|
|
Joined:
July 2004
Posts: 812
Location: Hicksville, NY | We all have our share of stories, alibis and the like to satisfy our cases for G.A.S. (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome). How about the other way around?
Despite the odds not being in your favor -- e.g. no cash (or the lack of it), no need for another guitar, GAS free at that time -- have you ever purchased a guitar anyway? Share your stories about your unplanned "impulse" acquisition(s) and the consequences that followed after it.
Other instruments welcome! :) |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Mine is my Ultra GS "Hooters" guitar.
My wife was out of town and I was going to grab something to eat and head up to the cabin, when I got a call to see if I wanted to check out the new Hooters in town. That sounded better than a TV dinner, so I drank quite a few beers.
Went home and found a note to check my emails and my daughter had left an ebay gift certificate for me. While I was checking out ebay, my wife called and I was scrolling through the Ovation listings. I saw what I thought was an Ultra GP and bid the minimum, thinking I would soon get outbid. Shut the computer off and left for the weekend.
When I got back, I found out I had bid $200 for an Ultra GS that no one else bid on. It's not a bad guitar, but not anything I needed or knew what to do with. I'm still keeping it. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
July 2004
Posts: 812
Location: Hicksville, NY | Four weeks ago, I visited my brother and his family in Syracuse, NY for one last time, before moving to Irvine, CA to start his new life and career there. In the process, he gave me an old nylon string that he claimed that he rarely played, and it would be better off in my care.
Unfortunately, the guitar was not only poorly constructed, but also in very bad shape. The back had numerous finish cracks, with the center purfling showing off the separation of the wood in the back. The neck was so off that it needed serious resetting, and the glue was so dried up that separation between the body, the neck and fretboard was inevitable. The only thing that made the guitar somewhat valuable was that 80 percent of it was constructed with an ebony hardwood native to the Philippines, also known as "kamagong." For the record, I found out that Philippine ebony happens to be an endangered species, and it is illegal to export it to other countries. With that in mind, I took the guitar to a local tech in Flushing, Queens and he claimed it was possible to restore it. However, it would cost a heck of a lot more than what my brother initially paid for.
The truth was I don't need another guitar, but there was something about the nylon string sound and tone that widened my scope. There were certain songs that sounded so good with it that it could not be replicated with a steel string guitar. Instead of restoring it, I decided to trade it in. The shop owner gave me a deal on a brand new Takamine EG522C that was just too good to pass. I just paid an additional $300 cash, and I went home with the Takamine equipped with a SKB Freedom hard case. Now that angered the wife that she kicked me out of the bedroom, and I end up sleeping in the couch for two nights in a row.
She was so mad for three reasons:
1) I don't need another guitar, and I totally agreed with her on this. But I don't need a guitar that was poorly constructed, in bad shape, and unplayable. Instead of my brother's guitar collecting dust in my home, I decided to trade it in for something that is actually presentable and playable, hence the Takamine.
2) She could not comprehend me making another purchase after acquiring my HD-28 just a little over a month ago.
3) I broke my promise twice. I promised her that I will only have 4 guitars in my inventory, and that if a new guitar becomes a member of the household, I will need to part with another. She made an exception that I can have 5 when my beloved Strat was rediscovered after many years of solitude and inactivity in my parents' home. Now with 6 guitars, she is not a happy camper.
*sigh* |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2006
Posts: 1634
Location: Chehalis, Washington | I just purchased an 1881 Adamas two weeks ago, using my spending budget for quite a while. We still had a little of our tax return sitting in the bank, but at this point it was "unclaimed" money, which is never good...
Last night, I was checking the usual array of stuff on eBay, only to run across a 1271 Viper in fairly decent condition with the case and only one bid on it. It was ending at an odd time - just before midnight PST on a Sunday night, so I figured it was worth watching to see where it went. As it turned out, no one else bid on it, so with just minutes to go, my fingers took control and typed in a bid, sealing my fate as the new owner of this guitar for just over $200!
Did I really need it? Probably not. Was it something I'd use? Maybe. Was it a great deal? Hopefully! My wife has been very understanding, so far...mostly because I showed her that with a little fixing and TLC I could easily resell this guitar for more than I paid for it and make money in the deal (as if I would :p ).
It remains to be seen how clean it actually is, but it definitely falls under the category of "impulse" buys. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6202
Location: Phoenix AZ | 1984 vacationing with wife and 1 year old son. Driving rickety old subaru wagon. Packed full of baby gear, beach stuff, stroller, and a mountain bike. The bolts on the roof rack were so rusted that the rack had long since flow off someplace on Rt.32 in New Paltz. We're at Sunapee Lake in New Hampshire which is the coldest water ever known to man. On the way home I spot a Dunken Donuts and stop for a coffee. Next store is Daddy's Junky Music just packed full of used musical instruments. While my wife is changing the baby in the Dunken Donuts restroom I'm frantically re-organizing the crap in the back of the subaru to find room for the chrome 5 piece drum set I just bought at Daddy's. Wife didn't bat an eye. Ah, the wonders of young love. I still have that drum set today! Ironic thing, living in Arizona about 10 years later by mailorder I bought a mint Ovation 12-string Hurricane from that exact same store. Still have that one also. Dave |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | "It remains to be seen how clean it actually is, but it definitely falls under the category of "impulse" buys."
