BEST Deal You Ever Made.......

[faracaster]

Okay here is the other side to my post about the worst deal.
What is the best deal you ever made. I'm not talking about a rip-off here. Like last year where a guy bought a 59' Les Paul from an old widow in Montreal and knew he was giving her 2,000 for a 250,000 guitar. Just what turned out to be a good deal. Doesn't even have to be a financial good deal. it might be something you bought years ago that has given you lots of enjoyment far beyond what you paid for it.

I have a couple.....

First and foremost..... I bought a 56' Strat from Mike McKenna for $400. Now this was in 1973(?). I had already had a Strat that I paid $225 for.
So paying $400 was a bit steep in those days. There was no vintage maket per se. Other than Bursts which it seems have always been rare and expensive. But somehow Mike knew it was a 56'. Mainline (Mike's band) had played at my high school that past year and he had used the Strat at the show. That was enough for me. I loved Mike's playing and to get a guitar from him was really thrilling. I still own that guitar today. I have played that guitar constantly for over 30 years. It has given me three plus decades of musical bliss. It is like coming home for me. Not to mention the appreciation of it's value.

Back in 82' I was playing in Guelph at the Chooch. I was perusing the local Buy and Sell newspaper. And there was an ad that read something like..."Fenre teltre with amp, $225, apply in preson 274 Gilbrt Ave".....totally mispelt and you needed to have a decoder to know that what he had was a Fender Telecaster and amp. The next morning the bass player and myself went on the hunt. There was no Gilbrt ave. So we bought a little map of Guelph and started looking for names that were similar or rhymed with the printed name. We spent all day and no luck. It got to be eight o'clock at night and we needed to be back at the club. I said lets just try one more place. BINGO !!! A young woman answered the door, I asked if she had a guitar for sale. She seemed surprised, but said yes and went to get her husband. This burly guy comes to the door, he just woke up and had a migraine headache. He said follow me. We went into this very dark house and he goes into his bedroom and opens the closet. There are no lights on in the bedroom. He is back lit from the light coming in from the window. all I can see is clothes flying out of the closet. I hear him say.."where is that fu*king thing". A few seconds later he comes out of the bedroom and hands me (without a case) a Lake Placid Blue 66' Tele. :D In my haste to give him the 225 I almost forget that the ad said.."with amp". As I'm leaving I inquire, quite sheepishly, "Oh, is there an amp that goes with this ?" He says yes and it's in the basement. Down we go and it's a black face Super Reverb.......As I'm leaving my conscience gets the better of and I say,"You know, all this stuff is worth far more than what you are asking" He says "How much then ?" I gulped and told him what the value of a custom colour 66' Tele and a BF SR were at that time. He said...." I've got two other speakers that go with that amp if you want them". So back down we go and he gives me two ten inch JBL's! I gave him the $225. We said good bye and I sold the extra JBL's for $200 the next week. That guitar needed a lot work to bring it up to snuff. But once it was, it was a really good one. I had it for many years and got a lot of enjoyment playing that thing and recounting it's tale.

let's hear some from you all.

cheers
pete

[Beatles]

Yup here's the best deal I ever got. I was friends with this fellow at a place I used to work back in '86 I believe. We started talking and I mentioned that I played guitar and was in a band. He told me he had a guitar and an amp that he bought when he was a kid, and they were sitting in his closet, and he had no use for them. He said take them they're yours. So I happily took home a 1963 Gibson Scout amp (with the original Gibson tags) and a 1963 Les Paul Junior with the original hard shell case.

I also picked up a 1984 Flying V at a pawn shop for $250.

Those were the days.

[lenbone]

Here we go again !Back in '76 I was working at a local Radiator shop and thought it was high time to get some wheels. One of the Radmen working there said" i have a car for sale" He wouldn't tell me what kind of car it was,just that he wanted $75 for it. $75 back then was almost a weeks pay for me! So after work i got a ride to have a look at this Jalopy as my co-workers called it,,,To my suprise there sat in his driveway was a 1959 chev impala 4 dr HT with the wrap around back windshield,this thing was mint! All it needed for a safety was a steering wheel bushing.I had that old car for 3 years until the motor calfed out on me .This car was a babe magnet,my pals and i would cruise every night,This one guy wanted that car really bad so when it died i told him i would sell it to him.I told him to make me a reasonable offer...I got $700 for it with a blown motor!!But i still wish i had that car today.Oh yeah ,,my "63 Tele i paid $300 for it in "82,,but thats an other can of worms ! Lets hear some more of these good deal stories,,this is a cool thread!-Lenny

[lenbone]

Back in the late "70's and early "80's there really was'nt much of a vintage market,,but wait a few years,,you'll see !

[dwagar]

A couple things for the younger guys to keep in mind.
- they weren't vintage back then, they were used guitars. When I bought my Les Paul '55 Special, for about $250, it was just a 12 year old guitar. So it'd be the same as you buying a '94 right now.
- $250 was a LOT of money back in the '60s. As someone said above, $75 was a weeks wage. Gasoline was, what, 35 cents a gallon?

[Davestp1]

In 1984 I bought a 62 fender tremolux head with a 12 inch JBL in a home made cabinet for $225 in a private sale here in Ottawa. The seller also threw in an early 80's MXR Distortion plus pedal. The head had been painted black but with a bit of elbow grease I got it all off. All the knobs and major parts except the power transformer were original. I sold the cabinet for 100 bucks a few weeks later. Still have the amp and it sounds great. My worse deal was the one I did not make. In 1981 I had a chance to buy a mid 1970's sunburst Gibson Les Paul deluxe for 600 dollars from a store in Kingston Ontario. The back of it was pretty badly scarred and the finish was worn through. Bought a white double neck Ibanez instead for around the same price. Gave it away a couple of years later for 400 dollars.

[lenbone]

Dwagar that was me talking about $75 a week !! And yes , it didn't matter what size engine you had gas was cheap !!And you are right about guitars,,so you figure,, if you bought a strat in "90 it's already 16 years old !,in another 10 years she is on the verge of being an antique! So hang on to those "old" axes !!-Lenny.

[highwayjones]

Purchased a Traynor Custom Special Head and Big B bottom from Larry Sykes Music on the Danforth in Toronto. Was paying the store a whopping $10.00 a week and the store closed down without notice to me. Went out of business.
I ended up paying $50.00 in total for the beast. I still have it and it still rocks
I'm trying to transfer over pics of my herd but its not working. Just so you dont think I'm Bull Sh**ing everyone.
I'll have to talk to my kid, she'll find a way to do this, damn kids are a great deal smarter then me when it comes to this stuff.
:rockon2:

[hardcorelogo]

Bought a 1959 Supro dual tone from a yard sale in Belleville Ont for 20 bucks about 15 years ago. kept it for about five years, installed a Bigsby (improperly I might add). later sold it to a collector (this qualifies for the "worst deal" thread also).

very long story short: it's the actual one bowie used on his last tour and is pictured on the DVD of same.

p.s. if anyone has acces to a time machine, could you please use it to go back and kick my teeth in for eer letting it go? thanks in advance.

[Chito]

Got a 1988 Fender The Twin (Red Knobs) in a pawnshop, 10 years ago for $350.00. Altho not vintage I suppose, but I still have it and still using it.

[oddio]

In 1967 I picked up my first REAL instrument, a 1962 Fender Precision bass. The pawn shop instruments and Vox Phantom IV (just terrible) I owned previously didn't count. It cost a hard-earned $100 plus my Electrovoice 664 mic. This instrument had seen some use, and me not recognizing mojo for what it was, promptly sanded the finish off. *sigh*

So today I've got some pretty fancy bass gear, but the old Pbass was my "main axe" for over a quarter of a century and it still inspires me to play, write and create. You should hear it through my old blackface Showman with two D140Fs!

