The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    New Gear Day should be exciting and awesome, but for me the excitement seems to give way to anxiety sometimes. I find myself wondering if I made the right choice. Is this the right one, or should I have got the other one I was considering? Could I have got a better deal? Should I have gotten a new guitar at all? Do I already have to many? So and so forth.

    Does anyone else ever feel this way or is there something wrong with me?

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    I think you are preaching to the choir here.

  4. #3

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    You are perfectly normal. Most of us tend to be a bit neurotic.

  5. #4

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    Always

  6. #5

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    I feel worse about the 1954 L-5 for 5,000 that I waited too long to pull trigger on. Sat around for a few months. So try to remember how bad you might feel if you waited and it was gone. Unless you severely overpay, any potential mistakes can be sold without losing much or any dough.

  7. #6

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    I grew up with very little money and I still feel like I don't 'deserve' a new guitar because I already have enough. It sounds weird maybe, but to me, it's really an issue.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by Joeontheguitar
    I grew up with very little money and I still feel like I don't 'deserve' a new guitar because I already have enough. It sounds weird maybe, but to me, it's really an issue.
    Send me a few and you'll feel better. Happy to help.

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fat Fingers
    New Gear Day should be exciting and awesome, but for me the excitement seems to give way to anxiety sometimes. I find myself wondering if I made the right choice. Is this the right one, or should I have got the other one I was considering? Could I have got a better deal? Should I have gotten a new guitar at all? Do I already have to many? So and so forth.

    Does anyone else ever feel this way or is there something wrong with me?
    Hi FatFingers. Your psychological profile clearly makes you unsuitable for buying quality instruments. Offload what you have soonest - I'll collect for free on Thursday if that brings you relief

  10. #9

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    Let me say that I rarely have a problem with the price I paid, if I did I would take solace in the fact that some other sucker lost the one I got :-) I'm more likely to pay a "fair" price and get what I want / need than hope for a better deal.

    I tend to win more auctions with this mindset. If I initially bid a "fair" price, I don't sit around wringing my hands waiting to make another bid after being outbid. I just bid what it's worth to me. If someone outbids me (unlikely) they wanted it more. It's done. I also like the BIN listings. It goes back to do I think it's a "fair" price.

    As far as the rest of the things that can cause angst, could I have spent the money better? Like getting shoes and food for the kids? Or paying the rent or money on the credit cards? Getting lottery tickets?

    Just kidding, my son is grown, I own my house and I don't gamble!

    The "other" guitar I didn't buy may actually have been better, but then I think of my 175 which is awesome, and some schlep sold it to chase their elusive tone... Or get shoes and food for the kids, pay rent, pay down the CC, or go to the casino :-)

    Oh reality check... we're custodians of these instruments most better crafted samples will outlast us, So I'll let my heirs worry about what I paid because Sam Smash is going to rip them off when they bring them in to sell anyway.

  11. #10

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    ngd should always be a joy!..it's the ones that got away that cause me the anxiety...remember once seeing a pristine natural gibson 330 in a 48th st manhattan (music row) shop on a friday evening..just as they were closing...300$...even then, that was a huge/great deal!

    went back first thing saturday morn...and it was gone!!! sold!! somebody must have been sleeping in the doorway!! haha

    saw so many great guitars i wish i bought..strombergs galore, every type of gibson, brooklyn gretsch, etc etc

    that haunts me!!..ngd?..that's just a slightly guilty conscience..hah...just gets lost with all the others!! haha


    just congrats & enjoy..and treat it well

    cheers

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    ngd should always be a joy!..it's the ones that got away that cause me the anxiety...remember once seeing a pristine natural gibson 330 in a 48th st manhattan (music row) shop on a friday evening..just as they were closing...300$...even then, that was a huge/great deal!

    went back first thing saturday morn...and it was gone!!! sold!! somebody must have been sleeping in the doorway!! haha

    saw so many great guitars i wish i bought..strombergs galore, every type of gibson, brooklyn gretsch, etc etc

    that haunts me!!..ngd?..that's just a slightly guilty conscience..hah...just gets lost with all the others!! haha


    just congrats & enjoy..and treat it well

    cheers
    indeed, always love a NGD, though getting more rare for me these days.
    as for the one that got away, '39 Super 400 w/orig leather covered case I bought from the orig owners son, looked sounded and played superb.
    sold it to fund another guitar 20+ yrs ago but wish I could go back and undo the deal.
    it's in a big collection and not coming back, sigh....

