Conference napalm::guitar

    	Nope, it was not a Gibson at all. I called that one last week
    and found out it was a noname COPY of a Gibson...however I carry
    around a newspaper clipping from 2 years ago to remind me that when
    opportunity knocks, don't be looking for four leaf clovers in the
    backyard! It WAS a REAL Gibson...for $50, also listed was a FENDER
    amp to go with it ,$45! I called and called and called, but no one
    was home, so I went out to eat with my wife, when I got home I called
    again and found out that it WAS a Gibson, and it had just been picked
    up by some lucky individual not more than ten minutes earlier! Arrghh!
    	It was being sold by the grandmother of a college student who
    needed money, and hadn't played this thing since early teens! It
    had been stored for about ten years in a closet.
    

    
    
    re .1  
    
    Thanks!  I usually check the want ads for great deals, and sometimes I
    find them.  One of the better places I have found is the "Moving"
    section where someone sells the contents of the house.  They find a
    guitar that hasn't been seen in 10 years and have no idea of its value. 
    I found a Guild acoustic for sale for $100 that way. For one reason or
    another I didn't buy the Guild, but it was for real.
    
    Kevin
    
    
    

    
    re .0-
    
    	Reminds me of the time I once saw something described as "Old
    Martin guitar $75". Of course, it was gone by the afternoon...
    
    	Sometimes people put in ads of this sort as a hoax on their
    friends - the old "Gibson from the attic" story seems to work well.
    
    	One time I saw an ES330-TDC for $180.00. I showed the ad to
    my friend, that night, with the comment "it's probably long gone
    by now" "Let me see that" He says... He calls, it's still for sale,
    and he says "I'll pay you more money than what you're asking if
    you wait till I get there". One speeding ticket later, he gets it
    for $200. The woman_of_the_house it was being sold from WAS IN ABSOLUTE
    HYSTARICS from the number of phone calls being made for that guitar.
    
    	Joe Jas
    

    A friend of mine once went digging through his attic and discovered
    his dad's "old guitar".  His father said something like "Yeah, I bought
    it just before I went into the service" (which was WWII).
    
    On the phone, he couldn't remember the brand name.  Nothing he was
    familiar with.
    
    I came over to have a look at it: The brand name was Martin.  
    
    The strings that were on the thing were really old and rusty and
    it still sounded and played pretty good.
    
    I faced the dilemna of whether or not to tell this guy what he had on
    his hands (he was thinking of selling it) or just buy it.
    
    Well, some combination of friendship and a fear that he would sell it
    for $50 to some "other" jerk (besides me) motivated me to tell him.
    Hopefully I was motivated more by friendship... Anyway, he decided to
    keep it and learn guitar (I mean how often is a guys first car a
    Porsche?)
    
    It was and still is, the best acoustic guitar I had ever played.
    He wasn't gonna buy a new set of strings ("not until these break")
    so at the next convenient holiday (I think it was Arbor day), I
    made him a present of some new strings, strung it up, and had a great
    time playing that thing.
    
    I don't often go ga-ga over instruments like most guitar players,
    but I have to admit that the 3 hours or so I spent honking on that
    thing were like a dream.
    
    Only other experience I had like that was playing a Falcone piano
    for the first time.
    
    	db

    
    A friend of mine had a Gibson ES330 kicking around his house. It
    was quite old, dot neck, no case, and he had no idea of it's value,
    and didn't know how to play. I told him it was probably worth a
    couple hundred or more, but he was only interested in getting what 
    he had paid for it ($100). I grabbed it, and found it made a very
    decent rhythm guitar. I believe it was early 60's vintage, but never
    checked the age. 
    
    This was not the greatest guitar in the world (short scale neck,
    soapbar pickups, bigsby tailpiece), but it was certainly worth
    more than $100. I used it for about 5 years, but eventually sold
    it to buy my ES345 because I wanted the humbuckers, 24 fret neck,
    etc. 
    
    I have seen deals in the want-ads before, but they always seem to
    be gone before you can get to them. I once saw a Lexicon Prime-Time
    digital delay for sale for $150.oo. This was around 1980 when a
    new Prime time sold for about $1500. I called but it was gone. The
    price was correct, and of course they had no problem selling it
    for that price. I had to wonder if it was hot or otherwise
    illigitimate.
    
