RECORDING TIP: Hang onto vintage gear (trust me from experience)

Made a list of classic or somewhat rare stuff I used to own, that I bought used, for cheap, from 2000 to 2011, and here it is. Some of these things, I didn’t look up the current value. But I know a lot of the stuff is worth more than I bought it for.

Roland Juno-60. Last bought in 2011 for $650, sold in 2012 for $925.. now worth $3,000.

Roland Alpha Juno 1. Bought for $150, now worth $600.
Roland Alpha Juno 2. Same.

Roland HS-60 SynthPlus (Juno-106 with speakers). Bought for $400 in 2003 and sold for $500 a year later. Worth well over $1,200 now.

Yamaha NS-10s (Bought for $10 from a thrift store. One woofer didn’t work. Repaired for $130. Sold for $600 in 2003).

E-Mu Orbit the Dance Planet. Bought for $200.
E-Mu Audity 2000. Bought for $400.
E-Mu Proteus 2000. Bought new for $800. Worth a lot less (like most E-Mu stuff)
E-Mu PK-6 Proteus Keys. Bought for $500, I think. Worth $350-ish.
E-Mu Proformance rackmount grand piano. Bought for $75. Worth a lot more, I think. Maybe not.

Kawai K1. Bought for $100.

Kawai K4 (I think). Bought for $200.

Yamaha SY55. Bought for $175. Sold new in 1990 for $1800.

Roland D-50. Bought for $250. Worth more these days. Enya used it for “Orinoco Flow”

Roland D2. Bought for $250. Worth about the same (fun little box, with LOTS of great sounds).

Roland SPD-S. Bought for $500. Not as valuable as the current SPD-SX.

Korg Microkorg. Bought for $175. Still sells new for about $400.

Casio CZ-101. Bought for $65 in 1994. Sold for $150. Worth about $350 these days.

Casio CZ-1000. Bought for $50. Let a friend borrow it in 2004. Worth about $600 now.

Casio CZ-1 Bought for $200. Sold for $350. Shipped, buyer said it arrived destroyed… gave them a refund even though I never got evidence of it, broken).

Fender Rhodes MK1. Bought for $450. Sold for $450. Worth a lot more now.

Wurlitzer 200. Paid $500 for one on ebay in early 2003. Fried after 30 minutes of playing. Could not get refund from seller, who obviously ripped me off.

Yamaha CS1x. Bought for $400, I think. Sold for $200. Worth more these days.

Roland TR-505. Bought for $50. Worth a few hundred these days.

Korg G3 guitar pedal. Still love this thing. Bought for $40. Sells for $100 usually.
Digitech GSP5 Bought for $400 in 1993. Worth a lot less.

Akai APC40 Bought new for $300-ish? Worth a lot less these days.

E-Mu Xboard 49. Bought new for $250. Probably worth a lot less.

Akai MPC500. Bought used for $300. Sells for about that.

Akai MPC1000. Bought new for $1,000 in 2009, returned two weeks later. Worth about $500 used.
Novation Nova IIx. Found for a steal, $999 new, in 2002, at Sam Ash in Tampa. Was worth $2,500 at the time. Sold for $1500 in 2003. I never see these sold used, ever. If I did, I’d drop the dough for one again. Killer synth.
Pioneer CDJ-1000 and CDJ-800. Bought new for $1000 and $800 respectively. Worth a lot less these days, since technology is different/better.

Rane TTM-56. Bought new for $750 in 2008 or 2009. The new Rane mixers are a lot more, and do more.

Novation Remote SL 37 (MK1). bought for $100, sold for $150. Still nice.

Novation Remote SL 49 or 61 (years ago)… briefly? Bought for $280-ish… now worth about $150-ish.

Mackie 800R – last one I got for only $200. Still rare, they sell for about $400 each.

Moral of the story– hang onto your vintage stuff. Did I think in a million years the Juno-60 would be worth $3,000? Nope. But thanks to Stranger Things and “synthwave” (read: the rebirth of 80s new wave music, but now “indie 80s”)… the value drastically increased. I owned one about 5 different times, between 2003 and 2011.

Ugh. My heart hurts.