What's The Best Deal You've Ever Had?

[onehandclapping]

2 come to mind...years ago

Cash Convertors selling a Bigsby guitar....(the name on the tremolo) it was a 64 Gretsch orange double cut....original case,awesome condition..for next to nothing....

my mate was heading overseas and was hoping to pick up a vintage guitar,he rang to say he had seen a 64 deluxe reverb he was going to buy...I asked if there was anything else...only a 59/60 Les Paul sunburst guitar....Me...I think you are buying the wrong thing...we bought it....and yes it had a very happy ending

Edited June 1, 2020 by onehandclapping

[police squad]

i picked up a mint marshall JTM-45. White back panel, plexi front can't remember the year for 100 quid. Sold it a couple of years later about '93 for 400 quid. Wish I had kept it. worth a fortune now.

I bought a mint E-series squier strat for 100 quid 16 years ago. Awesome guitar, still have it.

PRS signature series from 1989 for 1500 quid.

Swapped a marshall super bass from 1973 for a '67 SG jr (not sure who had the best deal  there)

Walked into the bass centre in 1991. Only had 450 quid but fell in love with a status 4000 for £695. I said to Martin in there, I only have 450 quid, he checked what he had paid for the status and sold it to me for £450. I was chuffed to bits

[Owen]

7 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

 and find an amazing hand built acoustic by a luthier who then went on to be come famous for different instruments, in a new Hiscox hardcore.... and the reciept from when the seller bought it secondhand for £1,500 or so! It sounds it too.

I think we deserve a name. 

[LukeFRC]

18 minutes ago, owen said:

I think we deserve a name. 

Guy called Steve Evans who then went on to form a company called Beltona who make fibreglass resonators Or something. I know very little about guitars but I was nice that it was someone that was a Luthier rather than some bodger in their shed. So there you go - not that exciting! 

 

it’s quoted you twice - no idea why!

19 minutes ago, owen said:

I think we deserve a name

[ped]

In about 2002 I bought my first decent bass - a Pedulla MVP from an ex session guy in London. I remember going home on the tube then the coach to Oxford with the case and really wanting to open it up all the way. I think I paid £500.

A few days later he offered me a shell pink ‘57 P bass reissue for the same price which I got too. I kept the pedulla for a long time (it’s why I’m called ped, used to be pedullaman)

Those two basses gave me the initial capital to trade almost every bass since without having to put much more money in. Until I ended up with more than two of course - I think the most I’ve ever had at once is five and now I’m very happy with one (and one for sale!)

[dmccombe7]

17 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

The cab on the left is a Mesa Boogie 2x18 Road Ready cab. Got it on eBay for £62.

Now that's a stadium bass rig if ever i saw one. Does the Fork Lift Truck come with it 

Dave

[Hellzero]

Another good deal was a Wal MkI 4 fretless bought for 1250 Euros, sold it twice and bought it back twice then I let it go in the wild.

I also made loads of money during the 90's with vintage Fender's basses, guitars and amps. In fact, since the deal of the century with the L series 1965 Stratocaster and the 1972 Precision Bass, the money I'm using for my musical instruments is the same.

[ordep]

mine is a good condition early 55-94 for £800, paid in 3 installments. lol 

[Owen]

While I was doing a degree in Dead German Composers last century I found a couple of broken Double Basses left to die in a hot dry room. Snapped headstock on one and neck + 1/4 of the back clean off on the other. All the joints were dry and opening. I asked the Prof about buying them and he told me to get them valued. I drove down to one of the name Luthiers in London who told me the snapped neck one was beyond economic repair and the other needed £3K of work and would then be worth £3k - so it was worthless. The Dept gave me both and a local Luthier did the nicer one up for £300 + giving him the one with a snapped off neck. I have since spent more on it putting a 5 string neck on. I have raging bass guitar GAS but have never wanted another DB. Polishing it with a pad on a drill using Autosol Chrome polish brought the shine up lovely

The year before that (still a student) I did a job that payed £400 by cheque. It arrived and I asked my friend what I would do with that? He told me to go and buy his old bass which the guy he had flogged it to was not using. This bloke opened the flight case and there was a knackered old Jazz which (to my eyes at the time) looked just like Jaco's. I bought it on the spot for £400 and used it happily  for years and then had it out on loan to various students once I moved to 5 strings. It turned out to be a dot/bound/lollipop 66 J all original. I still have it and if I could graft a B onto it would want for no other.

[4000]

3 hours ago, ped said:

In about 2002 I bought my first decent bass - a Pedulla MVP from an ex session guy in London. I remember going home on the tube then the coach to Oxford with the case and really wanting to open it up all the way. I think I paid £500.

A few days later he offered me a shell pink ‘57 P bass reissue for the same price which I got too. I kept the pedulla for a long time (it’s why I’m called ped, used to be pedullaman)

Those two basses gave me the initial capital to trade almost every bass since without having to put much more money in. Until I ended up with more than two of course - I think the most I’ve ever had at once is five and now I’m very happy with one (and one for sale!)