    A guy I work with lives in Harvard Ma. in a very ritsy neighborhood.
    His neighbor's son plays guitar, and talked sugar daddy into getting
    him a new amp. They tossed his old amp (A tweed bandmaster) out
    at the street on rubbish day. Before the rubbish trucks arrived,
    the kids in the neighborhood grabbed it. It changed hands 3 or
    4 times until one kid bought it for about $50.oo He put it on the
    front lawn with a for sale sign, and sold it the same day for $150.oo
    The guy who bought it still got a great deal on this vintage amp.
    
    Just got to be in the right place at the right time. Since the Want
    ads come out on Tuesday, you have to grab a copy early on Tuesday,
    and screen it as fast as possible, and be prepared to make a quick
    move.
    
    Mark Jacques
    

    I remember sitting in 1973 or so in California with a friend of mine
    (who later played with Zappa after a name change to Blotto Zakkar or
    somesuch). We saw an ad for a 1968 Gibson Les Paul $100. We called and
    he bought it! We raced in the car to the house. There was someone there
    before us but the woman had promised it to us. She also was frantic
    with all the phone calls she had gotten. 
    
    It was not a Custom but a Les Paul signature black finish, single
    pickup, tele-like body. I don't remember the the model number maybe
    someone else could prompt me? I didn't like the action - was partial to
    strats in them days - but it made a nice rhythm guitar. I like the
    Les Pauls now - just passed up a 1969 though - guy wanted 1800 Swiss
    Francs over here. New ones go for Sw.Frs. 2000 or so. Too much money
    and right before Christmas when I'm usually broke anyway.
    
    David

    re: .6
    
    Gibson did not make a Les Paul in 1968 that fits your description.
    Maybe it wasn't the bargain you thought it was.
    
    Danny W

    
    Two things come to mind a '36 martin 3/4 size for $150 (in excellant
    shape, orignal case and literature!) that I passed up beacuse I
    wanted a full size body and a pre-CBS strat in mint condition fro
    $100 that I passed up beacuse I thought anyone who played a strat
    was brain dead.
    
    and me a strat fanatic now....   
    
    dbii

    I have a friend who now lives in Canada but who originates from
    Liverpool in UK.
    
    He went to a local second hand store in Liverpool to buy a case
    for his guitar.
    
    After trying a few which did not fit, he asked the lady proprietor
    to reach down a case high up on a shelf.
    
    When he opened it up he found that it contained a mint Dobro, c1936
    if I remember rightly. the body was wooden with a green tint and
    it had a relief pattern in black.
    
    He knew what he was looking at luckily - and even more luckily the
    woman in the shop did not!
    
    He asked how much she wanted and she said that as he had been in
    before, he could have it for 20 pounds (about 34 dollars).
    
    Stifling the urge to scream with excitement he rustled up the cash
    and walked away with it! 
    
    He subsequently moved to Canada where he traded the Dobro for a
    Martin (actually in Seattle).
    
    Here's another.....
    
    There used to be a blues singer here in Reading UK called Mike Cooper.
    He did all the folk clubs and made a couple of albums for independant
    labels.
    
    He went into a music shop in Reading some years back (and Reading
    is *not* the music capital of the UK and found a National Tri Cone
    in superb condition. It was not the top of the range but had a round
    neck and the eerie stereo sound which the tri cone is apt to produce.
    
    Another case of being in the right place at the right time.
    
    And what did he pay for it? Well, he knew what he had found. Also
    this is probably 28 years ago so Nationals were not fetching the
    prices they do now - he paid 8 pounds.
    
    Allowing for inflation that cannot be much more than 80 pounds in
    todays prices. (135 dollars).
    
    
    andy

    Here is my sorry tale, at least you guys can feel better because
    you only may have missed an opportunity.......
    
    I bought a 1960 telecaster off a guitarist called Chris Spedding
    ( he had a No. 1 hit here in the UK with "Motorbikin " ( I think
    that's how you spell it). It was a sunburst one and the paint was
    cracked and lifting, but it had been well looked after apart from
    that. I bought it for 60 pounds. As you can imagine, it played and
    sounded like a dream. Two years later I did a stint as a bass player
    and needed an instrument. I went up to London and swapped it for
    a run-off-the-mill Fender bass. Considering how the price of oldies
    has risen, I must be sucker of the year. Back in 1960, I had a pink
    strat, damn me I seem to remember selling that around 1965 for about
    60 pounds as well. Who said it is better to have loved and lost?......
                                  
