A Downer Question

richardp69

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So, I'm not a young man and I find myself trying to plan for my demise although I surely hope it's no time soon.

I have way too much gear. My wife is not a player and knows little about gear so I don't want to burden her with any of that. My goal is to find a reputable store that will come pick up everything I have, put it on consignment and send my wife the proceeds. That's a bit simplistic I know but is likely enough to get my point across.

I've contacted Bernunzio Music in NY and Elderly right here in Mich. Bernunzio has shown some interest but has committed to nothing. I'm just starting discussions with Elderly.

Of course, if I have time available when the time comes I'll let everybody here have a chance if there's anything I have that interests you but often times it seems that it can be quite sudden with little to no advanced warning.

Anyway, I'd be curious to see what, if anything, others have done and whether they have any solid suggestions. Of course, the obvious answer is to just start selling everything off and get to 3 or 4 guitars and be done with it. BUT, I know myself well enough to know that really isn't an option.
 

Brad Little

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I'm also wondering about the same thing. No one in the family plays, so alternatives are needed. I have a pretty good friend who is an attorney, guitar player and has worked in a couple of music stores. I plan on asking him if he would be willing to broker my instruments and take his pick of the lot for his fee.
Brad
 

Cougar

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...although I surely hope it's no time soon....

I'm sure we all hope that as well!

But yeah, my wife is a bit of a nag about that. I keep a list of my guitars and reasonable prices that they might be sold for, but I guess that's asking quite a bit to think she could do the selling (and worse - shipping!). I've also told her she could use my I.D. and post here that my guitars are available should I kick the bucket. But after that, your solution is a lot cleaner and easier. Not a bad idea....
 

GAD

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The problem with having a store buy a collection is that your estate will get *maybe* half of what it's worth in the end. Probably less, honestly.

My goal is to sell off most of mine as I get older so that the collection to be dealt with is much smaller. I also collect more than just guitars, so it's an order of magnitude worse for me, but having been the executor of my mother's estate, I'd want that process to be as simple as possible. Luckily my kids are pretty sharp and well-versed in the ins and outs of selling online, so hopefully they can have some fun making money in the process.
 

awagner

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A couple of suggestions, which are not mutually exclusive:

1. Estate auction with a pre-set reserve for each guitar. That should thin the herd somewhat. Anything that does not sell can then be sold on consignment at a reputable guitar shop like Elderly.

2. Appoint someone you know and trust who has knowledge about guitar selling to undertake that responsibility (Reverb, eBay, Craigslist, etc.).

I seem to recall reading a thread on this subject on the Acoustic Guitar Forum. You could take a look there for other suggestions.
 

chazmo

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Richard, for the record, I don't think this is a "downer." I think you're doing a very important thing, and I know we've broached the subject several times in the past too on LTG.

Several among us have situations like yours where guitar collections for our heirs are something that neither they want nor know how to dispose of.

I think that asking a reputable broker or trusted individual to sell off your collection (for a fee) where the proceeds go to your estate is a good idea. Depending on the size of your collection, you might designate multiple agencies or individuals to handle it.

One thing to do is to have an inventory, which I think you can provide to the executor as an addendum to your will. You'd list the history of each guitar and what you might expect it would be worth. I don't know how that works with a broker, but I suspect they'd want to see that inventory before agreeing to the role. I suspect that this would be similar to the kind of info you'd need to supply to an insurance company (but honestly I'm not sure).

Another thing to do would be to mention your plans (and who you've designated) in the addendum as well.

The key motivator (for me, at least) isn't the monetary value of the collection... It's the fact that you don't want to burden your heirs with this. Any form of collection -- not just guitars -- drives this point home. I've known lots of folks who've had to deal with this from their parents, and it's highly unpleasant.

Final comment is that as we come to terms with our mortality, I think we should also be considering whether it's time to scale back on these collections. The best possible scenario for your heirs (in this case) is that you do all this while you're alive and functioning and in some sense can enjoy passing along your collection yourself. Unless you're an ancient Egyptian king, you can't take it with you. :)
 

Quantum Strummer

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My guitars, amps, cameras & lenses are in my will. Not listed individually, of course, but grouped together. The guitar stuff goes to a niece, the photo gear to a nephew. They both know this. In fact my niece currently has my old Tele and tweed Deluxe on loan…she's described 'em more than once, with a wink, as "almost mine." :)

-Dave-
 

walrus

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I don't have enough guitars to make it a "hassle"!

walrus
 

Nuuska

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Hello

Aside of guitars - there is all kind of "junk" downstairs.
I've been thinking about that a lot - how on earth could my wife - who knows what I do for living - but has made her career as psychotherapist - tell the difference of Nagra SN or some other small piece of electronics ?

