is people paying alotta money for boutique amps then plunkin' down hundreds of dollars to have them modded because they don't like how they sound..if you drop $1500+ on an amp, you better like the way it sounds..lol

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

I don't think it's so much of a money issue, but more of a just-buy-what-you-want-in-the-first-place issue (within reason). I used to love buying lower end guitars, and then decking them out with upgrades and what not. Then when I got tired of it, and it came time for a sale, I always end up getting screwed. Now, I've realized I'm quite likely to end up selling whatever gear I have, so I just go for nicer stuff. Not only do I know I'm less likely to lose money, but it means I have better gear in the meantime

 

[philthis]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

it is better to spend 10 bucks wisely then 7 bucks foolishly
:beerchug:

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

it is better to spend 10 bucks wisely then 7 bucks foolishly
:beerchug:

fftopic:

How true... and a large part of this should be: How can I make sure my life doesn´t get worse instead of just complaining more next month...

What do I mean? As hard as it sounds, if you´re buying a japanese made guitar (Most likely even a Lawsuit that can´t officially even be sold in the US becaus the company would be sued) solely on price over the US Original, then you´re ****ing YOURSELF but you just don´t see it...

WHY? Because that´s one less guitar made and sold in the us... NO taxes save Import, No social benefits, and if 20-30 enough people do it an american worker will lose his already low paying (by our standards) job, causing further damage to the system by collecting unemployment and if all goes bad welfare, causing taxes to rise further burdening YOU and your employer, causing you to have less money, causing you to buy more imports, causing the next guy to lose his job...

Nothing pisses me off more than egotistical whiners and bigots buying everything they possibly can foreign and then complainig about factories in their own hometown closing... You now know WHY they´re closing, try to do something other than whine about it

As LD noted earlier in Yahoo: Nothing is as uniquely American as the 60's muscle car, however most new manfactured replacement parts FOR those cars is Chinese. Maybe people should start thinking about WHY and realize they´re just as much to blame, not only everyone else

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

fftopic:

How true... and a large part of this should be: How can I make sure my life doesn´t get worse instead of just complaining more next month...

What do I mean? As hard as it sounds, if you´re buying a japanese made guitar (Most likely even a Lawsuit that can´t officially even be sold in the US becaus the company would be sued) solely on price over the US Original, then you´re ****ing YOURSELF but you just don´t see it...

WHY? Because that´s one less guitar made and sold in the us... NO taxes save Import, No social benefits, and if 20-30 enough people do it an american worker will lose his already low paying (by our standards) job, causing further damage to the system by collecting unemployment and if all goes bad welfare, causing taxes to rise further burdening YOU and your employer, causing you to have less money, causing you to buy more imports, causing the next guy to lose his job...

Nothing pisses me off more than egotistical whiners and bigots buying everything they possibly can foreign and then complainig about factories in their own hometown closing... You now know WHY they´re closing, try to do something other than whine about it

As LD noted earlier in Yahoo: Nothing is as uniquely American as the 60's muscle car, however most new manfactured replacement parts FOR those cars is Chinese. Maybe people should start thinking about WHY and realize they´re just as much to blame, not only everyone else

I agree with you at least partially....A lot of folks (myself among them) here in the U.S. can't afford some of the U.S. made guitars. I play a couple of U.S. made Fenders but I can' afford a Paul Reed Smith or a Gibson unless they are of foreign manufacture. Fender, Gibson & other U.S. companies have sent most of their manufacturing elsewhere...Korea, China, Mexico, etc.

We as musicians haven't made the corporations move, they decided to outsource on their own. If the companies would make a competitively priced product in the U.S. I would be 1st in line. This isn't a rant, just an observance.

 

[chcjunior]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

I made some of the common mistakes getting a gear collection I'm happy with. Some of was due to impatience while some of it was due to ignorance. I've taken a cue from GearJoneser and now buy top end equipment used (or new) when I find a really good deal.

