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Thread: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

  1. #26
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    In short - I think that as long as you can financially and spatially afford to do so, keeping a sentimental instrument around to put a little smile on your face every so often is a very good thing.

  2. #27
    Registered User foldedpath's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    I've only ever been interested in the instruments that relate to my current music interests, and when that interest changes, I don't have a problem saying goodbye.

    I suppose if I had stuck with one genre of music all my life, I would have a backlog of cherished instruments with sentimental value. But switching genres tends to break that chain. I got rid of something like 9 guitars a few years ago when my interests shifted away from playing Blues and beginner-level Jazz guitar, and into Irish/Scottish trad. Not much use for electric guitars and bottleneck slide Dobros in that music.

    There is one instrument I keep for purely sentimental reasons, and that's an old beat-up fiddle that belonged to my Grandfather. I don't even know if he played it, or just won it in a poker match (he was famous for gambling). I had it restored to playing condition, but it sounds like playing a cardboard box. The big flat-head screw holding the neck on probably doesn't help. But it's a family heirloom, so I'm keeping it as a wall hanger.

  3. #28
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Quote Originally Posted by Ranald View Post

    I've held a fundraiser for an organization that provides instruments and musical training for children in the Canadian north, ... Other countries must or should have similar programs.

    https://www.facebook.com/ArtsCanCircle/

    Cheers, Ranald
    Tom Lee Music (annually?) has a used instrument donation drive to get instruments into the hand of kids who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to play.

  4. #29
    Registered User slimt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    I have a guitar that my Dad played. It will be passed down probably to my Son if he wants it other than that all the others are liquid..

  5. #30
    Registered User Roger Moss's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    I've only ever been interested in the instruments that relate to my current music interests, and when that interest changes, I don't have a problem saying goodbye.

    I suppose if I had stuck with one genre of music all my life, I would have a backlog of cherished instruments with sentimental value. But switching genres tends to break that chain. I got rid of something like 9 guitars a few years ago when my interests shifted away from playing Blues and beginner-level Jazz guitar, and into Irish/Scottish trad. Not much use for electric guitars and bottleneck slide Dobros in that music..
    Rick Neilsen would probably be baffled by that idea.
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  6. #31
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    I have so many instruments now, that I can't really separate out those that are kept for "sentimental reasons," those that are kept because I play them more or less frequently, and those that are kept basically out of hoarding instincts and inertia.

    The exceptions are "family" instruments: my first mandolins were a 'teens Gibson A-1 and a B & J Victoria bowl-back, probably Lyon & Healy made, that I unearthed from the attic of my grandfather's house in Pike NY, after he died and his sister, my great-aunt Edna, went to live with my aunt in DC. The Gibson, on which I learned to play, finally went in trade on an F-2, but I still have the Victoria, along with a no-name banjo that also was in the attic. My step-grandmother, Alice Reynolds, was reputedly a musician, and the instruments probably belonged to her.

    I use the Victoria for historical music programs; it had some serious top cracks, but they're fixed and it plays fine. The banjo comes out from time to time; it's only "trade" quality, but it plays. I also have my other (paternal) grandfather's violin, an American Conservatory, but can't play it. He was definitely a mandolinist around 1900, and I have several mandolin books with his name stamped inside them.

    I just traded in a nice 1957 Martin D-18 that I had owned for probably 40 years; I wasn't playing it, and it was worth most of the price of the Larsen Brothers Stahl mando-bass at Bernunzio's. My first good guitar, a Gibson J-50 purchased with Army pay 50 years ago, went to my sister, who still has it; the Ode/Muse Style 2 banjo that I also acquired at the same time, at the Denver Folklore Center, still sits next to my desk in its case.

    Speaking of the Victoria bowl-back, I played it at an event for the Pike bicentennial, a few years ago. I told the audience, "This mandolin was found in the house of my grandfather Rodney, who was your town postmaster back in the early 'fifties." So a connection was made, and those family heirlooms will stay with me. Will my kids want them? Who knows...?
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  7. #32
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    I have to admit I'm an instrument hoarder. I have a small, humble but very functional collection of instruments that I like a lot. I do not consider this level of instruments to be highly collectable or a good monetary investment over time, however most of the time they don't drop significantly in value when bought used, and bought carefully. And in the mean time they are great fun to have.

