Bad Timing

[SpaceNorman]

The "Damn, If Only I'd Have Waited a Few Months" ... (I could have bought something better / cheaper / better AND cheaper) has piqued my curiosity.

 

What musical purchase of yours been your biggest source of buyer's remorse?

[SpaceNorman]

I'll go first by saying that barely a gig goes by that I don't kick myself for purchasing lights when I did. Six months later and affordable LED fixtures would have been a viable alternative.

[timwat]

I have several, in no particular order:

 

- Buying Chapman Stick under delusion I would have time and discipline to learn it.

- Trading Moog Prodigy for ARP String Ensemble

- Buying Korg Polysix rather than save money for Prophet 5

- Generally, spending more time researching and buying gear than investing same time in improving my playing.

 

[mcgoo]

My most recent is a road case for the Keystation 88 Pro. One of those ebay stores- looked good in the picture with a price too good to be true. It most certainly was too good 2 b true. Biggest POS I ever bought.

[Discotheque]

Buying my first keyboard (6 or so months ago) without researching before hand (I didn't really know how to research this sort of thing at the time). I bought the Roland RD-300sx, then 3 or 4 months later see it in the store for $300 dollars less as it was discontinued. Doh!

[Dave Horne]

Buying my first keyboard (6 or so months ago) without researching before hand (I didn't really know how to research this sort of thing at the time). I bought the Roland RD-300sx, then 3 or 4 months later see it in the store for $300 dollars less as it was discontinued. Doh!

 

Yea, but for those three months you had the use of that keyboard. You pay more to be closer to the front of the line.

[Joe Muscara]

I have a rule when buying anything. Get a good deal when you buy it, and don't worry about tomorrow. If it's still a good deal then, great, but if not, so what? Once you've bought it, you're done, so no use fretting about it. You'll drive yourself crazy that way.

[SpaceNorman]

I have a rule when buying anything. Get a good deal when you buy it, and don't worry about tomorrow. If it's still a good deal then, great, but if not, so what? Once you've bought it, you're done, so no use fretting about it. You'll drive yourself crazy that way.

 

I agree with you 100% - but even so - every now and then, there are those purchases that make you groan when you look at it with the clarity that hindsight provides.

[Joe Muscara]

When I bought my first new car, I had been devouring Car & Driver and other car mags to that point. Once I bought it, I stopped reading them and let every sub lapse, because I lost interest and because I didn't want to keep reading and thinking, "oh, I wish my car had that!"

 

OTOH, when you buy something and it sucks or you never use it, yeah, you can't avoid thinking about your decision.

[ProfD]

I have a rule when buying anything. Get a good deal when you buy it, and don't worry about tomorrow. If it's still a good deal then, great, but if not, so what? Once you've bought it, you're done, so no use fretting about it. You'll drive yourself crazy that way.

 

I agree with you 100% - but even so - every now and then, there are those purchases that make you groan when you look at it with the clarity that hindsight provides.

I'm in agreement with Joe here as well.

 

While I usually get the deal I want, it does nothing to mitigate the feeling hindsight brings about if/when I run across a better deal.

 

While I should have had buyers remorse in purchasing the K2500XS, I unloaded it so quickly for something better, it never had a chance to set.

[David Loving]

What's wrong with a 300sx? He has something to practice on, right?

[MusicWorkz]

The "Damn, If Only I'd Have Waited a Few Months" ... (I could have bought something better / cheaper / better AND cheaper) has piqued my curiosity.

 

What musical purchase of yours been your biggest source of buyer's remorse?

 

None. I buy what I want and don't worry about it once I get home. And if you really take time to learn about what you are purchasing, you end up with pieces that retain value (note, i didn't say all or much) well past their prime.

 

 

 

[JeffLearman]

My worst case of bad timing would be mitigated by more practice with a metronome.

 

My worst case of stupid buying were two things I got on ebay, which if I'd been just a bit more careful I'd have saved money: a NIB4 bundle that was for Mac/protools (which I don't have), and later, an old clonewheel module whose drawbars I read I could use to control NIB4, only to receive it and see only a MIDI input, no MIDI out (I needed the later revision of the product, which WAS in the article I read.) Ack. Fortunately, not too much later, NI had a sale on NIB4+NIB4D (controller) bundle, so I got both direct from NI, at less than I'd paid trying to get a bargain on the items mentioned above.

[JeffLearman]

My best timing was when back in 1981 or so, when CP70's were $4K new with a long waiting list, I walked into the local pro shop to see a beat-to-shit one lying in parts all over the floor.

 

Me: How much?

Them: 2500

Me: If it works, sold.

 

No doubt I could have argued them down, but I got 20 years of great use out of that baby and it was well worth the $125/yr. Made a better player out of me too, having something approaching a real piano with grand action to play regularly.

 

[marino]

I don't have buyer's remorse often, as I usually meditate my purchases quite a bit. I have a case too, though: The Roland RD300 and 300S. I saw an ad by the Italian distributor where they stated that it had aftertouch..!! (for transmitting via MIDI)I brought it home, and of course, no aftertouch. I went mad, but the store refused to take it back... I used it for a while, but I was also put down by the 'fake' keyboard weighting.

 

Finally, I got the 300S, which had good weighting, but was so heavy, it was impossible to carry it around. In the end I got rid of both and bought the first Fatar Studio 2001 that showed in Rome. (serial number 9!)

 

I have a serious case of seller's remorse too: The Rhodes Chroma. Of course it was big, bulky, cumbersome to program, and unreliable... but all I can remember today is its great sound and wonderful looks.

 

 

[Outkaster]

I don't remorse but I had some good deals lately in the last two years:

 

Leslie 22H $100.00

Wurlitzer 200 $140.00

Leslie 145 (122 amp) $500.00

[MuzikTeechur]

I haven't had that happen in the instrument arena (yet), but I never pay retail, and try to find what I want lightly used if I can (looking for the guy who bought something with the idea he wanted to learn on it and then lost interest).

[zahush76]

Actually, i enjoyed "bad timing" very much:

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080408/

 

Art Garfunkel acted very good.

[Yoozer]

Buying an ESI-4000 with Turbo (but without built-in ZIP drive) in 2000. Should've forgotten that plan altogether (didn't use it much, since it required a SCSI cd rom drive to be usable). If I would've waited a month I would've gotten the superior Yamaha A4000 for the same price, or at least the ESI with all the factory CDs (instead of just one of 'm).