Everyone knows that when you trade your guitar or amp in for something else, you always lose money. Sometimes a lot of money. But what are the reasons you do it then? Do you just want something new? Are you still looking for that evasive sound you think a new guitar or amp will produce? Do you just need a change? Is it quality issues? The answer always evades me when someone asks me why I traded my guitar in for that one. I can never give them an answer other than that I wasn't happy with what I had. I know a lot of players that still have thier first guitar and would never think of trading something in. Right now I have a Strat and a Les Paul. I figured I have most of the bases covered. But if I see something else I wanted, I would consider trading one of them in if I wanted it bad enough. I guess I'm not a collector.

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.

I still wish I had my first guitar, more for sentimental reasons than anything else. I have no idea how it played anymore. It was a brand called Series A. It was a strat style. I cant even remember if it was SSS or HSS. I traded it for my MIA Tele, which I will never trade even though a friend of mine thinks I should someday. I had an Ibanez Artcore semi-hollowbody. Ihad always wanted this style of guitar but I didn't bond with it so I traded it for a Strat. I always reach for the strat first!

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I still have my first "real" guitar... the MIM I'm playing now. I'll probably always keep it. I really like how it plays.

I will no doubt be getting rid of my Behringer amp at some point in time but not in the near future. It's just fine for practice and I also have the little Bugera Vintage 5 if I feel the need to crunch tubes. If I ever get good enough to gig, there's a pile of new and used VOX, Fender, Peavy, and Marshall combos and stacks down at the local shop.

Ron

One trade I made I've regretted ever since,in 1973 I traded in a MIJ Pan Ventures Moserite copy on a 66 Hagstrom II,at the time I had enough money to buy the Hag but I still traded the Pan and it was a brilliant guitar. Another trade I made was a set of headphones and an Electro Harmonix Crying Tone Wah for a Vox Phantom XII although I came out ahead on the trade I'd love to have that Wah back.In 95 I traded my 78 Strat for an 83 Marshall JCM 800 2204 Model Half Stack,I think I got the better part of that trade too as the Marshall is one of the best I've heard as a matter of fact whenever I've brought it anywhere for a tube change they've raved about it saying it's the best 2204 they've ever heard.I had to get rid of the Strat because I'd had back surgery and the Ash bodied Strat weighed over 10lbs.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Three things i wish I still had...

12 string acoustic. Traded it for credit towards a squier strat.

88 Series 10 Bentley - Traded it towards the Korean Strat.

Roland Juno 6 - Sold it for funds to move to NYC from FLorida. Really wish i hadn't done that.

But WHY are we trading this gear? Everyone regrets doing it. But I'd like to know WHY we are doing it. In my case(s), it always seems to be a matter of being practical. With amps I usually trade because of size. I'm always looking for something more compact and easier to set up and carry around. With guitars, its usually because I'm playing more country tunes so I get a Tele or a Strat. Or I have a guitar that weighs too much (like the Les Paul Custom I traded off), or it has a mechanical issue (like the G&L Asat I traded off because if the hum I kept getting with it. These are the answers I'm looking for.

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Life is like a sh*t sandwich. The more bread you have, the less sh*t you have to eat.

Because at the time it seemed like the sensible thing to do. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. We have something but we want something else more so we trade. The reasons why we want something else are as varied as the number of people doing the trading. As for me, I only trade up, never down. If I need to cull the herd I'll sell some of the lower end stuff but I'll never trade down.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Hello Masterhacker,

It's a rare day that I'll take a loss, trading guitars has been a hobby
for many years. I am no sentimentalitist, they come, they go. Some
guitars I've owned for decades some just for hours. Why? Well I get
a kick out of playing all kinds many are really super but even the duds
have something to offer. Like nonstop feedback
Whats next on the horizon? Maybe a Burns or a Telecaster.

Variety is the spice of life.

Cheers.

There's always something different out there that you want to try. It's easy to trade stuff that you don't use much anymore, get a few bucks towards the new "shiny thing" and move on. No one ever willingly trades the stuff they use all the time.

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"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

When I traded my MiM QMT the shop gave me full price I originally paid for it (650$cdn) (was 2 weeks old) and I got a Am Dlx for a few hundred more.

I got lucky and caught it just as prices made a major drop that year here, The Dlx went from 1700$cdn to 1100$cdn it is back way up there again.

This was the MiM that went bye bye, I actually really miss it still


And its replacement Am Dlx.

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Keep on Truckin, Going full speed ahead down the highway to hades.

I trade in because a) I don't like having more than 2 electrics and 1 acoustic, they sit around and don't get played if I have more. b) My local shop usually gives me a better deal if I trade stuff in c) I only let a guitar go if I am trading towards one that beats it in every way, especially feel.

So far no regrets, I haven't had a guitar I really got attached to, they've all felt like tools of the trade so far.

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

Simple economics is the reason I've traded.

The last trade that I regret was the Squier Strat I had, got $125 for it toward a Laney bass head. I needed a new bass amp and that was the only way to swing it. I miss that Squier, loved the sunburst color, but I didn't NEED it at the time like I did a new bass amp.

The last trade I didn't regret was that same Laney head, plus the 4x10 cab I had with it, I traded it into Guitar Center for a Line 6 Lowdown 300 bass amp, more effects, more power, combo unit, more compact. They gave me $280 for my gear and I threw in $40 more for the used Line 6 in great shape. A new Lowdown 300 is around $600 bucks. And when I logged into their site a couple weeks later to see the prices on my used stuff they were selling for $320 for the pair. They were gonna make only $40 more on my gear than they allowed on trade, a good deal I thought.

And I love the Line 6, so I don't regret every trade I've ever done. And althought I miss that Squier, if I'd kept it I never would have been on Evil-bay shopping for an elec when I found my Tie Dye STrat, which is an even better guitar at a killer price.

Trade or sell my gear ‽
When they're pried from my cold, dead hands.

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I know every time I trade a guitar or amp, I think it is for something better. I only regret trading 3 guitars and wish I still had them. Otherwise I rationalize it by saying I can only play one guitar and amp at a time. I am through with trading guitars. Amps on the other hand, I am always looking for something a little better.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

I trade-in or sell to up-grade. Some regrets, miss certain gear. but happy with what I have so far. lookin' to up-grade blues jr. to a 65 deluxe reverb (reissue). also like the 65 princeton reverb (reissue). Love the jr. but the tone on those reissues are awesome.

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2012 American Vintage Telecaster 1958
09 Fender american deluxe strat.
97 Gibson les paul special P90's double-cut
65 Princeton reverb re-issue
2010 Guild Gad-F40e