Are You A Gear Box Hoarder?

[elsongs]

How many of you buy new gear and save the boxes of your gear? Granted, some of you might have legit reasons for hoarding gear boxes -- for returns or possible resale, but sometimes you just like the way the box looks and keep it in your possession. In the past few months I've bought a new rackmount audio interface, a USB keyboard controller and a Roland Boutique synth, and I still have the boxes. I don't really hoarde other stuff (though I'm a minor collector of certain things, but I do know how to throw things away), but unless the gear came in a plain cardboard box, I don't feel like chucking it.

 

I bought my first Mac Book Pro five years ago, and it took about 2 years before I could throw the box in the Recycle Bin.

 

You know, I think I have the original box from my Yamaha DX7 and an old Ensoniq EPS sampler (which I no longer own) that's buried somewhere in my garage...

[1001gear]

I got into the habit a long time ago. I need to rent storage just for gear boxes.

 

 

[MikeRivers]

My attic is full of boxes that stuff came in, some audio gear, some home stuff (toaster, coffee maker, etc.), and some boxes for things that I didn't originially get boxes for. I recently made a small breakthrough and gave away about 30 of the boxes that hard drive boxes come in, the ones with the nice fitted foam liner. I finally decided that I wouldn't be shipping drives around to other people who own Mackie hard disk recorders to have some add a track. I even have the carton for my Soundcraft 600 console, at least I think I do. It's in the garage attic and I haven't been up there for a few years.

 

What's my problem? Well, for nearly 20 years, I've had it in mind to move across the country, and I wanted to be sure that all of this fragile stuff would make the trip safely.

 

My real problem is that I haven't been able to make the move. If I ever do, I'll probably not save the cartons, but just let the executor of my estate worry about it.

 

 

[nat whilk II]

Yes, I keep boxes. At first the idea is if I need to return something before the various option dates run out.

 

Then the idea is that stuff sells better on eBay if you have a nice clean looking original box and all the misc cords, cables, adaptors, manual, CDs, etc etc.

 

Then the idea is that I don't see the box any longer because it's buried under 50 other boxes.

 

Our garage is, well, I don't want to talk about it....

 

nat whilk ii

 

[Luke17]

Yes indeedy..

I have a large old 1920's English Tudor style home with. large attic..there is also an efficiency apartment over the large garage.

I have every gear box from 14 guitars, two ukelekes, keyboards, 2 basses, every effects pedal, amp boxes, plus the boxes from every old Tascam, Fostex, electro harmonix, TC electronics, mic boxes etc..

 

Sad part is I still have almost every piece of gear that I have purchased over 50 years..I never bought any used gear..always new..for the last 25 years most has come from Musicians Friend.

 

I do have a Fender Bandmaster silverface Reverb that rolled out of Fullerton in 7/69...I found this curbside in 2004 in my neighborhood.. I put about 250 bucks into it to get it near perfect..it was missing a bright switch and the original foot pedal..I found both original switches on eBay..

The amp head got recapped, the 'death plug' was replaced and two NOS preamp tubes were found..plays like a dream..speaker cabs were toast...they were in a flood. luckily the amp head was on top of the cab.

 

another used item is a 1965 Blackface Fender Princeton Reverb in near mint cond. that I bought a flea market in 1984, with original cover and manual for 50 bucks..it was a minor score then..but it sure is worth a lot now.

 

I have my original copper and white Silvertone/danolectro guitar and amp my parents bought me from Sears in 1963 for Christmas..I don't have the boxes for these, but I still have the original chipboard guitar case.

 

The only gear I have parted with is acoustic and electric guitars that I have given to nieces/ nephews and promising young neighborhood kids.

