Did you ever find an instrument (amp, guitar, mic, whatever) at a fabulous price and had to pass it up for whatever reason?

Back in the mid-1990's I was at a pawn shop in a little Texas town, and there was a nice looking blackface Deluxe Reverb...the reissues were still fairly new, and this thing had enough authentic patina and "character" (wear) on it to make my ears perk up...it sure looked original. A cursory inspection confirmed it wasn't a reissue.

I plugged a cheap pawn shop axe into it; a bit anemic, but another quick inspection showed that the tubes were ancient--as in "dang near original"! I jotted down the serial number, with the thought of checking it's age and value before pursuing it further. The old guy who ran the joint said, "Gimme 75 bucks and it's yours..."

Crap. I didn't have 75 cents, much less 75 dollars. I was barely scraping by, selling guitars, amps and other "unnecessary" items in order to make my house payments.

Well, in these days, cell phones weren't common and it was a long distance call to the only guy I knew who could give me an estimated value of the amp. I went home, called my buddy, who said, "According to the serial number you gave me, this thing's a 1967 model. I can't confirm that until I see it, though...even if it's in bad shape, it's gonna be worth around $700. Worse case scenario, if you can't afford to retube it and have to sell it as-is, you could probably quadruple your money."

Double Crap.

Now, you gotta remember, I barely had three dimes to rub together at the time. I had just experienced the most painful sale of a guitar yet (my G&L Nighthawk) to make my house payment, and our financial prospects weren't improving. Purchasing something that I couldn't afford to buy, repair or keep was out of the question.

After mulling it over all day, I called my father and said, "I'm going to ask you a very stupid question, but for a good reason. Can I borrow $75 to buy an amp?"

Long story short, after I explained what the value of the instrument was, he said, "Go get it, let's get it fixed and you can just pay back what I loan you--no interest or percentage of the profit." A very generous offer, especially if you know my dad.

Early the next morning, I burned a line in the road between my house and that pawn shop...and it was gone.

Triple Crap.

The old man said, "Oh, that little old amp? I sold it last night to a guy for $60.00"

Quadruple Crap.

I didn't say anything to him about the stupidly cheap price, because I thought I might be able to shear this sheep later...and I did. Eventually I bought from him the transition-era MXR Phase 90 that resides on my pedalboard ($20, with the original box and manual!) and a short scale Fender Bass for $90 (which I flipped that same afternoon for $400).

But missing out on that '67 blackface Deluxe Reverb still stings if I think about it.

So, what great deals have you missed?

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

Yea, summer of 2011, before I built my Telecaster.

I was in Goodwill, feeling inspired, after a friend of mine found an Ibanez S with EMG pickups for roughly $200. I was floored when I walked in and saw a lovely Hagstrom. The tag on it said $125. I had most of it, but I was short. I came back the next week and it was gone.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Found a modded silverface Quad Reverb a few years ago and absolutely fell in love with the sound of the thing, it had absolutely everything I liked about an amp tonally.

It was also stupidly, stupidly cheap, but I talked myself out of it due to the brobdingnagian size of the thing. Still regret that, the sound that thing produced would have been worth buying a fork lift for gigs.

I was down in south Texas in the mid 90s and I was checking out a couple of Tex-Mex pawnshops in McAllen when I came across an absolutely gorgeous Kustom amp setup. There was a head and two tall cabinets, all done up in that blue sparkle tuck & roll and that thing was gorgeous! I have wanted one of those rigs since the 60s and here it was for a measly $200 for the whole shebang!

The pisser was that I HAD the money! What I didn't have was room to haul it! It still bums me out to think about it.

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

None... yet...

cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele

Good thread....back in the late '80's I used to shop for antiques in the antique/used furniture stores on King and Queen streets in Toronto. One day I found an old Washburn mandolin with case in one of the stores. It looked to be in very good condition and also looked quite old - pre war as best I could tell. The price was very reasonable, but foolishly I didn't buy it right then and there, but wandered through several other stores before deciding to return and buy it. When I got back, it was gone...sold to someone who didn't dither around.
I learned my lesson that day...buy it then and there if you like it and have the money (and means of transport!).

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......it's a topsy-turvy world when noses run and feet smell...

most of my regrets are things that i've owned and sold due to hard times, or just plain stupidity. one guitar that i owned i bought at a second hand store, didn't have a name brand, but it was absolutely beautiful. twin humbuckers, rosewood fretboard, dark natural wood finish, and played very nicely. sometime before i found it i was given a tube amp by my uncle... nothing special, but had a trem pedal that went with it.
i traded the pair for some RAM chips for a Window 3.1 computer.

friggin' idiot.

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I have had several heartbreaking instances where I left a shop without the "bargain of a lifetime" first was in 1974 I could have bought a 1959 Jazzmaster for $150,the finish was beat up and the hardware hadn't been cleaned since it was bought new but all the pieces were there and it was quite playable.Unfortunately I was about 400 miles from home as my buddy and I decided to hitch-hike across the province and back for a lark.Anyway it wasn't practical for me to be lugging the guitar everywhere with me and he didn't have a case to fit it anyway.

In 1975-76 I had 2 instances back to back,first was a 1961 Gibson Les Paul Custom(SG body)with gold plating,3 PAFs,and a Vibrola.It had been sent to the Gibson factory for a refurbishing and she came back a bona fide "fretless wonder" she was just incredible -you hardly had to press on the strings at all.I could've got her for just $450 but I didn't have the presence of mind to take out a loan to get it.

Next was a reverse body 1964 Firebird VII with Vibrola and mini hums and gold plating also and I could've gotten that one for just $400.They also had a late 60s Marshall 1959 plexi super lead with 100W 1960 A&B cabinets.It was factory covered in White "Elephant Hide" vinyl with electric blue grill cloth-it was simply spectacular.I could've gotten that for $900 or both in a package deal for just $1,100 and again I wasn't smart enough to go to the bank for a loan,I still cry and bawl daily over these stupid,careless losses.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.