Keep your old recording gear long enough, and it becomes a collectable worth Dollars

[AcousticDreams]

Much of the recording gear I purchased in the 70's & early 80's became a collectable, or still has some value. Selling that gear has brought me enough funds to purchase all of my newer recording equipment. Otherwise, I would have never been able to do so on my low monthly retired salary.

So if you are lusting for new gear, search your old inventory that you are not using and post it up for sale on Ebay, AGF classifieds or other formats. it all adds up and is just sitting around anyway.

Much of the money came from selling my old Guitars. I was a photographer for Schector Research back during their closing year. Before they sold out to a Texas company. The Guitars I had gotten from them for nearly nothing...became very valuable and when I sold one of them a few years back. I got enough money from that one sale alone to buy my Schoeps mics, interface and more.

The rest of the money has come from selling my old recording gear. And you just never know what still has value. As an example, I researched in 2016 about my old Studio Clover stereo Spring reverb (bought in 1980's). Basically came back as valueless. After all, would a hardware stereo spring reverb be of much use standing among the giants of today's digital reverbs and plugins?

I saw a listing on ebay where someone had put one up for $500 on a buy it now. But it had sat there unsold for a long, long time. Just last week I decided to put it up at auction with a starting bid of $60. I did not expect it to sell. But, I thought, why not take a chance and list it. To my great surprised, it gathered all kinds of interest. It sold at auction closing just a few days ago for $157.50. I also listed a powerful SCS MosFet amplifier that I purchased from Demeter back in the 80's. It was an amp that went hand in hand with his bass preamp. All the research said it really had no value. But again, it did gather a tiny bit of interest and I sold it for $100 just yesterday. Add up all those little recording gear sales and it can add up to thousands toward your desired new gear.

Warning, it can be a lot of work to research it's true value, photograph it, and then Pack it off for shipment. I mean a lot of work. Maybe the biggest win is getting this stuff out of the house from just laying around and taking up valuable space.

[jim1960]

Some gear will retain or even improve it's value over time, but not all gear. Our interfaces are not likely to increase in value, and it's unlikely that the cheap gear around today that has saturated the market is likely to increase in value either (Warm, is the first brand that comes to mind but there are others).

The most likely gear to increase in value is vintage gear. Yes, the vintage stuff is expensive upfront but you're not likely to lose money on a U47 or a LA2A. Fifteen years ago, you could pick up a U47 for under $15k, today you're going to pay double that, meaning that even if you had to replace the tube and get some repair work done on it, you're still going to make money.

Which modern gear will increase in price is going to come down to demand vs market saturation. Some of the well-thought of boutique gear has a chance. I know I can sell my Flea 47 for more money today than I paid for it. But that might be the only piece of my gear for which I can make that claim. It's hard to know now what is going to sought after later other than what's already iconic today. The only "sure bet" gear is the sought after vintage stuff we already know of. For those that have the money, those investments will net a profit but I don't think you can count on anything else doing the same.

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by jim1960

Some gear will retain or even improve it's value over time, but not all gear. Our interfaces are not likely to increase in value, and it's unlikely that the cheap gear around today that has saturated the market is likely to increase in value either (Warm, is the first brand that comes to mind but there are others).

The most likely gear to increase in value is vintage gear. Yes, the vintage stuff is expensive upfront but you're not likely to lose money on a U47 or a LA2A. Fifteen years ago, you could pick up a U47 for under $15k, today you're going to pay double that, meaning that even if you had to replace the tube and get some repair work done on it, you're still going to make money.

Which modern gear will increase in price is going to come down to demand vs market saturation. Some of the well-thought of boutique gear has a chance. I know I can sell my Flea 47 for more money today than I paid for it. But that might be the only piece of my gear for which I can make that claim. It's hard to know now what is going to sought after later other than what's already iconic today. The only "sure bet" gear is the sought after vintage stuff we already know of. For those that have the money, those investments will net a profit but I don't think you can count on anything else doing the same.

You are so right Jim. I can't imagine interfaces being worth anything in the future. Or lower quality recording equipment.

