Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => The Dressing Room => Topic started by: Ian Price on March 02, 2008, 08:56:40 AM
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I have heard a few stories in the past where people have claimed to have bought a piece of vintage gear for next to nothing - often at a car boot or from a person not 'in the know'. Although I would like to believe this I am really not sure if these stories are true. Has anyone from this forum ever acquired vintage gear at a ridiculous price? Is it worth me trawling around car boot sales across the country in an effort to find something interesting?
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Has anyone from this forum ever acquired vintage gear at a ridiculous price? Is it worth me trawling around car boot sales across the country in an effort to find something interesting?
Back in the 80s it was so much easier:
I had a mate who swapped a cheap Yamaha acoustic for a real old Martin acoustic, but that was way back in the mid 80s
Come to think of it I missed a 69 thinline tele for 125 quid (I could only raise 100 at the time) and an aquantance a couple of months before got a 63 Fender Jaguar (truely mint condition) for 75 quid.) No reissues in those days
That was in 83 (even then that was a steal)
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Come to think of it I missed a 69 thinline tele for 125 quid (I could only raise 100 at the time) and an aquantance a couple of months before got a 63 Fender Jaguar (truely mint condition) for 75 quid.) No reissues in those days
I think that I am in the wrong generation for vintage guitar buying! A mint condition 63 Jag would cost thousands in current prices.
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Here's mine in the last 10 years...
* '76 Marshall Lead & Bass combo, £150
* copper panel AC30 for £250 with a Marshall Artiste head in the deal
* 70's Hiwatt DR103 for £250
* Simms Watts head £40 inc a bagful of NOS valves (KT66s, KT88s, 5AR4s etc...)
* 70's Laney Supergroup 4x12 with G12Ms for £100
* 70's Selmer 4x12 with G12H greenbacks for £100
* Selmer T&B head £35 (non working)
* Selmer T&B head £65
* Laney topmount Supergroup/GBO head £100
* Laney Supergroup head £100
* Sound City L50 £50
...and there are more, I've just forgot a lot of them.
Haven't found anything recently, been a good couple of years since I've picked up a REAL bargain.
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* copper panel AC30 for £250 with a Marshall Artiste head in the deal
:o
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* 70's Laney Supergroup 4x12 with G12Ms for £100
Damn!
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I think eBay is the death of 'great' bargains. It's now very easy to find out what something is worth even if you have no idea yourself.
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In the 70's I got some great deals (and sold things cheaply too though!):
1961 Precision Bass £80
1971 Les Paul Custom £200
1961 SG Les Paul Junior £200
Lots of AC30's for less that £100
Then in the 80's I got:
1965 SG $250
1960 Strat £500
1963 Strat £300
1963 SG Junior £350
In the 90's
1959 DC LP Junior - refin $250
1953 Les Paul 58 conversion $2000
1957 Strat - refin $1700
1957 Tele - refin $1500
1960 LP DC Special - $500
1962 Telecaster neck $200
This decade
1963 Thunderbird IV $400 - this was in pieces and stripped but Will Scott put it all back together and it is an incredible bass
1963 Strat $1800 (this is my old one that I had sold to a friend who passed away - his family let me have it back at the price he paid me for it)
1954 Les Paul Goldtop - free - left to me in my friend's will - however I won't be selling it, too many gigs I remember with it.
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I think eBay is the death of 'great' bargains. It's now very easy to find out what something is worth even if you have no idea yourself.
i agree. i'm quite new to it, but even from what i've seen in the past month or so of paying a closer eye to ebay, it pretty much seems that unless you're willing to go to market rate (or close) there's a good chance someone will outbid you. with all that ebay market research you can pay for, if something is too cheap, a seller will buy it and try to sell it on for profit...
not saying you can't get lucky on ebay... but it does seem unlikely. :)
and as you said, it's very easy to find out the going rate. even if you don't pay for those market research subscriptions.
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I got my 72 Tele deluxe for free, in bits, from a man who got in free, in bits, back in the seventies. I originally took it home in a mail sack.
It's a double-stack of urban mythery.
