Sentimental about Gear

[Dave Keys]

Does anyone else get sentimental about their boards? I've just sold my RD700nx and it has been an absolute wrench to sell it. Looks great, feels great to play, with great sound. It was just too cumbersome for gigs.weighing 25kgs (over 55lbs) so it's been used mostly as a studio controller the last few years - and only very occasionally at that. I was going to sell it, then changed my mind to keep it, then back to selling it again!  I've replaced it with the CP88, which I think is a great board, and is much more manageable at 18.6kgs (41lbs). My head told me to sell it as I need the proceeds to fund the purchase of the CP and the YC73, my heart said keep it. The head won!

 

 

[The Piano Man]

Absolutely! I understand. The problem is that the alternative is to keep lots of boards and have them sit, gathering dust. I recently sold my Kurz PC3x, perhaps for the same reasons you sold the RD700nx. Just too big and cumbersome these days. I’m actually thinking of going to the extreme and getting a Korg Liano instead. Enjoy the memories of the NX and enjoy the lighter weight and modern sound of your CP88 and YC73! 

[nursers]

Yep definitely, still regret selling my DSI PEK and my Yamaha S70

[Dave Keys]

This is like group therapy for Keyboardists - thank you. Piano Man, you're absolutely right, if we kept every board we wouldn't necessarily use them. As they gather dust, they can become temperamental, then you have to maintain them, not to mention insure them. 

 

Dr Nursers - I sold a DSI Prophet 08 to finance my then new Kronos. That was one sale I didn't regret, because while I loved the idea of owning analog synths, I found that I don't have the time to tweak these days like I did 30 years ago, with my Juno's and JX's. Nice board though. 

[DeltaJockey]

Absolutely!

 

I'm going through those emotions big time right now. I've been sitting here surrounded by all my gear, including my more recent stuff, trying to decide whether to offload the older gear I don't use much, but I have an attachment to most of it, and can't bear the thought, but also can't face the thought of it just sitting here as props.🫤

[RABid]

The piece of gear I will never sell is my E-Mus XL-7 Command Station. Bought it for $1250 and that is the best $1250 I ever spent. Two months later they dropped the price to $999 but that never phased me. It is like Ableton Live in hardware, before there was an Ableton Live. There was one time I thought about selling, looked it up on Ebay, and they were going for $225. No way. Now they are up to $1000 and still, no way.

 

[CyberGene]

I regretted selling my Yamaha P90 at the time. I had to live abroad and so I sold it. Then I purchased a Roland FP5 and hated it. What followed were many stage and cabinet pianos but I couldn’t love any of them. Only recently when I purchased my AvantGrand N1X I finally found my spiritual mate, errr piano. 

[HammondDave]

Tell me about it… I will never sell my three Mellotrons, two B3’s, four Leslies, two combo organs, or Wurly.  The more modern keys I have no sentimental value for. 

[SamuelBLupowitz]

8 minutes ago, HammondDave said:

Tell me about it… I will never sell my three Mellotrons, two B3’s, four Leslies, two combo organs, or Wurly.  The more modern keys I have no sentimental value for. 

...even if ... and bear with me here ... a fellow forumite wanted one of your extras...? 😉

 

I get sentimental about instruments, but then again, I get sentimental about everything (ask my wife what it's like trying to get me to get rid of ANYTHING). I finally sold my 12-year-old Casio Privia, to a friend who I knew would use it, after I got my CP88. My wife, and a drummer we play with, are both always trading up older gear for the next new thing. I don't replace -- I collect.

[HammondDave]

Here is the problem… all of these instruments have meaning to me…. Especially the Mellotrons and Hammonds. One of my M400’s was a gift from Michael Allsup and is in the middle of a complete restoration. This is a my home project for the next year. The M300 is a very rare instrument and is in near prime condition. It too needs a little work and a custom tape set installed (anyone know someone in LA who can do this?). One of my B3’s is a 1955 model (the year I was born) that I bought at an estate sale in Beverly Hills for $1200 (with Leslie). The owner kept it in his living room since new. And the other B3 is a 1958 that is the best Hammond I have ever heard or played. This is the organ that I enjoy playing the most. 
 

