Starting the New Year Off Light

[Mark Gunter]

Yep, starting off light. I sold a dozen guitars, a mandolin, all my CDs, my record player and amplifier for it, and gave away my set of harmonicas in the past 6 weeks.

I now have only one mandolin, two guitars, a piano and a ukulele here. And a dobro at my shop as well as a resonator mandocello conversion/build I haven't finished yet. Those will be leaving as soon as I get them in shape.

My goal is to get down to one guitar, one mandolin, a uke and a new set of harmonicas. I hope to begin traveling more in a camper van, and I'm excising excess baggage. I know this sounds like blasphemy, the very opposite of MAS and GAS, but I'm enjoying the new found freedom of minimalism.

Next comes furniture. Then, eventually, books and papers! Going (mostly) digital in keeping with these other drastic lifestyle changes.

So, that's my goal for this New Year. I'm well on my way. Starting the New Year Off Light.

Curious: Anybody care to share their own goals for starting the New Year off "right"?

[yankees1]

Hope your wife/girlfriend isn't worried that she might be next !

[jaycat]

Love me some used harmonicas. Have you had your shots?

[DocT]

Hope your wife/girlfriend isn't worried that she might be next !

[Mark Wilson]

Ah ...2019

Maybe get down to two mandolins (from three). Only jones is for a stand up bass.

Looking to book a few local gigs. Also have some music camps and festivals planned that should keep me motivated to practice. 2019 (year 6) is looking up musically

[Charles E.]

My wife and I did that a little over a year ago. Sold a number of instruments, tools, wood and a bungalow and all it's belongings (mostly). Relocated to St. Augustine FL to an eleven hundred square foot condo at the beach. I have two mandolins and two tenor guitars and new friends to play tunes with. Feels good.

I would add, to any one who is considering downsizing, you have to be ruthless. Sentimentality has no space when doing so.

[Mark Gunter]

I would add, to any one who is considering downsizing, you have to be ruthless. Sentimentality has no space when doing so.

Certainly not the easiest thing I've ever done, letting go of all those instruments. Some were favorite instruments. And I have a few more to go. But it sounds like you have no regrets, and neither do I. After all, how much music can a person make with one guitar, a mandolin and a ukulele? I'd argue, a hell of a lot of music. No room for sentiment re: all the material claptrap.

[Kevin Stueve]

I'm starting the year light too, as in down 43 lbs.

[Doug Brock]

Yep, starting off light. I sold a dozen guitars, a mandolin, all my CDs, my record player and amplifier for it, and gave away my set of harmonicas in the past 6 weeks.

I now have only one mandolin...

So what mandolin survived this downsizing?

[Mark Gunter]

So what mandolin survived this downsizing?

Washburn M106SWK

Guitar
Gretsch G95221 000 Slot Head

[Caleb]

Sounds like you're going down the minimalist/simplicity road, Mark. Good luck. My wife and I did the the KonMari method in our house a couple years ago and it freed up a lot of space and made life better. We have less stuff than ever and want even less! Good times.

[Mandoplumb]

I find that as I get older I want less "things" I'll trade cars when the pen I have gives up the ghost, I just replaced a cell phone that wasbabout 15 years old, don't need no new TV or any electronics. BUT I want every good mandolin, guitar, and banjo that I see. I know I can't have them all but if I don't waste my money on unimportant things then I can buy more instruments. To me it is a matter of priorities.

[Mark Gunter]

I find that as I get older I want less "things" I'll trade cars when the pen I have gives up the ghost, I just replaced a cell phone that wasbabout 15 years old, don't need no new TV or any electronics. BUT I want every good mandolin, guitar, and banjo that I see. I know I can't have them all but if I don't waste my money on unimportant things then I can buy more instruments. To me it is a matter of priorities.

I like your thinking! The reason I had to apply this to musical instruments is that I plan to live on the road as much as possible, in a camper van rather than a large RV, so the room I'll have would be enough for one stringed instrument ... but I'm determined to keep three: A guitar, a mandolin and a uke. If I have to, I can lose the uke. But I will have no room in my life anymore for extra stringed instruments. I'm selling pretty much everything except what I'm giving some children. The stuff that I've sold are all the "junk" or fixer-uppers. After that, everything of higher value that I could squeeze a good penny from. What I'm keeping has to be small and has to be something I enjoy playing - not necessarily the best or the favorites at this point. That's why I'm down to a Washburn and a smallish Gretsch guitar. Everything else is about gone. There are three more guitars I'll either sell or give to kids at this point.

If I were going to just stay home the rest of my days, I'd probably die with a couple dozen stringed instruments. That's where I was sitting, 6 weeks ago. Some were not playable, others were nicer and more valuable than what I'm keeping.

I figure in the years ahead if I'm around a long time, I'll have opportunities to trade up when it makes sense, but my current choices are very liberating! It will take a year or two before I'm ready to spend extended times in the wild. Meantime, I have plenty of preparations to make, and I plan on doing some trial runs to festivals and national forests while I prepare.

[Mark Gunter]

Hope your wife/girlfriend isn't worried that she might be next !

Cancer took her a little over two years ago, and I'm not really on the prowl. No condolences necessary, and hopefully that's not too much personal info. But since many of you guys and gals are married, I can understand the "WTF?" way that this stuff can sound. A few couples venture into the minimalism thing together, but most don't. So you see, as a bachelor, extreme moves like this are maybe not as crazy as they may sound.

[Jim Garber]

Mark: That is an enviable position to be in. I have divested of quite a few instruments over the last year, but I am still an accumulator. I just returned yesterday from one of my favorite shops helping a friend try out arch top guitars but before I left fell in deep love with a simple mandolin that had "the sound" I loved. Lucky for me I didn't have the money to buy it outright.

I definitely need to de-access lots of stuff. The volume I have is overwhelming but I do need to get movng so my wife and kids are not stuck with a large pile to get rid of.

[Eric Platt]

Good for you. I've never been able to get down that path. Right now am down to 3 guitars and that's probably as low as it will go. And too many mandolins. But I was able to get rid of a large book collection. Although our place doesn't look any less cluttered.

Will admit to being an accumulator of stuff (junk?) Lots of tune books and CDs that are just tough to find digitally. Yes, I know everything can be scanned in, but that also takes time and more importantly, incentive.

Have a lot of friends who just have one of each. And I admire that. Sort of wish I could. But I've always been the person who needs a back up. And then also a beater. And because I'm in a few bands, the backup can't be a beater.

Thankfully, I've resisted the temptation to get an accordion. That way lies madness.