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I would think that finding any gear of great value cheap at a car boot fair is not impossible but highly unlikely and you'd have to cover a lot of ground. Maybe I am just lucky but I have got myself some real bargains on Ebay ( I think we have covered this before so I won't bore you with the details). I think it is a case of keeping an eye out and acting quickly and being prepared to take a punt.By definition, if it is a real bargain, i.e. cheap, you don't have a lot at stake. The carv boot sales I have been to have been filled with other people's tat and depressed the hell out of me but that is just me.
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Almost got a pair of EVM 12S from ebay, poor listing, so I emailed the UK EV distributor.
However, along with the poor listing, the seller listed quantity as 2, so it was selling it as 1 each. despite being the first bidder, and being the first to bid for the sale amount £30, the seller chose the other person that bid £30.
Seems like the guy made an honest mistake, they haven't been relisted
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About fifteen years ago I got a MuTron-II phase shifter and an original Electro-Harmonix "Clone Theory" pedal for $30 from a friend of a band member. Just stated he "didn't want them any more." They still sound pretty sweet.
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I will never forget reading an article in a guitar mag where some guy was browsing guitar pedals and some woman was clearing out some old stuff and there was an "old red pedal" she wanted rid of.
Guy paid something like £10 for it and it turned out to be a v.good condition DM-2.
I've hated that guy, whoever he is, ever since.
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Im sure i read about someone on bareknuckle buying an old tokai strat for 34p or something. cant go wrong for that.
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Westfield strat: £50
BK Uber-sinner: £70
Watching peoples faces when your natural-finish white scratch plate cheapo fake strat makes their skull vibrate: Priceless.
My biggest bargain was probably a 70s yamaha SG200 (cheapo model, but it was good and mint) for £200. Sold with some EMGs and a couple more mods to a mate that was starting out, so I knew he had a good guitar, for 300. We both got a bargain, I think.
My DX1, RRP £950, was 500 new beacuse I got it just after they were discontinued (98, I believe) and the shop had stock to shift.
I came accross a G&L for 300 once, but alas didnt have the 300 at the time :(
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There was a post on the LPF about someone who bought a '59 Standard from a pawn shop for $1000 in the last few years. Unbelievable luck if it's true.
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remember buying a 70's Hiwatt 50w head and 4x12 cab for £200....also remember selling it far too cheaply..was only young though
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Brand Spanking new Patrick Eggle, never strung up built about 1995-96. £150. Not quite vinatge, but that's bloody good :D
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There was a post on the LPF about someone who bought a '59 Standard from a pawn shop for $1000 in the last few years. Unbelievable luck if it's true.
I would have to call hella-bullshitee on that one unless I saw lots and lots of proof.
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I agree with you Ed........
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Oh yeah, Ibanez lawsuit reverse firebird - free (without hardware) :guitar4:
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Oh yeah, Ibanez lawsuit reverse firebird - free (without hardware) :guitar4:
:o
I wish I could find a moron selling some equipment that I could blatantly rob from them, I'm a great liar.
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He's certainly not a moron, he's a luthier (and a bloody good geezer). He'd had it sitting around for ages, he didn't know it was an Ibenez as it was rebranded CSL (on the truss rod cover), but he did know that it was solid mahogany and had a 1 piece solid mahogany neck. He gave it to me as a bit of a thank you for the work that I do for him.
It's amazing what you get when people owe you favours........ I've cashed in a load and this weekend my house is going to be flooded with people decorating it :guitar4:
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Not quite in the same league but I did pick up an Ovation Legend at an auction in France for £180...... - it was filthy dirty but in excellent condition.
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I once got an ENGL Screamer 50 for £300, back when they were still £900 new here.
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I got my Orange GRO100 (1971) and a Marshall 4x12 from my brother in law for £300.
Mind you, that was about 15 years ago, and not too far off the market rate.
Prices have gotten stupid...
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I once got an ENGL Screamer 50 for £300, back when they were still £900 new here.
I hate you :P
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In 1975 my older brother bought a 1967 Martin D-28 for $50.00. He still has it but it would take about $1,500.00 now to get it back in good nick.
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i got a calibrated set of Warpigs for £100, and the Patrick Eggle Berlin Standard i put them in for £300. and, as was previously documented on this forum, an unbranded Matamp AB15 (apparently made as part of a custom run for a retailer) for £200. for sheer tone it blows away my £1100 Genz Benz El Diablo :twisted: ! and with a treble booster, an overdrive and the guitar's volume control it has all the versatility you really need.
