Pawn Shop Finds

[Bill]

I think garage sales have the best buys but are time-consuming, pawn shops the worst buys. I dislike having to buy long-distance for high price on eBay. I'd say Craigslist is my favorite bang for the buck these days.

Though around 10 years ago I did buy a Fender Super Champ with footswitch and a vintage Phase 100 pedal in the back of the amp, all for $100.

[Scott V]

I don't haunt the pawn shops nearly like I used to, mostly cheap beat-up junk these days. But, you still find a diamond once in a while, last year I found a pretty nice MIM Jazz bass missing the pickgaurd for $99 out the door. Used to find deals all the time in pawn shops, maybe I'm better of not finding so many deals these days...
I agree, Craigslist is where to go for deals now, I just don't usually have the patience to drive across town to chase after them.

[Teleblooz]

I think pawnshops, in the old-school sense, are as much a thing of the past as carhops and drive-ins. EBay and the internet in general have hipped the owners to the value of stuff. Your chance of stumbling across that dusty '62 Tele being sold by old Mr. Higgins - "Don't rightly know what it is, Sonny, but it's been back 'ere fer years" - are roughly the same as being discovered at the counter of Schwab's Drug Store, or hitting the Powerball jackpot.

Of course, that hasn't stopped me from looking in on every little Mom-n-Pop hock shop I find. I mean - you never know, right?

[skunqesh]

I'd never heard the term 'pointy guitar' before this thread, but boy-howdy does that just nail it! but just you wait, those old Peavey's will prolly be the 'next big thing' in vintage 'Ironic' guitars. (my first electric was a guild'burnside '80s Big-Hair pointy monstrosity, so I know the breed )

The last time I found a great deal in a loan shoppe was almost a decade ago, in Portland OR. I forget the name of the shop, but it was downtown and about three shops were all within a block of each other. One shop, I recall, had a couple late 50s early 60s Gibson Les Paul Juniors, asking somewhere on the order of 1k (a bargain nowadays but too rich for my wallet at the time).

I stepped into the next, and voila! I found the 70s Gibson EB-0 fretless bass of my dreams for $250. yeah, I kid, gimme a P-Bass anyday. I did flip it on ebay a few years later for a profit. But the kicker is - that same day I turned my nose up at what must have been an early 60s Tele because it was BuhhhEAT! missing a saddle, finish was all tore-up, frets were cashed, etc. and I'm pretty sure knobs were missing all around. They were asking $200. Man I'm an idiot! Could have restored it and it be worth ten times that, at least. live and learn!

[skunqesh]

Geez, I almost forgot another "shoulda woulda" experience.

Even further back, before them internets and inntertubes and all got the better of us... back when them Pointy Guitarasaurs roamed the earth

I stepped into a divey old guitar shop somewhere around Porter Square, near Cambridge MA (just off the Redline), I can't remember their name, either, but OH MY GAWD!

They had a rack of 50s and 60s Fenders and Gibsons. Strats, Teles, Les Pauls (Gold tops). Prices were what you might have expected - in the high hundreds to a few thousands. Geez, can you imagine that now?! I was still in highschool, and had spent my entire summer paycheck on a new Rickenbacker 325, so I was not in the market, not even close! But years later I traded that Ric for a '74 Tele Custom (previously owned by Jerry Merrit!). She's my #1 Wife to this day. Besides, I mean, my Wife

[Teleblooz]

Originally Posted by skunqesh

The last time I found a great deal in a loan shoppe was almost a decade ago, in Portland OR. I forget the name of the shop, but it was downtown and about three shops were all within a block of each other.

I know the area of which you speak - one store was Apple Music, one was Portland Music, the third had some weird name I can't quite recall. Maybe Captain Whizeagle's? Am I right?