You need to factor when how your ear and taste develops. I spent a good amount of money on a THD Bivalve only to discover I didn't like the tone. I sold it (at a loss) and transitioned to a Mesa Boogie Single Rec to a Marshall DSL 50 (both returned via GC return policy) and dug deep for a new Soldano Hot Rod. The Soldano should've been purchased used in hind sight. At that point, I started picking up guitars used or extremely marked down. I acquired a Dean Hardtail USA for $1000 and my GSL for $1250. The Rivera Chubster I bought used in mint condition for $700.

Part of the frustration in buying is what you thought sounded toneful six months ago no longer floats the boat. I think the key is to buying gear that will hold its value so you don't get hit with a loss when you transition that gear out.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

I agree with you at least partially....A lot of folks (myself among them) here in the U.S. can't afford some of the U.S. made guitars. I play a couple of U.S. made Fenders but I can' afford a Paul Reed Smith or a Gibson unless they are of foreign manufacture. Fender, Gibson & other U.S. companies have sent most of their manufacturing elsewhere...Korea, China, Mexico, etc.

We as musicians haven't made the corporations move, they decided to outsource on their own. If the companies would make a competitively priced product in the U.S. I would be 1st in line. This isn't a rant, just an observance.

No we HAVE made them do it.

Health Insurance, Life Insurance, high wages (where we can drive our Z350's), Christmas bonuses, lots of PTO. The manufacturers knew what the majority of players wanted (low price), They brainstormed, and figured out that the way to achieve it was outsourcing. Rather than spend my money on a import clone I save up and got the US version. This helps keep my money going to friends and neighbors.

fftopic:
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Luke

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

....We as musicians haven't made the corporations move, they decided to outsource on their own. ....

Yeah, and we the Sheeple just accept it and keep buying the product? Doing that is telling them: We think its GREAT that you´re taking away US Jobs and giving them to sweat shops in Indonesia

If we WOULDN`T buy it, they´d stop making them totally or consider reopining a US plant... But nobody seems to realize that the same corporations we´re bitching about are the same ones we keep paying to keep doing it... Stop buying the produchts and they´ll either learn or go broke. Is it really that hard to understand that 90% of the people I know cannot grasp the concept?

And like Luke said: If we demand 15$ an hour plus benefits ourselves, then we should at least be willing to pay real craftsmen a piddly ass 10$.... But we obviously aren´t. so they lost their jobs which are now done in Korea for 3$, making the company earn that much more because the price never really went down, but we kept buying them....

Try this: Take a look back.... How many Mainstream American Brands that we´ve all know for years are still made domestically?? How many of your favorites no longer exist? How many of them still exist, but no longer produce anything domestically, but merely run a cash machine?

And NOW: How many of these companies USED to be made domestically... WITHIN your lifetime.... THen you´ll likely see what I´m talking about... people have been saying this since well before I was born, the problem is the millions of people that either don´t care because they´re out for their own gratification and the ones that don´t care to realize that it affects us all

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

I agree with you at least partially....A lot of folks (myself among them) here in the U.S. can't afford some of the U.S. made guitars. I play a couple of U.S. made Fenders but I can' afford a Paul Reed Smith or a Gibson unless they are of foreign manufacture. Fender, Gibson & other U.S. companies have sent most of their manufacturing elsewhere...Korea, China, Mexico, etc.

We as musicians haven't made the corporations move, they decided to outsource on their own. If the companies would make a competitively priced product in the U.S. I would be 1st in line.

fftopic: Well, you're right in a certain perspective. But with inflation accounted for, new gear prices are actually lower than they were 40 years ago.

Plenty of musicians could afford it then, but it's just that today people want instant gratification now-if only i can get that strat for a couple hundred bucks less, right now. So, relatively speaking, new american gibsons and fenders are priced CHEAP compared even to 60's prices, but asian and mexican made axes are just SO much cheaper that people run to them instead.

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

I was just making an observance. I do play American made gear but I don't slag anyone for playing something else. I will also say I'm not one of the "sheeple". Also, I think it is a shame that most of the foreign made equipment is rivalling our own.....we showed folks how to build stuff, it is our own fault. I'm quite sorry if I offended anyone it was not my intent......Joe

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

No, no offense taken in any way, Bill.... The Sheeple was a broad brush is all, because I was speaking of us as a whole, the 250k or however many guitarísts there are worldwide.. But you seem to also see exactly what I mean

 

[bungalowbill]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

No, no offense taken in any way, Bill.... The Sheeple was a broad brush is all, because I was speaking of us as a whole, the 250k or however many guitarísts there are worldwide.. But you seem to also see exactly what I mean

I sure do Bro.

