Alright... I own a bunch of gear. Mostly guitar stuff. But I also operate a small studio that would probably considered a project studio at this point. I do some work as a guitarist in a couple of bands and I do some recording projects with other people remotely.

Part of me always loves the idea of getting a lot more out of less gear, but I've also been stricken by the, "Well, I'm not loving any of this... Let's try this overdrive I haven't plugged in for years" and it's THE thing I needed.

The choice of downsizing is paralyzing. The idea of having all this gear in multiple places is paralyzing. The idea of being in a session and not getting the thing I want because I sold the thing that would do it is paralyzing.

I'm not quite a hoarder because I don't keep things I don't like. But say, I've used this Bass VI of mine twice on a recording since I got it about four years ago.

What are your rules for whether you keep something or launch it?

I want to get rid of so much stuff. My hang up is I hate messing with Craigslist or FB Marketplace and refuse to ship anything so it gets kinda hard to get this shit out of here. I've been giving friends pedals and little noise makers a lot as random gifts, so little stuff is kinda leaking away. My problem is I have a bunch of stuff that sounds cool for one very specific thing that I almost never need but it's hard to part with it because... what if?

My rule has always been that if I haven't touched it in ~2 years, it's time to go. An even newer rule is that if I want to bring anything new in, I have to sell something of equal or greater size and/or value, just so I can stay net zero on clutter and cost.

I'm finally down to one guitar amp (from a peak of maybe 10 at one point?). I still have 5 bass amps, but they all do different things, so I can somewhat justify keeping them. I purged a lot of my rackmount studio gear and I don't really miss it because plugins have gotten much better sounding over the past 15 years.

I really want to sell my mixer/interface and go to a PCIe line-level interface or something, mostly to clear off my desk. I haven't touched the analog portion of my desk in years. It's just a oversized glorified 16 channel firewire interface at this point, and I could get away with 8 channels these days.

An eternal question!

I have a '66 Bassman that I used in SKWM on bass a bunch.

Then I did not use it very much at all, for a long time. It is a great amp, bulletproof seemingly, so I kept it, but I almost sold it a few times. It never quite worked for me on guitar/baritone.

I have a cab with Jensen Blackbirds in it now, and for whatever reason, the Bassman sounds perfect through it.

So now I play guitar/baritone through all the time and "don't need anything else" haha.

Everything I have now that I "don't need" I don't need but...when I play through it, it all sounds good and I don't really wanna get rid of it. But I might, anyway, someday.

Studio stuff, I have zero gear lust and everything we need to make a record so that's not a thing. But I have way "too many" basses and amps, I suppose.

I think the sting of getting rid of some things in my younger days that I now miss has radicalized me, and now I'm in this mess where 80% of my gear is is in the "nice, but not essential" category.

Philosophically, I am a minimalist. I don't like consumerism, advertising, the whole business of buying and selling things seems archaic to me. When I'm not using my (insert cool shit here) someone else should be able to grab it and use it for the "thing" to maximize it's value.

But I really like things that i like that work and do a job. I have enough gear in my space that if 5 people showed up, everyone would have an instrument and an amp to play and spare, which is FUCKING SILLY. And I have enough at home for a 4 piece combo if we used a drum machine lol. Again, very silly.

If I were to adopt a policy, it would be objective like Nate described, but I'd shorten the time to a year. Even then though, I had a bassman 135 with a matching 4x12 that I sold because I didn't use it for years, and I regret that one. I also wish I still had my tele bass, but that money went to a really worthwhile thing, so whatever.

It's tough - I don't think I'll ever sell my EGC but I play my other guitars much more. I don't think I'll ever sell my russian big muff, but I also rarely use it cuz it's kinda a specific and one trick sound - plus I have others that are more versatile.

I have a digital 8 track port a studio that I won't get rid of for some reason either.....

I have just written a completely useless post. Sorry!

Frankie99 wrote: Wed Dec 31, 2025 9:52 am When I'm not using my (insert cool shit here) someone else should be able to grab it and use it..."

THIS. only I'm not really social with other musicians lately, and don't really have space for the cool stuff, but someday, like a gear library sort of scenario would be rad.

I'm really glad that my reduced gear lust, reduced money to buy gear, reduced time to play gear, and reduced space to hoard gear all happened at right about the same time.

Keep the special stuff or replace it with something just as good. You can compare one of your guitars or whatever to a similar model off the rack and can get a fairly good idea about how yours ranks pretty quickly.

Alternately, just fuckin’ use it. Unless it’s a Marshall Major in a New York City apartment there is nothing stopping you.

Our relationship to gear changes over time, so while stuff can fall out of favor, it can also later reveal itself in a way that wasn’t readily apparent before. They are conduits for something inside of us that hasn’t happened yet and I think getting rid of a special guitar just because it’s $2k sitting there is generally a mistake. Granted, if you’re in a situation where a couple thousand dollars is more important than the guitar, or you’re reinvesting in something else, that’s a different thing entirely - we’re adults and decisions have to be made. I just try to avoid mass produced garbage at all costs - I already ruined an import Guild Starfire XII just by playing it.

Short of losing my house or job I’ll probably never get rid of my two EGCs because there’s nothing else that can do the space age les paul / telecaster like my Tyranny and Standard. And with Kevin retiring? That is not happening again. I don’t play in a noisy rock band, but they’re great for other things and I play them all the time.

I have a humbucker modded Bicentennial Firebird that I’ll never be able to afford again once it’s gone, so hopefully if I get rid of it will be to put towards a crazy guitar or studio piece. Whether I keep them for the rest or my life or sell them tomorrow, someone else is getting them after me.

But if it were just another Tele, fuck it, who cares? There’s a million of them. I would just be sure to understand what you have - I’ve gone through hell buying and selling certain EHX and Zvex pedals because I happened to have a crazy good version of something I thought could always be replaced, then realized the thing I had changed over the years.

Amps, though - they’re kind of a liability. Upkeep on them sucks and. I have so many of them but they’re all very special unobtantnium things I bought when they could be had for little more than a few hundred bucks, and once I sell them I won’t be able to afford them. I’ve bought and sold Traynor YBA3s maybe more than any other amp, but its just because I could reliably sell and buy them back for what I paid. So I’m not getting rid of this last one I have now.

Got to say though - trading up a bunch of random stuff for a prized piece does feel really good. I would love to sell 10 guitars and basses or a bunch of amps and get one or two truly great instruments, but it’s very possible I’d end up selling a bunch of great stuff for some dumbass old Gretsch or Mosrite that turned out to be a total pain in the ass - ask me how I know to always try those in person first.

No new gear 2026!

I have to say that in my older years I have come to believe that "tone" is not as fleeting as marketing/mojo wants you to believe. getting that sound again, or close enough to it is not that difficult. no matter what. if you have a piece of gear that is enigmatic of a time you still feel emotionally connected to... keep that shit cause connection is everything and subjective preference is basically nothing. still... I can't get rid of anything and for no reason. I have a Peavey head I haven't turned on on 10 years. still here.