[jxoco]

I was once walking somewhere and walked past a barbershop that had 3 or four guitars hanging on the wall. I was about 15 and I had a sears guitar that I had delivered TVguides for a year or so to get the $30 bucks to buy it with.
One of the guitars on the wall was a Tele and after getting my hair cut and visiting him a bunch of times and listening to the guys life story about bands he had been in, he told me he wouldn't think of selling it for anything less than $60 bucks. My moms, single mom, paycheck was $63 a week. The world sucked.

Within about 2 weeks I had sold the sears guitar, sold all my records, sold my record player, sold my clock radio ( it had FM and no-one had an FM radio in their bedroom to listen to that freaky new hendrix guy and that steppin wolf band).
I think my mom came up with 10 bucks, probably borrowed from my grandma. And for the last bit, I borrowed from a friend, George, who at the time was the only person I knew with an amplifier and whose family seemed to have more money than god.

I made the trip to the barber, asked about the Tele, got the nothing less than $60 story again and at that point I whipped out the stack of cash and told him I wanted it. I remember it still took over an hour to get out of there because everyone was looking for me, they were sure I got mugged for the money.

That was the Best Deal I ever made.
The worst deal was when I sold it about 2 years later to get the money for a motorcycle, think I got $160 for it.

Worst still, about 6 years later, wanting to play guitar again, standing in Long and Mcquade on Wilson ave hassling with the salesman about a used tele they wanted $380 for and I only had $350, while I'm hassling my salesman, another guy comes in and talks to another salesman, whips out the $380 and buys the damn thing right in front of me!

I think there was two lessons I learned from all this;
1. When you are really sure of the quality of the item, try for a better price of course but be prepared to 'pay up sucker', to get that quality. That has applied to guitars, houses, cars and vacations. Once you have done your research and found the best quality for the best price don't be surprized to have to pay that price. When you do your best to barter and the price ain't moving, most of the time you have reached the correct price. When the price does move, most of the time it's a lemon.

2. Never sell your guitar(s). As long as they are paid for let your kids or estate have them when your gone. Maybe when your old and arthritic you can sell one of them to some kid for $60. Wouldn't that put a smile on your face?

PS. Almost 30 years later and I still have not re-bought a Tele. I still like them alot but since then I've been a little pissed off about them. Writing this has been a bit cathartic though, maybe I need a rethink.

[faracaster]

I was once walking somewhere and walked past a barbershop that had 3 or four guitars hanging on the wall. I was about 15 and I had a sears guitar that I had delivered TVguides for a year or so to get the $30 bucks to buy it with.
One of the guitars on the wall was a Tele and after getting my hair cut and visiting him a bunch of times and listening to the guys life story about bands he had been in, he told me he wouldn't think of selling it for anything less than $60 bucks. My moms, single mom, paycheck was $63 a week. The world sucked.

Within about 2 weeks I had sold the sears guitar, sold all my records, sold my record player, sold my clock radio ( it had FM and no-one had an FM radio in their bedroom to listen to that freaky new hendrix guy and that steppin wolf band).
I think my mom came up with 10 bucks, probably borrowed from my grandma. And for the last bit, I borrowed from a friend, George, who at the time was the only person I knew with an amplifier and whose family seemed to have more money than god.

I made the trip to the barber, asked about the Tele, got the nothing less than $60 story again and at that point I whipped out the stack of cash and told him I wanted it. I remember it still took over an hour to get out of there because everyone was looking for me, they were sure I got mugged for the money.

That was the Best Deal I ever made.
The worst deal was when I sold it about 2 years later to get the money for a motorcycle, think I got $160 for it.

Worst still, about 6 years later, wanting to play guitar again, standing in Long and Mcquade on Wilson ave hassling with the salesman about a used tele they wanted $380 for and I only had $350, while I'm hassling my salesman, another guy comes in and talks to another salesman, whips out the $380 and buys the damn thing right in front of me!

I think there was two lessons I learned from all this;
1. When you are really sure of the quality of the item, try for a better price of course but be prepared to 'pay up sucker', to get that quality. That has applied to guitars, houses, cars and vacations. Once you have done your research and found the best quality for the best price don't be surprized to have to pay that price. When you do your best to barter and the price ain't moving, most of the time you have reached the correct price. When the price does move, most of the time it's a lemon.

2. Never sell your guitar(s). As long as they are paid for let your kids or estate have them when your gone. Maybe when your old and arthritic you can sell one of them to some kid for $60. Wouldn't that put a smile on your face?

PS. Almost 30 years later and I still have not re-bought a Tele. I still like them alot but since then I've been a little pissed off about them. Writing this has been a bit cathartic though, maybe I need a rethink.



Sounds like you've worked out something here. Time for a TELE now.

[oddio]

I had delivered TVguides for a year or so to get the $30 bucks to buy it with.I did the same thing, well actually it was delivering flyers, to get the money for my Pbass.

Anyhow, I concur with faracaster... Telecaster time!

[RadioDaze]

I can't save Ive been lucky enough to score any sweet vintage gear for cheap. But I must say I got a wicked deal on my Bass cabinet. It's a fender BXR Spectrum bass cab from the 80's. It's got 2-10" and 1-18" and it shakes the roof off. I score it from a guy in the White Rock area for $125 bucks Canadian.

http://neotokyo.hostingposts.com/cabinet.jpg

[bucky]

A friend of mine was moving, and he said he had an old guitar he was going to throw out. I offered to take it, and just recently listed it on ebay. I got $460 for it.

[lenbone]

Super deal on the cabinet! My bass buddy would kill for that deal!

[µ¿ z3®ø™]

2. Never sell your guitar(s). As long as they are paid for let your kids or estate have them when your gone. Maybe when your old and arthritic you can sell one of them to some kid for $60. Wouldn't that put a smile on your face?

i have lived by this rule for a LONG time.
i have had a few good deals.
the first was my first good guitar. i already had a tiesco del ray semi-hollow bodt that my folks had gotten from sears. it was a cool guitar, but short scale. in the late sixties i really wanted a les paul or a strat, but the were really expensive and altho' my folks were pretty affluent, they were in NO WAY gonna spend more than $500 on a guitar. gord taylor, in guelph, had a '72 blonde tele in his store and my dad talked him down to $300 for this 'used' guitar. at the time i wasn't really al that fussy about the tele 'cuz it kinda was a bitch to play and make sound really good. i grew to love it and over the years it has been with me ever since. it still has the original finish and and all the original parts, but has had the PUPs rewound. it looks like it's been played to death (it has), but it sounds FANTASTIC.
i also spent a TON of money on a rather beautiful '58 lester in 1974. almost $3K. i played that guitar a LOT but when the vintage market started to get crazy and the price on lesters of that era were well into the five figures, i was persuaded to sell it. sometimes i have regrets, but for the most part, i'm cool with choosing to sell it for what i did. i really only wanna have a guitar around if i don't feel weird taking it out to a gig. when i sold the guitar in the mid nineties it attracted WAY too much attention.

[M_A_T_T]

Five years ago maybe, Ward Music (now L&M) had a super summer sale of some kind where they had a raffle for a Fender California Stratocaster. A couple months later I WON the guitar! A cream Strat with a rosewood 'board. It was a very nice guitar.

[M_A_T_T]

One more.....

My Aunt's/Cousin's house was abandoned and being demolished to make way for a new subdivision. She said me and my dad could go take one last look through the house and take anything we wanted as she had already moved out. I came across a 1964 Standel Ampifier. It just needed a couple new capacitors and a good dusting off but works fine and has two original 10" Jensens that sound sweeeeeeeet.

I also found a drummer's stool that was perfectly fine that I now use when I play guitar.

[lenbone]

I just love finding treasures in old houses, especially an old amp, Nice score!!