I do have to mark at least some of the gems lurking on my shelves.


full.jpg


For those not SO familiar with Nagra tape recorders - this one is about size of postcard - more info here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagra
 
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Mark WW

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Interesting thread. Recently some health issues resurrected thoughts of my own mortality. I have been to the edge once so it is not inappropriate to consider what kind of burden ones collection can place on our loved ones. I started a sell off but then had a buying relapse but am determined to get my guitar list to under 10. And the receipts and value are all laid out for my wife and son.

Richard - take lots of pics of your stuff and then pick only the ones to keep that are very special. Getting rid of stuff after a loved one passes is very difficult so make it easy on your wife or maybe just think a little bit more about the loss of value selling it all off through a dealer. Sell it for the correct value and put the money in a fund that your wife can access after you are gone. I hope I didn't come off as callous. It is a tough thing to deal with.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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What I did: Went to a reputable young guy who does a lot of local amp and guitar building and repair and asked him if he'd be willing to take my gear, sell it for whatever he can get, keep 20%, and give the rest to my wife. He agreed.

Now I just have to die, and I'm all set!
 

GAD

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Hello

Aside of guitars - there is all kind of "junk" downstairs.
I've been thinking about that a lot - how on earth could my wife - who knows what I do for living - but has made her career as psychotherapist - tell the difference of Nagra SN or some other small piece of electronics ?

I do have to mark at least some of the gems lurking on my shelves.


full.jpg


For those not SO familiar with Nagra tape recorders - this one is about size of postcard - more info here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagra

You have a Nagra! I so want one.
 

Mark WW

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What I did: Went to a reputable young guy who does a lot of local amp and guitar building and repair and asked him if he'd be willing to take my gear, sell it for whatever he can get, keep 20%, and give the rest to my wife. He agreed.

Now I just have to die, and I'm all set!

But maybe he goes first and you are incapacitated...I am sick.
 

dreadnut

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My old friend Scott's wife is still sitting on all his equipment 6 months after he passed, she can't bring herself to start plowing through his studio yet 27 lefty guitars and probably a dozen amps, coupla pa's, pedals, etc...
 

Grassdog

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This is a tough subject and it hits home to me because I lost my wife to cancer 6 months ago (August 8th) and it was a sudden diagnosis and she passed so quickly. She didn't leave behind a collection of gear like some of us have but there were lots of things (of value) and it's hard for us to let any of them go. None of us knows exactly how much time we have left and one school of thought is we should enjoy life (and guitars) as much as we can while we're still here and to heck with worrying/fretting (no pun) over selling them. Maybe we just do the best we can to document what we have, what we think these things are worth, and how to go about selling them, and leave it at that. It's different for every person and every family. I don't know.
 

JohnW63

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If you were anywhere near me, I would be more than happy to help get them all sold, after a "short" evaluation and inspection period. Perhaps they would get more money if I played them enough to really open up. Maybe find out which strings would make them sound the best and impress any perspective buyers would be a good strategy. I could get a macro lens and review them all like Gary does and push the market for those guitars up a bit. Just leave a note , somewhere, that simply says , " Have them all shipped to John in California and he will take care of the rest. "

Just trying to say, I would be here to help.

:)
 

fronobulax

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I think people who have been the executor of an estate place a high value on reducing the burden on their executor. So that needs some kind of plan in writing. In my own experience as executor the mechanics of actually selling something were a burden. We all share stories about picky online buyers who want to send a guitar back because of a scratch that wasn't there when it was shipped or just the fear of packing something and having it get damaged. So to the extent possible I do not want my executor to have to sell and ship instruments.

If something happened to me before I do anything else, my executor knows about LTG and has a couple names of friends here who would help sell instruments. But my preferred plan is to thin the herd as much as I can myself. What is left I expect to designate someone who I think might appreciate them or provide value estimates and possible places for consignment or sale.

Two points - if you don't have a will the State will appoint an executor and that person's job will not be to generate the largest possible value from the sale of your guitars. Indeed they may decide the tax benefits of giving them to Goodwill are better than selling them, after the costs (including the executor's time) of selling them are factored in.

It is also possible that the instruments will be an insignificant part of the estate. If the estate has $3000 of guitars and a $300,000 house the court and heirs are going to be a lot more concerned about what happens to the house.

So, my plan and recommendation, is to dispose of as much as you can while you are personally able to and have a plan in writing for the rest.
 

wileypickett

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It's a head-scratcher and something I've mused over: 40+ guitars, a buncha banjos, and 10,000+ LPs, thousands od CDs, shelves and shelves and shelves of books. Not exactly fair to leave the dispostion of all that on Nora's shoulders.
 
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