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To open up a somewhat morbid subject, what will happen to all your 'stuff' when you die? If you are like me, you have lots of tubes some worth a lot, most not worth much at all. You may have some expensive iron. You probably have lots of resistors and caps.
You possibly have some amplifiers hanging around as well as speakers and all the other paraphernalia of our hobby, not to forget all the recordings.
You possibly have no one in mind to pass all this on to. Your Significant Other or relative probably will want to get rid of most of it and hopefully get a bit of cash in the process.
I am curious as to what ideas you have.
ray
Follow Ups:
While I am only 45 years young , before I left my house in Indiana I gave a few car loads of stuff to a good friend who is 10 years younger then me
As i get older I just dont want all this stuff to hold me down, I only want what i want and am slowly getting rid of the rest.
For you collectors/(hoarders) it does not pay "literally" if you die and your stuff goes to the way side! get rid of it now pass it along to someone you know who will cherish it, years down the road you will be remembered.
Getting rid of the stuff(sell)or whatever you really dont want or need will be uplifting you will feel much better too.
I am speaking from my personal experience yours may vary
Lawrence
I agree with this... keep what you will use and no more - unless you have mentored someone who is considered by you to be a worthy recipient.This would put back into the market some items which have been collected (hoarded, even) and put downward pressure on the items, with respect to pricing, which enthusiast builders (living real ones) at the moment cannot afford to buy due to 'collector value'.
And I believe the time is about right, hardly anyone uses the stuff anymore, compared with 40 - 60 years ago.. and say 25-30 years old plus 40-60 years puts us to about now.
Having it snapped up at 10c on the dollar after you pass is a bad deal - much better to sell it off and leave the money to your kin.
It might flood the market a little bit, but that would be my point = give a little bit back... surely, still better than 10% as mentioned previously.
But then, some have interest in keeping prices high... but also to them will come the eventuality from which no man can escape.
Shane
Edits: 01/29/17
I will sell stuff before I die. Hate to think things like 2A3 tubes or UTC interstages going to dumpster.
I have more parts than I can possibly use in my remaining lifetime. And more great projects than I'll be ever able to complete. Need to decide what dreams to give up on, and pass it on to younger generation of tube lunatics. For remuneration, I mean.
My two oldest children couldn't care less about audio equipment.
But my youngest daughter, found and purchased her own Dual TT, at the age of 17.
She is a modest guitarist, but a VERY good singer, who has toured up and down the East Coast for years now.
She would appreciate any equipment that I give her.
Steve
I belong to an antique radio club (www.sarsradio.com) where this situation is encountered periodically. The typical way this gets addressed is that the family contacts the club, and a dozen or so of the club members come over and pick through everything, making "reasonable" offers to the family for the items they like. Families vary as to what they consider "reasonable", but it is usually MUCH less than what things go for on eBay, perhaps $.10 on the dollar. After all, the families want to be rid of the stuff. Often the remaining items do indeed go into a dumpster. I've gotten several great items this way, and it helps perpetuate the club and its goals.
I am fortunate that I have a family member who shares my compulsion. I have told my wife that, should I pass before unloading most of this stuff she should call my brother who will come down here and haul away anything he wants, and help her unload the rest.
The third option I have seen is that there is a guy in the radio club who is a serious "wheeler-dealer". For a 50% cut he will come pick everything up, sell it on eBay and send you half the proceeds. For families who feel no allegiance to the club, or need to get the most funds out of the sale this is the best approach.
It's only a problem when you hide your expenses on the hobby which most of the guys do. I could never quite understand it but that's the reality. I think thanks to that the vendors can ask outrageous money for things like cables and phono cartridges and get away with it.
Edits: 12/07/16
Well , considering that family hate the expenses, hobby and resent (not their) spending which sometimes leads to bitter disputes. Can't stand listen to something more serious than pop "Justins" and consider operatic arias a howling and it's a reality for MOST of my audio friends I don't really care what will happen to all that expensive junk I've accumulated after I kick the bucket . It can go on the curb I couldn't care less.
It only applies to guys whose turntable is more expensive that their car , if it's not ,you're not a true members of the club haha.
Warm Regards
I use my father's Thorens TD125 so I think I still qualify.
ray
Thanks for all the replies and here is a story along the audio caretaker line.