    I'm in my retirement now and I have been spending a large amount of time working on my musical skills with all of my instruments. High on my list of things to do early in this period of my life is also to learn to play the few of those instruments that I've collected that I don't already play fluently, and I'm progressing with that very nicely.

    There have been a number of neurological studies that show the whole brain lighting up as music is performed. Now that I'm in that period where mental longevity becomes a concern, I want to light up my brain as much as possible and I'm having great fun doing it.

    The plan is that when my wife and I are gone, my kids will have all of our instruments and be able to do with them what they want to do.

    In the mean time, retirement is great! I'm finally getting paid sufficiently to be a full time musician!
    -- Don

    "Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
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  9. #33

    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    All I can say is when we Baby Boomers start dying off, there are going to be some fantastic fire sales on mandolins, guitars, and other items. Perhaps that will be our gift to the Millennials.
    "Those who know don't have the words to tell, and the ones with the words don't know so well." - Bruce Cockburn

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  11. #34
    Registered User Randi Gormley's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    I'm not particularly sentimental, but i like the stuff I own for its own sake. That makes it tough to determine whether i hold onto stuff because it's mine or because of inertia. I know I had my first mandolin around for years, long after it became unplayable, but not because my parents bought it for me but because i didn't want to simply toss it away (i actually don't throw very much away -- i still had tax records and checks from the 1970s into the early 2000s until i ran out of room in my basement). I eventually gave it to a friend in community theater for a prop. and I haven't thought much about it since.

    However, my cousin said that a good rule of thumb is that if something makes you smile, you keep it. If something has bad memories/vibes, or you don't think one way or another about it, then you can eliminate it.
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  12. #35
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Quote Originally Posted by AndyV View Post
    Tom Lee Music (annually?) has a used instrument donation drive to get instruments into the hand of kids who otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity to play.
    Not Tom Lee. Long and McQuade.

  13. #36
    Moderator MikeEdgerton's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Wait, you can sell instruments you don't play anymore? Why wasn't I informed?
    "It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
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  15. #37
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    As far as I can remember, I don't have any instruments I keep solely for sentimental value. I suppose if my grandfather played something and I inherited it, I guess I would want to keep it around to remember him. However, nobody in my family really played. My great aunt had a Martin mandolin that my cousin has but no one in the family ever saw her play it.

    I need to get my collection down to a reasonable pile. I have way too much stuff and I am afraid that my wife and kids will be stuck unloading it. I do like the idea of donating to people who can use such things—I have done that in the past.
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  16. #38

    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    I don't develop emotional ties to my instruments. If they look and sound good, they can stay. If something else comes along which I like better, the old ones might be in trouble.

  17. #39
    Registered User Blues Healer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Wow. Just from today's responses, you can tell you could write a book about this subject. The sentimental instruments we keep, plus the ones that got away.
    I have my early 70s D-28 that I bought new as soon as I could save enough money. I got a D-35 the next year, and they're both in great shape. That said, I think Martin is making great guitars nowadays, and I love my newer 00-18V.
    As for mandolins, I have an early Eastman 605 -- I think it's #90!
    So yes, guilty as charged for keeping some instruments for sentimental reasons.

  18. #40
    Registered User CWRoyds's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    I have been collecting instruments all my life, and I have never sold one.
    I have given away a few that I didn't care about, but once I get an instrument I keep it.
    I have sentimental feeling about all of my instruments, but I have special feelings for my grandfathers Saxophones, my guitars that I have owned since I was a teen, and my Sitars, which are irreplaceable and ever so cool. I have about 24 instruments now. I shed a few before I moved recently. I gave a kid from the dog park a bunch of stuff I didn't want.

