The Steel Guitar Forum

I understand some of you folks made really BIG BUCKS during YOUR playing career.......but that doesn't apply to the vast majority of us wanna-be pickers.

HOW did YOU manage to finance YOUR BIG Guitar PURCHASE? Got a wealthy partner, generous-loving parents, a 2nd mortgage on your house, sold something of value?

Some of you Forumites have 3 or MORE, pedal steels and considering what they're going for these days, it's mind boggling how you managed to do it.

Let us in on the secret?

Ray, yes...I've got a few, but that's nothing compared to your own Rickenbacker collection, is it?

I've just got one pedal steel guitar. When I ordered it, I had been saving all my playing money for years. (I don't play music for a living.) I don't remember how long it took to save up that much cash. After my new Mullen came in, I sold my old Emmons. I kept $300 of the proceeds for myself and split the rest equally between our church and my lodge.

Lee, from South Texas

Never bought a single instrument or amp that didn't get paid for by playing live gigs for the money. My harley came from gig money too.

The first one was $600 borrowed from the base credit union in 76 to take some lessons from BC. Took about a year before I paid for it out of gig money.

Actually traded for some lately.

Am trading my 1-12 HRDlx for a Marshall 100w SS half stack and a guitar this Sunday.

I figure I can play louder to make up for my loss of hearing..



EJL

Most of my instruments came by way of gig money, some were gifts from my wife. I had several vintage Instruments which were not expensive at the time I purchased them but years later became valuable, at that point I made the decison and sold them off, but using the money for new gear , a modern Steel, my favorite 88 52RI Telecaster etc. I have always bought and sold or traded on the used market, still do, I am always seeking something different and I certainly have a bunch of good junk to "move" to get the deal done. I guess I can say that when I buy, I am always thinking about the sale as well so in my mind I always try to buy smart and conservative. I do this with Cars too.

for ex:
I sold my Sho-Bud Steel and Fender Twin in the early 90's. When I wanted to buy another steel and amp , I sold my early 80's Gibson ES335 which I never played and bought new. That funded my first Carter D-10 which I purchased from a forum member , I had a few dollars left over. I used the left over and got a Nashvlle 400 from a forum member as well.

Now you don't want to know anymore because that was the beginning of my continuous saga of selling , trading whatever which is still going on. 5 or 6 steels and 5 or 6 amps later I am still in the process !

and it really is fun too.

t

I had the choice- gear ,...Or a wife ...Ive got a lot of gear...

My wife bought me my MSA Classic D10 in 1976.
Sold it to finance a piano for our daughter who was taking piano lessons.

Now, when I want a steel, I make one. Sort of a retirement hobby. Currently making 2.

I've been "trading up" all my life. Each new "main ax" required the sale of the old one plus an increment of cash.

Mickey Adams wrote:I had the choice- gear ,...Or a wife ...Ive got a lot of gear...

Mickey i think you made a good choice ! HAHAHA !

Mickey, you're hilarious, dude!

I save a good portion, maybe 90% of my proceeds from shows to pay for my set up. I started out with good gear and sold and upgraded with the proceeds. I am making excellent money playing so I am getting a really good outfit of gear. I just started socking away money to buy a back up guitar.

I play so much I cannot recall that last time I paid for a beer.

Mickey Adams wrote:I had the choice- gear ,...Or a wife ...Ive got a lot of gear...

Yup, that's the answer. In my early 30s, I became concerned that I was still single and my musician friends were working on their second divorce.... I realized wives and guitars usually didn't coexist well, so I took the less expensive option. And a guitar doesn't mind if you have another guitar.

Lots of ways - I've horse traded over the years and had a guitar shop during the 90s.

But these days - I work for a living doing something besides music. YMMV, but works for me.

I've always lived within my means,so I saved up until I had the cash to buy what I wanted.All of my instruments were bought used so they weren't very costly except my 1928 Gibson banjo,of which I am very proud of.I'm not knocking credit or instant gratification,but look where it's gotten our country.

Andy

Easy one Ray..

Just max out all your credit cards...go into debt..
and tell everybody your rich.

I've always traded up for instruments, since, I started playing music.There was always a modest cash outlay on my part for the particular axe I wanted. There are several I wish I never got rid of, but, I didn't have a crystal ball to tell me how much they would appreciate- HA!
My gig money provided for my lifestyle, put a roof over my head, food on the table, clothes on my back and any extra gear I wanted.
Playing gigs are pretty lean now, so, any upgrades will have to be done by going back to square one, or robbing a bank.

I've been "trading up" all my life.

Even the wife?

...by not giving up my day job and becoming a starving musician.

When I moved from England to California 29 years ago (oh my God, is it that long ) I had 15 yrs. working in government finance behind me. I made up my mind I was bored with accountancy and would become a full-time luthier. Unfortunately, reality stepped in in the form of having to pay rent on an apartment in San Francisco, and I drifted back into accounting.

When we sold our home 2 yrs ago I asked my wife if I could buy a new steel. I had been playing an old shobud professional d10 . I had never baught a new steel before. She said ok ,and that I better get what I wanted beacuse I would not get one any other way. . So I called Del Mullen and made an order for a RP D10 8-5 natural laquer finish.

My first good electric guitar ( Fender Jazz Master ) I bought with the money I made washing dishes, and making pizzas in my uncles resturant when I was a teenager. My main steel, came from a christmas bonus the company paid every year, and I normally gave to my wife. The other stuff I got was buy, sell, trade deals. John

Iv'e paid for my guitars primarily from Music Gigs.
However, for the first really decent amp (with some power}, I went out to Leo Fenders first shop in the middle 40's to look at one of his 15" tweed covered amps. They were selling for about two hundred dollars. I told Leo I wanted one but would have to find some financing. He said, take the Amp with you and just send me twenty dollers a month until it's paid off. No Contract no Interest, just a handshake and then he took me to lunch at a little coffee shop down the street. He loved to talk to musicians about what they wanted in his equipment.

I left my wife. Steel guitar is cheaper.

I told Leo I wanted one but would have to find some financing. He said, take the Amp with you and just send me twenty dollers a month until it's paid off. No Contract no Interest, just a handshake and then he took me to lunch at a little coffee shop down the street. He loved to talk to musicians about what they wanted in his equipment.

Billy, you are a lucky man.