Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

PFDarkside

PFDarkside

of the Forum
I've been kicking around the idea of downsizing my whole rig/collection for years with the idea of upgrading at each position. I have a good number of guitars that are decent to pretty good. By far the best are Mike's (XSSIVE) Clones, #002 & #003.

However, I find myself dreaming about a Historic LP and a high end Strat (whatever that means ;)) and I'm wondering if any of you guys have done big downsize that lead to a nice upgrade. This goes for guitars, pedals, amps, anything that is music related.

The one thing that always gets me is how much I love versatility and flexibility... ("I can't sell my Maestro Fuzz clone, what if I want to play Satisfaction!" "I need a guitar setup in C standard to play Kyuss and The Sword..." "How am I going to play VH style stuff if I don't have my Splawn?") so I usually come back around and make no moves. At least I've got a nice budget set aside for a new acoustic. (But even that raises stupid questions like "if I get a Rosewood Dreadnought, do I need a Mahogany small-bodied guitar? What about a 12-string?")

Oh the fun of being a gear fiend.... :D
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

I'm currently going through one, but I'm finding that I just keep buying and looking for stuff and I keep procrastinating when it comes to selling! It will have to happen soon enough though!
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

I sold off a couple guitars to fund my AxeFx rig. I've been on the "nice guitar" track for a while now and bought them with saved money rather than selling off current instruments.
 
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Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

About 3 years ago I changed from 'Super Clean amp and huge pedal board' to 'A few boost pedals, if any, and getting gain from the amp' and couldn't be happier to be honest.
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

PFDarkside said:
I've been kicking around the idea of downsizing my whole rig/collection for years with the idea of upgrading at each position. I have a good number of guitars that are decent to pretty good. By far the best are Mike's (XSSIVE) Clones, #002 & #003.

However, I find myself dreaming about a Historic LP and a high end Strat (whatever that means ;)) and I'm wondering if any of you guys have done big downsize that lead to a nice upgrade. This goes for guitars, pedals, amps, anything that is music related.

The one thing that always gets me is how much I love versatility and flexibility... ("I can't sell my Maestro Fuzz clone, what if I want to play Satisfaction!" "I need a guitar setup in C standard to play Kyuss and The Sword..." "How am I going to play VH style stuff if I don't have my Splawn?") so I usually come back around and make no moves. At least I've got a nice budget set aside for a new acoustic. (But even that raises stupid questions like "if I get a Rosewood Dreadnought, do I need a Mahogany small-bodied guitar? What about a 12-string?")

Oh the fun of being a gear fiend.... :D
Click to expand...
Sounds like what you really prefer is the best of both - don't sell off anything you wouldn't have sold off or given away anyway - and still continue to buy more gear. Can't get to the mountain top as fast, but you don't leave anything behind along the way and you will never forget from where you came. You'll know when it's time to get rid of toys taking up space, and from what you've shared doesn't seem that this is the time. It's time to invest in more music though!
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

I'm generally in favor of condensing more lower-end guitars into fewer nicer ones. However, there are certain older import guitars that are hard to let go of. A few of my MIJ and MIM Fenders, for example. I think you really have to judge what to keep and what to sell based on musical merit, not on monetary value.
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

I kinda did, I just spent $4k on a 2013 R8 from Wildwood and in turn unloaded 3 other pretty nice guitars to offset the cost whilst reducing the total amount of guitars I have (too many).

I got rid of:

  • 2012 Goldtop Deluxe Les Paul with P90's
  • 2001 Historic SG Custom, white 3 pickup model that turned yellow-cream
  • PRS korina McCarty (that's still for sale actually)
 
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Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

Easier said than done. Stuff is moving like a turtle on Mollases. ..ya aint gonna get near what your stuff is worth, maybe a trade, Ive had dcent luck with gear trades, but even taht is iffy. On the other hand, ya could prolly pick up something cheap- its still a big buyers market..
 
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Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

TattooedCarrot said:
I kinda did, I just spent $4k on a 2013 R8 from Wildwood and in turn unloaded 3 other pretty nice guitars to offset the cost whilst reducing the total amount of guitars I have (too many).

I got rid of:

  • 2012 Goldtop Deluxe Les Paul with P90's
  • 2001 Historic SG Custom, white 3 pickup model that turned yellow-cream
  • PRS korina McCarty (that's still for sale actually)
Click to expand...
What did you think the Les Paul was missing?
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

I just listed my rack on the local Craigslist and an area buy/sell/trade fb group. Like to get a decent head that's easier to haul around.
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

I did about 4 years ago, in a major way.

I use to have a bunch of mexican made fenders, some epiphones, some godin guitars, and middle of the road acoustics. Decided it was time to downsize, and rebuilt. I did have decent amps (Mesa), but I ditched those first because they didn't fit the bill for the sound I wanted.

I then proceeded to sell of most of the lot, and start with 1 killer piece. I knew it would take time to built up my lot again, and there would surely be some movement once I started getting into higher end instruments, but I was ok with that. Started with a nice PRS and an SG standard, and went from there. Now I have a nice Les Paul, custom shop ES gibson, an american strat, 2 gibson acoustics and a unique PRS. Couldn't be happier. It was very uncomfortable at first, but what you first might sacrifice in versatility, you'll make up for in the quality of your sound, and then you can branch off of that.

I did the same with effects also ; going from about a dozen lower end EHX effects, to about 4 pedals that are higher quality, and assure that my signal chain stays nice and clean, while giving me exactly the sounds I want.
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

For the last few years, I've done some serious simplifying. I went from a Pedaltrain Pro with about 12 pedals to a PT-1 with 6. I went from having 6 guitars at one time to having 2 electrics, 1 acoustic and 1 bass. I went from having 3 amps at one time to 2 really good ones. That followed suit with my recording equipment. I had something like 10 different mics at one time and 8 different preamp channels and now I'm down to 4 mics and 1 preamp.

It may be considering limiting by some, but it was liberating for me. I get distracted easily and simplifying encouraged me to use what I had fully. I do a lot more playing now that I've got a few really choice pieces instead of a lot of "good" pieces.
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

Doing it now. Feeling good.

Going to end up with only "love it," no "like it" allowed.
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

Diminished Triad said:
What didn't the Les Paul have that you were looking for?
Why did you choose to sell it? Thanks....
Click to expand...
I bought the R8 and I sold the Deluxe because as I already mentioned, I needed to sell three top guitars to pay for the R8 and the Deluxe was one of the three.
 
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Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

Rand-O-Monium said:
Hey,TC,got pics of teh R8?

Or did I miss a thread?
Click to expand...
Didn't make a thread, but here it is.

83964_lg0.jpg~original

83964_lg6.jpg~original

83964_lg3.jpg~original

83964_lg4.jpg~original

83964_lg5.jpg~original
 
Re: Who has done the big downsize/upgrade?

Awesome looking Les Paul TC, that's probably my current favourite 1 on here :)
 
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