 

Hoarder extraordinaire here. :-)

Edit: I forgot to mention that I did buy a piece of used gear when I was in the Netherlands ( The Land of Booshey) :-) in the 1980 s..It is a 1965 accoustic Framus F-hole (Made in the Heart of Bavaria).. it was a steal @35 USD...at the Waterlooplein Flea Market in Amsterdam...

all original..a major setup had it back to former glory in no time.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I keep some boxes, but not everything. I still have the box for my mixer and monitor speakers, and a few guitar boxes here, and I also hang on to most pedal boxes, but I toss / recycle a lot of stuff too, although I will usually hang on to all the packaging materials until I'm sure everything is working properly and there's no chance I'll want or need to return it.

 

I have a near-constant stream of boxes of stuff coming in and going out of here for reviews, so there's always stacks of boxes to be found at various points around my place.

[philboking]

Wow... I thought I was the only one.

I try not to save boxes for everything, but generally end up doing it anyway.

I doesn't help that I'm in a McMansion with 4 extra bedrooms; it just provides more opportunity for crap to pile up.

 

I did find (at work) that those dropped ceiling tiles are a stashers dream, especially in a place where there's 2 or 3 feet of empty space above the tiles....

[AlamoJoe]

This thread got me to thinking...Damn it!

Went up in the attic and realized I still had the boxes for pedals, rack effects, even synthesizers I unloaded years ago!

Crap!

 

[Beck]

Somewhat, but not OCD about it. I have most of the boxes for effects pedals going back to late 70's. Some have worn out and torn, so I threw them away. I have the original box for a Roland 707 drum machine for example. I'll keep it there when not in regular use. I've thrown away more than I've kept, but I still have quite a few original boxes. If I had it to do over again I would have kept more. I still have the box for my Yorkville YSMi monitors. Not sure why. I just do

[trevcda]

I keep most of my boxes, justifying it with the "if I ever move" scenario. I have boxes for almost everything I have purchased, including some old cell phones and most of my home audio equipment. This is the story that immediately came to mind, though: I have a fairly extensive 80's ADA guitar midi tube rack system that I've enjoyed building over the years. At one point, a mint condition box for an ADA MC-1 controller pedal came up for auction on eBay and I decided I had to have it. I won the auction for a dollar and paid five dollars to have it shipped. Rather than putting it into another box to ship it and maintaining its pristine condition (the reason I was buying it), he wrapped the ADA box in packing tape, slapped a label on it and proceeded to let UPS all but destroy it in shipping. I thought about filing a claim and raising a stink, but for six bucks I thought the story was better than any resolution I'd gate. Basically a testimony to my idiocy.

 

Added: I still have the stupid thing a decade later.

[Anderton]

I keep the boxes. In the last 20 years, I've moved five times and I attribute none of my gear being damaged to 1) moving the gear myself instead of using a moving company, and 2) having the original boxes. It also helps for selling 2nd hand gear.

 

I remove the foam inserts and use a Sharpie to identify which gear they're from, and put them in trash bags. I flatten the boxes themselves so they lie flat and take up less space.

[MikeRivers]

A verison of this was included in most Mackie manuals back in the early days. This one came from the HDR24/96 manual. I'm not sure if this a "bottom ten reasons" because it starts with 10 and goes to 1, or if it's from Uncle Jeff's bottom:

 

 

Uncle ]eff’s Bottom Ten Reasons to Save the Box:

 

10. You think boxes grow on trees?

 

9. It’s actually a time capsule, packed with a biological code that can’t be

decrypted until 2043. _

 

8. Its festive graphics will cheer up those other boxes forgotten in your

attic.

 

7. Impress your friends: tape it up and pretend that you actually have two

HDR24/96s.

 

6. If you throw it away, bad people will know you have a studio in your

house.

 

5. Someday, when paper costs more than steel, it could net you a fortune.

 

4. The HDR24/96 itself only costs $47.95. The balance is what you paid for

the box.

 

3. Properly sealed, it can be used as a flotation device in the unlikely event

of a water landing. j

 

2. It’s a great place to hide your old digital 8-track recorder.

 

1. If you collect ten HDR24/ 96 boxes, Greg will come over for dinner (this

offer does not apply to dealers or distributors).