Members Crazyfoo Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I've owned a lot of gear over the years and I always expect a loss while owning it. For a few people this sint the case if you luck out and own a highly sought after piece of vintage gear but for us mortals, we normally take a loss. If I buy a synth for $2,000, use it for 2 years and then sell it for $1400, I dont look at it as a $600 loss, I look at it as it cost me $600 to rent it for 2 years. (if that makes any sense) I think for me, the biggest loss would be my Oasys 88.I bought it used for $5500, then spent another $700 getting the various expansions and ram. If I sold it today I might get 2k for it. It's safe to say its noit going anywhere but that would be my biggest hit on a piece of kit. Anyone ever lose a lot on a synth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_big_e Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 Ex7, cost $1700 (ish) new. Value today (it has a problem with the key velocity detection on some keys and plays 'loud' notes sometimes), less than $100 (had it on ebay, did not sell).Plus I've spent $200 in parts for a new contact strip and circuit board. Basically it's worth nothing. So 2k loss but may be more as I am thinking of sending it off to get it fixed professionally, I do like the kb and the sounds and I still have it and it's 'pristine' physically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Pro Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I forget what I put into it but I had a Yamaha Motif ES8 fully loaded with the mLAN16 interface. I tried to build my studio around mLAN before realizing it was a huge waste of time... the noise floor of the Motif ES8 was just as high through mLAN as it was through analog. Sold the whole package for $2k. I know I lost over a grand but I learned that computer-based recording was not the do-all end-all that some think it is. Wound up buying a Yamaha CP300 as my studio centerpiece keyboard and bought a Tascam 2488neo for my recording deck, which has worked out well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gribs Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I would say it was probably on my M3M with the memory and Radias boards. I think it was about $2k or so for the kit and I sold it for about $1.4k once I had the Kronos. Really a $600 loss on a workstation is not all that bad and to be expected - a cost of renting as was suggested above. This pales in comparison with the cost to "rent" every personal computer that I have purchased or built. Once I started building my own the loss went down a little since things like cases and power supplies can be reused. Also software licenses carry over. Most modular synth modules have an excellent resale value, and if you buy a module used and decide you don't like it you can just resell for the cost of the paypal fee and shipping. Modular cases are not so good, even if you sell locally when the price of shipping something heavy and largish is not an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ElectricPuppy Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 It's not really a loss until you actually sell it, right? Otherwise I'd mention my Yamaha TX rack with 4 modules, or my Roland S760 w/ max RAM when RAM at the time was insanely expensive. But I still own both of them. oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crazyfoo Posted June 28, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 It's not really a loss until you actually sell it, right? That's how I look at it EP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MuzikB Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08 Signature Edition. I believe it was $2400 new and I sold it on E-Bay a few months after for $1800 if I remeber right. The Roland V-Synth was another big loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members koolkat Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I spent $600 on an MM6 last year. I don't think I could get $300 dollars for it, even though it's barely used and in near mint condition. In fact if someone wants it for $300, it's yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zoink Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I guess after a enough time has passed you can look at it as depreciation rather than a loss per se. Instruments lose value. My Ensoniq EPS cost me $2050 in 1990 with the 4X memory expansion pre-installed. It's probably worth $100 now. My D50 is worth about 1/4 of what it cost me back in the 80s. My Kurzweil K2500 is worth about 1/10 of what I paid, when you factor in the cost of KDFX, PRAM, max RAM, Daughter Board, ROM blocks, CD ROM drive, etc. Triton Pro ... similar story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bernard Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 This does not count but it's a true story... When I was first researching all good things synth, of the many synths that came and went, the Alesis Andromeda A6 got my attention... In the end I just did not love the sound enough but had I done, had it been perfect for my ear, I was planning to buy as many as I could afford and store as I was so sure they would become valuable one day... IE sell the ones I did not use later and use the profits to fund other synths... Well we all know what happened to the value of those things for a while... May be I should not admit this in any case... please don't hate me as I never did it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members playstation Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I bought a Kurzweil PC361 for $1,800 when they first came out. The value of both new and used plummeted over a cliff and I could only get $800 when I sold it. Derp!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I bought a Roland JD-800 when they came out in the 90's. It was a demo model so the price was slightly reduced, but if I remember correctly it was about $1200, although it could have been more. I used it for years and it was awesome. After I bought a JD-990 I didn't need the keyboard as much or have room for it in my small studio, so I sold it. It had developed some electronics issues and a had a few unresponsive keys, so I sold it to a friend for $395. Before I sold it, I paid someone around $100 to open it up and clean the key contacts to fix the problem, so all told, I actually only got about $295 for it. It was a loss, but the person that bought it was a good friend who had bought a lot of my used gear in the past and understood the issues with the JD-800, so I felt ok about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zoink Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 I think for me, the biggest loss would be my Oasys 88. I bought it used for $5500, then spent another $700 getting the various expansions and ram. If I sold it today I might get 2k for it. For me, it really doesn't matter what my synths are worth on the used market. They were worth what I paid when I