It is not the economy that stuff is not moving IMO

[steve_k]

Maybe some men have discovered that more $ does not = better tone.

Many men chase what they consider good tone to their own ears. Better tone to one person may be shit to another.

 

[glip22]

I changed my mind. Its definitely the economy. You speak of the gear that would last minutes a couple of years ago not selling now. Unless I am blind, nothing at all is really selling. I have never seen the classified ads get buried so quickly because members are bumping their unsold gear. Like TGP on a smaller scale. The economy here and abroad is very bad. It affects all on some level. Some are financially ok, and others are struggling. The people that are ok are probably not spending as well. Others that are more than ok can still afford to buy what they want. Some have good savings, some are still earning decent income, and some have inheritances but the state of this economy is very poor regardless. This is a fact.

 

[jcj]

I changed my mind. Its definitely the economy. You speak of the gear that would last minutes a couple of years ago not selling now. Unless I am blind, nothing at all is really selling. I have never seen the classified ads get buried so quickly because members are bumping their unsold gear. Like TGP on a smaller scale. The economy here and abroad is very bad. It affects all on some level. Some are financially ok, and others are struggling. The people that are ok are probably not spending as well. Others that are more than ok can still afford to buy what they want. Some have good savings, some are still earning decent income, and some have inheritances but the state of this economy is very poor regardless. This is a fact.

While the economy is still kicking some people's nuts up around their ears, I think the lack of liquidity in used gear, and the fact that not much in the way of new product has hit the market are the real culprits.

Years ago (as most here remember) "buying to try" was very common; you picked an item up, checked it out, and passed it along to the next person, if it wasn't your thing.

These days, most of the people on this forum who participated freely in "buy to try" have already experienced everything that interested them, which creates a lack of demand from that camp; very little that's "new and exciting" out there in amp land to lure us back into the fray.

In my opinion, you basically have three groups here-

The "I'd LOVE to, but I'm broke" guys.
The "been there, done that" guys.
The "I'd love to, but I don't want the ass beating of trying to sell, and the huge loss that comes with a lack of liquidity" guys.

Unfortunately, the first two groups pretty much kill it for the third group (not enough of them to be self sustaining), and so there ends the "buy to try" market. Of course, all IMO .

 

[LP Freak]

Sorry man, you're only half right. Not sure what cave you live in but the economy sucks.

 

[colimofsmoke]

For me it's the economy. If I had the money I would be buying a powerball II, a Herbert, two mills acoustics cabs so I could bi-amp, a better delay, and an all black LP which i would upgrade with Duncan distortions and locking tuners. At my current rate of pay vs financial need, this would take me more than a year to accomplish. Fwiw, I am a "younger" forum member.

 

[rlord1974]

I changed my mind. Its definitely the economy. You speak of the gear that would last minutes a couple of years ago not selling now. Unless I am blind, nothing at all is really selling. I have never seen the classified ads get buried so quickly because members are bumping their unsold gear. Like TGP on a smaller scale. The economy here and abroad is very bad. It affects all on some level. Some are financially ok, and others are struggling. The people that are ok are probably not spending as well. Others that are more than ok can still afford to buy what they want. Some have good savings, some are still earning decent income, and some have inheritances but the state of this economy is very poor regardless. This is a fact.

While the economy is still kicking some people's nuts up around their ears, I think the lack of liquidity in used gear, and the fact that not much in the way of new product has hit the market are the real culprits.

Years ago (as most here remember) "buying to try" was very common; you picked an item up, checked it out, and passed it along to the next person, if it wasn't your thing.

These days, most of the people on this forum who participated freely in "buy to try" have already experienced everything that interested them, which creates a lack of demand from that camp; very little that's "new and exciting" out there in amp land to lure us back into the fray.

In my opinion, you basically have three groups here-

The "I'd LOVE to, but I'm broke" guys.
The "been there, done that" guys.
The "I'd love to, but I don't want the ass beating of trying to sell, and the huge loss that comes with a lack of liquidity" guys.

Unfortunately, the first two groups pretty much kill it for the third group (not enough of them to be self sustaining), and so there ends the "buy to try" market. Of course, all IMO .

I'm still in the "buy to try" camp.

Personally, I LOVE losing money......

 

[splawner]

Sorry man, you're only half right. Not sure what cave you live in but the economy sucks.

 

[Rogue]

For me it's the economy. If I had the money I would be buying a powerball II, a Herbert, two mills acoustics cabs so I could bi-amp, a better delay, and an all black LP which i would upgrade with Duncan distortions and locking tuners. At my current rate of pay vs financial need, this would take me more than a year to accomplish. Fwiw, I am a "younger" forum member.

Let me get this straight, the economy sucks because it'll take you a year to buy a powerball II, a Herbert, two mills acoustic cabs, a better delay, a black LP with new pickups and locking tuners?

Are you joking or being serious? There are billions of people in the world that would LOVE to be in your dismal economic situation.

 

[Rogue]

In my opinion, you basically have three groups here-

The "I'd LOVE to, but I'm broke" guys.
The "been there, done that" guys.
The "I'd love to, but I don't want the ass beating of trying to sell, and the huge loss that comes with a lack of liquidity" guys.

I think you have to add the group that decided paying off current debt is smarter than acquiring more debt for more gear to try out that you'll end up selling. Thanks 2008 for the wake up call.

I'm in that group and I suspect I'm far from alone. Of course, that may also intersect with the "been there, done that" group.

That steep blue line is the period I went through my gear whoring, and I'm a piker.

 

[jcj]

In my opinion, you basically have three groups here-

The "I'd LOVE to, but I'm broke" guys.
The "been there, done that" guys.
The "I'd love to, but I don't want the ass beating of trying to sell, and the huge loss that comes with a lack of liquidity" guys.

