Anyone else have one of these?
A cupboard filled with the gear you bought but never really use anymore. I don’t “need” to sell, but kinda think I should - a cupboard of gear I “might use at some point” seems like hoarding.
4 Likes
“seems”?
15 Likes
I think quite a few people here have something like that, me included. Looking at people’s setups, I think it’s impossible for most people to be using most of their gear most of the time. (If they’re not professional musicians.) Maybe not a cupboard with doors per se but still.
I have some pieces that I don’t use very often or mostly use as standalone (groove)boxes. Occasionally I also lend some boxes to friends. Sometimes getting an instrument back or taking it out of the box feels the same as getting a new piece of gear. In that regard a GAS cupboard makes sense.
I’ve got different reasons for not selling certain pieces, with the biggest being I’m extremely lucky in that I don’t have to sell them for money right now. The money would most likely go towards other gear.
Mind, my cupboard is not filled with gear and I regularly change my setup. It is hoarding though, no matter how you slice it.
1 Like
I Nevers though about that. I sell the unused gear. But i understand the “it might be usefull some day”…
But that give me another idea : a tea cup in wich i put little papers with the name of the gears that are on my wish list, and when i have a GAS attack, i pick the paper and buy the gear😂
1 Like
Normally I’d sell unused gears pretty quickly as I really don’t like clutter. Occasionally leads to regret when I change my mind but they’ve become unobtanium (SE Engine) or prices have gotten a bit much (elektron, op1).
Got a few things packed away (707, bs2) at the moment but gonna hang on to them this time around. Wouldn’t call it hoarding - rather I’m recognising that I might not be in the right state of mind to make those sorts of decisions at the moment.
1 Like
Sold off most unused gear last months. Gas/undecided cupboard currently:
- Erica Synths Euro skiff, only the case (I departed from Eurorack already, but it’s so slim and beautiful; “if ever I find a better reason to get back into modular with only a few modules…”)
- Trigger Riot. Just so nice. Idem. Don’t even have anything to Trigger with. Should just put it up for sale again.
- Elektron Analog Drive. Such a nice spare Elektron power cord though…
- Keylab and a Keystep. Don’t have room for both but feel like at any other moment the one or the other will be worthwhile to have.
Not too much though anymore
I have a metal rack in a closet where I put gear…if it sits there for a month or two, I then sell it…but there are a few things that are still there after 4-6 months so I don’t have a hard and fast rule.
I’ll let you decide what’s in the cupboards.
It’s not a current picture (I’ve done quite a bit since then) but the cupboards were added after I started building my studio (a hint at what’s inside 
).
Mine isn’t so much gear I might use as it is gear that I’m not currently using. I want to be able to keep things out of sight when I’m not using them.
I have a closet to go through too though. I guess if I run out of storage space I’ll start letting some stuff go. But I’ll probably fill the empty space quickly again.
I just sell stuff that I really don’t like. Also If it makes me feel like I’ve just been robbed because I paid too much and it doesn’t work as intended. Definitely when it makes me angry more than happy.
9 Likes
I have stuff in the cupboard but only because I use them mostly standalone. Octatrack and MC101. I often pick them up, I just learned that I don’t like crowdy desks and cable mess so I keep stuff away that doesn’t have to be connected to other stuff.
I sell everything I don’t use much. Mainly of bad conscience. Some of the synths I sold I‘d still like to pick up here and there
3 Likes
I’m pretty ruthless.
If I don’t use something in 6 months I sell it (except for a couple of my outboard compressors, which are either worthless or in need of repair).
Can’t stand clutter and I don’t see the point in owning something I’m not using.
6 Likes
I’ve never been fortunate enough to have that kind of money to be able to keep unneeded stuff just lying around. Almost every gear purchase always requires for me to sell something to be able to afford the new piece of gear. It’s been like that all my life. I’ve sold my record collection to buy food etc. It’s completely normal to me. I’m lucky I don’t really care for alcohol or drugs. There’s a lot of people who’ve sold their possessions for beer.
At the moment I have three pocket operators stashed in a drawer, I won’t sell them because one of them was a gift from my lovely gf and occasionally I take them out and tinker for a while. I also have a Zoom ARQ in the closet, but I bought it new for a 100€ and my tabletop just doesn’t have space for it at the moment.
Right now I’m selling some gear to be able to buy my new business some furniture and such. I’m hopeful that my new profession as a book shop owner will allow me to purchase some of them back when I get it running properly.
4 Likes
Not for gear. I always sell what I do not use. I have stash of 12" records and turntable hidden in my bedroom. Everything else have it’s use.
Software on the other hand is a different one. I have some licenses which are not used but the resale is not possible or not worth time and money.
I do, although I occasionally have a purge.
I probably have more gear stored away than I actually use, most of it is cheap stuff or vintage bits I had for years. I don’t like selling stuff really, but more recently I decided to stop buying “toys” like Volcas, Pocket Operators, Bastl noisemakers etc, as I already have way too much of that stuff.
A few pieces have some kind of sentimental value, or data on them that I don’t want to lose.
I have a very small room so it can be a bit of a struggle to fit gear in, I wish I had the discipline to be a minimalist though, in my head I am, but in reality not.
3 Likes
I wish! I don’t even have a desk, never mind a cupboard. I’m living by the seat of my pants over here. A few moves to different countries will soon sort the wheat from the chaff in your setup. And trying to make rent, of course 
2 Likes
Super vibey studio!
1 Like
I had one and a half suitcases full of pedals, synths and assorted gear that I rarely used. Sold all and upgraded my synths and a few pedals to better ones, couldn’t be happier. Now I’m back buying gear I won’t probably use, to be sold at a later date to upgrade something I use a lot I guess. It’s a vicious cycle!
1 Like
There’s something truly liberating about starting again. If your going to sweep out the cupboard then everything has to go. 
1 Like
not a cupboard, but yes.
mostly this is gear that sits until I either change my mind, get sick of seeing it sit, or decide there’s something else I’d prefer and will actually use.
other gear I intentionally store (have un-connected to audio/power) and use as needed. like pedals. or I have random mixers, midi routers, cv interfaces, etc… utility stuff my setup doesn’t need now, but it very well may some day. cupboards are great for that sort of thing. of course if they were decently expensive items, I’d at some point re-think just letting them sit and they’d fall into the above category.
it’s a luxury though. having storage space and not needing to sell off things the second your setup or focus changes. I’ve definitely been in that position as well (very little space and money).
1 Like
it’s a hard no from me.
it it’s not earning its keep, it goes… Lean & mean is the way.
1 Like
i don’t sell unused gear for a reason.
in some 20 years it’s going to be considered vintage/iconic/rare old machine in near-mint condition and will cost a lot more.
it’s my investment in my future (in retirement).
my units are all compact, they don’t take a lot of space.
i can afford an extra dedicated closet even in my smallish apartment.
4 Likes