[M_A_T_T]

A '59 Fender Champ I just bought. It was listed as a '53 because the serial number, which was listed in the sale, was read as the date code (serial # begins with a 'C' which also equals 1953 if applied to the two digit date code). I knew from the pics it was obviously not a '53 but a mid-late 50's, and managed to find a website (http://www.tcguitar.com/articles/gagliano_pt5.html) that lists Fender amp serial numbers and dated it to '59. It was also at least $200 cheaper than all the other mid-late 50's Champs so I think I did well. I'll know how it sounds in a few days.:DevilGuitar:

[torndownunit]

I bought a Princeton Reverb from a guy who was the second owner of the amp. As far as he knew, it was a 'blackfaced' modded silverface model. I got it for $600. UPS did a number on it and broke the reverb tank on it, so I took it in to get serviced. I take my stuff to the amp tech at Folkways and The Woodshed in Guelph, and he is a pretty knowlegable guy. He called me on Friday and told me from the dates on the parts, he thinks is actually is a blackface and was never modded. So if that is true, then I got one massive deal on it.

There isn't even any real difference between early silverface and blackface Princeton Reverbs, but the blackface ones are worth over twice as much.

[Ripper]

I'd finally saved enough money to buy my first real electric (no more sears for me). I went to this little music store that was around at the time (1981) and bought a brand new american made fender bullet (tele style body) complete with hardshell fender case. I gave them my cheque for 245 canadian dollars and walked out. A week later the store closed. I waited and waited and waited for the cheque to clear and it never came through. After 7 or 8 months I went to my banker and asked him what I should do. He said as far as he was concerned the money was mine and I could go ahead and spend it (the check never did come through, so I don't know what ever happened to it). Then about two weeks later I was visiting my sister in a different town and was heading to their little music store to see what they had for amps (my little old supro didn't cut it for me). As I was going to head into the shop and old fellow was carrying an amp towards the shop. I asked if he was going to sell it, he said yes. I asked him what he wanted for it. He told me $110 firm. So I paid him with the cash I had in my pocket and took my 68 silverface Vibrolux reverb home with me. I still have both the amp and theguitar.

[Eric Pykala]

This one didn't happen to me, but bears telling. My old bandmate Mike McKenna (yeah, same one faracaster was talking about) went to a yardsale and asked the proverbial little old lady if she had any instruments. She said yes and took him up to the attic where they pulled the California Girl case out from under the bed. Inside was a dead-mint '59 sunburst with the most killer flametop. Mike asked what she wanted for it, and she replied her husband had bought it new in '59, then passed-away a week later, and had paid "a lot" of money for it. She wanted what he had paid, so Mike gave her the $250 and walked away with a flametop that would easily fetch over a quarter-million today. (Stolen shortly afterwards...)
Another friend was at a yardsale and found a really cool old National 50-watt tube amp with 2 twelves, in really great condition. She was asking five bucks for it, so he went to the car to get his money. When he returned, she said "I feel really bad about charging you five bucks for this; it's a lousy heater".
Why doesn't stuff like that ever happen to me?-Eric

[faracaster]

This one didn't happen to me, but bears telling. My old bandmate Mike McKenna (yeah, same one faracaster was talking about) went to a yardsale and asked the proverbial little old lady if she had any instruments. She said yes and took him up to the attic where they pulled the California Girl case out from under the bed. Inside was a dead-mint '59 sunburst with the most killer flametop. Mike asked what she wanted for it, and she replied her husband had bought it new in '59, then passed-away a week later, and had paid "a lot" of money for it. She wanted what he had paid, so Mike gave her the $250 and walked away with a flametop that would easily fetch over a quarter-million today. (Stolen shortly afterwards...)
Another friend was at a yardsale and found a really cool old National 50-watt tube amp with 2 twelves, in really great condition. She was asking five bucks for it, so he went to the car to get his money. When he returned, she said "I feel really bad about charging you five bucks for this; it's a lousy heater".
Why doesn't stuff like that ever happen to me?-Eric


Oh yeah brother !!!!!! Testify !!!!! And how good did that burst sound???? Utter brillance. That is still LP tone I hear in my head when I think classic LP.

Pete

[bolero]

cool stories!!

I've had 2 lucky encounters:


walked into a pawn shop one day, saw a big ugly black piece of equipment ( amp head ) and could see a whole bunch of tubes through the back grill. had no idea what it was, but figured I could use it for parts or something, with all those tubes.

it had an ampeg logo on it, & I knew they made reputable stuff, so I bought it for the $40 price tag on it. it was a real bitch to move too....


turns out it was an SVT head, full of mint GEC 6550 tubes :food-smiley-004:


also a long time ago, a good friend of mine told me he had an old amp in his basement for years: basement had been flooded several times & he said I could have the thing for free whenever he got around to cleaning up.


I needed an amp, so one day went over to looksee....it was an old beatup marshall head with a busted plexi front panel. back then they weren't so collectable, and it was in rough shape. after some research I found out it was a '66 jtm100 :banana:

[pitchshifter]

Picked up a brand new Boss FET preamp green thingy, The Edge made it popular, for 60 bucks and sold it 250$US. I bought with the intention of selling it. I am EVIL!!!!!

[Sneaky]

Back before Evil-Bay I used to get some great deals in Calgary's pawnshops or the Bargain Finder...

60's Traynor YBA2 for $25
'67 BF Vibrolux Reverb for $200
'68 Bassman for $100
Yamaha SBG2000 for $300
Levinson Blade for $400
50's Harmony Tenor guitar for $25
Seagull S-12 for $200

I never see any decent deals in pawnshops any more.

-Pete

[Southbay Ampworks]

I bought a 1969 Marshall 1982B cab two years ago (straight front, 6" gold Marshall and 100 logos on it) with two original G12H30 55hz T1281's and two G12M's from 71 for $700 shipped.

The cloth was painted black...:mad: but I reclothed it with NOS S&P cloth, found two more G12H30's that I bought on eBay that were within 3 weeks of the original speakers date codes, and when it was time to get married last year, I sold it and it paid for most of the wife's 4.2 carat diamond ring.

I'll never see a deal like that ever again, that's for sure.

[mandocaster]

This little doll was purchased in 1977. Today the cost is prohibitive. Freakish, even.:eek:

http://www.politicalcomment.org/pictures/mando1.jpg

[ChristoMephisto]

Best deal I got?
A 1980 Hagstrom Swede Vintage Sunburst (custom color) ,hard case, early 90's Crybaby, ans a so-so 10w Ross Tubeblaster amp all for...wait for it....
$40 Cdn Drool
he didn't know what he was selling, and i didn't now what i was buying
so no one really got ripped, considering those guitars go for about a G on evilBay.
Which was really great since I didn't play before (still a noob)
Guess the best deal would be a guitar that works and is free
if ya gotta fix it, its not 'free'

[rbwi]

i once found a VINTAGE 70s ARIA TELE MODEL 1582T with bigsby
at a pawn shop for 50$

[Dr.StephanHeimer]

Paid $75 for a Moog 3 Band Parametric EQ from a music/pawn shop in Niagara Falls. It's a little scuffed but fully functional and it sounds like gold! This makes up for missing out on a 60's Vox teardrop bass at the same place.

http://filters.muziq.be/files/pics/moog_pareq_001.jpg

[Hamm Guitars]

I'm recycling this one for the sake of the pedal:

This one is from a local newspaper - (The Hamilton Spectator or Mountain News 1999)

Guitar & Amp - good physical condition.$400.00 obo

The guitar was a 1976 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with original case. It looked like an 'under the bed special' and the gibson tag was still in the case, but it was missing about seven pounds of wood and their was a Gold early model Floyd Rose where the tune-o-matic should have been. It was a nice installation job, but still destroyed the guitar. I parted with this guitar just recently.

The amp was a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 - I can't tell you how much I hate these amps, allthough I know guys who swear by them. I have been doing live sound since the late '80's and I have never heard one sound good, so I assume that it must be a good amp for Jazz or something. I think they sound simply horrid with any kind of distortion, but that's just my opinion.