I could sell the Wurly, G101, and Vox Continental if I get the right price. I have sampled these instruments so that I can play the sounds in my bands. I also have a tricked out Motif XS7 in showroom condition. Maybe I should put those up for sale? Hmmm

[yannis D]

I've regreted some items I sold but sentimental? No. 

But I regret I sold my Nord Lead 2 some years ago for cheap, with no apparent reason except the fact that I am very anti-GAS type and I always try to keep it low and sell whatever is not of maximum use. 

But yes I regret giving my red ♥️. Since then I try to replace it but I want to get rid of my Ultranova first. A NL2x has appeared on my local ads for 600 euros and it's very tempting 

 

 

[ElmerJFudd]

It depends on why I selected the keyboard, what I use it for, and how much I connected with it.   But unfortunately, with electronics, there is a life span of functionality, and and there are very few boards that I would consider putting additional money into to keep them working.  
 

Acoustic pianos, they can definitely have sentimental value when passed down from parents.  But one would have to compare rebuilding costs to value of the instrument even with sentimental value. 

[Stokely]

1 hour ago, yannis D said:

I've regreted some items I sold but sentimental? No. 

But I regret I sold my Nord Lead 2 some years ago for cheap, with no apparent reason except the fact that I am very anti-GAS type and I always try to keep it low and sell whatever is not of maximum use. 

But yes I regret giving my red ♥️. Since then I try to replace it but I want to get rid of my Ultranova first. A NL2x has appeared on my local ads for 600 euros and it's very tempting 

 

 

This is me as well.  I have a number of regrets, but I don't really feel much attachment toward keyboards or other gear.   Closest thing might be my old JX-10 but that's probably more nostalgia for the time in my life than it is the keyboard.

My keyboards today run absolute circles around anything I owned in the past.

I'd imagine I might have more sentiment toward a more mechanical instrument such as a b3 or rhodes or piano.  Electronic keyboards, not so much.

[yannis D]

21 minutes ago, Stokely said:

This is me as well.  I have a number of regrets, but I don't really feel much attachment toward keyboards or other gear.   Closest thing might be my old JX-10 but that's probably more nostalgia for the time in my life than it is the keyboard.

My keyboards today run absolute circles around anything I owned in the past.

I'd imagine I might have more sentiment toward a more mechanical instrument such as a b3 or rhodes or piano.  Electronic keyboards, not so much.

This

I've sold three Rhodes pianos over the years (one rare 54 amongst them), a  Hammond portaB with a its Leslie cabinet, an old sweet sounding microKorg etc, but I never regret those sells I made to purchase new gear which was always linked to new(er) projects. Keyboards come and go, as far as creativity is there. Now I am good with my Electro5 (since 2017) and Mainstage and Camelot rigs with two controllers. I have everything I need. Even the Ultranova can go at any given moment. 

[RABid]

For me, the more interesting question may be what instruments did you sell and NOT regret it. For me that list would include...

 

MiniMoog Model D (osc 2 tuning drove me crazy)

Fender Rhodes (Not worth carrying for 4 songs a night)

Wurlitzer 200a (Not worth carrying for 2 songs a night)

[Konnector]

I finally became "unsentimental"  about two years ago towards a bunch of gear I've had for years that wasn't seeing much use, but couldn't bare to part with. With the prices of older synths and vintage outboard gear skyrocketing over the last two years it was good timing, so I did a major purge and have had no regrets since. 

[KuruPrionz]

When I was a kid, I'd look at the Sears catalog and lust mightily for a Silvertone U-1, made by Danelectro and nicknamed "Dolphin Nose" because of the shape of the headstock. I REALLY wanted that guitar and since it was only $37 I was certain Mom and Dad would get one for me. They didn't. 

 

Decades later, I got one (photo attached). It's a cool guitar and actually plays well, would have been a great choice for a starter back then. 

I've got it up for sale, after years of having it sitting around I've come to the conclusion that I will never spend any serious time with it and somebody else might love to have it. I don't regret owning it and I won't regret selling it, time changes things. 