[jelly tele]

Originally Posted by marantz1300

You can still pick up stuff cheap, here in England. Especially at car boot sales. All of my gear is used. Examples my boogies £100,hiwatt dr103 £65,mij fender strat £29. 1960's dallas arbiter valve amp £12. Not all the time ,but if you get up early you can get lucky. Still you get cheap gas. Petrol here's now around £5.50-£6.00 a gallon.($11 to $12)

Hey Marantz, is that a Raven in the far left of the second pic?

[marantz1300]

it's a ibanez s540 custom made. i traded a strat for it.

[skunqesh]

Originally Posted by Teleblooz

I know the area of which you speak - one store was Apple Music, one was Portland Music, the third had some weird name I can't quite recall. Maybe Captain Whizeagle's? Am I right?

Heya,
close - I got my amp from Apple way back when (Kelly, the owner, sold it to me - and talk about a guitar collection, OMG!), but I think the pawn shops were further up the street. (H&B Coin & Jewelry, sound about right?) I moved quite some time ago and everytime I visit entire city blocks have been razed and rebuilt, so I get lost (lol).

At any rate - Portland Music Co. I thought only carried acoustic and wind instruments? My '74 Custom Tele was a straight up trade for the Ric +$50 via Artichoke Music up on SE Hawthorne. Nicest guys, and the best deal I'll ever know. Had it refretted at the 12th Fret not long after. man I miss that town

There was/is a third shop that specialized in older instruments/amps, but I'm blanking on the name, too. Right around the corner from Berbati's Pan and the Church of Elvis (which I hear is no more?).

Ya know what kills me, is I used to see old lap steel guitars show up at thrift stores around Portland, for next to nuthin! Not knowing how to play I didn't give 'em much thought. I literally recall seeing a couple between some old AM radios, 8traks, and ratty cuisanarts at St. Pauls De Vincents thrift shop up on Powell Blvd. D'Oh!

[Teleblooz]

Originally Posted by skunqesh

Heya,
close - I got my amp from Apple way back when (Kelly, the owner, sold it to me - and talk about a guitar collection, OMG!), but I think the pawn shops were further up the street. (H&B Coin & Jewelry, sound about right?) I moved quite some time ago and everytime I visit entire city blocks have been razed and rebuilt, so I get lost (lol).

At any rate - Portland Music Co. I thought only carried acoustic and wind instruments? My '74 Custom Tele was a straight up trade for the Ric +$50 via Artichoke Music up on SE Hawthorne. Nicest guys, and the best deal I'll ever know. Had it refretted at the 12th Fret not long after. man I miss that town

There was/is a third shop that specialized in older instruments/amps, but I'm blanking on the name, too. Right around the corner from Berbati's Pan and the Church of Elvis (which I hear is no more?).

Ya know what kills me, is I used to see old lap steel guitars show up at thrift stores around Portland, for next to nuthin! Not knowing how to play I didn't give 'em much thought. I literally recall seeing a couple between some old AM radios, 8traks, and ratty cuisanarts at St. Pauls De Vincents thrift shop up on Powell Blvd. D'Oh!

I moved out to the 'burbs a few years ago (Beaverton/Hillsboro) so I hardly ever get downtown anymore. Portland Music is a full-scale music store with branches in Gresham & B'ton. Most of the smaller places have gone by the wayside. I think Whizeagle's was the place near the CoE (which seems to have gone "virtual" for the time being: http://www.24hourchurchofelvis.com/newsletter.html)

I'd completely forgotten about St. VDP on Powell - gonna have to make the trip over & check it out. Thanks for the tip!

[twangee]

Some of you guys know this story. G&L Comanche IV about a year ago. It laid on the floor, very dirty, rusty with one or two rusty strings. The guys said I could have it for $250 and I walked out without it. Thanks to some of you guys I ran back the next morning to get it. He had since looked it up on ebay and saw what a NEW comanche was going for and said it was $450 now. I walked out with it for $200. I was super broke at the time and turned a massive profit on it. I will never stop touring the pawnshop circuit.