At any rate, I sold the amp for $300.00 so my hacked up Goldtop only cost me $100.00. I held onto it until 2006, but it was never one of my favorite players.

[Betz-ya]

Hello, I'm new to these forums...been here for the past few months just reading posts and been here daily since.
Let me start off by saying
Great site/community here
I'm a bass/guitar player from Scarborough...just thought I'd post somthing since I'm usually just lurking most of the time.
I'd thought I'd share my best deal on some gear that I have aquired throughout the years
not really a deal (as I didn't pay money for this, but paid through sweat and hard work)
Back in 1989/ 1990 I helped a band member of mine load a moving truck as he was moving to Florida, he couldn't pay me, so in return he gave me a Traynor Bass Master Mark II head and the matching 4X12 cabnet as he couldn't move it to his NEW place in Florida..all in all, not to bad a deal, I thought for 4 hours of moving since at the time I didnt own an amp. it's been re-coned at Santon Audio and I also had the heads ac line re-done so I wouldn't get shocked any more..sounds just like a Traynor should..about a year ago I did some research on it...turns out the head was made in 1963/64..still looking for some info on the cabnet.
I've taken a few pics..but cant seem to upload them.
if anyone has any pointers on how I can upload the pics, it would be much appreciated
sorry about any typos
Again...great site here...Cheers :food-smiley-004:

[GuitarsCanada]

Good story, and welcome to the forum. There are tips and guides to linking pictures in the "admin Announcements" section. Check it out. :wave:

[Betz-ya]

Thanks for the info Scott
I've posted some pics of my best deal ever on photobucket
http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w132/Betz-ya/

[guitarzan]

late 60's Traynor YSR1 custom reverb and traynor 2x12 cab for 100 bucks.

[Gunny]

about a dozen years ago I obtained a 70s silverface Champ for $75. It needed a new 6V6 tube. Sold it for $200 2 yrs later. These days you could get almost double that, so maybe I should have held on to it??

[jimmy peters]

in 1960 i traded a 1959 new gibson lp custom for a gretsch 6128 cadilac green duojet.
i payed 400.00 plus the gibson, and thought i had made a bad deal.
as soon as i plugged in the gretsch, and started playing at club volume, the sound was amazing, plus 1/2 the weight.
BESR DEAL I EVER MADE
i am still playing the same gretsch.


http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265/jimmypeters2007/scan.jpg

[harley mcjagger]

i made probably the best and worst deal the same day. i sold my les paul standard in 80 or so for 1000. it was a great player. i still wish i had it except for the weight. the same day i traded an old p.a. head i had for a middle 60s gibson howard roberts custom. still have it but rarely play it now.

[Agata0023]

I got my Peavey Express 112 S (65 watt 12 inch Sheffield speaker) for 40 dollars. Perfect condition - well the only problem was the plug. The ground pin had broken off. So I walked up to my local Home Depot and paid 5 dollars for a replacement plug. 5 minute job and its as good as new. Everything else about the amp is perfect. I'm so happy with it.

[Mooh]

Korean Strat for a few lessons. It has since been completely hotrodded, but it was a good deal for a basic Strat.

Early Fender lapsteel with tweed case, screw in legs, killer pickup for $50. Long since traded for substantial profit but I dearly wish I'd kept it.

Peace, Mooh.

[adamthemute]

This thread has made me sad.

Best deal I've gotten was grabbing a beat up looking 1965 Guild CE-100D for around $300. I expected that it would need loads of work when I got it, but when I plugged it in it played perfectly.

[washburned]

My '86 Heritage Stat I got for $499 (CDN) +tax+freight; just saw one on a US site for $1299 US!

[Capn Rory]

I got the weekly classified ad magazine on the morning of its issue and scored an 82 Gibson 335 Dot neck reissue with the large neck for $750.00. It was in great shape, and it's a very nice example of the dot neck series, for a really good price. This was in 99 or thereabouts. Just lucky to be on the ball on being the first caller on the guitar, because the second caller would have done the deal in a heartbeat.:banana:

[Geek]

Best deal? I guess that would be the Boss FX box I found for $3 CAD and sold for $300 US the next day (when our dollar was WAY lower than now) :D

[Falcatarius]

Well, I'm only 16, but I think this will pay off.

I managed to find a 1993 Stevie Ray Vaughan signature strat for $900CDN. It's one of the few originals that are made with a rosewood neck and it's already gone up in value a tad. It took me months to save for it but i've already got all my money's worth and more.

The only problem is keeping it in half-decent condition considering how much I freakin' play it.:rolleyes:

Actually that's a good question for all you guys familiar with vintage equipment. How much does condition affect the value of a vintage guitar?

Cheers
-Falcatarius

[overdriven1]

Soldano Hot Rod 50 for $699.00 Cdn. Woot Drool:D:banana:

[SZ Addicted]

Not "vintage" but still a sweet deal. Saw an ad in the local buy and sell for an Ibanez electic guitar, mahogany body, flamed maple top and humbuckers. I called the gentleman up and he said it was an SZ. I said I'd go up and have a look at it. Sure enough when I arrived it was not only an SZ520, but it was a 2007 model that had only been out for 3 months.

The asking price was $400cdn. He said he was selling it because he has an aggrivated shoulder and can only play it for ~20 minutes. SZ's are quite heavy for anyone who has never slung one from their shoulder. I wasn't really a fan of the Vintage Cherry Burst on these guitars but it definetly has grown on me.

I took it down to Connors where I had them inspect the guitar, install the EMG ZW 81/85 kit and set it up for whole step down drop C. Guitar is in factory fresh condition and really is a pleasure to play.

These guitars did list for ~$700 for the 520 trim level. I payed $340 Stones

[lespaul2]

i got a 67 Tele for $2k a year ago at a gig... had a friend give me a 1948 National last year for a few cases of beer $88..lol.. he knew that it was worth more but he wanted beer that night.. plus i made a promise if i sold it i would split the extra $'s 50/50... that was a great deal.... got an early reissue 1983 LP burst from "Rock n Roll Vintage" $1700 cnd in chicago 2years ago.. guess they didn't follow up on this pc to check and see if it was a trader etc... my gain on that one... about 10years ago i got a 1964 vibroverb all orig. less the caps for $1700 at the time i guess that was the going $... 15 years ago got a refin '63 strat from the clinic for $1800... the list is endless.....

[scottomy]

I got a 1998 Godin SD for 100$ and then added 120$ worth of pickups and now it's the guitar I play the most. And to top it off, I bought it from a guy who plays through a Marshall Silver Jubilee and that's what I tried it out on and now guess what I'm GASing for??

[bolero]

In 1967 I picked up my first REAL instrument, a 1962 Fender Precision bass. The pawn shop instruments and Vox Phantom IV (just terrible) I owned previously didn't count. It cost a hard-earned $100 plus my Electrovoice 664 mic. This instrument had seen some use, and me not recognizing mojo for what it was, promptly sanded the finish off. *sigh*

So today I've got some pretty fancy bass gear, but the old Pbass was my "main axe" for over a quarter of a century and it still inspires me to play, write and create. You should hear it through my old blackface Showman with two D140Fs!

got any pics??

[bolero]

PS. Almost 30 years later and I still have not re-bought a Tele. I still like them alot but since then I've been a little pissed off about them. Writing this has been a bit cathartic though, maybe I need a rethink.



hahahaha....yeah, you should just buy one

G&L makes a killer tele...the ASAT

[suttree]

worked at a buy and sell in vancouver, had a guy walk in with an SRV strat, a tube screamer reissue, a morley wah, and about 20 books of tab, said $400 for all of it, buy it or don't... he had the sales receipt in his hands, in his name, knew it was a crazy deal, was quitting playing. i didn't argue the price at all, closed shop and ran to the bank, bought it personally. kept it for a couple years, but you show up to a jam with one of those, you're trying to fill a mighty big pair of shoes. ended up selling the guitar for $1000, got a couple hundred out of the rest.. good deal for me.