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I got a WEM 15w combo and a shitety Woolworth's guitar, probably called a pawnshop guitar now, in 1980 for 25 quid.
A Electro Harmonix little big muff around '84 for 20 quid
And a 1979 25th Anniversary Strat for 80 quid! Yes really, the bloke who sold me it knew nothing about them and pointed out that it had a large mark in the finish and effectively knocked himself down to that price. I casually paid him but was biting his arm off on the inside! :wink:
If they want to sell you gear underpriced, let them. You'll get shafted by someone at some point in your life so don't ever feel guilty about it!
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If they want to sell you gear underpriced, let them. You'll get shafted by someone at some point in your life so don't ever feel guilty about it!
Yeah and if you see a guy with an iPhone you might aswell just club him over the head and take it; chances are you'll get mugged at some point in your life too. :lol:
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If they want to sell you gear underpriced, let them. You'll get shafted by someone at some point in your life so don't ever feel guilty about it!
Yeah and if you see a guy with an iPhone you might aswell just club him over the head and take it; chances are you'll get mugged at some point in your life too. :lol:
I haven't seen anyone with one yet have you?
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If they want to sell you gear underpriced, let them. You'll get shafted by someone at some point in your life so don't ever feel guilty about it!
Yeah and if you see a guy with an iPhone you might aswell just club him over the head and take it; chances are you'll get mugged at some point in your life too. :lol:
I haven't seen anyone with one yet have you?
haha I have actually, but only a couple. I'd have expected to see way more out and about - perhaps the folk who own them dont get them out for fear of being clubbed over the head? :P
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If they want to sell you gear underpriced, let them. You'll get shafted by someone at some point in your life so don't ever feel guilty about it!
Yeah and if you see a guy with an iPhone you might aswell just club him over the head and take it; chances are you'll get mugged at some point in your life too. :lol:
I haven't seen anyone with one yet have you?
haha I have actually, but only a couple. I'd have expected to see way more out and about - perhaps the folk who own them dont get them out for fear of being clubbed over the head? :P
Or laughed at
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possibly both
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oh, I forgot about the Dallas Rangemaster I bought for £250 around 5 years ago and promptly sold it for £650 - not a bad days work that one.
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oh, I forgot about the Dallas Rangemaster I bought for £250 around 5 years ago and promptly sold it for £650 - not a bad days work that one.
This never happens to me :x
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oh, I forgot about the Dallas Rangemaster I bought for £250 around 5 years ago and promptly sold it for £650 - not a bad days work that one.
This never happens to me :x
I will add that when I was 100% into buying gear (i.e. when I used to have lots of spare cash to do so) I was getting up and waiting for the classified ad's paper to be delivered into the newsagent on a morning (around 7am) and cherry picking all the good stuff before most people had got a chance to buy the paper and read it later that evening.
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That was when you could still get a bargain in the Diamond Free Ads or Loot....
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In Liverpool 1981/82 I bought a '62 Gibson EB3 bass for 80 quid. It was virtually unplayable by that time, but must have loved by someone once as had no finish left on the back of the neck and the frets were so worn out that the ebony fretboard was scalloped like Yngwie's strat. The chicken head was still on it though.
I still have it but it doesn't get played much as I would have to replace the whole fretboard and it didn't seem fair to the poor old thing. Also the front p/u is do bassey that it can do structural damage to buildings.
I wonder who had played it. Anyone know any heavy Merseybeat bass players who used EB3s? Johnny Gustafson is the only player I know of but he played semi-acoustics in the pictures I find.
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I still have it but it doesn't get played much as I would have to replace the whole fretboard and it didn't seem fair to the poor old thing. Also the front p/u is do bassey that it can do structural damage to buildings.
actually the ebony fretboard can effectively be rebuilt and refretted without need for replacement. not necisarily cheap though
here is the technique
http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Frets/FBoardDivot/fboardivot.html
its worked really well the few times i have done it
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Fascinating, thanks WezV. Maybe I could bring the bass back to life. I just have to find a builder in Germany who would do that for a reasonable price.
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My BKP's were a bloody steal, calibrated set of MM for £85. 8)
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I think the best bargin I got was a Marshall JCM800 2203 100w head for £150.
Not vintage, but I recently got £200 off an Ibanez EP7 because it had a tiny mark on the binding at the 1st fret. 8)