[Old No7]

7 hours ago, Dave Keys said:

Does anyone else get sentimental about their boards?

 

I "was" sentimental about my Hammond M3 Chop & Leslie 145 -- that is, until I got more sentimental about my BACK!!!

 

Old No7

 

[Docbop]

Being only played keyboards for a short bit not really sentimental about any at this point.   I do think about getting rid of my Stage 3 for a <fill in the blank>. The Stage 3 hasn't been a Love or Hate relationship, but more a a Love or Really Frustrated relationship with the S3.   Plus Nords being the really high priced boards if I did sell it and decided I wanted a Nord again I'd be really reluctant to pay that much again. 

 

In all my years of playing guitar and bass  and owning a lot of them in that time pretty much only one amp I wish I never sold and would love to get back that was a real 1965 Blackface Fender Princeton Reverb that I had modded by Paul Rivera.   Guitar wise I still have my favorites, but bass wise I sold my old 60's Precision Bass that sounded so-so good, but had a neck problem, but it sound so good I could ignore the neck issue.    

[The Piano Man]

12 minutes ago, Docbop said:

Being only played keyboards for a short bit not really sentimental about any at this point.   I do think about getting rid of my Stage 3 for a <fill in the blank>. The Stage 3 hasn't been a Love or Hate relationship, but more a a Love or Really Frustrated relationship with the S3.   Plus Nords being the really high priced boards if I did sell it and decided I wanted a Nord again I'd be really reluctant to pay that much again. 

 

In all my years of playing guitar and bass  and owning a lot of them in that time pretty much only one amp I wish I never sold and would love to get back that was a real 1965 Blackface Fender Princeton Reverb that I had modded by Paul Rivera.   Guitar wise I still have my favorites, but bass wise I sold my old 60's Precision Bass that sounded so-so good, but had a neck problem, but it sound so good I could ignore the neck issue.    

I had two Nords. Stage 2 ex up76 and a Piano 2. Sold them both. Just use older gear now (Technics stage pianos). Perfectly useable for gigs and happy to have the cash instead of those pricey Nords. Bought both ex-demo so didn’t actually lose much at all when selling on. I just find it so difficult to justify owning such high value keyboards. I really don’t see how a Nord is worth £3000 or whatever when you can pick up a decent old Roland, Yamaha or Technics slab piano for a couple of hundred. Your mileage may vary!!

[Dave Keys]

8 minutes ago, The Piano Man said:

I had two Nords. Stage 2 ex up76 and a Piano 2. Sold them both. Just use older gear now (Technics stage pianos). Perfectly useable for gigs and happy to have the cash instead of those pricey Nords. Bought both ex-demo so didn’t actually lose much at all when selling on. I just find it so difficult to justify owning such high value keyboards. I really don’t see how a Nord is worth £3000 or whatever when you can pick up a decent old Roland, Yamaha or Technics slab piano for a couple of hundred. Your mileage may vary!!

Well, this weekend I sold not just the RD700nx, but also my Nord Electro 5 HP73. The Nord looks and sounds great, and is gloriously portable, but I didn't find selling it a wrench like I did with the RD.

I've replaced it with the YC73. 

I liken the Nord and the YC to 2 of the many different types of women I've been acquainted with during my life. The Nord - very sassy and flash, instantly attractive, in your face, before you start to realise beyond the facade lies something less appealing. The novelty wears off. The YC - something dark and intriguing, a slow burner, not quite as sexy up front, but with a slow burning fascination and interest that develops day by day and keeps me hooked. The YC is the board I would take home to meet my mother. 😆

[marino]

Well, of course. Every instrument that I have sold had my sounds inside, hundreds of patches, dozens of sleepless night... The thought of some of the old instruments triggers memories of different periods of my life. I even recall the smell of some of them.

 

I had dreams of my Rhodes Chroma for years after I had sold it. And the Rhodes 73 ep was frankly too much to carry to gigs, but nothing could ever *really* replace it.

I decided to keep the Matrix-12 at all costs, still have it. And I still miss my expanded XP-80, a great board with decent action, aftertouch, and good master functions.