  13. #12

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    I would say the more you learn about human nature the better understanding you'll have for these types of transactions. I was a salesman for 40 years and learned a lot - - -and I was a bartender before that and learned a lot there too !!
    Not sure there's a Rule Number One, but it may be that ' only people buy '. No 24 Hour Teller ever bought anything.
    Is there such as thing as ' buyers remorse ' ? You bet there is. But whenever you get to that process maybe telling yourself that you 'paid what it took to take that item off the market ' will help.
    We'll all kick ourselves for that $5000. L-5 that got away - -but if you're close, maybe next time it'll help to pull the trigger if you tell yourself - - " I'd better buy this - - I may be wrong for $5000. - -but I'm absolutely dead nuts right about $4800. of those dollars. " I sure wish every bad deal I ever made was bad for only a few hundred bucks. One bad deal of mine was two thousand dollars 'dumb'...........
    And don't worry too much or feel too bad - - -everyone's got that same brother-in-law who never made a bad buy.......ever.........

    As the car guys say : " I'm not sure he was lying, but his lips were moving. "

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dennis D
    I would say the more you learn about human nature the better understanding you'll have for these types of transactions. I was a salesman for 40 years and learned a lot - - -and I was a bartender before that and learned a lot there too !!
    Not sure there's a Rule Number One, but it may be that ' only people buy '. No 24 Hour Teller ever bought anything.
    Is there such as thing as ' buyers remorse ' ? You bet there is. But whenever you get to that process maybe telling yourself that you 'paid what it took to take that item off the market ' will help.
    We'll all kick ourselves for that $5000. L-5 that got away - -but if you're close, maybe next time it'll help to pull the trigger if you tell yourself - - " I'd better buy this - - I may be wrong for $5000. - -but I'm absolutely dead nuts right about $4800. of those dollars. " I sure wish every bad deal I ever made was bad for only a few hundred bucks. One bad deal of mine was two thousand dollars 'dumb'...........
    And don't worry too much or feel too bad - - -everyone's got that same brother-in-law who never made a bad buy.......ever.........

    As the car guys say : " I'm not sure he was lying, but his lips were moving. "

    yrs ago me and my buddy adopted the 10% rule
    if you like the guitar and you feel it's overpriced by 10%, just buy it
    has served us very well over the yrs, I've got a bunch still laying around here acquired w/that philosophy

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    yrs ago me and my buddy adopted the 10% rule
    if you like the guitar and you feel it's overpriced by 10%, just buy it
    has served us very well over the yrs, I've got a bunch still laying around here acquired w/that philosophy
    I agree....and most of the time you'll probably get to 5%.....

    I do that a lot now......If I need anything from a store, I find one I can walk - -meaning half the size of Home Depot or Walmart.....if I get to 10% or less for the non bigbox store premium , so be it !

  16. #15

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    It can be fun sometimes. I've had pretty disappointing acquisitions and a lesser amount of exciting ones. Something is usually learned.

    All of the instrument and amps I've had the for longest time were one I bought on local classifieds.
    I just think it's easier to trust someone who's giving the option to see and experience beforehand exactly what it is you may be buying.

    Even if you hear a 100 members on a few forums singing praises to the moon, personally trying is still leagues better.