Posted this thread to encourage those of us with old gear just sitting around (not being used) to sell it and gather extra funds. Not as an investment strategy. I have been delightfully surprised at the interest of my old gear has received. Some for much more money than I paid for it...and some for 1/4 of what I paid for it. It is equipment I am not using anymore and just taking up space. So happy to get rid of it and use the funds for other gear. Actually using much of the additional funds for moving my recording are from livingroom to my playroom. Will need additional modeling & electrical work.

[leew3]

I can't imagine my Peavey powered mixing board from the early 80's (affectionately known as the 'widow maker' due to the weight) would be sought after by anyone other than a boat owner in need of an anchor!

[AcousticDreams]

Originally Posted by leew3

I can't imagine my Peavey powered mixing board from the early 80's (affectionately known as the 'widow maker' due to the weight) would be sought after by anyone other than a boat owner in need of an anchor!

OH MY....Is it a Peavy Mark IV 24 by 2 console leew3?...
I HAVE ONE AND ARE GETTING READY TO SELL IT...
I will be happy to get a hundred bucks for it. Probably will have to take it to the junk yard.

Here is one that was listed on Reverb 5 years ago and sold for $200.
https://reverb.com/item/16584258-pea...g-silver-black

No way am I dealing with shipping though...Local ebay pickup only. This is one of the last pieces of recording gear that I will be trying...to sell next week. hey, A hundred bucks is better than nothing. We shall see.

Interesting enough this does have some special features. A pre and post for every channel. That was quite something for its day.

[dilver]

I wish that were the case… I “invested” in the Roland VS1680 years ago. Hard disc home studio stand alone unit. Paid about $3,000 for the whole system including a CD burner. What’s it worth now? Maybe $300. I can’t even imagine recording an album on that thing now. Some stuff just becomes antiquated.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by dilver

I wish that were the case… I “invested” in the Roland VS1680 years ago. Hard disc home studio stand alone unit. Paid about $3,000 for the whole system including a CD burner. What’s it worth now? Maybe $300. I can’t even imagine recording an album on that thing now. Some stuff just becomes antiquated.

I had that exact same experience. I was pretty happy when it sold on eBay at about 20% of what I paid for it. I REALLY disliked it...

On the other hand, I wish I had bought several of the Lowden 023s when I purchased one new. I never really bonded with it, kept for a bunch of years and sold for twice what I paid for it.

[ghostnote]

It happens with other equipment, too. I never sell stuff. I have pedals dating back to the ‘70s, and some of them are just old pedals, but others are worth hundreds more than I paid for them. Certain guitars, too. Most guitars just slowly lose value, but again, some gain: Rickenbackers like mine that I had in a Beatles cover band back in the day are selling for about 50% more than I bought it for new back then. Crazy how that works.

[KevWind]

Except for the possible exception of some vintage microphones ( because some indeed have extraordinary sound). It's often a mystery why some old stuff is considered "collectible" or "vintage" and some is just old junk

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by KevWind

Except for the possible exception of some vintage microphones ( because some indeed have extraordinary sound). It's often a mystery why some old stuff is considered "collectible" or "vintage" and some is just old junk

My parents ran an antique business for over 30 years and my mom explained to me that age does not equal value. She explained to me that the items with the highest current value most likely were expensive to begin with, and that was often a factor of how well something was made or how complex the process was to produce it.

[leew3]

Originally Posted by AcousticDreams

OH MY....Is it a Peavy Mark IV 24 by 2 console leew3?...
I HAVE ONE AND ARE GETTING READY TO SELL IT...
I will be happy to get a hundred bucks for it. Probably will have to take it to the junk yard.

Here is one that was listed on Reverb 5 years ago and sold for $200.
https://reverb.com/item/16584258-pea...g-silver-black

No way am I dealing with shipping though...Local ebay pickup only. This is one of the last pieces of recording gear that I will be trying...to sell next week. hey, A hundred bucks is better than nothing. We shall see.

Interesting enough this does have some special features. A pre and post for every channel. That was quite something for its day.

Good luck with your sale! No, mine was I believe a 12 channel but still weighed about 80 pounds. I recall using all of the 200 watts available for both mains and monitors. We lived in a second floor apartment with outside stairs so toting the board and our Peavey towers up the stairs at 3 AM was a challenge!