I kinda sinned, kinda didn’t.
Let me explain. I have had the Pioneer RMX-500 dj fx unit two times before. Both times I swore that it was the one piece of kit I’d never sell. Both times I ended up selling it.
It was the piece that single handedly saved my dj career as it made djing interesting again. For years I carried it to every gig I played. Then I retired from djing and decided to sell it. Regretted it like hell and ended up buying the same exact unit back from the dude I sold it to. Ended up selling that one too as I thought I had no use for it anymore with me quitting djing and all.
Since then there has been none for sale in Finland.
A week ago ”a wild RMX suddenly appears!” I knew that I couldn’t buy it for myself but I also knew that I’d have use for one in my shop. So i bought it for the shop, with the shop’s money. I’ve started accumulating different kinds of second hand dj equipment for my shop. I have plans for starting saturday dj gigs at my book shop and also I have a plan to maybe start a dj-equipment and pa-system rental business as a side thing. So all in all, I’m not sure even myself if my mishap counts as a sin. Maybe it should as today as I tore open the package and started testing the thing I felt the old love tingle. This is just hands down the most inspiring effects unit ever. I’m so happy that I can f**k up the music in my shop by inserting a bpm synced 808 cowbell into every song.
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Well, despite the internal struggles you may have you still manage to somehow come across as one of the dudes I’d put my money on for handling this challenge without failing. Maybe it’s your overall friendly demeanour that is creating this aura of trust and willpower around you in my eyes hehehe.
I really want to hear what you’ll come up with the P6.
Just a weird (little) sidenote I kinda realised just now as I’m playing with the OT, hear me out lol. Almost every time I consciously try to do something kinda random or at least something I haven’t tried before with synths and especially with Elektron gear something cool happens and I’ve been wondering why I usually still default to some boring and I guess safe kind of approach and it dawned on me that that is actually the way acoustic and electro-acoustic instruments are learned, you just have to grind those same things until your technique and muscle memory develops.
Now that I see it I wonder what took me so damn long. It’s very obvious when you think about it. This might just be the most important realisation about making electronic music I’ve had this year besides the fact that using money I don’t really even have on things I don’t need is a dead end, which is painfully obvious too. 
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I sold a blue Roland SH-101 (with the grip) in 2014 for 550€. That was the going price back then, well maybe I sold it for a bit cheap as it was a friend of mine who bought it.
Today I saw a second hand blue SH-101 for sale in Finland for 1700€ (without the grip).
Shiiiiiieeeeeeeeeet! The prices have really gone way up since I sold all my vintage analogs.
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You kinda sinned. Still, that’s a great find so congrats!
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I was once playing a friend’s wedding as a dj and had the RMX with me. The wedding band was Alpo & Tomi and suddenly Tomi (of Aavikko & Circle fame) came to my table and realized that we both had the same piece of kit with us. He told me that the RMX was his ”secret weapon”.
If the best drummer in Finland uses this thing as his secret weapon then it must be good for me too.
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He’s playing is incredible. Such a great sound and style. Loose and tight at the same time. I guess that’s the kind of groove Martin Hannett was demanding when he told Stephen Morris to play faster but slower.
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He’s the finnish Jaki Liebzeit and that’s not a complimet given lightly.
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Reporting a success and failure even though I’m not really participating.
Success: haven’t really bought anything this year. Certainly nothing over $100, unlike last year’s very carefully considered rapid fire buy of both a Lyra & Syntrx (which I actually used on the road and throughout the move, so no regrets!)
The real success is that, outside of the failure I’ll mention next, I’m fairly happy with what I have. My combined home office and studio is much larger than back in California, and I have a fantastic view. I don’t want to clutter the place up with more gear and shelving like I tend to do. Instead, I’ll organize everything carefully so that I can maximize synth fun while enjoying a truly amazing city view.
Failure: I bought a Wavestate.
I will also certainly buy an NTS-2 scope, so I still can’t join NGNY in good faith. But I feel that I’ve demonstrated to myself a good level of self control and reached a different and lower frequency and cost of purchases. That is a win.
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Thank you! You’re too kind, seriously! Just today I almost posted a WTB ad on something on a Finnish forum but managed to resist at the last minute. So we’ll see how much longer the aura of trust remains! 
It’s funny bordering on ridiculous that in the past four weeks I’ve been 99% certain about what synth I’d like to get next - only to have a different synth in mind the following week. Compared to what I did in 2019-2021 (buy impulsively), it’s cheaper this way tho.