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    Dont worry, I dont keep them in a shed.
    This was air conditioned storage before a recent move.
    Mandolins: Northfield 5-Bar Artist Model "Old Dog", J Bovier F5 Special, Gibson A-00 (1940)
    Fiddles: 1920s Strad copy, 1930s Strad copy, Liu Xi T20, Liu Xi T19+ Dark.
    Guitars: Taylor 514c (1995), Gibson Southern Jumbo (1940s), Gibson L-48 (1940s), Les Paul Custom (1978), Fender Strat (Black/RWFB) (1984), Fender Strat (Candy Apple Red/MFB) (1985).
    Sitars: Hiren Roy KP (1980s), Naskar (1970s), Naskar (1960s).
    Misc: 8 Course Lute (L.K.Brown)

  19. #41

    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    The musical instrument I held onto the longest, was a fretless banjo that my dad and I had built together when I was a kid.

    I kept that thing for decades, even though I wasn't playing it anymore. I did still like the sound of it (nylon strings, nice mellow tone), but I just didn't have a need for it from a practical usage point of view. Finally let it go a few years after my dad passed.

    To my surprise, letting that instrument go didn't feel like a loss as I'd expected, but instead it felt more like I was finally liberating my dad to pursue his new frontiers (or whatever), instead of trying to keep him locked into the past by retaining old material possessions. It might not have been so much about the instrument itself or my dad, as just my own state of mind.

    I probably would have been upset if I'd gotten rid of that instrument sooner. Guess it was just 'time'.


    Quote Originally Posted by Roger Moss View Post
    My rule of thumb is usually if I haven't used something for a whole year, I probably don't need it. ...
    For me, for non-sentimental items I extend that to five years, rather than just one year.

    For instance, some of the oddball specialty tools I have, I can easily go more than one year without using them. But when I need a particular tool, it's right there ready for action. So I don't have to go buy a spendy replacement - or worse yet, hire someone else to do the job and have to deal with their incompetence and inability to perform what, for me, would be a simple task as long as I have the right tools.

    So yeah, especially for things that would be prohibitively expensive to replace, if you have valid reason to believe you will need to use that item at some point in the future, then (IMO) hang onto it.

    There's a difference between being a packrat - keeping things just for the sake of keeping them, or for sentimental reasons, or to borrow an expression from my dad, "because it might be worth something someday" (he had many acres filled with stuff he'd collected over the decades, much of it not good for much) - verses keeping things because they have some practical utilitarian purpose.


    -------
    Full disclosure: Reformed packrat here. At one point during my packrat 'recovery' stage, I went too far the other direction and wouldn't keep anything at all, which was absurd on the opposite end of the spectrum. I now have a more moderate approach as to what to keep and what to get rid of, compared to my earlier reactionary anti-packrat ascetic stage. Guess it's one of those "balance" things.

  20. #42
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    I usually have a 1 in, 1 out way about it. Due to space and financial restrictions. If I find an instrument that I like, another has to go to make room, and provide funds for its replacement.
    Unfortunately, right now I'm in a selling only phase however. Divorce is costly and the blood letting shows little sign of abating at this time. Keep your eyes on the classifieds if you like what you see in my signature.

  21. #43
    Registered User Ivan Kelsall's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    A very good question Robert & one which in my case,refers not only to instruments,but to anything which has given good service.

    I was brought up as a youngster to value & appreciate 'everything' that i had. Just after WWII,in the UK, there was next to nothing to be had,& anything that you did have,you looked after,'cos you'd most likely never get another one. I look after everything that i own & keep it in good condition,that's maybe why my 10 year old Weber "Fern" still looks like it just left the workshop. I buy the best of any 'item' that i can afford at the time, & enjoy their use. In the case of a musical instrument,i've bought & sold quite a few,& parted with them very reluctantly. For a while,they were a part of my everyday life,& i have to say that it's that feeling that makes me hang on to the mandolins & the banjo that i currently own. Yes - i would like my long yearned for Ellis F5 - but i'd have to trade in my Ellis "A" style & my Weber "Fern" to get it - & i'd miss 'em like he** !. Although i've only had my Ellis for 3 years,it might as well be 30 !. OK,it maybe doesn't have the ''glamour'' of the "F" style,but it sounds incredible.