[NB-SK]

worked at a buy and sell in vancouver, had a guy walk in with an SRV strat, a tube screamer reissue, a morley wah, and about 20 books of tab, said $400 for all of it, buy it or don't... he had the sales receipt in his hands, in his name, knew it was a crazy deal, was quitting playing. i didn't argue the price at all, closed shop and ran to the bank, bought it personally. kept it for a couple years, but you show up to a jam with one of those, you're trying to fill a mighty big pair of shoes. ended up selling the guitar for $1000, got a couple hundred out of the rest.. good deal for me.

Man, I missed out on one of those when they came out. One of the shows on Much Music that I used to watch was giving one out as a prize. All you had to do was mail in a postcard. Well, I had missed the last couple of shows and didn't know they were giving one away. The most depressing thing was when I saw there were only 4 or 5 postcards in the basket. I would usually send half a dozen cards to these things, so my odds of winning that strat would have been better than 50/50.

[joshmac]

I got a perfect condition Deluxe Reverb Reissue, with cover, footswitch, extra tubes, and some modeler pedal for 700CDN, which I thought was a great deal

[sonicmat]

Well, im only 15, but i've got a almost good story :rockon:

So anyways, I had this Yamaha, not sure the model, but an electric acoustic, cut-away. Very nice guitar, but then I found an alvarez for much cheaper, but muuuch muuuch nicer. So, I figured I'd sell it. I went to a great place called Central Music Down in Welland Ontario. I asked them if they would buy it, and they sadi they don't buy guitars. "No problem" I said, but he mentioned that I could trade it in for another guitar. So I looked through the acoustics, and yeah, very nice guitars. They were also $2,000 dollars (Gibson of course), but my dad said, "Why don't you look at some used electrics?" I thought it was a silly idea, but better safe then sorry. Sooo, I go into the used section, and find a beautiful Fender Stratocaster. Purple body, and a purple pick-guard, and the store owner said it was recently changed. There were two normal Fender pickups, but the bridge pickup, was a Semour Duncan humbucker. I bought it, with an added $100 or so, and brought it home. Of course my mum was pissed (Like I really cared). But when I tried it out, blasted on my marshall, it was beautiful. It doesn't match up to my Gibson Les Paul, but what fender does???:banana:
So anyways, I thought it was a very good deal, it was like $399 or something like that, got a $200 trade in, so it worked out fine. And I also got a very nice Fender case to go with it. So, I love reading some of the stories in this thread, and I hope you all enjoyed my story

[nordlav]

Not really vintage, but I thought it was a good deal:
I just picked this up on my local Kijiji. 1990 Ibanez Roadstar Deluxe RG550L. Maple neck and fretboard (well used), original pickups and tremolo. Seller said the 5 way switch was broken by his kids so he had a Fender 5 way switch installed and the original black tremolo arm was lost. He replaced it with a chrome right handed aftermarket piece. It's got a couple of dings, one on the top of the body and one on the bottom.It also had the Ibanez neon green volume and tone knobs when I bought it, which gave it a sort of Steve Vai look to it. The originals were also included so I swapped them back as I prefer the black on black look and put the neon green knobs on ebay. It plays really well and is a nice contrast to my '69 Fender Telecaster. With a soft gig bag included, it cost me $170 and I sold the green knobs for $29 so my total hit for this lefty was $141 New Brunswick clams. :D
http://image52.webshots.com/452/0/17/37/2923017370056102595WmXGJm_fs.jpg

[Evilmusician]

My uncle who plays guitar had a fender tele and a noise pedal as he called it ,i was just learning how to play guitar and wanted one of my own bad, so my mom talked to him about selling it to me for christmas ,sure enough i got it ,and it turned out to be a 75 telecaster ,and a jen crybaby 67/68 paid 100 bucks for both ! While ago i picked up a 91 Ibanez RG570 mij mint neck looks like its never been played a hardshell gator case (ones with fabric covering) and a boss ce5 chorus for 300 bucks tax in,at a pawn shop! (the floyd rose was way outta wack when i bought it ,but an easy fix when i got it home ! Also bought a one of a kind Marshall jtm 45 clone (it's been a/b with a vintage plexi and it smokes ! for 600 bucks ! also a great deal i luv it !

[Evilmusician]

This one didn't happen to me, but bears telling. My old bandmate Mike McKenna (yeah, same one faracaster was talking about) went to a yardsale and asked the proverbial little old lady if she had any instruments. She said yes and took him up to the attic where they pulled the California Girl case out from under the bed. Inside was a dead-mint '59 sunburst with the most killer flametop. Mike asked what she wanted for it, and she replied her husband had bought it new in '59, then passed-away a week later, and had paid "a lot" of money for it. She wanted what he had paid, so Mike gave her the $250 and walked away with a flametop that would easily fetch over a quarter-million today. (Stolen shortly afterwards...)
Another friend was at a yardsale and found a really cool old National 50-watt tube amp with 2 twelves, in really great condition. She was asking five bucks for it, so he went to the car to get his money. When he returned, she said "I feel really bad about charging you five bucks for this; it's a lousy heater".
Why doesn't stuff like that ever happen to me?-Eric

Karma's a bitch!

[old crow]

in 1960 i traded a 1959 new gibson lp custom for a gretsch 6128 cadilac green duojet.
i payed 400.00 plus the gibson, and thought i had made a bad deal.
as soon as i plugged in the gretsch, and started playing at club volume, the sound was amazing, plus 1/2 the weight.
BESR DEAL I EVER MADE
i am still playing the same gretsch.


http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o265/jimmypeters2007/scan.jpg

He gets it ! It's not about the money. Good for you Jimmy.:wave:

[Mogwaii]

i just bought some old school kay guitar off my buddy for $40 :banana:
it needs some work but its alot better than that Nissan Maxima I bought off him for $40!!....Im serious...

[Hamstrung]

I was fortunate enough to make two really good deals back in the 80's. When I was getting into guitar the Les Paul was the guitar to have. I was working at my first job and still living at home when an ad for a '74 Les Paul appeared in the local paper for $750. Mind you that was a healthy amount of coin for a young man then. When I went to the guy's house I was thinking "if this thing's in crappy shape just walk away". When he opened the case there was the most beautiful LP Custom Black Beauty in remarkable shape. I offered him $700 and he took it! I still own it to this day and will never sell it!

Another deal came out of the blue. I was at a garage sale with my girlfriend at the time and this old lady was selling a Supro lap steel guitar for $10. Not knowing anything about them at the time I offered her $5 which she accepted. It was in pretty good shape but needed new machine head and the pickup was a bit weak in the middle. After about $100 in repairs I recently sold it for $325. I never did learn how to play lap steel...

[guitarjunky]

22 years ago I paid 125$ for my lespaul 1978. It turned out to be a way better investment then the time I bought Nortel stocks...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/funkyguitarsanddrums/1455601684/

[mhammer]

I have a couple of "best deals".

The first was a 1959 tweed Princeton that I picked up from a James St. pawnshop in Hamilton for $50 in 1976, and have played with great affection ever since then. Just a great little amp that I describe to people as being like an old horse - just point her in the direction home and she'll take you there.

The second was a blackface Tremolux head that I bought from someone in Edmonton for $90 around 1983 or 84. I installed some mods on it, converted it to 6CA7 power tubes, and resold it to a guy in Victoria several years later for $200. Should have kept it.