When I first got interested in classical music during my first year of University (Queensland), my father was very pleased and took me round to his friend's house to hear his system. Beyer transcription turntable, SME, Ortofon (also Decca), Quad 22 amp and large home made boxes with 15" Wharfedales, 8" Wharfedales and Kelly ribbons on top. I was totally blown away. A couple of years later in 1967, he replaced the speakers with Tannoy Autographs.
This is where I got hooked on hi-fi.
About five years ago I visited my home town of Maryborough for a haunt and happened to drive past the house and noticed the door was open so I stopped to see if the current occupants knew what had happened to the man. To my surprise, he was still alive (92) and after a few minutes, he remembered who I was and invited me back later in the day. I duly turned up and found that while most of the equipment had changed, the Tannoys were still there. We started listening and talking about classical music, concerts and hi-fi. He was intrigued that I was now building amplifiers since he used to be an electrician.
Because he had no children, he was obviously concerned about the future of his equipment, particularly the Tannoys. Anyhow, he wrote down my name and address (physical and email). In the meantime, his wife had come home and I discovered she was the patron saint of the local bowls club. As I left, I was able to thank him for introducing me to this wonderful hobby.
A couple of years later, I received an email from one of his nephews telling me he had died and asking me for advice on how to sell it all. The wife died a few days after him. Even though I now live in the US, though email I was able to help him with the result that the Tannoys did not finish up in a rubbish tip.
So I am thinking that the audio caretaker is probably the best way to go. But it will help if I make a list of the valuable stuff and photograph those items.
ray
It was very nice of you to help them out. I had to Google "bowls club" to see what that is. :)
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Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
We all collect gears during our lifetime, but when we die most of it end up in the garbage can anyway.
If we only kept whats used for the moment, and stopp collecting so much things, everyone would benefit.
Environment, more poeple enjoying the hobby and not least, our selfs. Because with more rear available on the market, we could always buy it back, ones we really need it.
Collecting is a really problem..
My kids passed on the opportunity to have a Road Show worthy, hand made Shaker table reproduction with mortise and pegged tenon construction when I moved a few years ago.
They don't give a passing glance to the several rather lovely (I think) amplifiers and speakers in my place or the somewhat rare and high quality hand tools used to create them. Ditto for the 5 multi-drawer cabinets of electronic parts.
Then there's the 600 "noisy" LPs and hopelessly obsolete record player.
In Death though, even in the 'lake of fire', while being 'eternally poked by Imps with sharp sticks', there is no regretting what one's children do with your stuff.
Bring on the Dumpster.
One of my sons is very ineterested in my gear so i imagine he would like to have some to most of it. My son in law is very interested in my lps. And the tubes will probably be divided up between them all. I should write it all in a will so there is no squabbling.
If you want to have some fun in the "afterlife" start a rumor among your family that you buried the gold coins in the back yard.
I don't have much, mostly components in DIY gear, but my daughter is knowledgeable enough to help dispose of it.
She scored a Pilot console with SA-232 and SA-210 on her own when she was a teen. She will do fine.
Your topic is very timely as my mother recently died at 96 and my brother and I just finished cleaning out her house. The experience made me think about the future hassle I will be leaving for my own kids someday.
At 62 I am starting to divest some things now and giving them to younger extended family members who have expressed an interest in some of my gear. I've declared a moratorium on all new collectable hobbies. I've started thinning out my LP collection and donating them to the local nonprofit bookstore.
What's more, I am not missing any of the stuff that's leaving.
I've told my wife the name of a couple audio buddies and said contact them, have them take it all and give you half of what they make on it.
Great idea Steve! Just need some trustworthy audio buds!
Jim
I have had to ID someone who could come in and assist in the dissolution of the stuff.
The great news is now that my oldest daughter is 18 I have been educating her on what this stuff is. We have been working on a guitar amp together so that she can get a better understanding. With Ebay/Asylum Trader/ Etc, it will keep her out of Ham Fests.
The best thing is to wick down to only what you love or have active plans to build. Parts and equipment bring much more joy to people using them versus sitting in the closet waiting for an estate junk sale / dumpster.
I've thought about that, too. If you really want to be sure your family has a chance for maximum benefit, you'll need to inventory everything. Not only that, you'll need to include an estimated value and maybe even write a short description sufficient to be used in an eBay ad. In short, you'll have to prepare all the same materials as if you were selling the items yourself and somehow attach/link them to each item or group.
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Buy Chinese. Bury freedom.
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