When to Sell a Guitar? [6 Signs You Need to Let Go]

Guitars are magical. They provide hours of joy, challenge, and fun. 

However, the burning fire of a passion tends to die out on certain occasions. 

In other words, it is common to stop playing with it. 

Reasons are many, and it varies according to each individual. 

Now, you may be one of those, wondering whether you should sell your guitar or not. 

What if you regret the decision later? 

How can you know that it is time to let go of your guitar? 

Among the most common reasons to sell a guitar, we find needing money (emergencies), not playing with it, or wanting to buy a better guitar. Naturally, there are reasons to keep a guitar as well, so it is just a matter of the guitarist’s preference. 

That is just the tip of the iceberg. In reality, there are more reasons to say goodbye to your old guitar and earn yourself some money. 

Stick with us, and discover if your guitar no longer serves you. 

6 signs you need to let go of your old guitar

Naturally, doubts will arrive at the time of taking up a decision. 

It is hard to let go of the past, especially for those who are emotionally attached to something. 

Guitars are not out of this case. After all, instruments grant unforgettable, pleasant experiences. 

Why would you like to get rid of something that resembles such a pleasant past? 

Well, here’s why: 

1. You Don’t Play With It 

What’s the point of holding on to an object that has no use or purpose? 

Sure, nostalgia and emotional attachment are reasons to not let go of material things. 

After all, people collect useless objects, such as Joker cards, action figures, beer cans, and coins. 

There is a joy in keeping objects, which is okay. The problem is when that old guitar is kept in a guitar case deep down in the basement, gathering dust and humidity. 

Hell, you may even forget you have a guitar, to begin with. 

If that’s your case, then that guitar must be out. You’ll earn a couple of bucks, and someone will find it useful. 

A win-win situation. 

2. It No Longer Suits Your Style and Abilities 

Most guitarists got into music with an average guitar. 

Maybe it was an old acoustic you found at your grandpa’s home. Maybe you received a regular Stratocaster-style guitar as a birthday present. 

Maybe you had enough money and a friend of yours sold it to you. 

What’s important here is not how you got it, but the fact that you got a guitar. 

Let me explain. 

When starting into music, something is better than nothing. In other words, those young learners who wish to play guitar will start with the very first instrument they get their hands on. 

Sometimes, that first instrument is used (or too used!), it lacks an output jack, the volume pegs are missing, or the strings are missing. Long story short, maybe that first guitar sucked! 

But hey, who cares? It is a guitar after all, isn’t it? 

Sure, but once you grow up and earn experience as a player, you’ll need to move on. 

Find a guitar that works, and get one that suits your style. 

If over the years, you strongly got into metal, then switch your Telecaster for a Jackson. 

If, on the contrary, you grew a taste for reggae and ska, maybe a Les Paul or a Stratocaster will suit your needs. 

3. Cannot Be Upgraded 

Upgrading a guitar is a good idea. 

Instead of buying a new one (thus, expending too much money), simply have your old guitar look brand new. 

A change of pickups, a brighter paint, and a refretting on the fretboard. 

Unfortunately, this is not always possible. There are cases in which saving a guitar is hopeless. 

In the end, you spend too much money repairing and increasing the value of a guitar that it is too broken to last long. 

So, if the guitar needs too many upgrades, then do not waste time. See if you can find someone willing to pay for it, and then get a better one. 

4. You Are No Longer a Guitar Player 

Do you know Steven Adler, the Guns N’ Roses drummer? 

He got into music by learning guitar and trying to play his favorite KISS songs. 

In the end, he switched to drums. He may play guitar for sure, but he’s known for being a drummer. 

Roger Daltrey, the singer of The Who, used to be a guitarist in a previous band as well. 

Chriss Cornell and Dave Grohl, both drummers who switched to guitar and lead vocals. 

Even Joey Ramone used to be the drummer in The Ramones, just to end up being one of the most memorable singers in the history of Punk Rock. 

The lesson here is that switching instruments is natural, and sometimes even better. 

If you no longer feel like being a guitarist, why would you? 

Give up on it and go be the triangle player you always wanted to be! 

5. The Guitar Will Earn You Lots of Money 

We are not encouraging greed here. Money for the sake of money is not always a good thing. 

However, some people have valuable objects in their possession which would earn them thousands of dollars in case they would sell them. 

Maybe you have a quality guitar that is too expensive. Maybe you barely play with it, so why not sell it and earn quite a good amount of money? 