The best, though, was a vintage 1959 Bassman I bought in Moncton about 15 years ago for the princely sum of $30. It was sitting in a pawnshop not 50 yards from the best music store in region. You would have thought that someone with some knowledge of amps would have strolled over after looking at walls of Fenders, Peaveys, and Marshalls, and recognized what this was. But they didn't. Quite possible they overlooked it because: a) it looks its age (lotta cigarette burns and coffee stains - God I hope those are coffee stains!), and b) it was missing a power tube so you couldn't try it out. It was also missing one of the two back panels and one of the original Jensens P-10Rs. When I looked around back and noticed the missing tube, I also noted the missing speaker. The amp was initially priced at $40, but when the guy heard me mumbling about one of the 4 speakers missing, he did some quick mental math and dropped the price by 1/4 down to $30. Struggling hard to control my bowels and bladder, I agreed to the price, nonchalantly plunked down the $30 plus tax, casually strolled out of the store to my car, flung the amp in the trunk, and drove out of Moncton like I had just sold fake cocaine to an enforcer unit of the Hell's Angels. I eventually filled in the missing speaker slot with a re-issue P10R, and the late Doug Brash made me another rear panel to replace the missing one. How he managed to achieve the cosmetic match was a secret he took with him when he passed on a couple years ago.

[gramatica]

22 years ago I paid 125$ for my lespaul 1978. It turned out to be a way better investment then the time I bought Nortel stocks...

I don't know what hurts more...! I know your pain. :smilie_flagge17:

[Mr Yerp]

10 years ago or so, I noticed the tell tale sign (black tolex, silver "bumpers") of a Traynor (Guitarmate) sticking out from underneath a skirted table at a flea market. Asked the guy how much, he said $40.00. I pulled out 37 and change, all I had on me, and he said sure. Still use it, along with an older one.

[torndownunit]

I got my Traynor YBA-2 in the 90's for $25 with the 4 x 10 cabinet.

In the 90's I bought a Dean at Musicplex in Brampton for $500. It turns out to be a really rare blueburst e'lite deluxe. I have been offered over $2000 for it since.

My princeton Reverb was sort of an accidental deal. UPS buggered it up shipping it (cracked cab). They ended up paying for the damage, reimbursed shipping, plus a new cabinet for it. So while it lost vintage appeal, it's a way more functional amp in it's new cabinet with 12" speaker. I sold the old cab to a guy who wanted to use it to make templates. All in I got a 1968 Princeton Reverb for about $300.

There was old no name Japanese Les Paul I bought at a garage sale for $10 with hardshell case. I played that guitar till it basically fell apart in my old band.

Several other LP clones, and a Mansfield Jazzmaster clone in the $10-20 range.

[zontar]

My early 70's Les Paul Custom at 50% off. It was used, and part of the reason it was so cheap was the previous owner had replaced the humbuckers with Seymour Duncan Soapbars--I tried them, but wanted humbuckers--so eventually in went a Duncan Distortion & a Seymourizer II--wired so the coils are series or parallel. (Done with push/pull pots)

It's not worth anything near what a stock Les Paul would be--but it sounds great.

[NB-SK]

Not my find, but my friend got a 1971 Gibson LP for 400$, mint, a little over 10 years ago (the seller's husband died about 2 months after he had gotten it. The guitar had been in its case under her bed for over 20 years).

[co-intelpro]

Traded my 1985 Marshall JCM800 50 watt head for a Mocha '74 Fender Telecaster Deluxe/WHSC, straight up. It was missing the HB pickups, but I happened to have a pair from that same year just lying around. This was just over a year ago. The guy I traded with is totally cool...and I can't thank him enough...I got that Marshall for a song.

Bought a walnut '68 Gibson ES-335 for $1600.00/WHSC...sadly sold it.

Bought a '77 Gibson Les Paul Pro for $1000.00/WHSC...still got it.

Bought a Roland AP.7 Jet Phaser for $75 from a local music store that was using it for a paper weight. Bought a '68 SF Fender Deluxe Reverb from that same store, just last year, for $400.00!

Bought a '66 Traynor YBA-1, tube rectified ,script logo, for $350, shipped from Quebec. It sounds amazing...bought a '67 for $100.00. This was a couple of years ago.

A buddy of mine GAVE me a 70's Garnet Revolution II combo.

The list goes on and on and on...

[Marcel Furlanetto]

Wow, I need to start going to every pawnshop I pass.

I guess the best deal i've come across was:

1) When I tried to take up guitar in 1999 my aunt gave me a Harmony Bobkat and a Supro amp which I sold about a month later to buy my first bass.

2) A couple years ago someone sold me a Boss DM-2 analog delay for $100 thinking it was finicky and on the verdge of dying (this is when they were going for about $300 on ebay). Turns out he was using a PSA adaptor and not the ACA...havn't had a problem since I bought it.

[nitehawk55]

Just a chance happening I decided to go to a local country estate auction about 8 years ago that had a couple guitars in the newspaper listing .
Got there and here was this LP jr double cutaway W/ single P90 . It had some sort of heat damge to the back of the neck from about the 10th fret to the headstock which had darkened and made the fret board lift away from the neck . The ser # was still OK and I knew it was a 1960 . Tailpiece was missing , tuner knobs sort of baked and the front of the headstock darkened with paint flaked as well as on the back of the neck ( looked like it was put too close to a woodstove or near a fire ?? )
Anyway , got it for $27.50 plus taxes and took it to a local luthier for the repairs and another that was able to refinish the headstock including the Gibson logo (that he antiqued) but we left the missing paint on the back of the neck as is , it would have been too ovious to touch up with the clear red so it was rubbed down with steel wool so it looked worn off and smooth .
Played awesome and I would have kept it if it had been the 2 pickup version so I traded it in at a known store in TO and was allowed $1400 towards a trade in .
Repairs did cost me about $400 , but not a bad payday :food-smiley-004:

[stobber]

I know many Torontonians will be sad at the loss of Songbird. Indeed, an era has passed and I've been a fan of Songbird since my first encounter at the Ottawa store in 1993. Now that they are in receivership, the store is staffed by a completely new breed of men. Trustees entrusted with liquidating the stock for Songbird's creditors.

So, I don't feel badly that I walked in there this past Tuesday, a full 5 days after the sell-off began, and discovered a dirty, grungy, neglected amp that looked familiar but I couldn't place it. The tolex was blue like an Ampeg but it wasn't the diamond pattern. And the grill cloth was an unusual gray with a swirly line pattern on it. No name plate, no handle and too many screws on the back to open it up.

Well, I plugged into it and I was disappointed as it just didn't have the power that I was expecting from two 6V6's in the output stage. Cranked full, I could still hear people chatting about me.

I went home empty handed.

Then slept on it.

Then returned with a screw driver and some hopefulness.

It was still there on Wednesday and I cranked open the back to see Ampeg J-12 serial # 593625. Wow. March 1959. Cool!

I popped down the $150 and walked off with what I thought was a good deal but was sure it was going to cost me to get it working properly. However, when I got home I reseated the tubes, turned her on and let her warm up. I AM IN HEAVEN!!! It is a seriously fantastic little amp with a blues heart and soul.

No regrets, no apologies and no further repairs required!http://www.threeinabox.com/Ampeg.jpg

[zontar]

Probably my Les Paul.
It wasn't stock anymore, but I made changes to bring it closer-with some changes of my own.
Because I bought it when Jacksons were all the rage the price was quite low, it kept getting marked down, then the store had a Dutch auction, and I got it for 50% of that price. It needed a new bridge, as the original was worn out. I sold the pickups it came with (A previous owner had replaced the humbuckers with Seymour Duncan Soapbars.) and that paid for the work and some of the parts on getting the new pickups put in. So at the same time they replaced the non-original Grovers with Schaller--which are closer to the original Klusons. Now because the guitar has been heavily modded over the years it has lost a lot of value--but it allowed me to get a great deal.

[Mr Yerp]

I know many Torontonians will be sad at the loss of Songbird. Indeed, an era has passed and I've been a fan of Songbird since my first encounter at the Ottawa store in 1993. Now that they are in receivership, the store is staffed by a completely new breed of men. Trustees entrusted with liquidating the stock for Songbird's creditors.

