This is a tough and sore subject for a guitar player to talk about, because I’m sure that all of us, at one time or another, have had to part with an instrument we really ended up regretting selling. Sometimes it’s just as simple as a nostalgic yearning we have for getting that guitar back, as well as the times we associate with that instrument, and how we may never have those times again, especially if the guitar is now out of the picture! Just like old cars, we always seem to want to get back the first car or guitar we ever had and loved, and of course, if you really take the “vintage” market into account, the way these guitars have almost all gone up in value also can certainly make one regret the selling of them!
One has to put it all in perspective, too. If for nothing else, to maintain your sanity! I can recall selling guitars for $1500 that would now be worth $50,000 but at the time, it was a great price to get for the guitar, and it helped me get something else I probably wanted even more. These days, because of the hard times, many great guitars are re-surfacing that I’m sure many owners never, ever though they’d have to part with. There are great deals to be had, even though it’s so hard to find the money to even take advantage of these “bargains” at all!
I would have to say I regret selling pretty much every guitar I ever did part with, and the combination of nostalgia, plus the rising values, really makes the memory of their loss even tougher to bear. New guitars these days are enjoying quite a renaissance for sure, and the quality sometimes is enough to make you miss some of the “oldies”, which is really quite something, but it’s hard to get over missing a vintage beauty!
Perhaps the hardest guitars of all for me to ever part with were the ones I persued for decades, only to finally have to sell them way too soon. I have regretted many of those sales….very strange indeed to have to part with something you wanted for 20 years, but could only hang onto for a year!
The lesson? Thing long and hard about what you are parting with……how much you love it, how much you need the money or the other guitar, etc., and most of all, and the hardest part to know…just how MUCH you will really miss it. I guarantee that this will be the hardest one to quantify, but the easiest to predict! Learn to turn around from that guitar when you sell it, and never look back!! Remember, these things just pass through our lives and our hands for a little while, and they really belong to everyone!