Sentimental Gear

Looking through some of my old gear pile I came to a interesting conclusion. There is definitely pieces of gear that I will not get rid of… yet never play or use. Scratching my head as to why, I decided simply it was due to the sentimental attachment. I thought that was kind of weird. I mean, I get it when you’re attached to something you play/use every day. Something that you connect to on a deeper level, but am I connecting to some of this gear?? I’m curious if any of you have a similar attachment.

For me, I think it’s about the ‘firsts’. Like your first love.. or first kiss. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best or most memorable, but there is a place in your personal history that makes it… significant. I have three pieces of gear that I’ve carried with me (across multiple moves) . I’ve found myself contemplating get rid of this gear on multiple occasions, but instead, cursed under my breath on trying to find a appropriate place to stow it.

These three pieces of gear are my DOD FX75 Stereo Flanger, Sears 300G guitar amp, and my Epiphone Les Paul Custom (Black Beauty).

DOD FX75 Stereo Flanger – Here is my first effect pedal I ever bought. I have no idea that it works right now.. probably does. Back in the late 80s, early 90s I was really into the Cure and remembering cutting my teeth on some of the early classics like A Forest and In Your House. The flanger was a nice effect to have. I remember I bought it dirt cheap in a pawn shop in Ventura, CA.

Sears 300G Guitar Amp – Here is my first ever guitar amp. I remember getting my first guitar after graduating high school (which was not the Epi listed about) but I had no amp to play it through. I would play ‘dry’, just practicing the old 2 finger power chord, and a co-worker of mine said she had a amp and gave it to me. It sounds like shit, but it was wonderful. It’s pure solid state and weighs like 5 pounds, but it can make some crappy/farty sounds that are fun today. I actually still use this amp when I’m testing my pedal builds. Since it’s so small, I have it next to my bench to test if things are working (final build or on the bread board).

Epiphone Les Paul Custom – As I just said, this was not my first guitar.. but this was my first ‘real’ guitar. When I bought this I felt like I really bought something. I remember playing this guitar against other ‘real’ Gibsons around 1991 and I was blown away how this played and how it sounded. I remember going in there to buy a Gibson, and ended up walking away picking the black beauty. I played this guitar for years. At the time the Epiphone was perfect for the music I was playing, but when I started going towards amps with higher gain, the pickups were causing me problems. I changed the pickups but at the time I didn’t realize I was loosing the Les Paul tone until I started to play other Les Pauls. I play completely different guitars today, but I still keep that in the stack of cases.

So that’s my story… you have one for me? What gear do you have.. that you won’t get rid of because of sentimental attachment?