 

[Mephis]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

I think the biggest thing is, most people here have a job and have steady income to go spend on what ever, and they think that everyone else is just impatient. Well, some of us like me have to spend a year or so of planing to buy something over $300, to be able to afford it.

So when I layout a budget, Thats what I've got to spend, I've expended every resource and can't get any more money without waiting another 2-3 years. I'd rather just buy stuff for now, and trade it in later at a loss, rather than have crappy gear for 2-3 years. You learn alot about alot of things that way.


I see both sides of the arguement like I've said, but alot of people here have many lespauls and PRS's that cost more than my house. So yea, getting what I really want is maxing out the budget and ending up with credit card companies pissed at me. Just really can't do that, But now i'm set, anything else I want is just a toy.


You can't really go up to some kid in a guitar store who is staring at a les paul and tell him "Save up and buy that, its cheaper than buying a squier in the long run." You have to set a budget which is what you can afford without being hurt financially. I see so much gear at pawn shops and I always think about that.

I can afford to spend a ton of money in little amounts over a LONG period of time, I just can't ever afford to spend lots all at once, or I end up in a financial mess. I mean, I really didn't have the money for this peavey when I bought it, I'm just hoping I can sell this roland and squier I have laying around to pay it off.

 

[Nite_Maresz_25]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

Wow, I am extremely happy about being where I am currently and reading this thread at my current age/age of playing guitar.
So I just have to talk everybody that put their input into this thread.
thanks

p.s......i feel the inner/furture gear whore starting to come out...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

Mephis, you're right about the budget issue. Not everyone can save up for a new Les Paul or PRS.

The only way around it is to always buy highly desireable items at the lowest used price you can. Never buy anything that can't be sold for more. Play it, and save up more money at the same time. Buy something better, then repeat the process.

All of my guitars and amps were aquired using that method. I'm not rich, so I can't go plunk down $2000. I can sell two guitars for $800, add $400 cash, and buy a $3400 guitar for an extremely low used price of $2000. At least I'd never have to sell that guitar for less than $2000. I'm just using those numbers as examples, but the concept is the same at every price point.

I think I could sell every piece of gear I own for more than I paid for it, except a few pieces that were bought new.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

Mephis, you're right about the budget issue. Not everyone can save up for a new Les Paul or PRS.

The only way around it is to always buy highly desireable items at the lowest used price you can. Never buy anything that can't be sold for more. Play it, and save up more money at the same time. Buy something better, then repeat the process.

All of my guitars and amps were aquired using that method. I'm not rich, so I can't go plunk down $2000. I can sell two guitars for $800, add $400 cash, and buy a $3400 guitar for an extremely low used price of $2000. At least I'd never have to sell that guitar for less than $2000. I'm just using those numbers as examples, but the concept is the same at every price point.

I think I could sell every piece of gear I own for more than I paid for it, except a few pieces that were bought new.

This is actually the main reason that I acquire most gear used from eBay, because I know I can gat a similar price or usually better on resale

 

[Mephis]

Re: Less expensive gear doesn't always save you money

Mephis, you're right about the budget issue. Not everyone can save up for a new Les Paul or PRS.

The only way around it is to always buy highly desireable items at the lowest used price you can. Never buy anything that can't be sold for more. Play it, and save up more money at the same time. Buy something better, then repeat the process.

All of my guitars and amps were aquired using that method. I'm not rich, so I can't go plunk down $2000. I can sell two guitars for $800, add $400 cash, and buy a $3400 guitar for an extremely low used price of $2000. At least I'd never have to sell that guitar for less than $2000. I'm just using those numbers as examples, but the concept is the same at every price point.

I think I could sell every piece of gear I own for more than I paid for it, except a few pieces that were bought new.

Very very much like How I deal on things. Except I dont care if I take a minor hit on selling something, because i usualy buy new. Heh, I got such a good deal on this peavey, it was cheaper to buy it new than used, haha.