Who was it again who said ”I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times”? That’s a bit how my NGNY is going so far.
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Hehehe I hear you!! Very soon after making that comment I realised that maybe I shouldn’t voice any assumptions like that here since I don’t really know what is going on and I definitely don’t wish to create any kind of added pressure for anyone, so I’m glad you took it in a positive way, that’s how I intended it. 
Yeah that’s way cheaper and more sustainable and you’ll avoid the buyers remorse too.
Sounds like something William Shatner would say hahaha.
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All good! Maybe the way my words come across over the internet make the situation or the GAS sound somehow ”extreme” but it’s not. It’s an effing first world problem if there ever was one. I’m not taking it too seriously. When I’m at my gear making music, everything is in its right place. When I’m not, thoughts start drifting. It is those moments I’d like to start seeing change in myself after six months of this challenge. When I’m not seeing any change, it feels a bit frustrating. And that’s when I come on here and talk about it. Sorry people! 
(But it’s helping, at least a little bit, so thank you.)
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Hehehe awesome!! I would agree, positive development always takes a bit longer to make a difference than mistakes made in the moment and rarely gets published. Still, just like mistakes, the avoided BS and the effects of good choices too will cumulate and slowly unlock more fruitful and less agonising dimensions of life and creativity.
I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one here who already sees a stark contrast in their behaviour, mood and financial situation compared to the end of last year.
Also, a place to go to vent a little bit when needed is essential for peer support and perspective.
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This is so true! Also for me reading a book or listening to music helps keep the GAS down. It really is in the idle moments (or when I’m meant to be working) that it’s worst. I’ve lusted after quite a few things recently but also managed not to cave in.
I 100% don’t need any music gear, probably for the rest of my life, but still the want creeps in sometimes. Turning on actual music gear instead of obsessing about theoretical gear works for me though. MPC Live or SP404mk2 are great for this, they can sit by my desk at home when I’m working an I can fire them up almost instantly for a fix.
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I’ve resisted the temptation to sell excess gear this year too. This far.
This week I was a little short on money and decided to offload some unused gear from the closet. Immediately when I had some extra money, I started to prowl the synth classifieds for something to buy.
It’s funny, I don’t even need anything specific. So I keep thinking about buying everything or anything. One minute I’m looking at second hand studio monitors, next minute I’m comparing sequencers or guitar pedals. It’s like the extra money is burning a hole in my pocket and I need to spend it on something, just something, quick.
I’ve had a strict rule for as long as I’ve been making music, that synth money stays in synths. Meaning that when I sell some gear, that money is not going into groceries or electric bills but into another piece of gear. It’s sad to have to sell gear to be able to pay bills. I’m doing just fine and my book shop business is thriving but often my financial pressures come from my girlfriend who wants to have a hotel holiday in another town just when I’m low on money.
I’m pretty sure I’ll fail this challenge any day now, but god help me let it be a piece of gear I truly want and need, not something that I buy just for the sake of buying something.
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Isn’t that kind of a rule just keeping you stuck in that limbo?
ATM I’m selling a LOT of instruments to pay some bills and as sad as it might be I’m happy I’ve got something to sell.
Otherwise I’d be in deep shit.
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That rule was implied when I was unemployed and had very little money. It was meant to ensure that I’d never sell my music gear just to get the bills paid, there had to be another way.
Nowadays, that I have a steady income, it would probably be a wise thing to give up that rule. But it’s been so long, that I’ve kinda grown up with this rule and it’s hard to let it go.
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Also I feel like the second hand market is a bit dead at the moment.
Everybody is selling, nobody is buying. It’s probably due to the current and predicted financial hardships that are upon and ahead of us. No one has money for any excess things ATM.
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Yeah, I’ve had similar rules too but sometimes these self-imposed rules just make life more complicated and limited and I would probably be more productive with half of the gear I own so that’s it for the rule for me. 
I’ve noticed that there is little to no interest even though the prices should be OK.
I don’t really understand the current economic situation too well but I know that what ever happens it’s not like I’m going to run out of sick sounds anytime soon.
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Major worry, even thought I try to mostly block it out for my own protection.
I would not be surprised at all at civil unrest in the UK this winter. You can’t just expect people to pay for a doubling in cost of living. Millions won’t be able to manage.
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