QUESTION: What do you do with older gear that doesn't work

70'sMusic

Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone,

Got a question for the collective wisdom of the group - what do you do with older gear that doesn't work anymore? I have several pieces that are in great condition but need a little work. It will cost more to get them fixed than it cost to purchase them. I don't want to throw it away, what have you done to get rid of old non-working equipment?

Thank you in advance for your help, I truly appreciate it!
 
Fix them myself. Or sell them as is for a reasonable price. Depending on what they are they can still be worth $$$$ or pennies.
 
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I paid $50.00 ( fifty ) for a mint condition Receiver and I phucked it up one month later and shorted out the whole thing with probes during a Bias Adjustment. .. It wasn't broke so I should have left it alone!! !!

Anyway it's a phucking paper weight until I spend about $500.00 to have it fixed and refreshed with new Caps....

Yes it's worth it to me, because....
#1. It's a memorial piece in Remembrance of my deceased brother.
#2. Because it sounds better than anything else in the world made today for $500..
IMG_20180621_095739355_LL.jpg
it's the top one ...the Technics SA 600

I'm flat broke and trying to sell a couple of AK Rifle's that I cherish.. .to get it fixed and pay my wife back for the SA800 underneath it
 
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If it's a vintage silver-face piece (and not bottom of the line), chances are someone will either want to restore it, or refurbish their own with a good condition case, front panel, etc. Take a look on eBay and see if there is any demand for the items you have, then you can either start an auction at the lowest price you're willing to accept for it (don't forget the ebay and paypal fees), or list it at a higher price with offers accepted. If after a few weeks you get no bites, you know that there's not enough demand. In that case you can put it up in Craigslist free items section, most likely someone will take it.
 
Never " throw away " any equipment that you could give as gifts to those that would fix to use for their own personal usage & not personal gain.
Give or ( Donate ) to an appreciative recipient
 
I paid $50.00 ( fifty ) for a mint condition Receiver and I phucked it up one month later and shorted out the whole thing with probes during a Bias Adjustment. ..
This is the unfortunate way that folks on ak learn about mini-grabbers. If you had used them there might have been a chance for a successful adjustment. Don't worry about being alone, you definitely are not. I lost a resistor in a Sony TT which killed the table until found and replaced. Thanks to @Grainger49 for the guidance on that repair. Now have mini-grabber test leads. Lots of folks start out opening up a unit with no user serviceable parts inside and start adjusting only to start a new thread asking for help fixing their beloved blowed up receiver.

If you know which end of the soldering iron to hold, maybe you too could start a thread to repair and recap your 600.

This leads to another answer to the OP's question, many here seek help to repair their units and much help is offered and gear gets fixed by those that have no idea until after the repair whether they would ever hear their unit again with professional help.
 
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Sell it for pennies on the dollar. Part it out. Give it to a friend who is handy with such things (if you have one of those). Ask your friend if he would like to have a half dozen and give you back just one repaired one. Lots of possibilities. It depends mostly on what you are comfortable with.

For example, I have no issue pulling a tube amp from a console (with just a couple exceptions). Some folks think that is sacrilege. Some folks have no issue taking $30 for the knobs and chucking the rest. That would bother me if I thought it was clean and salvageable. OTOH, people need knobs. So, it's really up to you. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks (unless someone thinks it's a good idea to throw them into a gully, that guy is a putz).
 
This is the unfortunate way that folks on ak learn about mini-grabbers. If you had used them there might have been a chance for a successful adjustment. Don't worry about being alone, you definitely are not. I lost a resistor in a Sony TT. Now have mini-grabber test leads. Lots of folks start out opening up a unit with no user serviceable parts inside and start adjusting only to start a new thread asking for help fixing their beloved blowed up receiver.

If you know which end of the soldering iron to hold, maybe you too could start a thread to repair and recap your 600.

This leads to another answer to the OP's question, many here seek help to repair their units and much help is offered and gear gets fixed by those that have no idea until after the repair whether they would ever hear their unit again with professional help.
Definitely Grabbers would have saved me a WHOLE LOT of Grief....
I will Never again attempt my own work without ...

First : having expendable cash at the Ready in case I mess up...

Second : having the Correct test equipment

Third: Not touch or mess with Something So Important to me that's not broke in the first place!
 
Sell it for pennies on the dollar. Part it out. Give it to a friend who is handy with such things (if you have one of those). Ask your friend if he would like to have a half dozen and give you back just one repaired one. Lots of possibilities. It depends mostly on what you are comfortable with.

For example, I have no issue pulling a tube amp from a console (with just a couple exceptions). Some folks think that is sacrilege. Some folks have no issue taking $30 for the knobs and chucking the rest. That would bother me if I thought it was clean and salvageable. OTOH, people need knobs. So, it's really up to you. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks (unless someone thinks it's a good idea to throw them into a gully, that guy is a putz).

This is great advice. I'll add that if there is a repair shop nearby that's known for their vintage work you might be able to trade some carcasses for credit toward a restoration on something that you really like.
Lots of good options for clean but non functional gear.
 
Hi Everyone,

Got a question for the collective wisdom of the group - what do you do with older gear that doesn't work anymore? I have several pieces that are in great condition but need a little work. It will cost more to get them fixed than it cost to purchase them. I don't want to throw it away, what have you done to get rid of old non-working equipment?

Thank you in advance for your help, I truly appreciate it!

Subscribe to Bartertown and sell it as whole or parts.
 
Hi Everyone,

Got a question for the collective wisdom of the group - what do you do with older gear that doesn't work anymore? I have several pieces that are in great condition but need a little work. It will cost more to get them fixed than it cost to purchase them. I don't want to throw it away, what have you done to get rid of old non-working equipment?

Thank you in advance for your help, I truly appreciate it!

Post your location. Maybe somebody will fix one of them in trade for some of the others. Pretty good bunch on here, generally speaking.
 
Oh, I forgot the most frequent option. Give it/ sell it to someone else who will initially be excited but then repeat the process after it has spent a few years in his garage.

Ha! I did that just a few days ago, trading a piece I couldn't fix for a different working one. Meanwhile, I kept the one part from that device that was worth anything and sold it for more than my investment, other than time.
 
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