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Posts: 147
Location: liverpool ,england | just wondering if anyone has had a really good result in finding a rare or special guitar? am hoping one day i will! |
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Posts: 4996
Location: Phoenix AZ | I once bought a 1116 classical model from the back of a mexican landscapers truck parked at a Circle K. No english was spoken and very little cash changed hands. |
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Posts: 147
Location: liverpool ,england | great stuff the best bit being "very little cash changed hands" wich always sweetens the deal! any more stories out there it dosnt even have to be an expensive guitar just something thats special to you. |
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July 2004
Posts: 147
Location: liverpool ,england | forgot to say gallerinski had a look at your guitars on your gallery and i must say that is one almighty impressive collection of guitars there!!! the pick of the bunch for me being the custom legend slothead and some of them adamas slotheads aint bad either you have a fine eye my freind!! |
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April 2003
Posts: 608
Location: Caribou, ME | Bought a 1967 Fender Coronado II for fifty bucks. It had been spray painted red with gold glitter sprinkled on it, headstock too. He didn't know what it was, but I did.
Later that year I bought a 1955 Gibson ES-295 for $100. All the finish had been stripped off it and it was missing the tailpiece. I wish I had that thing back.
Those are the two biggies that float to the surface. Non-guitar, I recently bought an "old radio" at the local pawn shop for $30. It's a 1978 Sony ICF-6700W shortwave. There was one on ebay a month of two ago that sold for $238. I'm torn betwen flipping it for pure greed and keeping it because it's a darn fine radio. I collect the old pocket transistor radios and sometimes snag the odd shortwave or larger portable radio. I think there's about 150 here. I had them all displayed in the living room but the parakeet kept knocking them off the shelves when she got out....
I know, I'm more and more like Grandpa Simpson every day. |
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Posts: 147
Location: liverpool ,england | in the words of Gordon Geeko "greed is good". |
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January 2002
Posts: 14127
Location: 6 String Ranch | I traded a Preecheur De-lux for a 57 Esquire. I'm sure I'm going to hell for that one..... |
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May 2010
Posts: 95
Location: Vancouver Island, BC | Two years ago I walked into a pawnshop in Palm Springs. I hadn't seen an Ovation since the '70s. There it was, w/ OHSC for $300. It was after newyears, and I decided to go home and think it over. On my way out the door I finally saw the sign: "All musical instruments 50% off"!
That Balladeer was in perfect tune and pitch, w/neary a scratch, and I still feel sorry for the person who had to let it go. It rekindled the flame for me, I play lots, and I love taking care of my guitars. I haven't driven by a pawnshop since without stopping. Check out Guy Clarke's "The Guitar" on Youtube. The ecstasy of owning has nothing on the agony of wanting [list]
[*]1982 1111-4,1985 Collectors 12,2005 ES,2008 C779LX-5, ca2000 Trekker, 1997 Gibson J200 Custom,
[/list] |
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Posts: 95
Location: Vancouver Island, BC | Could someone please explain how I save the quote and the list for future posts?
Hovard |
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Posts: 2793
Location: Atlanta, GA. | Not in a pawn shop, but I think original slothead #45 was a pretty good music store find. |
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December 2001
Posts: 7247
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | I guess the pawnshop find for me was my first real Ovation solid body find that got me thinking about collecting. I hadn't thought about it until now, but if I recall, it was a Preacher, UKII, Preacher Deluxe and maybe a Breadwinner... I need to really look up my records to see what they actually were. But they weren't very much, and I figured at that point... I had 6 models.. how many more could there be.. I'll collect them all... such a silly me... |
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Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Walked into a pawn shop about 10 years ago looking for an LP studio. He had a half dozen, including one with active electronics that was reportedly swapped by some uninformed and unappreciative kid earlier that week for a Marshall head. The story was the kid inherited it from his uncle who was a collector. It was in better shape than the others, so I talked them down to $500 out the door. I later confirmed with Gibson that the guitar was one of three prototypes made in 1982 in collaboration with Moog to test active electronics out on a Les Paul body with upgraded components. It was also the only one of which they now had a record as still being in existence. The Moog active electronics appeared a year or two later in their RD series, but never in a Les Paul.
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Posts: 3969
| A 1615-1 (sunburst Pacemaker 12-fret, 12-string, for the noobs) for ~$200. Anybody wanting a 12-string should have of these. Can't think of an all-wood 12-er that could compare. |
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Posts: 4536
Location: Flahdaw | Originally posted by slothead:
in the words of Gordon Geeko "greed is good". Actually, Gordon Gecko said that. Gordon Geeko is credited with saying "Pocket protectors are an essential element of the successful man's wardrobe." |
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Posts: 147
Location: liverpool ,england | i stand corrected my spellings grim! |
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Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | way too many to post |
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Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | "A 1615-1 (sunburst Pacemaker 12-fret, 12-string,
Anybody wanting a 12-string should have of these. Can't think of an all-wood 12-er that could compare."
+1
"way too many to post"
ditto
But, although not a pawn shop prize, this one comes to mind: 1991, Beckley WV, answered a newspaper ad for Gibson Electric Guitar for Sale: turned out to be an original owner 1961 SG/Les Paul in near mint cond. w/original brown case: I took it home for $500...Sold it later for $2500...thought I had made a great deal...love to have it back now... |
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September 2005
Posts: 98
Location: SF Bay area, California | Originally posted by G8r:
A 1615-1 (sunburst Pacemaker 12-fret, 12-string, for the noobs) for ~$200. Anybody wanting a 12-string should have of these. Can't think of an all-wood 12-er that could compare. Mine arrived yesterday, 1615-4. Its a keeper. Cowboy Chord fret/fretboard wear. $150 and $20 shipping from a Houston pawnshop, to me in California. There was a lot of luck here, because it survived a trip in a cardboard box with about 3 layers of bubble wrap.