So, I don't feel badly that I walked in there this past Tuesday, a full 5 days after the sell-off began, and discovered a dirty, grungy, neglected amp that looked familiar but I couldn't place it. The tolex was blue like an Ampeg but it wasn't the diamond pattern. And the grill cloth was an unusual gray with a swirly line pattern on it. No name plate, no handle and too many screws on the back to open it up.

Well, I plugged into it and I was disappointed as it just didn't have the power that I was expecting from two 6V6's in the output stage. Cranked full, I could still hear people chatting about me.

I went home empty handed.

Then slept on it.

Then returned with a screw driver and some hopefulness.

It was still there on Wednesday and I cranked open the back to see Ampeg J-12 serial # 593625. Wow. March 1959. Cool!

I popped down the $150 and walked off with what I thought was a good deal but was sure it was going to cost me to get it working properly. However, when I got home I reseated the tubes, turned her on and let her warm up. I AM IN HEAVEN!!! It is a seriously fantastic little amp with a blues heart and soul.

No regrets, no apologies and no further repairs required!http://www.threeinabox.com/Ampeg.jpg

Most excellent!! A fair score.

[steve_chiro]

Bought a 1966 Deluxe Reverb in amazing condition for 225$ from a guy who played keyboard through it and didn't think it had enough headroom. That was maybe 10 years ago. It had a replaced speaker (poor quality) that I swapped for a Weber. Everything else is stock and the amp sounds perfect!
Phil

[ed2000]

1)My brother in law(r.i.p.) found a Garnet Herzog by the roadside garbage pickup. He then gave it to me claiming it was defective because it had very low volume(but great distortion).
2)A relative used his Traynor YBA-1 for a bass amp in the 80's. He gave it to my brother in law who stored it in his basement. When the sewers backup up and flooded his basement he found the amp had a bad hum afterwards. He decided it was too dangerous(fear of electricity I guess) and asked me to take it away. Not a darn thing wrong with this '66 Traynor YBA-1.
3)Traynor YBA-1A?(90 watts) with a Traynor 4 X 12 cabinet from a second hand store for $350 about 5 years ago. Sold it for $450 a year later because it was wayyyy tooo loud for me.

[Gtex]

3years ago traded a 1980 gibson sonex with a crack in the neck and a reissue uni-vibe for a 1965 marshall block logo plexi even!...and it was at a music store!!

[Greenbacker]

I sold my soul to the devil. Look what I can do now!

[Vox71]

The best deal I ever made was about 10 years ago. I have a friend who owns a music store / pro-audio place. His main business was setting up pro-audio for events so there wasn't really traffic in his store for people shopping for musical instruments. Most of his business was done over the phone. That is the only reason I can explain the fact that one day I went to visit him, and hanging on the wall was a MINT Fireglow Rickenbacker 330 guitar (and the fact that my buddy doesn't play guitar) on consignment for $600. I couldn't believe my eyes. Needless to say I rushed to the bank to get cash, grabbed the guitar (which also came with the original Rickenbacker case), went home and played all day. The guitar has been dated as a 1993 model (not vintage---but it will be one day--and still a great deal), and I could easily get 3 times what I paid for it now but I will never sell this thing for the world. This guitar is still in mint condition, and is my number 1 guitar. It seems like it was made especially to be played through my Vox AC15, truly a nice match and a great deal.

[Red Foreman]

I got a 69 Les Paul professional off my uncle for $250.
I got a 55 Gibson LG1 off a crackhead for $40.He had a whack of instruments(only the one guitar though) his mom died and owned a music store.He offered it to me for $20 but I felt bad and gave him what I had in my wallet $40.

[nitehawk55]

whoops , double post

[nitehawk55]

About 10 years ago I happened to see that there were a couple un named electric guitars at a country auction in the local paper . I thought what the heck , i'll check it out on the way home from work as it wasn't too far out of the way . The one was an early Japan guitar that I should have bought too but the other was a red double cutaway 1960 LP jr ( single pickup ) in need of some repair work as it must have been near something hot because the paint on 1/2 of the back of the neck was seared off from heat and the fret board lifted as well as the Gibson logo gone and the plastic on the tuners . The ink stamp serial # was intact though so I knew what it was but no one else did . Cost me $27.50 + tax . I put about $400 into it and sold it a while later for $1400 . Had it been the 2 pickup model I would have been more keen on keeping it . Played and sounded killer .

I'm sure I've got pics somewhere , If I do i'll add them to this post .

[Big White Tele]

In 1999 I bought a 68 Tele,from Long and Mcquade, refinished and reliced, with replaced pickups for uhum.....1650.00. Made up for a few that went the other way.

[Tightbutloose]

At an old crummy summer job, there was a coworker there with whom I used to chat music with all day. He came out to watch my band play a few times and seemed to really 'dig' what we were doing.

When I told him we were recording at Little Mountain studios and I was looking around for a Les Paul for some thicker tones on a few tracks (I was playing a 335 at that time) he showed up to work one day with a dusty guitar case. In it was a very cool looking Les Paul, which he gave to me for the recording session.

When I brought the guitar back to him when we were done, he simply said, "Nah, you keep it. I don't play anymore."

So, I have had a fair number of fortunate deals (like finding a '71 Marshall 50w head in a Prince George Pawn shop for $400), but this Gibson deal is the best because nobody was ripped off, desperate for cash, nor ignorant of the value. A smokin' LP to boot :smile:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j81/Tightbutloose/90StandardResized.jpg

[starvingstudent]

I Hate You All!

[YJMUJRSRV]

I sold my soul to the devil. Look what I can do now!

Check to see if it was backed by Countrywide ... you might be home free now!

[geckodog]

I've stumbled across a few good deals in my day, I just picked up a 2006 Gibson SG in mint condition with a mint hard shell case last week for $500. Not a steal of a deal, but still a pretty sweet one. I also had a MIM Nashville Tele Deluxe Series that I paid $190 for that I traded straight up for a 1983 Squier Strat MIJ. But one of the best deals I got was a 1980 Lado Falcon for $88.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/geckodog/DSC03983.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/geckodog/1980ladofalcon.jpg

Also that Traynor Custom Special you see in the pic with the 215 cab i got for $80.

[ApeLincoln]

I worked in a club in Edmonton for years, and someone left behind a Traynor Bass Master Mark II (YBA 1A) in a corner. It seems that it sat unnoticed for several weeks before anyone even realized it was there. Nobody really knew who it belonged to and nobody ever came by or called to claim it. After being there for over a year, the club was moving and everything had to go. The club owner knew I played and told me to take it home and get it out of there. I didn't really know what it was, so after playing it for about 6 months and it not being quite loud enough for bass, I sold it to a friend, who promptly blew it up. It sat for a good long while again, and that friend gave it back to me over a year later. I had it serviced and realized what a great amp it could be with the right speakers, and have been enjoying my free (count em, twice free) amp.

I recently picked up a 10 watt Beltone (likely made by Teisco) tube amp for $75.

[devnulljp]

Wandered into a little music store in Kyoto in Japan in the late-90s and wandered back out again with a 1978 Tokai GoldStar 57 Strat clone for a little over $200--best Strat I've ever owned.
Did the same thing over the eyars with a few other Tokais (a bunch of 70s and 80s Silver Stars and another Gold Star w/ rosewood board) and a JV Squire P-Bass ($150 even!).
Sold em all for an obscene profit in the UK a few years ago...but always regretted parting with that '78 Goldstar.

Or I played in a bedroom band when I was teenager and the other guitarist gave me his 'noise' pedal when he bought a (truly horrible) Boss distortion feedbacker. Turned out to be a 70s Big Muff! Of course, I didn't know what it was, didn't get it at all, and (are you sitting down) chucked it in the bin when I finally saved up enough for a HM-2. Doh! Facepalm moment.

...still waiting for the day I find a Wem Dominator at a racetrack sale for $50 though :D

[zontar]

a (truly horrible) Boss distortion feedbacker.