That reminds me actually, I bought a new old stock Pedulla MVP from A1 Music for £599 in I think 1993? They had 2, the one I bought, which was a trans gold/amber tint,  and another in a kind of washed trans green. It looked a bit driftwood-y. 😉Sometime later I tried to buy the green one too but it had just gone. I loved that MVP, it was my main bass for a couple of years. Wonderful tone. I’d have that back in a second. PX’d it against a Wal Custom in Musical Exchanges; didn’t like the Wal half as much once I started gigging it. 

[binky_bass]

I bought a Warwick Thumb SC6 for £1000 a few years ago, traded it with @ziggydolphinboy, followed by instantly regretting that trade then spent 3 years trying to get it back, which I eventually did last year! Definitely another 'never leaving me' basses! 

[lou24d53]

Second hand black n' maple Sadowsky M4 jazz, bought for £999 out of Guitar Guitar in Glasgow.

Traded it with Karlfer of this here parish and pretty much regretted it ever since.

[sammybee]

Another one was a mint condition Moog Prodigy for £50 from a local second hand shop in about 1988. I didn't bond with it at the time because it didn't have MIDI (like my more contemporary synths). Fell on hard times when I lost my job and sold it to a 'friend' about 6 months later for £30.

[Rich]

I paid £330 for this in 1986. 

[kevin_lindsay]

I was given this one for free - all original 1974 Fender Jazz Bass 

I also got a Fender Custom Shop Nocaster relic for £600 a few years ago - with all the paperwork and two cases (Abs Fender moulded one, and a tweed "thermometer" one) 

 

[Reggaebass]

14 minutes ago, kevin_lindsay said:

I was given this one for free - all original 1974 Fender Jazz Bass 

I also got a Fender Custom Shop Nocaster relic for £600 a few years ago - with all the paperwork and two cases (Abs Fender moulded one, and a tweed "thermometer" one) 

 

That 74 is lovely Kevin, and what’s the stack knob one in the bottom pic 🙂

[dmccombe7]

Don't think I've ever been lucky enough to have had a great deal like the ones listed so far.

Dave

[kevin_lindsay]

33 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

That 74 is lovely Kevin, and what’s the stack knob one in the bottom pic 🙂

The stack knob Jazz is a USA Fender '62 reissue I bought brand new in New York a few years ago. I stripped the body and neck when I returned to the UK, and refinished the instrument in thin Nitrocellulose lacquer - Shell Pink with a matching headstock. 

[Reggaebass]

1 minute ago, kevin_lindsay said:

Shell Pink with a matching headstock. 

Sounds great, That’s my favourite colour 👍

[Machines]

Sound Control Birmingham circa 2004. USA Gretsch Firebird 6131 Firebird new for £299, should have been £1699 but they marked it up as an Electomatic. Even asked them to check... Sold on ebay for a grand a few weeks later. 

[Platypus]

8 minutes ago, Machines said:

Sound Control Birmingham circa 2004. USA Gretsch Firebird 6131 Firebird new for £299, should have been £1699 but they marked it up as an Electomatic. Even asked them to check... Sold on ebay for a grand a few weeks later. 

Yeah, Sound Control were a bit of a mess - i used to work close to the big branch at corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road and would often pop in during a lunch break and have a  noodle on a bass. Was a bit like a musical instrument supermarket there and staff never took any notice of you picking up a bass to try.

Anyways, they used to have a couple of US made Spector NS 5XL's on the wall, priced at £2,250 and i had played one of them a couple of times - very nice it was too! When Sound Control went under the entire stock was sold off   via the Bristol branch. I saw the ad online and the US Spector was selling for £999 delivered! I had that sent to me and it was a beauty,  still had the hang tags and £2250 price tag attached.

I sold it a few years later to a Basschatter named Mr. Hugs who travelled over to London from Germany to collect it.  God, there's a good story there too, though I'll save that one for another occasion.

[PlasmaZombies]

The best deal I've ever had was I went to purchase a Warwick Pro Series Streamer that had EMG Geezers in it. The guy also threw in the original MEC pickups too, so all in cost me £330. I immediately removed the Geezers and got £100 for them on a certain auction site. Kept the streamer for a couple of years and decided to move it on, sold it via gumtree for £420. Overall profit of £290. I was happy enough after all was said and done.

[Newfoundfreedom]

I consider it a good deal of I don't lose money. I don't think I've ever had a bargain as such, and everything (not just instruments) I've ever bought, and later sold on, I've lost money on. 

[binky_bass]

19 minutes ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

I consider it a good deal of I don't lose money. I don't think I've ever had a bargain as such, and everything (not just instruments) I've ever bought, and later sold on, I've lost money on. 

We all now know to buy from you for a good deal! 😂

[Hellzero]

On the high end hi-fi side, I made some fantastic deals. One of the best was buying a complete (with the original external air pump) Forsell Air Reference CD Drive, aka the waffle iron, for 500 Euros, that wasn't working. According to the official repair shop the laser group was dead and they weren't produced anymore...

An old Philips CDM laser NEVER dies.

Took me 10 minutes to fix it as it was a stupid mechanical problem (sorry won't tell it as some "secrets" have to be kept).

Sold it 10 days later on the good day through evilBay for 2500 Euros.

The guy who bought it made a long travel on the same day to pick it up and was almost licking my feet for that bargain price, because at the time, they were reselling for at least 1000 Euros more...