I mean, picture it with a different possession. 

You have a hard-to-find Pokémon card. It’s genuinely a one-of-a-kind object. 

But truth is, you couldn’t care less about collecting Pokémon cards. Bro, you even hate Pokémon! 

You grew up with Sailor Moon and Sakura Card Captor. Who cares about a yellow rat that throws thunderbolts? (hey, we love the three of them, so easy). 

Why keep a piece of cardboard that has no use or appreciation of any sort? Sell it! 

Apply the same logic to a guitar that is expensive but truly has no value to you, other than money. 

6. You Found Another Passion 

Life’s unstable. Moving smoothly from point A to B happens only in the alphabet. 

One pursues a dream just to discover later on that it was not worth the effort. Others study a career just to switch to a different one a year before getting their degree. 

Did you buy a guitar just to discover it wasn’t that much of a thrill? Hey, it’s normal. 

Not everyone has to play guitar. Even if you love music, even if you listen to hundreds of bands all day long, no law that forces you to be a musician. 

Nonetheless, many people believe they want to be guitarists because they don’t realize they are following someone else’s dreams. They buy a guitar just to find themselves demotivated to pick it up and learn. 

It is not a sin. It is just self-discovery. 

What if your passion is not music, but photography? Or kick-boxing, or teaching, or playing League of Legends and barely seeing the sunlight? 

Or, what if it is a mixture of them? What if you have several passions and enjoy spending a little while on everything? 

We encourage you to reflect upon those passions and hobbies. If playing guitar is not one of them, then that’s a clear sign it is time to sell the instrument. 

Reasons to sell a guitar

There are six main reasons to sell a guitar. We have covered them all in the previous section, so go check them out. 

What? You have already read them all? 

Nice. We like your curiosity. 

Let’s give you more reasons in case you aren’t too convinced yet. 

• Needing money: this is an understandable and noble reason to sell a guitar. Sometimes, taxes need to be paid, and your nine-to-five gives you not enough cash. Selling your guitar would be sad, but emergencies are a worthy reason for doing it. 
• Getting a better guitar: this is similar to the point we discussed earlier, about purchasing an instrument that fits one’s style and musical taste. However, you may just want to get a finer guitar just for the sake of it, which is okay. 
• Lacking an emotional bond: some guitarists see their guitars as their sons or daughters. This is understandable because we are Gear Aficionados and we love music. But, if you are not like that, and you don’t use it, then sell it. 
• Huge demand: you might believe selling your guitar is futile because no one will buy it. WRONG! There is a huge demand for used instruments because they are cheaper than newer ones. So sure, publish your advertisement and you’ll find potential clients.  

Reasons not to sell a guitar

Enough with selling guitars. There is another side to the coin, which is keeping the instrument with you for all eternity. 

The reasons are these: 

• You don’t want/need money: it is futile to sell a guitar for the sake of money, if it is not an emergency or if you don’t want the cash. 
• Emotional attachment: accumulating things just because is called hoarding. However, keeping a guitar as memorabilia is not unhealthy, even if you don’t play with it. 
• You play with it: too obvious. 
• They ask too little for it: sometimes, people will try to rip you off. Maybe your guitar is worth, let’s say, $700. But, someone will ask for $500, claiming that it is the average price for a used guitar. Don’t bend to their words. If the guitar is truly a beauty and a quality instrument, charge the correspondent amount for it. 
• You switched instruments but still enjoy playing guitar: the fact that you are now a lead triangle player doesn’t mean you have to give in guitar completely. Keep on playing it, even if it is once every two months. 

Best places to sell your guitar online

Now, the article convinced you on selling your guitar (and that Pokémon card). That’s cool. 

But hey, don’t go out to the first pawn shop you find. Give it a second thought, and better stick with the right place. 

Here we provide some of the best markets to sell your instrument. 

One of the most popular instrument markets is Reverb. It has a great amount of traffic, so it is easy to find someone willing to pay for your instrument. 

However, there is a big downside to this site: it takes up a fee commission. So, you won’t earn as much as you would like. 

Facebook Marketplace is another alternative in which you’ll surely find potential buyers. This is a good site to find someone within your area willing to buy a used guitar. 

Last but not least, we have to mention Amazon and e-Bay. But since they are popular enough, why even bother describing them? 

We have a specific article on places to sell your music gear online, you should check it out!

With that being said, good luck with your sales!