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Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland on his gear-buying obsession: “It’s out of control”
Parting is such sweet sorrow…
Image: Scott Legato / Getty Images
Goodbyes are never easy, even more so for self-admitted gear junkies like Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland.
Speaking about his gear sale with Analogr in a recent interview with Guitar World, Borland said, “My habit for buying gear had gotten out of control.”
“Yeah, it’s nice to have a bunch of different things, but how else do you stop a bad habit? I’d been accumulating for so many years that my collection had gotten ridiculous. There were five storage spaces full of stuff that I just wasn’t using. And I’m only getting rid of 60 percent of what I have in storage, like the 27 guitars I just don’t play anymore…”
“My collection was so extensive that it kinda became a burden,” the guitarist explained. “It was almost like [reality television show] My 600-lb Life or something! I didn’t know how to lose the weight.”
“It felt like so much work to get rid of all this stuff, which is where Analogr came along. They said, ‘We’ll take anything you don’t want and do all the work for you!’ And I was like, ‘Yes! I have a lot of stuff that I don’t need and want to clear out!’”
Surprisingly, arriving at the decision to sell his gear “wasn’t too hard” for Borland.
“I simply had too much,” he said. “It was a bit like if I wanted new things I’d have to get rid of other things, whatever it might be that I haven’t used or played in a year or two.”
“There are loads of microphones I got when I was younger that were just sitting there. After all these years of recording and engineering, there’s been a huge learning experience about what works best for me. A lot of stuff I’d gotten when I was younger and more naïve so I wasn’t really using it…”
“But there were still a few things I felt connected to…” A sentiment we can certainly relate to.
“When I first started in the music industry and began buying equipment I’d always tell myself, ‘I’m never selling this guitar or amp!’” Borland added. “I would be very attached to my gear. And I’m trying to break that spell because I’m carrying way too much stuff on my back.”
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