Why are people so down on these? I have one and I love it. I have the DS-1 & a DF-2--I set them differently and have different distortion sounds at hand, or actually at foot. I also have a DOD FX 53 for another option. Most other distortions and overdrives either sound too muddy or too shrill, at least when I try them. Some of it does depend on the guitar, the amp, and the player as well. I've heard good guitarists get great sounds out of bad effects. The Boss pedals work better with my Iceman and my Mustang, and the DOD works better with my Les Paul.

[devnulljp]

Why are people so down on these? Do you use it for the weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee feedback thing?

[zontar]

Do you use it for the weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee feedback thing?

Sometimes, but mostly just for fun, or if I feel like making noise. I got mine for quite cheap--so it fits this thread in a way.

I find most people who use it for the feedbacker option try to use it in ways it wasn't intended. And that's the problem. I've played around with it quite a bit, and feel comfortable with it, within the intended use that's noted in the manual. And I've done a few other things with it too. My only real complaint about it is that there is no level control on the pedal. I'd like the feedback to be quieter at times, so the notes I play over it are more audible. But I've gotten around that using a form of an A/B switch and going to 2 amps. It'd be easier if I had a volume pedal. But overall--it works fine for me. But I'd recommend using it sparingly and not trying to make it do stuff it doesn't do.

It's certainly not for everybody, and in the wrong hands I could see it being annoying. Moderation is one key. Experimentation is another.

[devnulljp]

It's certainly not for everybody, and in the wrong hands I could see it being annoying. Moderation is one key. Experimentation is another.Ain't that the truth - the guy I knew with one also had this police siren thing...that he somehow managed to use ... in ... every ... damn ... song ... That and the feedbacker thing, Oi! :D

Not to hijack the thread, I just got a very expensive hand-made pedal for a song because it's not working properly. Unless I'm much mistaken, it looks like the stomp switch has crapped out, so if all goes well a $10 DPDT switch should restore it to its former glory (not counting my chickens yet though...).

[zontar]

Ain't that the truth - the guy I knew with one also had this police siren thing...that he somehow managed to use ... in ... every ... damn ... song ... That and the feedbacker thing, Oi! :D

Not to hijack the thread, I just got a very expensive hand-made pedal for a song because it's not working properly. Unless I'm much mistaken, it looks like the stomp switch has crapped out, so if all goes well a $10 DPDT switch should restore it to its former glory (not counting my chickens yet though...).

Not to hijack it either, but I can see that being annoying to live through it. I did most of my experimenting with it when playing on my own. When playing with others it's been used sparingly. But when I first got it, people wanted to see how it worked. I may have spawned some of those who oevrused it--if they could find one.

Hopefully your pedal repair works out.

[Evilmusician]

At an old crummy summer job, there was a coworker there with whom I used to chat music with all day. He came out to watch my band play a few times and seemed to really 'dig' what we were doing.

When I told him we were recording at Little Mountain studios and I was looking around for a Les Paul for some thicker tones on a few tracks (I was playing a 335 at that time) he showed up to work one day with a dusty guitar case. In it was a very cool looking Les Paul, which he gave to me for the recording session.

When I brought the guitar back to him when we were done, he simply said, "Nah, you keep it. I don't play anymore."

So, I have had a fair number of fortunate deals (like finding a '71 Marshall 50w head in a Prince George Pawn shop for $400), but this Gibson deal is the best because nobody was ripped off, desperate for cash, nor ignorant of the value. A smokin' LP to boot :smile:

http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j81/Tightbutloose/90StandardResized.jpg

I really dig that wood grain ,nice score!lofu

[rhh7]

My best deal was my last one, a guitar for auction on Ebay which said only "Telecaster style guitar", with out of focus pictures.

I emailed the seller to get the name on the head stock. From a little research I determined the exact model, and the street price. I also was able to find where this seller bought the guitar new in March from a dealer in Portland, Oregon.

The guitar got 0 bids the first time I saw it, when it relisted I bid first, then 5 other guys bid against me. I got it delivered to my house for $50 under the street price, even though I was overcharged $13 on the shipping.

The guitar was a "lawsuit" accurate Tele clone, came with a gig bag, new electric cable, truss rod wrench, and a custom black pickguard with copper shielding underneath. In the gig bag pocket was the original white pickguard, cellophane still intact.

The most valuable part of this deal is that I discovered how much I enjoy playing a toploader bridge style of Tele. Perfectly suits my playing style, and my tastes for simplicity.

After 24 hours, I put it up for sale on Kijiji, with some good pics, and a good description. Sold it last night to a young band leader, made $25, and gave him everything except the wrench. We were both very happy. I learned a lot, and now I have some cash to buy pickups for the partscaster that I am planning.

[The Usual]

1986 Gibson SG for $800. I know, not the best deal on here, but the guitar is incredible, and already worth a lot more than that. I just really wanted to join in....

[Guitarmonkey]

A couple, actually.....

First, I sent my wife to buy an older archtop guitar for me for $150, but when she got there the lady said she was going to just throw it out, because it had a crack in the front. I sent my wife back to offer her $40 for it, because it came with a book and a capo......sight unseen. NOTE: That night I stopped by a friend's house to check viruses on his computer, and he paid me.....yup, you guessed it, $40. So now the guitar was free.

Anyway, I came home from work to find a 1944 Harmony Archtone, dark tigerburst, in near new shape, with one small crack on the face. After a near invisible fix (less than an hour's work, except for waiting for the glue to dry), I had what looked like a time warp vintage guitar....all original, except for a new set of D'Addarios I put on it. I didn't like the sound that much, so I put it up for sale...first person came to see it, offered me $360 for it. Sold, baby.

Next best deal....I bought a 1971 Garnet Session Man tube amp (212, 60 watts) out of a guy's garage, for $100. It was pretty dirty, and the grille frame was a little warped.....I took it home, plugged it in, NOTHING.....aw, crap. I pulled the amp tray out the back, and noticed this little fuse sitting on the bottom of the tray, instead of in its clip. Same fuse, in its clip, amp started right up, original tubes, original speakers, and amazing sound....adjustable tremolo.....mmm what a sound....guy comes over to look, offers $600, sold.....

Not tea bag, fer a hair lip with a peg leg, if ah doo say so mahself.

Monkey

[new_chicagoan]

The quite rare ex-catalogue 1965 National Chicagoan lap steel I picked up a couple of weeks back. One of a production run of less than 30, apparently. No money changed hands, I just had to evaluate, clean up and re-string a few instruments. The only other one I've been able to locate is selling for about $1250 CAD.

Pics: http://ryanb.info.tm/Chicagoan.html

[bluezombie]

I got a 1960 Gibson Melody Maker 12 (a 12 string SG! :o) for 550

[chaploune]

In the mid 60's, my Dad owned an Harmony H-75 and a guy would traded with him his Gibson Es-5 1952. My Dad did the trade and now this guitar is mine.
Today a Harmony Vintage H-75 is worth around 2000$ and a ES-5 1952 Blonde ?$

You can hear that guitar

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_6MSg18T-c&feature=PlayList&p=6F71166C3878334C&index=18

[zontar]

This site (http://www.garysguitars.net/products/1358/1952-Gibson-ES-5-Blonde-GAT0202.htm) is asking $14,900 for one.

$10,000 on this one. (http://www.pixelstogo.com/ES-5.html)

Sounds like a good deal to me.

[aC2rs]

But one of the best deals I got was a 1980 Lado Falcon for $88.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/geckodog/DSC03983.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y260/geckodog/1980ladofalcon.jpg


Wow!!!!!!

I wished I could find such a deal!

[Tybone]

Paid $100 for a working Wurlizer 200a Electronic Piano.

[allthumbs56]

I've never had a great guitar or amp find, but I did pay $3 for a Boss CE-2 at a local flea market recently and $20 for a DM-2 a few years back.