    We have a TV prog. over here called 'The Repair Shop',where folk take items to be repaired by some of the finest restorers in the UK. More often that not,the items have been passed down through their families & are treasured posessions. Also more often than not,on seeing their repaired 'item',folks are literally moved to tears.
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  22. #44
    Registered User William Smith's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Well like my Uncle Dick Smith told me years ago and Dawg recently you can only play one at a time, funny coming from those guys whose collection would blow your mind but yes I keep not so great instruments that wouldn't mean anything to most people like some my Gramps made, one F-5 that's an old 70's Ibanez that he reworked "it needs work like a neck set etc.." it was I believe the first mando that Ronnie McCoury played on stage out in California when Uncle Dick played banjo with Del while he was a Dixie Pal, but they should be passed on in the family IMHO. I've gave away many instruments to friends that needed something to play. There's nothing wrong with keeping them, I wish I would've kept a few old Gibson mandolins and guitars I sold or traded!

  23. #45
    Doc Ivory Doc Ivory's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    To this day I still have my very first Les Paul.
    Every now and then I'll play it and of course I keep the strings loose if I intend to store it for a while.
    I'm not sure I could ever willingly give it up.
    Doc Ivory
    -Play loud, live long..

  24. #46
    Doc Ivory Doc Ivory's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Quote Originally Posted by Teak View Post
    All I can say is when we Baby Boomers start dying off, there are going to be some fantastic fire sales on mandolins, guitars, and other items. Perhaps that will be our gift to the Millennials.
    Yes, your right about that. There's gonna by a bucket load of fine instruments out there.
    Thing is, I'm not overly sure the millennials will appreciate the instruments. Some will but my suspicions are a vast majority won't.

    Guess that's just me being a geezer
    Doc Ivory
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  25. #47
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    This millennial thing is happening to Harley Davidson right now ! Kind of off topic but it can and does happen !

  26. #48
    Registered User Frankdolin's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Great question. When I buy or acquire an instrument I've researched, shopped, and lusted after for some time or no time, it's mine forever. I can't explain this devotion to a piece of wood and steel but it needs no apology or causes anyone pain. I own a lot of instruments all unique in their own way. Can't imagine this life without them.

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  28. #49
    Registered User Roger Moss's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Quote Originally Posted by JL277z View Post




    For me, for non-sentimental items I extend that to five years, rather than just one year.

    For instance, some of the oddball specialty tools I have, I can easily go more than one year without using them. But when I need a particular tool, it's right there ready for action. So I don't have to go buy a spendy replacement - or worse yet, hire someone else to do the job and have to deal with their incompetence and inability to perform what, for me, would be a simple task as long as I have the right tools.

    So yeah, especially for things that would be prohibitively expensive to replace, if you have valid reason to believe you will need to use that item at some point in the future, then (IMO) hang onto it.

    There's a difference between being a packrat - keeping things just for the sake of keeping them, or for sentimental reasons, or to borrow an expression from my dad, "because it might be worth something someday" (he had many acres filled with stuff he'd collected over the decades, much of it not good for much) - verses keeping things because they have some practical utilitarian purpose.


    -------
    Full disclosure: Reformed packrat here. At one point during my packrat 'recovery' stage, I went too far the other direction and wouldn't keep anything at all, which was absurd on the opposite end of the spectrum. I now have a more moderate approach as to what to keep and what to get rid of, compared to my earlier reactionary anti-packrat ascetic stage. Guess it's one of those "balance" things.
    Fair enough. There's no hard and fast rule here. But I live in a small apartment, and need to keep superfluous items to a minimum. I've known several textbook hoarders (well, two), but I could never quite lock in on the concept. Clutter just disturbs me. That said, I have more than once let something go, only to come to regret it later. Some stuff, like tools, I try to hold on to. Not like a drill press or something, though.
    We are the music makers,
    And we are the dreamers of dreams

  29. #50
    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Keeping instruments for sentimental reasons

    Like a couple others, I've purchased and sold many many instruments in the past 30 years. So, I don't have much sentimental value for what I currently own. Don't think any of them have been in my hands more than 5 or 6 years. There are a number of them I wish I hadn't sold over the years. But I also know that I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been there and done that. So it's all relative.

    Now, as to books, magazines, catalogs, LPs, CDs and the like - yeah, I have way too many that I've held onto for sentimental value far longer than I should have. Thankfully never got that into things like tools, although I have some bicycle tools that maybe get out once every year or two. But for many things, it's still easier for me to do the work rather than take it to a shop.
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