I recently decided (for about the 4th time) to sell some unused equipment and donate the proceeds to the Harry Konick complex in New Orleans for displaced musicians. As of last week-end there are certainly more than there were.

I had my son list a few "starter" pieces on Reverb to build up a good rating. No one is going to spend $5,000.00 on an unseen instrument sold by a guy with no rating.

We started off with miscellaneous pedals, stage lights and a very few, very cheap instruments ($500 and under, mostly).

Some surprises: First: some of that old stuff is worth a lot more than I thought. A 30 year old (lightly played) Parker Fly goes for $1,650.00, for instance. Old Boss pedals made in Japan are at a premium. 2nd: it is easy to trace recent sales by dollar, quantity sold, etc. to set prices. Plus, as soon as you print your shipping label, easily arranged from Reverb, the money is deposited in your account. And, SURPRISE: because of where the proceeds are going, and the fact that if I sell the 300 pieces I have set earmarked, I'll still have 11 keyboards, 61 guitars, about 30 amplifiers and other goodies, I m not as "in the dumps" as I thought I'd be.

In the first 5 days, we sold $1,950.00 of what I thought were mostly junkers. With a good rating, which is building, we'll be in the $3,000 up range soon. I think I'll make my goal of a $100,000.00 donation in a couple of months.

Got extra equipment lying around? Give Reverb a try.


Russ (the hoarder) Lay

PS: Most of the stuff sold last week was still in the box, wrapped in clear plastic, with the sales tag on it. I Know, it's a sickness.