I have instructed Andrew to never blame me for bringing him to the OFC in front of SWMBO! It's not my fault! Sure, I may have carelessly cavaunted at least a dozen various Ovations and Adamas guitars in front of him at practice - most of which have gone back to Ebay - only to bring one or two more home.
:rolleyes:
He is on his own! It's his GAS!
Well maybe I feel a little responsible... :D |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | Oh yeah...
Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah-ha! |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 1421
Location: Orange County, California | My U681T.
Prior to this, I had only one Guitar. My 1763. I had begged, borrowed, bought and sold others, but this was my only Ovation. As I started playing more, I knew I was never going to "get chops" on a nylon string, Even if I put steel-like strings on it. So (part of the reason I joined the OFC), I started researching what kind of steel string I wanted. I was alreadly comfortable with Ovations, so it was just a matter of which model, and how much to pay. I think I'd decided it would be one of the Folklore models for the wide neck. When news of the 12 Fret Slothead Adamas Came out, I had only 1 question: How wide was the neck going to be? I was told by the high authority of THIS group that it was to be standard Adamas neck... No Kidding. I went and played a CVT/SMT, and an MEII (the only Adamas models I could find around), and when Al made the final "you in?" call I said "No Skinny necked thing for me" and left it at that.
Meanwhile, We decide to pack up 3 people, four birds (one we were still handfeeding), and a classical guitar in a rented minivan an headed for Texas for the OFC get together. I had heard the local rep was going to show up, but I had no idea what kind of goodies he'd be bringing. Among other things I played that day were the Prototype "Hotwheels" Elite T (with a Korina neck), My first Adamas I, '05 Collectors, Millennium, and a really nice Taylor... When the U681T came out, I was not excited. I though it was going to be "typical". I picked it up (then picked my jaw up), and declared in my mind that the OFC didn't know $hit. This was a WIDE, Flat, easy for fat fingers neck. Not at all like any other guitar there. even though no deal was struck yet, the wheels were turning I wanted it.
Let me back up one day first though. the 2nd thing I saw when we got to my father's in law's house, was his ex-wife carrying a load of laundry up the walkway. It seems his washing machine died, and he didn't really have the cash on hand to buy a new one and the old one wasn't really worth fixing. Since my brother in law lives with his Dad, his mother felt compelled to help out by doing BOTH of their laundry. Not a good scene. We figured out pretty quick that in Irving Texas, the main difference between the middle-class, and poor white trash, is the local laundry-mat. So, with the "Mad Money" that my wife had earned for the trip in hand, we took my father in law to Home Depot to buy him a washer. Now, I was feeling the love that was pouring out of my wife, by giving them this gift, and got swept up in the moment and asked "how the drier was". the Answer didn't sound good, and a "set" was bought (against my Dad's will mind you). My wife heart swelled, and I thought, boy am I going to lucky for this...We still had plenty of money for the trip, but just enough now.
Lets fast forward one day and get back to Ol Magnolia Town. I guess people though t I looked good playing the slothead. I kept putting it down, handing it to other people, snarling and growling when ever somone took it away... I think George was the first to suggest I buy one. My heart sunk, there were only to be 100 of them. surely they were already gone. I had told Al "no", and I didn't have the money anymore anyway, so I would just have to enjoy what little time we had together :( Still, I asked Mike what they were going to sell for, and If he thought there would be any around. In his best sicillian accent the rep "made me an offer I couldn't refuse" on the one I'd been playing. :eek: It was MY WIFE to cinched the deal though. She said "if you really want it, I'll sell the dolls to pay for it". I think she didn't want to hear me whimper the entire 20hr drive home (most of which I drove). After a quick trip to a local dealer, El Plastico was tapped, and the deal was legit. I thank God for putting this all together, and as I look back now, it's easy for me to see the set up. Now, not only do I have "the perfect guitar for me", I was drawn deeper into a life-long group of friends by it. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 1116
Location: Keller, TX | Fred, you mean this old thing? :D
 |
|
| |
|
Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Wives can be pretty cool.
We went in to buy the Elite LX I had been wanting. She felt the Al DiMeola looked and sounded much better and that the Fender amp went nice with it.
