GAS is a really popular hobby.  Or condition.  Or something.  A lot of musicians are really, really into gear, and the saving up for, shopping, purchasing, and unboxing process is a bit of a ritual that they look forward to and enjoy.  Sometimes.

Other times it’s a source of stress.  Sometimes we agonize over every dollar we spend, and feel guilty about each.

It’s important to your mental health to come up with a “code of conduct” for how you spend money on gear.  That way you’re working within a set of rules, which can help increase fun and decrease guilt.  Obviously you should make “spending within a budget” part of the code.  No one’s kids should go hungry because they needed a ten thousand dollar PRS.

My own code of conduct is a work in progress, but I’ll share it with you.  Here are 10 ways that I think about gear.  My first 5 items are about how I manage money, and my second 5 items are about the decision making process.

  1. I never buy music gear on credit.  If I don’t have the money, I wait until I do.  This helps me to not spend beyond my means.
  2. I don’t have a set amount that I spend over or under.  I’ve spent three dollars and a thousand dollars.  It all depends on how much I’ve saved up.
  3. I keep a Wish List on Amazon.  That makes it easy to consider what to buy.  I only add things to the wish list that I might actually be able to afford.
  4. I set aside a small amount of money per week to save up.  In addition, I add in money made from the website, from the YouTube channel, and any money that comes my way from birthdays, Christmas, etc and so on.
  5. Small things like guitar strings I will buy on my debit card, which doesn’t delete from the GAS stash.
  6. When considering where to buy, I almost always buy from Amazon.  This is because part of my website and YouTube income goes directly into Amazon.  Amazon affiliate links pay more if you have them deposited directly into your account.  But if Amazon doesn’t have what I need, which is rare, I like to buy semi-local if possible.
  7. My top priority for a piece of gear is that it must give me the ability to do something I can’t already do.  I don’t have a 12 string acoustic guitar, but I do have a six string acoustic.  Therefore, if I buy another acoustic, it’d need to be a 12 string.
  8. I don’t buy anything I won’t use.  It has to fulfill a purpose.
  9. If I do decide to buy something better than what I already have, it can’t be slightly better – it needs to be noticeably better.
  10. I always do extensive research when buying anything.

My most recent purchase was a wireless lapel mic system for the YouTube channel.  I always hated the wired lapel mic, but it was inexpensive.  When it started to become unreliable, I made the decision to upgrade to wireless.  I bought the Comica system for around $140 with tax.  I’ve seen several good reviews of it, and it’s quite a bit cheaper than the Rhode system that does something similar.

What’s next for me?  Probably some powered studio monitors.  I’ve been researching them for weeks.  I should have enough money saved up to get them for Christmas.

Update 2/23/23: I did indeed buy some powered studio monitors.  There’s a video over on my YouTube channel about them.