I upgraded from an Ultra to my Mark II around the end of 2013. While it was nice to get some cash back when I sold the Ultra, “resale value” wasn’t part of the value equation for me then, nor now. And I’m far from being flush with cash. (Like, I really hope I can scare up rent again in two weeks!)
The kind of value that matters to me is the feeling of exhilaration that keeps me standing and playing for hours on end. It’s the fact that – with Cliff’s endless upgrades – my Mark II has evolved into an instrument that’s advanced substantially beyond the one I bought in 2013.
By any objective measure – other than a “price of everything/value of nothing” cold financial evaluation – my initial investment has appreciated by leaps and bounds. Because of it, a keyboardist that had never played electric guitar has grown into a player who can – well, at least have fun and display an illusion of minimal competence, while getting fantastic sounds out of the thing.
By the time I manage to get a III and sell off the II, those four-and-a-half or five years with the Mark II will have cost me (in all likelihood) less than a thousand dollars, and brought me priceless returns in sheer joy. And that’s the kind of value that actually matters, IMHO.