Funding Gear

tymaier

tymaier

New Member
What revenue do you guys use to raise money for gear? A great live Axe-Fx rig with FRFR, accessories, and a few decent guitars can run near $10k alone. Do you just use money set aside from your "main income"? Just curious!
 
The gear slowly stacked up over many years of playing. Now, when I want something new I typically have to sell something old. I can also add a little from what I have left over after paying bills and such, but not much (maybe a couple hundred bucks a month if I'm lucky).

I try to make sure when I buy something that it will be easy to sell later on and that I'll lose little to no money on it. However, GAS occasionally forces me to make some purchases that I later regret!
 
As time has gone by I've also used gear sales (Ebay) to fund the new gear that I'm replacing it with. I generally just save the money until I can afford the new gear, although I've taken advantage of same as cash offers from Sweetwater when I didn't want to wait. I don't carry a balance on my credit cards, so if I do use them it's only if I have the cash on hand at the time.
 
I save up for it from main income. One piece of wisdom I've learned over the years is, unless you absolutely must have something right now for a paying gig, NEVER BUY CRAPPY GEAR for a "quick fix." You will always end up replacing it later, or buying multiple versions of it (because it breaks or whatever), and by the time you get the piece of gear that you originally wanted, you will have spent more money for less satisfactory results all along. Save up, and buy the right tool for the job one time.
 
All of my gig money goes in a separate account. That's my gear fund, plus it's easier for taxes at the end of the year because I can log the activity in that account and *boom* I have all of my expenses that I can write off.

Now, I didn't buy my gear all at once. My custom ESP was a purchase made in 2001, when I was young and had more dollars than sense (not that it isn't an amazing guitar, but I should've went boutique). Sold off all my old gear to afford the Axe FX and gig money covers the rest. Honestly, most of my guitars were acquired when I was young because in my area I had a high-paying job at 18yrs old ($9.50/hr, but rent was only $300). Oh for the days when housing costs were a small fraction of income!
 
Sidivan said:
All of my gig money goes in a separate account. That's my gear fund, plus it's easier for taxes at the end of the year because I can log the activity in that account and *boom* I have all of my expenses that I can write off.

Now, I didn't buy my gear all at once. My custom ESP was a purchase made in 2001, when I was young and had more dollars than sense (not that it isn't an amazing guitar, but I should've went boutique). Sold off all my old gear to afford the Axe FX and gig money covers the rest. Honestly, most of my guitars were acquired when I was young because in my area I had a high-paying job at 18yrs old ($9.50/hr, but rent was only $300). Oh for the days when housing costs were a small fraction of income!
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Shoot man, you have all that oil money floating around in your state now. I hear even WallMart is paying big money these days :lol.
 
Like many others here, I save for it. In addition to my day gig, I teach guitar and keep the lesson money in my gear fund. I acquired my guitars over a lifetime. I never do debt or credit cards. I am a firm believer in living a debt free life. I save up for gear and once I have the funding, I use the credit card for the transaction, and pay the bill in full when it comes. People who buy stuff on credit just add to the cost of buying the gear. Life is too short to play through crappy gear. I'd rather wait and save and have great gear, than buy second tier stuff just because I couldn't wait.
 
Any gig money goes to the gear fund, i also sell to buy. I've been lucky to have bought some guitars at great prices and have sold them for a nice profit. That always helps. To get my ii rig i sold my amp head, cab and pedals. Still have 1 or 2 things laying around but those are keepers.
 
Gig money. I don't use any home budget money on gear (I sure did in my younger days though!). I gig on weekends now, so my day job pays the bills. The band is a company for tax purposes, and I don't want that company making any net profit, so gig money funds band only products. It actually works out pretty well that way, and Uncle Sam-bama doesn't kill me in April.
 
Before going Axe-fx, I made a guestimate of the used value of three tube amps, a whole bunch of effects and other assorted musical bits I was no longer using which had been built up over 10-15 years. That got me 70% of the price of my used Axe-FX II and Matrix and I still have some more not yet sold off. So not much was/will be 'new' money from my main income.
 
Bake sales. Wanna buy a cookie for $10?
Actually, I justify it in a couple ways: I don't have any other expensive hobbies, and good gear doesn't depreciate much while you get to use it.
And I never tell my wife what it really costs.
 
I invested wisely in the property boom of the late nineties and 'noughties'.

I bought a hoodie, gloves and a scarf then went out and mugged all the property developers I could find
 
I lecture at conferences. That has paid for a couple of bikes, and a bunch of new music gear over the last two years.
 
I'm a Podiatrist and specialize in Reconstructive Surgery and Pediatrics. I'm lecturing in New Orleans this month, in Philly and Virginia Beach in June and most likely in Lake Tahoe in February.Keeps me plenty busy!
 
Podiatry is a noble profession. I was hit by a truck when I was 7 and the only injury was my foot. When the truck slammed on the brakes, it skidded over my left foot, tearing the skin almost completely off the front half and crushing the arch flat. After three surgeries and tons of chiropractic, my foot is fine save for a nasty scar! I owe much to the science of foot reconstruction.
 
Sidivan said:
Podiatry is a noble profession. I was hit by a truck when I was 7 and the only injury was my foot. When the truck slammed on the brakes, it skidded over my left foot, tearing the skin almost completely off the front half and crushing the arch flat. After three surgeries and tons of chiropractic, my foot is fine save for a nasty scar! I owe much to the science of foot reconstruction.
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Thank you kindly!! I love what I do for a living!
 
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