Thing #193: Bass Grooves

Some months ago, I loaned this to a music student friend who was learning bass. I don't really expect to get it back, because I don't really want it back, because I don't currently own a bass. So, I'm going to just go ahead and mark it as gone.

Thing #192: Bass Amp

Some months ago, I loaned this to a music teacher friend who was learning bass. I don't really expect to get it back, because I don't really want it back, because I don't currently own a bass. So, I'm going to just go ahead and mark it as gone.

Thing #183: Broken Guitar Amp

This was my first guitar amp. It looks like a "Fenaer" because part of the nameplate broke off, but it's actually a Fender. Years ago, the speaker blew out, so I had to decide whether to try replacing the speaker myself, or to trying unloading it as is, or to just write it into my will and keep it forever.

After a couple attempts, I found a guy on Craigslist who wants to start working on amps. I sold it to him for... a donut. I'd originally asked for $5, but when he said he was stopping at a prestigious local bakery on the way, I was hungry so I said I'd accept a donut, too. He bought me a maple bar with bacon on top, which is pretty cool. Musicians are generally pretty cool.

Thing #182: Spring Break 2k2 Mix CDs

Paul made this four-disc collection for our 2002 spring break road trip. There were 62 total tracks, although Dream On by Aerosmith somehow ended up on discs one and three. Other artists represented more than once:

• Dave Matthews Band
• Foo Fighters
• Fuel
• Hootie & the Blowfish
• Jimmy Eat World
• Matchbox 20
• R.E.M.
• Semisonic
• Third Eye Blind
• U2

It was definitely 2002.

Thing #172: Nutmeg Guitar Strap

Like the other suede-like strap, I gave this to Becky. Even though she didn't use it for her project, she has to keep it or re-gift it because I don't want it back. Ha!

One way or another, I ended up with two similar-looking guitar straps that I didn't want, as I've found that I prefer thinner nylon straps. This is a nice win-win situation, because if I can reduce my own junk supply while simultaneously helping somebody else craft a better purse, well then -- look, I'm not saying I'm a hero, but I would certainly excuse you for making that mistake.

Thing #171: Cayenne Guitar Strap

A suede-like material, which I'm calling "cayenne" because cayenne pepper was the closest color match that I could find in my spice cabinet.

You see, my friend Becky was looking for an old guitar strap to fashion into a purse strap, so I offered her this one and the next one. I believe she ended up using this one. I saw the purse later and it looked nice, although I should remind you that I am not a purse expert, so take that for what it's worth.

Thing #138: Youth Ministry Materials

I had a couple of these music video DVDs lying around, with accompanying magazine booklets of some kind. They were given to me as supplemental teaching materials for a boys' Bible study I used to help out with, but that was years ago now and I'm not sure I ever used them, anyway.

I dropped them in the current youth pastor's mailbox. I doubt he'll use them, either, but now my conscience is clear. Thou shalt not keepeth thy church's DVDs beyond a reasonable period of time.

Thing #103: Overdrive Pedal

I tried selling this on Craigslist, but I only got one response and then he backed out. So I thought I'd give eBay a try.

I assumed I'd get somewhere between $10 and $20 for it, and I added $5 for Priority Mail shipping. Here's the final breakdown:

Ebay listing fee:	$0.35
Final sale price:	$7.50 (+ $5.00 shipping)
Ebay final sale fees:	$1.12
PayPal transaction fee:	$0.66
Actual shipping cost:	$9.45 (1 lb, 6.2 oz to Merced, CA)
Final profit:	$0.92

When did Priority Mail get so expensive?

Anyway, from now on, I'll just give things away on Craigslist if I have to.

Thing #96: Bass Guitar

When I bought this bass (used), one of the two pickups didn't work. After getting a few good years out of it, the other one stopped working. So after letting it sit around for months, I finally decided to just sell it to someone who wanted to repair it.

After selling it, I realized that I most of the shots I took for the craigslist ad were vertically oriented, which doesn't fit the template I'm using here. So imagine that it's black and sleek and cool-looking and worth about 25 bucks if the electronics are busted.

Thing #95: Guitar Stand

I had two of these and should be able to get by with one, easily. My church is always short on guitar stands, so I just left it there in the music storage closet. They'll get way more use out of it than I will.

Thing #87: Contact Microphone

It was one of these, except the wires around the input jack were frayed and the signal wasn't getting through, so I threw it out. A replacement would only cost about ten bucks, anyway, which is much cheaper than a soldering iron.

The main advantage to tuning an electric guitar (or bass guitar) by vibration instead of audio signal is that you can do so without plugging it in (or without unplugging it from the amp). The main advantage to tuning an acoustic guitar with one of these is that you can do so in a noisy room.

Very neat little tool. I wish it was still working, but I can get by without one.

Thing #70: Burned CDs

First things first: there was nothing illegal here. Once, in high school, I had all my CDs stolen (because they happened to be in a car that was stolen). Then, in college, I had all my CDs stolen again (because they happened to be in a car that was broken into). Tired of buying the same Led Zeppelin discs every few years (those guys are plenty rich), and since the CD-R drive was finally becoming affordable, I began to copy any CDs I received. It was a good system: I could treat the copies relatively haphazardly because the originals were always safe at home, protected from hooligans and accidental scratches alike.

Now, I live in a digital age (albeit somewhat reluctantly), so there's no real need to carry around the copies as physical discs.

Thing #54: Guitar Tuner

A pickup in my acoustic-electric guitar died, so being the thrifty guy that I am, I just went out and bought a whole new guitar. (Hey, I had to play that weekend.)

A few weeks later, I donated my old guitar to Paul, because an acoustic-electric guitar without working electronics is still a perfectly useful acoustic guitar.

Anyway, I can't count the guitar here (because it was already replaced with an equivalent item) but I also gave Paul this extra tuner that I found, because for some reason I had extra tuners, as if I was prepared to simultaneously tune multiple guitars for some reason.

Thing #20: Free Songs

These are the "Pick of the Week" cards that you can get at Starbuck's and redeem for a free song on iTunes. I must like to grab anything that's free, because I had a handful of these that I've picked up but never redeemed. Some of them expired months ago.

I decided to just toss them without redeeming any. In fact, I even went into my iTunes library and deleted the few other free songs I've acquired over the years. It's not like I listen to any of those, anyway. Feels nice to be free of them, even if the clutter was virtual.