    I wish I had'nt answered this NOTE, it's made me feel really p***ed
    off!!!
    
    /Dave
    

    
    I entered this once already but it seems to have gone to bit heaven.
    
    In yesterday's Want Ads...
    
     Mesa Boogie.  Mint, 2 years old.  Never seen club or gig use. Almost
    never used.  Must sell fast $250 firm.  Call...
    
    I called and it was already sold.  I don't even know what model
    it was, but for $250 it didn't really matter; even the .22 is worth
    more than that.  Did Mesa make anything besides the Mk II two years
    ago?
    
    Kevin

>>>    Did Mesa make anything besides the Mk II two years ago? 
    
    Two years ago, Mesa Boogie was already selling the MkIII (mine's
    about 4 years old).  They also sold the .22 back then, too.  A stripped
    .22 would probably have sold new for $500-600, I think.
    
    - John -

    
    
    In this weeks want ads...
    
     1950's Gibson archtop acoustic guitar, model L-4CN, with original
    hardshell case. $100
    
    I called and of course it was sold.  The seller said that it may not
    have been an L-4CN, he wasn't really sure.  He was sure that it was a '50's
    Gibson archtop, and it did have a cutaway.
   
    He also said that it had been refinished and it wasn't a very good job. 
    
    $100 was still real cheap.
    
     Kevin
    

    
    I don't know if it's already sold or not, but there is a Roland Jazz
    Chorus 120 in this week's Want Ads  for "asking $300."  That is $75 or
    so less than the average price I've seen.
    
    I'm assuming this is the combo amp.  I don't know if Roland sells this
    as a head only, and the ad doesn't say.
    
    Kevin      

    When I was 16 yrs old, a friend of mine had bought a Les Paul (yes...
    a real one) for $50.00. It was a 1958, or 1959 Gold Top Deluxe with
    those P-90 p/u's. One problem...  it's neck was cracked above the
    nut. Well, his uncle (a woodworker and refinisher type person),
    stripped everything down and refinished it. It was absolutely PERFECT
    and looked brand new...  except for that small crack which he repaired.
    My friend was going to sell it to me for $75.00! At the time, his
    uncle told me to just hang it on the wall, because it would break
    again. I asked my Dad for a loan to which he said...  and I quote, 
    "a deal is only a deal *IF* you can use it". Well...  it made alot 
    of sence to me at the time so I didn't buy it. What a dope! I still
    regret that and that Gibson EB-3L bass that I sold for $125.00 (also
    with a broken (but repaired) neck. What a dope...  again!
    Today? Gee...  I'm afraid to sell anything!
    
    Fred (who let lots of things go by and regrets it today)
    
    
    P.S. Saying for the day...  You can't keep everything, where would
                                you put it?

    
    
    There is a "vintage Marshall 100-watt plexi-front amp" in this week's
    Want Advertiser for $500.  
    
    Don't see too many of those advertised!
    
    Kevin
    

    
    That's almost as good as the ad I've seen that says:
    
    "Old Fender electric guitar for sale.  Needs strings.  $25"
    
    Invariably it turns out that the person answering the phone didn't
    place the ad, but suspects a hostile ex-SO...
    

    Yeah, like the 64 P-Bass for $175 ... poor woman didn't know what hit
    her when the phone started ringing off the hook!

    
    
    I'd agree except that the ad also has drums, Crown power amps, JBL
    horns and more, all at reasonable prices.  hmmmmmm.....
    
    Kevin
    

    
    Not 1 but 2 Marshalls this week:
    
    
    "Marshall Major Head w/plexiglass front. 200w RMS, lead and bass
    channels. Rare older model. $350" 
    
    Kevin
    

"Yes - I too suffer from GTS"

Our newly aquired sound man (also a DECcie) has a beauti-mus plexi (with 
cab) that I almost...  Well, lets just say that I got really, really got 
aroused.  He won't sell it to me though.   :(  I *hate* when that happens.

Rog, I suppose I blew it when I said "I'll trade my PA stuff for your
PLEXI...(pant,pant,slobber)"

:)

    OH NO! NOT A MARSHALL MAJOR!!!!  NOOOooOOooOooOOooO! 
    
    **INSERT "SMOKE SHOW"**   ;^)
    
    
    Rock on,
    	Fred (who owned and blew up a 200 Major in College)

    Major Smoke!