    Unless I'd have known EXACTLY what it was that I was looking for (and I never have), online instrument shopping has been nothing but a gamble.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by DMgolf66
    I feel worse about the 1954 L-5 for 5,000 that I waited too long to pull trigger on. Sat around for a few months. So try to remember how bad you might feel if you waited and it was gone. Unless you severely overpay, any potential mistakes can be sold without losing much or any dough.
    Then, too, sometimes things work out for the best. At one point a few years ago I was all set to buy Patrick2's WesMo. Had the money in hand and just as I was about to make a proffer, our friend JoeD buys it, so I took the $6k and bought hearing aids, which I needed, rather than another (admittedly stunning) guitar. Of course, eventually Joe sold it to Lawson, and every thing is jake. Smiling faces all around. I'm happy with my ES-175, and even happier to be able to hear it.

  18. #17

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    Buying the gear isn't what makes me anxious. Explaining it to my wife is what makes me anxious. But she just bought her fourth mandolin and a tenor banjo in a year- in addition to her guitar, two clarinets, a piano and a violin- so I think I have some wiggle room now.

    My "problem" is that I just don't have room for more guitars than the 8 I have now. It's a little house we live in, under 1000 square feet. I have way too much gear that I just never use (pedals, amps, etc.) that I should sell rather than letting it sit around unused. Some for sale ads coming up, I think.

  19. #18

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    Buying new gear is somewhat easy for me. Getting rid of old gear is a lot more difficult. I only want about 8-9 guitars and a couple of amps. To be there I need to off load a guitar or two. The anxiety is how and how much of a hit am I going to take.

  20. #19

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    I really get anxiety when buying a used item. On a guitar, usually the setup is horrible, and I am instantly freaking out that the neck is bad. Or on an amp something is not working.

  21. #20

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    No - it's just a guitar. If I don't like it I sell it and get a different one. Of course, I've only bought something like one electric guitar since the 80's (I build my own). When I buy an acoustic, I pretty much stick to Martin because I know it'll be good and I can usually get close to my money back. I made an exception last year and bought a Brook Torridge from England because I'd heard great things about them - incredibly good instruments made by two guys in an old barn in Devon. You'd have to pry this one from my cold dead fingers. Overall, though,I don't get overly attached because I used to own a full line retail store and stocked something like 200 guitars at any given time. That urge to turn a profit is still with me and I always try to buy right.

  22. #21

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    My only anxiety comes from guitars bought sight unseen. Shipping is a risk, condition and playability is a risk and even just getting the damn guitar can be a risk. For the most part, those purchases have paid off more often than not.

    The best way to avoid NGD anxiety is to not buy any more guitars and be happy with what you have.

    Does NGD cause anxiety for anyone else?-h-schachtel-quote-happiness-not-having-what-you-want-but-wanting-jpg

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stringswinger
    ...

    The best way to avoid NGD anxiety is to not buy any more guitars and be happy with what you have.
    I do wonder a bit about that. On the one hand I feel that I should only play 3-4 of the guitars that I have and predominantly stick with only one. A lot of the players that I really admire were one guitar players. Chasing others is fun though, but that consists of 5-6 more. It doesn't seem opulent but it also isn't absolutely necessary.

  24. #23

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    NGD ANXIETY???


  25. #24

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    Not with my latest purchase, an Epiphone Joe Pass. I looked at Ibanez and Epiphone and I liked the look of the Epiphone and pulled the trigger. Now I'm looking at some Gibson L-4C's. Thats a different story.

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stringswinger
    My only anxiety comes from guitars bought sight unseen. Shipping is a risk, condition and playability is a risk and even just getting the damn guitar can be a risk.
    Here's the current model for guitar buying:
    a) Send a wheelbarrow full of money
    b) To a stranger
    c) Based on an always-incomplete set of pictures
    d) And maybe a crappy-sounding video showing someone who plays totally different from you
    e) On the basis that xxx guitars are interchangeable
    f) So everything you've heard from strangers online about this model will apply to that guitar
    g) In hopes that they're really not interchangeable, so you will wind up with The One

    What could possibly be anxiety-inducing about that?

    + + +

    Buying guitars got less anxious once I re-acknowledged that I like checking things out and I need to pay/lose a bit to check things out. At that point, spinning guitars is a hobby which is related to my activity of playing guitars.

    And at the moment I've landed in a happy place, so for this round I win! Consequently, to quote a motto around here, I am

    Retired from buying**