I even miss the Roland SH-201, an underrated little monster.

 

Even the midi controllers bring good memories: The Elka MK76, built into its own flight case, with polyphonic aftertouch in the early days; the Studiologic 2001, with four midi ins and four outs with unlimited merge! (I had two, I donated one and the other is about to go).

 

When I finally got a grand piano, I sold my old upright to my then-girlfriend. I had written all my music on that upright, so I was quite attached to it... but every now and then, I could still play it at her place. Of course I asked her a very reasonable sum. And of course, shortly after we split, she sold it for double that amount...

 

There's just one synth that I didn't regret selling: The PPG Wave 2.2. I made the mistake to buy it without trying it first, and I hated its sound from the first note. I used it live with a fusion group in the late 80s, then I sold it for a fraction of the price I had paid.

[The Piano Man]

6 minutes ago, Dave Keys said:

Well, this weekend I sold not just the RD700nx, but also my Nord Electro 5 HP73. The Nord looks and sounds great, and is gloriously portable, but I didn't find selling it a wrench like I did with the RD.

I've replaced it with the YC73. 

I liken the Nord and the YC to 2 of the many different types of women I've been acquainted with during my life. The Nord - very sassy and flash, instantly attractive, in your face, before you start to realise beyond the facade lies something less appealing. The novelty wears off. The YC - something dark and intriguing, a slow burner, not quite as sexy up front, but with a slow burning fascination and interest that develops day by day and keeps me hooked. The YC is the board I would take home to meet my mother. 😆

In that case, my old Technics is like the old lady you meet outside the pizza/kebab shop at 3am. A little rough round the edges, a bit stained and smelly but she fairly does a job, so to speak.

[16251]

Traded my Vox Continental for an oz while at U of Mass. 

[Shamanzarek]

I had to sell my Hammonds and several other keyboards to make the move from New Jersey to South Carolina. I tried to sell several others but they were a hard sell so I brought along four Vox Continentals, a Super Continental, Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, RMI 300A, Oberheim OB8, Matrix 12, Roland Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Yamaha CS70M, and some newer keyboards I use on stage when a gig comes up. It was tough letting it all go but there is less room in the new place so I had to make some hard choices but I don't dwell on it too much.

[ProfD]

I've never been sentimental over my old gear.  The *newer* KB I choose to use is bought specifically to cover the sounds, features and functionality I need.😎

[Thethirdapple]

Like family or lifelong friends !!!

 

My Juno6 has been there and here with me thru so much, its about the memories as much as the machine. It probably needs a good servicing, but like a an old guitar with stretched strings, its sound has become a part of my musical identity.

 

And especially like almost all analog gear no two are exactly alike. I could say that; its personality would be missed if replaced or “fixed”. Even though everything works, what would change if new resistors/capacitor or “new” analog circuits were put in???

 

PEACE

[K K]

In my particular case, not at all. When it was time, off went the C3, M400S, synths, blablabla. The only instrument I am sentimental with is the current one. Besides, it happens to be a Korg Kronos (KK), in which I sampled all the important sounds from the sold ones. So since I can continue to play them in the KK, I don't feel missing any of them, especially the 200 and 450 lbs ones.

[sleepwalk]

I sold an old upright recently, and I felt a little sad about it for a little while, but that has mostly gone away. Anyway, I'm going to replace it with something much better, so it's for the best...

[David Emm]

My sentiment regarding past hardware slowly disappeared as it shifted over to softsynths. I was happy to have a middling hardware stack over the years, but I don't mourn the absence of the hassles involved. Computer upkeep just involves a different kind of stress. Its also the only way I was ever going to possess a CS-80. I understand the missing tactile component, but I'll take the sound and call it good.

 

That doesn't mean I don't get hazy while recalling the period during which I had 2 Korg DW8000s (w/onboard delays) and 2 Prophet-600s I fed through delay pedals. I stacked them as 2 DW/P-600 pairs. To paraphrase Salvador Dali, "I didn't need drugs. My synth rig WAS drugs."