It was a very good day. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4832
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Wa-ay back as a poor university student I walked into a local music store/hawk shop (who remembers?) down in Victoria. Saw a white Ovation balladeer with very old strings. (this was the 70's, so white was very ABBA to me...not a good thing)
I plucked the old dead strings a bit and the guitar tried to write a song with me. (no drugs, honest!) So I traded a guitar and some cash I didn't have for this guitar, we went back to my room and wrote some songs. Then I changed the strings and we seldom spoke to each other again.
weird. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
January 2006
Posts: 5881
Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | I was visiting my daughter in Boston and when she had some appointment to attend to at BU, I strolled over to a Guitar Center to do some sightseeing. The Boston GC carries a lot of vintage gear including, on this particular day, a very nice '90 ES-135 with P-90's. It had just been dropped off and hadn't yet cleared the police checks, but that didn't stop me from talking them out of it and a case. I snuck back to the store later in the day to finalize the purchase, then walked to the nearest UPS store where I dropped it off for shipment. I was back to my family in 10 minutes and no questions were asked. I needed the guitar like a hole in my head, but it remains one of my favorites and can be seen in my gallery. I have even better stories about buying motorcycles with even less planning, and a good skiing buddy of mine once bought a brand spanking new airplane on a similar momentary whim. That's what guys do . . . |
|
| |
|
Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | There was this one night when the rubber broke and I was really drunk and didn't notice.... a couple a months later I get a call asking if I wanna Guild. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | My 1537, Classic and Custom Balladeer (and others) story.
They are all kind of rolled into one, but I don't know if I've ever told the story about how I got the 1537 here.
I accidentally bought a Celebrity Deluxe the first time I used ebay. I thought it was like a regular auction and somebody was on a computer bidding against me. I was having fun running up the bids and figured this other guy really wants it because he kept bidding against me right away. After I had the guitar for too much money I read the ebay rules and found out about automatic bidding.
Anyway, that led to finding this board and finding about 1537s. One came up in Moscow, Idaho on ebay and I even had my wife bidding on it for my birthday. I got outbid by a sniper, but was going up to Moscow anyway that weekend to visit our daughter. As a consolation, I went to a music store and found the Classic that I later bought on the same day I bought the Custom Balladeer off this board.
Now back to the 1537. The one in Moscow was the subject of much discussion on this board and many people knew I was looking for one. A couple others came up and I would whine hear about missing another one.
Noah ran a thread about one that had been lost by UPS and discovered and all the hassles he was having with the claims process. I know I commented about how unfair it was that someone could have 2 1537s when I can't seem to get one. Last summer Noah sent me a brief message that it was mine once he got the mess straightened out. He called me at work (I don't know how he got my number, but it's not too hard) and we talked about family for about an hour or so. I wonder now if it wasn't in part an adoption agency interview, but it ended with Noah's promise to sell me the guitar for the amount he paid and I just happened to have from a stock dividend. The blessed event occurred last September. It is by far the nicest guitar and possibly the nicest thing I own. (OK, I'm getting a little tired of the Porsche and BMW and my wife wants to sell the house.) Thanks again Bruce. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Not an impluse purchase, but it did fall out of the sky.
It was a samisen.
A friend of my wife's an artist in Okinawa. And to make a long story short, I've always loved okinawan music, whenever we saw her I'd ask her to play, or to play a cd or a record of one of her friends. It was always wonderful.
She came to visit us a few years ago and she gave me a samisen. Totally unexpected, totally not asked for, just from her heart because she wanted to share her music with me. Of course, the day she gave it to me, and just before I was to have my first lesson, I moved a fan and stuck my right index finger in the blade, almost chopping it off. I went to the hospital and had it sewed back. I have a tiny scar right at the first knuckle. Anyhow, its on the wall in my home office, (the samisen, not my finger!) right above my desk, and every once in awhile I pull it off and play some rambling thing and remember her kindness to me. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | about 5 years ago I went to a jam. I was invited by the drummer in my old band. Sue and I showed up and there were a bunch of deadheads etc and we made some music and had a good time. we were invited back.
after about the 5th call back the keyboard player asked If I could sell his girlfriend's father's old guitar. I asked what it was he told me a D'Angelico. I asked him to repeat it 5 times. and told him I would buy the guitar.
About 6 months later I finally gave up. I get a call. it is 11 degrees and the keyboard player had the guitar in his trunk wrapped up in a blanket.
I met him in philly under rt 95 in typical mafioso fashion. Indeed it was a d'angelico and indeed it became mine. |
|
| |
|
Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 31
Location: Clinton ,Ct | First post .so be gentile .Yesterday someone gave to me a solid body Viper Plate on the back says E-7049 i'm looking for info needs a pick guard has a chunk missing near the plug in.Natural finish .under the pickguard it has the date 4-27-77.not bad for free.second or should I say my first find about 20 yrs ago.again someone gave me an early mid 70's mint one of a kind Ibanez lawsuit edition Gibson copy .I work for the city here in CT and I go dump scrounging.picked out a mint CD 60 Dean Markley tube amp blonde tolex needed a speaker and new tubes.the Viper looks awesome next to it so I want to get it back in fine shape Help.... |
|
| |
|
Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | We can be gentle.
Welcome!
Take a look in the Gallery and enter "Viper" under the search. You'll see several of them. Look in my gallery and you'll see some of the less conventional fixes to the pickguards.
If you'd consider selling the Viper I know a few good homes! Or could repair it for you. |
|
| |
Unplanned acquisition(s) / purchase(s) stories?