I think you have to add the group that decided paying off current debt is smarter than acquiring more debt for more gear to try out that you'll end up selling. Thanks 2008 for the wake up call.

I'm in that group and I suspect I'm far from alone. Of course, that may also intersect with the "been there, done that" group.

That steep blue line is the period I went through my gear whoring, and I'm a piker.

You may certainly belong to both groups ...we have room for (almost) everyone, here at R-T

 

[guitarmike]

Our government is spending us to oblivion, you may as well charge up you credit cards, the USA is sinking at a rate of $39,682.83 per second. Charge it up folks, we are going to go down!!

If you ran your finances like the US Fed Govt:

The National Debt is:
$15,884,610,413,421.25 as of 5:40pm CDT, 7-22-2012.

This averages to $50,587.47 per person, based on a population of 314,002,888. It is increasing at a rate of $39,682.83 per second (based on the past 6 months).

Last Treasury update 07/19/2012
Sources:
US Treasury Daily Update
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLog ... ication=np

http://www.nabber.org/projects/debtcounter/

 

[colimofsmoke]

For me it's the economy. If I had the money I would be buying a powerball II, a Herbert, two mills acoustics cabs so I could bi-amp, a better delay, and an all black LP which i would upgrade with Duncan distortions and locking tuners. At my current rate of pay vs financial need, this would take me more than a year to accomplish. Fwiw, I am a "younger" forum member.

Let me get this straight, the economy sucks because it'll take you a year to buy a powerball II, a Herbert, two mills acoustic cabs, a better delay, a black LP with new pickups and locking tuners?

Are you joking or being serious? There are billions of people in the world that would LOVE to be in your dismal economic situation.

I wasn't being entirely serious. If I'm lucky, in a years time I will have the LP. Although I'm probably picking up one of the mills tomorrow, and putting myself in Near hardship to do so. I also didn't say that I was worse off than a billion other people. I'm also a single male with a decent job and no kids to take care of.

 

[xiwiwix]

I think it has something to do with the fact that the Star Wars Saga has come to an end and they reboot'd Star Trek. They really need to reboot Star Wars. Once that happens I think things will kick up again. I mean come on, they're making a Wizzard of Oz prequal. What next Citizen Kane II "Weed Bud"?

Just my .02 cents.

 

[rlord1974]

I'm looking to sell some of my gear at a tremendous loss. Let me know if any of you are interested.....

 

[jlbaxe]

The Economy sucks….with that being said I am working 7 days a week…but not bringing in what I normally would. I am a General Contractor doing remodeling and 90% of my work is from Government/Military workers and Doctors, the only ones with a definite paycheck. My money is going towards tools and saving for a house. After that I want a Surround sound system (Denon 3313CI) and speakers.

As for gear:
I don't have time to play everyday due to work. I find when I do sit down with the guitar I learn quicker for some weird reason After my big gear buy/flip journey I got what I originally came looking for, at this forum in 08. The Bogner Ecstasy, it took long enough for me to get it that I ended up with the 20th A. When I can't crank through that or my Mesa Mk III I use the Axe FX II. The Axe II has taken care of any amp and effect gas. The only thing I want now is a Fender Select Tele

So for me I would say after I found what I wanted the Axe II cured my spending money like a mad man.

Blame the Economy and Axe II

 

[richedie]

All I know is that I have bought quite a bit of gear in recent years. The economy has been good to me though..

 

[RSRD]

Just to flame the debate....could it be that the slow death of rock has something to do with it as well?

I will say this. It IS alarming that Im seeing gear that used to sell for $3k and be bought within a few hours- now sit for days and days to drop in price to around $2400, if bought at all. Seeing things like that keep me from splurging as much as I have. I know that flipping could mean serious loss.

I miss the days of gearmania it was the best of times.

 

[rlord1974]

I can confirm that in the current economic climate, FLIPPING = LOSS.

I am slowly reaching my "threshold for pain" in this regard. Maybe just a couple of more pieces to pick up and sell......

 

['63-Strat]

I think if we're generalizing to the used gear market in its entirety, yes definitely the economy is a BIG factor. If it's just rig talk then sure, maybe it's a generational thing of guys that have been flipping gear since the 90s (or 80s) finally realizing that there's nothing really new under the sun and are happy with what they have, too. I'm still not doing as well as I'd like financially but I'm saving $, not spending it so I should be fine. I really haven't bought anything significant in a long time and am very happy with my gear.

Played another couple gigs recently with just my 1X10 18w rivera-era super champ and pedals and it was totally fine. Had a rehearsal last night using just a little SS fender combo and that was fine too. Do I prefer my bogner rig big time? Sure but it just doesn't really matter that much to the audience though is what I've accepted. I've been playing gigs for around 16 years now and seeing live music for a little longer, I've just accepted that what blows me away is a great band with a great overall mix, individual guitar tone isn't that important if the band mix isn't killer too. Am I going to sell off a bunch of gear? Not unless I have to, no, but I also know that doing so wouldn't really have much impact on me as a full-time musician, either. Gear is cool, but I still recognize that all I'd *really* need if it truly came down to it is a single coil guitar, a humbucker guitar, an acoustic, a combo and some pedals (though realistically, a backup amp too). Everything else is gravy, honestly. Don't get me wrong I love the "gravy" that I have but if we're talking strictly "need" vs. want, that is all any guitar player "needs."

 

[Heritage Softail]

People are still buying gear that is correctly priced for the market. If it is priced a little low, it goes quick.

Sometimes people are trying to sell low demand gear at price levels from a year or two ago. It just sits.

Popular gear at a good price sells. I have been watching gear move and bought some.