bought them, and they continue to serve the same function. So in a sense, they're still 'worth' what I paid. But then I don't really buy things just to sell them a year later. I suppose if I did, the loss of value would matter more. Early adopters really take the biggest hit. If I really want something, I'll bite the bullet and buy it when it comes out at full retail, but it doesn't happen often. The Andromeda is one example. But for other things, I've learned to wait. I've saved 30-60% buying used late model items off of CL that were still in production. It helps to live in a city with a lot of rich hobbyists who have lots of money and little spare time. They buy the unit, it sits covered and unused in a plush air conditioned environment, and then they sell it for half what they paid just to get it out of their sight. Everybody ends up happy. Even buying new, if you can wait 6 months or a year, or wait for the various yearly sales lulls (Summer, early January etc.), the price comes down quite a bit. Then you don't take quite as big a hit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ed A. Posted June 28, 2012 Members Share Posted June 28, 2012 It usually seems to be about a 50% loss with me. As an example I bought a new ARP 2600 in 1980 that I had modded with oscillator sync. It cost $2000 plus about $150 for the mod. I ended up selling it a year or two later for $1,000. I bought a brand new Minimoog in 1979 for about $1,300, sold it a couple years later for $650 I must have had about 40 hardware synths and samplers over the years, and I'm pretty sure I took a loss on every one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hogger Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I've never done too bad. I usually try to play my money out of a keyboard, buy used when I can, and keep in mind the enjoyment I got out of a keyboard when I sell it. If I keep one for very long, I never feel bad about the price I get for it. What would bother me is buying something cutting edge, full price, not liking it, and then taking a quick big loss. Like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crazyfoo Posted June 29, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I took a big loss on the PEK. I think it cost me about $600 to own it for six months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gaul Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 Bought brand new Roland XP-80 for 3200 German marks. Sold it some 8 months later for 2400 (cause I needed to fund a car for my work). Bah! Also regretful sale: Full working rare Kawai MAV-8 MIDI Patchbay, bought second hand for 80 Euros, sold a year later for 50 Euros (cause it was the last piece of equipment I had at that moment). Its such a great piece of equipment, I am mad at myself for selling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I've just realized I've never sold any hardware synth that I bought. Then again, my collection is tiny compared to that of others here. The biggest loss I've taken so far on anything synth-related was the Moog Voyager ATA case. I sold it for about $70, but it cost me $80 or something to ship it out. I essentially paid $10 for someone to take the case. That's why I always charge for shipping whenever I put something up for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffLearman Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 My biggest losses were due to donating them rather than selling them (e.g., JX10, CP70). I don't think I've ever paid over $125 per year for any keyboard. The best cost/value has to be my Rhodes, which I bought for $700 in 1978 (IIRC). Gee, that's $20/yr! (OK, more like $25 if I include the $125 in parts recently, plus a couple of tines over the years. I think I have a few bum tines, too. Still a pretty good value.) Well, I paid $1100 for my NE about 3 years ago, but I'll be keeping that at least two more, and probably a lot longer than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MickeyKeys Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 Took about a $450 loss on a Juno-Stage. Best money I ever burned. Learned to hate it. Just wish I could get those two years back.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I think for me, the biggest loss would be my Oasys 88.I bought it used for $5500, then spent another $700 getting the various expansions and ram.If I sold it today I might get 2k for it. Really? I've never seen a used Oasys selling for less than $4,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 But for other things, I've learned to wait. I've saved 30-60% buying used late model items off of CL that were still in production. It helps to live in a city with a lot of rich hobbyists who have lots of money and little spare time. They buy the unit, it sits covered and unused in a plush air conditioned environment, and then they sell it for half what they paid just to get it out of their sight. Everybody ends up happy. ha, Austin sounds like San Francisco. We have some crazy vintage prices of course but its a pretty good market. I really own buy stuff thats used or on sale so I don't really take a loss on anything.I have but on stuff like the APC40 which was sitting around - and that was a $200 loss - so not much. Plus if its sitting around doing nothing its worth nothing to me so I might as well sell it. I really won't pay full price on stuff that will just go down in value when I get it out of the store. I will prob buy a used Minibrute next year when some hipster gets tired of theirs - of course, watch those become collectors items or something Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xpander Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 of the many i've sold, i've always made substantially more than i paid thanks to my buying used & buying under market value. however, i'm sure my Buchla will be worth a lot less once the modular craze subsides but i don't plan to sell it. on a smaller scale, i paid around $500 used for an UltraProteus back when 1U synths held some value- i could probably buy 4 for that price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TropicThink Posted June 29, 2012 Members Share Posted June 29, 2012 I borrowed a crapload of money in the early nineties to buy an Akai S-1000 sampler with SyQuest drives, CD-ROM player, expanded RAM (INSANELY EXPENSIVE) and loads of sounds. When I sold it all just a few years later I didn't even get enough to pay off the remaining debt on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted July 2, 2012 Members Share Posted July 2, 2012 Not really a synth but I sold a Hammond AVB for a ridiculously low price to a guy in Toronto, CA. It's sad because I was going to fix it up but never had time. I had to get rid of it because of where I was storing it. He got a free tone cabinet also. They are not worth much but bottom line this kid made out on the deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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