Young Guys: How the HELL do you get such good gear?

[flump]

I'm 24 and I both work hard and have always been a little spoiled. I've had a a real job since i was 14, but at the same time my parents had the means to help me out a bit as long as i worked my ass off. I consider myself quite lucky.

[bluesguitar65]

Had a full time job since I was 14 and always done great in school, also been lucky with tours and usually have some extra cash to fund new gear, (current sig gear Isn't accurate)

 

What kind of job that would hire a 14 year old for a full time job (40 hours a week minimum)? How do you find time to go to school working 8 hours a day? Is that even legal?

[Spaced Out Ace]

I worked a {censored}load when I was 16/17, I should've wised the {censored}ed up and came around here at that time, learned the things I know now, and bought a bunch of gear. Instead, I spent it on a girlfriend I'm not with anymore and partying. {censored} you, 16/17-yr-old Shenaniganizer, you dumb son of a bitch.

I just woke the dog laughing so loud. xD

[again with this]

I'm older now and the irony is now that music is more a hobby than anything, I can afford the gear I needed/wanted when I was "trying to make it".

When I was a teenager I had decent gear because like many have already posted, I worked and saved and put every gift dollar from the time I was 14 into gear. Bought the best guitars and amps I could afford and almost always ended up having to sell them and add cash to buy the next piece of gear. It wasn't until my mid-20s that I could afford to buy new stuff without selling something in the stable.

Also, when I was about 16 I dediced I needed a good, big amp. My step dad made me do all this research and convince him why I needed an amp with tubes... after all, that's ancient technology... "they stopped making televisions with tubes in the early 60s", he told me. He was convinced that I had been sold some line of {censored} by someone selling some outdated pile of junk. lol...

Anyway, I had my eye on this Carvin half stack. He said to me, "you save up half, and I will pay half after you save up your half". So, I got me a job, saved up my half ($500) and he kept his word, and helped my buy the amp. That was {censored}ing cool. I wish I still had that amp... but it was a sell to fund... The {censored}ty thing is I sold it to buy this sweet Les Paul Custom, which I subsequently also had to sell...

Oh, and I never had to quit smoking weed... Learn to budget, young people. Differed gratification is your friend. Remember also, sometimes having is not such a pleasing thing as wanting. Seems crazy, but I have found it to be true. Savor the GAS.

[OverDriven]

I spend almost every penny I earn on music, whether it's gear, bands, concerts, tours, etc... ...I'm good at managing money...

[fretless]

I didn't care about gear in my 20's when I was gigging non-stop , I did more gigs with a crappy Yamaha bass and Roland amp then I ever will with current gear . However I now have the funds and the knowledge to acquire some fine {censored}

[Casey]

24 here, but got my first amp at 16. Marshall AVT 50. Blech. Been trading up ever since. Gone through Traynor, Fender Hot Rod, Marshall DSL, Orange Rocker 30, awesome deal on a 5150, sold the 5150 for about 4 times what i paid for it and ended up with my Frenzel that I'm trying to get rid of as we speak.

[MuyLoCo444]

I got my Ernie Ball when I was 15, but I think you should remember not how much your gear is worth, but what you do with it. I've met lots of young people who can really tear it up, though with cheap equipment.

[Sheik_Yerbouti]

sell the pot

[Tommy Horrible]

{censored} when I was 18 I had a Fender American Strat, a Marshall 1960B(still have actually), and Marshall JCM 900 Dual Reverb.

I was in high school, and my mom was dirt {censored}ing poor, but I worked my ass off, saved like a bitch,and scouted good deal to get my {censored}.

You need more work ethic kid.

[misterzachariah]

Like many others, I just saved up.

I worked in high school, mostly over summers, but I landed a job interning with a government contractor so it paid very well. I did have to chip on on the bills and insurance stuff relevant to me, so it isn't like I got to sling around the Benjamins, though.

My big regret is that I didn't know how to shop around for stuff used and haggle, at that point could've saved me a lot of cash.

I can't complain though - I'm 21 now sitting on a PRS CE-22, a Fender Prosonic, and about 10 very cool pedals.

[Tone Monster]

This thread reveals to me that the average age here is much lower than I thought....

[RamoRenDez]

I didn't really care for nice gear until I started making more money

 

Now I'm looking to sell off for the sake of downsizing.

[Urban Ghandi]

I had a Hondo Strat and a Peavy Deuce for the first 10 years of my playing.

Couldn't afford anything else.

Owning a real Fender, Gibson, Marshall was just out of the question.

[jet66]

My kid is lucky: I don't flip gear, I sell it to him for pennies on the dollar. Plus, I can always swindle the stuff back, if I decide I like it again.

[RamoRenDez]

My kid is lucky: I don't flip gear, I sell it to him for pennies on the dollar. Plus, I can always swindle the stuff back, if I decide I like it again.

That's how my younger brother goes about getting good gear

I sold him the Vox half-stack for less than half what I paid new (which was a good deal to begin with).

[THEE HAMMER]

Lol I went from playing guitar research amps and cheap washburns to having Fuchs,Mesa,Framus and Ebmm and Caparison in 18 months. Learning up on gear usually leads to better deals and trading up never hurts. The real issue is when you really get on the GAS train and start trading things you really like because something else is worth more.

[White_Van]

I've been saving since I was 13, bought most of my rig two years ago. I work a 50+ hour job in the summertime, work while I'm in school, and umm, sell quite a bit of product all year round.

I have a nice ass car, nice rig, my school is all paid for, and I can live the life I wanna live. It's nice.

[dicky sofa]

J.O.B

[Marshredder]

I've been saving since I was 13, bought most of my rig two years ago. I work a 50+ hour job in the summertime, work while I'm in school, and umm, sell quite a bit of product all year round. I have a nice ass car, nice rig, my school is all paid for, and I can live the life I wanna live. It's nice.

Advertise on the internet that you're a drug dealer. Obviously not the smartest kid in the school are you?

[BlueSteam]

I got my first job at 15 and put all of my money into gear... I didn't go out when I was in school for anything but band practice and our own shows.

[White_Van]

Advertise on the internet that you're a drug dealer. Obviously not the smartest kid in the school are you?

I was talking about selling my body to science. One sperm, blood cell and T-cell at a time.

Yeah. Don't be making assumptions. Drugs are bad!

[Dead Star]

Lot's of hard workers up in here.

So my situation is this.

I work part time at the local cinema. They over hired BIG TIME, and for some reason cannot fire any of the extra weight, so the worst workers get the least hours. Luckily, I'm a good worker, so I get hours every week. Sometimes as little as 8 hours a week, but it's something. On a good paycheck (bi-weekly), I get $200, half of which goes to expenses, while the rest is my spending money for the next couple weeks. If I want to save up for something, it usually comes out of my spending money, which can be as little as $30 sometimes.
It's movie season though, so I'm going to be getting a lot more hours in the coming weeks, so EVERY sent of my spending money is going into saving up for gear. Hopefully come the new year, I'll be on my way to an awesome rig.


...and who needs to pay for cannabis when you can get it for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[King Loudness]

Sixteen here. I work part time at a music shop (sets me up with some good deals on stuff that I want) plus I've been in the gear flipping scene for ages.

[jet66]

That's how my younger brother goes about getting good gear I sold him the Vox half-stack for less than half what I paid new (which was a good deal to begin with).

It's how the kid got his K Tre for > $800.