The many finish cracks were disclosed, and there is a divot at the thumb location for those cowboy chords. Headstock looks good. Early style textured bowl
My bid was a bit above the minimum, but I was the only bidder. Ebay #120648472600.
I'll clean the fretboard, polish the frets and re-string next week when my daughter visits from Seattle. At some point I will cut a nut to give it try as a wide-neck six string, something I've been watching out for.
Cheers,
Mark |
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July 2004
Posts: 194
| In '04 I bought a 1976 Ovation Patriot A/E from a Carson City pawn shop, sight unseen, for 400 bucks.
It turned out to be an un-played instrument in perfect pristine condition.
Needless to say I was quite pleased.
....Les |
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September 2005
Posts: 3619
Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | My first Ovation in 1986, Savanna GA... 1537 Elite, perfect condition ...$395.00 |
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December 2001
Posts: 57
Location: Jersey near NYC | Professor,
That's an interesting story about your LP Studio, but the Moog electronics (compressor/expander) predate that guitar by about 5 years. The RD Artist was introduced in 1977 with a modified Firebird body and a 25 1/2" scale. In 1978, they shortened the scale to 24 3/4". There was a LP Custom and 335 variant that was introduced in the late 1970's with that circuit, if memory serves, they were called the LP Artist and ES Artist. The circuitry was fine, but it tended to eat batteries and add a ton of weight to guitars that were heavy to begin with. Obviously this was another Gibson answer to a question that no one was asking at the time...
Kim |
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December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | I can't remember every deal I ever got |
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January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Kim, that is what the Gibson rep told me as well. They were trying the electronics on a slab-bodied LP configured model. A year after the prototypes were built, they dropped the active circuitry, went to a bolt-on neck, downscaled the components, beveled the body, and began selling the model as an Invader which were then dropped a few years later. |
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Posts: 57
Location: Jersey near NYC | Prof:
I gotcha. The earlier Moog-equipped guitars were all deluxe models with ornate inlays, etc. Norlin must have had a bunch of the circuit boards left over and were trying them in less-expensive guitars to move them out. I have pics somewhere (in the analog format) of me playing my RD Artist prototype in '77. I actually wore that guitar out to the point that it was largely unsalvageable after less than a year (I was playing a LOT in those days). I went to Hamers shortly after that.
KK |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by KKeller:
I actually wore that guitar out to the point that it was largely unsalvageable after less than a year I've seen you play. I don't doubt it. |
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January 2009
Posts: 4536
Location: Flahdaw | If something is for sale in a pawnshop for $500, (which happens to be about normal retail), how much do you think they really have into it....$100?? |
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April 2006
Posts: 1017
Location: Budd Lake, NJ | Not a pawn shop, but my blue-eyed carpenter once paid $25.00 for a Yamaha acoustic that the guy was going to put out with the garbage--my husband was doing some repair work on the property and spotted the case in the garage; the homeowner said it "didn't play right." Jack figured it'd be a good beater, if nothing else, so he offered him the cash and brought it home.
The reason it "didn't play right"? The strings weren't tuned up to pitch, and were just kinda flapping around against the frets. Once the neck was adjusted a bit, it turned out to be a fairly nice guitar, and it ended up going to a college kid from church who needed a decent guitar to start out on.
--Karen |
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April 2008
Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | Originally posted by dark bar:
If something is for sale in a pawnshop for $500, (which happens to be about normal retail), how much do you think they really have into it....$100?? For 2nd hand goods in Australia, they charge GST (tax) on the mark up. When they introduced the GST it was a simple calculation to figure out that they were selling things for 3 times the price they paid. So about $166 would be a good guess. |
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August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Just under 30 years ago I snaffled a 1972 Fender P bass for $50. At the time, that would have been less than $40US.
It was pretty trashed, but I bought back to life and I've still got it today. |
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December 2003
Posts: 13997
Location: Upper Left USA | Not a Pawn shop but one of those "antique" shops in Port Townsend. Bought my Wife an Engagement Ring... best mistake she ever made was marrying me... |
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November 2003
Posts: 214
Location: Stratford, Connecticut | My 1st pawn shop prize was a Deacon 12 string for $25.00!
I had no clue what kind of guitar it was. It wasn't marked anywhere, but had the serial number plate. The backplates was original but not engraved, beveled, whatever it's called....
I played it for about a year before putting it up for sale... by then I was told what it was but they were so NOT in demand at all back then. Yet I got a kid out of a local paper to come over and give me crazy money for it at the time... maybe it was 97'? And he paid me $850 for it.
I missed it almost immediately! Anyone know who came and bought it from me here in Stratford CT? I'd love to know if he kept it! It played and sounded sooooo good.
Within a year I had gotten another one and now I have 4, all the colors I believe... that I love dearly to death! Never again! Such great guitars!
Other pawn shop prizes through the years include so many guitars... Les Pauls, Strats, ES330s, ES35s, 345s, 355s... I was making such great $$$ back then! Before all the shops got "internet savvy" that is! Hahahahahaa! |
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best pawn shop find