Best deals you've ever found

I got a 50 watt Marshall JMP from 1976 for 250 euros. But it was so inconvenient amp that I sold it within a year or two. It was loud but didn't sound too good at any volume.
 
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I've got one of thos Mxr distortion pedals - what's it worth?
Thanks
Pauly

An original block logo is at least $100. Script logo is around $200. One of my favorite distortion pedals. New ones just don't sound as good. For $15 I'd snap it up in a heartbeat.
 
About 4 or 5 years ago I popped on to Craigslist and was the first person to see an add for a 1976 les paul deluxe for sale by original owner.... $650.
I literally cancelled my plans, got in my car, and drove to the guys house like my wife was in the car about to give birth. That deal was like finding a unicorn.
 
About 4 or 5 years ago I popped on to Craigslist and was the first person to see an add for a 1976 les paul deluxe for sale by original owner.... $650.
I literally cancelled my plans, got in my car, and drove to the guys house like my wife was in the car about to give birth. That deal was like finding a unicorn.

i stood my x up on valentines day to meet a guy to buy a dual rectifier for 500.. . showed up with an orange 4x12.... that i got for only 100 more lol

no regrets and totally didn't care about screwing up plans and making her wait.
 
i stood my x up on valentines day to meet a guy to buy a dual rectifier for 500.. . showed up with an orange 4x12.... that i got for only 100 more lol

no regrets and totally didn't care about screwing up plans and making her wait.

The good ones understand.
My wife just doesn't even ask anymore. If I say I need to run out for a Craigslist deal, she just rolls her eyes and says - ok, when will you be back?
 
About 4 or 5 years ago I popped on to Craigslist and was the first person to see an add for a 1976 les paul deluxe for sale by original owner.... $650.
I literally cancelled my plans, got in my car, and drove to the guys house like my wife was in the car about to give birth. That deal was like finding a unicorn.
I did a double take because at first I thought you said "...drove to the guys house as my wife was in the car about to give birth."
 
oh I remembered another good one...

Found an Ibanez hollowbody and a bunch of other stuff for sale- went to the house...
This girl was unloading her fathers gear because he got locked up...

I step out of the car- she's like 'i just found this...' it was a marshall se-100 attenutator really rare- super cool...
she's like- 'i just found it- i looked it up and i can't find anything on it'
I'll do $50- (sold it to a studio in san fran for like $750-800)

Went in and picked up some other gear- and there was an original ts9, from maybe 1981 or 1982-- it had the power jack inside the pedal and i pointed it out- and before i could lowball her at $20 she said 'oh you can take it for free then'

I went to the bank 3x that day- and filled up my car for 2 days

My fav part- she had these big tubs full of cables and garbage in them- i passed on them- she wanted 50-100 each...


The next day- i was missing some cables/accessories for some stuff i got- i said - hey i'll give you $20 a box with all the stuff inside- picked up 3 of them for $60

Inside was mostly dead/old cables- but some stuff like- literally 3 roland synth pickups and tons of other stuff-

I called my cousin to take the tubs/cases the cables and stuff was in- i had 3 of them and they were big and i had no use for them- he said he was busy and didn't care or whatever- and never got them... (him and his father gig and do arabic music for weddings so i figured they'd be useful to them)

Anyway- a friend of mine posted a smaller case on facebook for $250- aparently had 3 giant waterproof pelican cases- i put them on craigslist for like $100 each- and some russian dude met me 10 min later and got all 3 for $250- totally shady- weird guy- probably a spy- but I got $250 for something I was about to give away- and not to mention hundreds of stuff inside.

I'm not bragging- i'm literally the luckiest person in the world with gear
 
That made me think of another one....
My sister worked at a restaurant that dabbled as being a night club, and when they realized they couldn't cope with having bands, they had a bunch of gear they wanted gone.
There were a bunch of those Bose 802 speakers that were dead, so he asked if I could just take them (to get them out of his way).
I called Bose, some were under warranty, so I sent them back, got them fixed for free...and sold them on Craigslist for more money than I would have ever thought they were worth.

But the better part was a plastic tub of cables, and a bunch lying around (that were for the entire system). I said - I'll give you $200 for all the cables (which was an honest price). The tub was all XLRs, which I always need.
I got home (with a van full of stuff), and took the plastic tub out to start sorting/cleaning the cables.
Well, buried at the bottom were 4 or 5 Shure SM57s, 2-3 SM58s and a Beta52 Kick Mic.
That was an awesome score!
 
That's nice!
A friend of mine bought a broken guitar amp from a pawn shop for $10 because it wouldn't work/make sound
it was a fender reverb tank and worked just fine

I worked sound a while ago when I was like 19- I'd find bands leaving broken monster cables and get $50 store credit at guitar center!
 
I got a free marshall super lead plexi

guy had 6 guitar cabs and a plexi- paid him god knows what for all of it- sold the cabs- kept the plexi for free

had it modded- loved it- had my amp guy do more to it and keep going- then i freaking hated it- sold it-

sold it to a guitar dealer who loved it- sold it and bought it back- loved it sold it and bought it back- he still has it-
 
An Austin AU786 Vintage Rock Custom.


Austin AU786QCS Vintage Rock Custom.jpg


I was in a local pawn shop, shortly after a break-in depleted my stock of electric guitars. I saw this really pretty Les Paul knockoff behind the counter. What's that brand? Austin? Never heard of them. But I'm not one to worry about pedigree. I've learned that there are gems to be found regardless of the name on the headstock. So I asked them to let me check it out.

I couldn't fault the looks, fit or finish. Nearly mint, she had a pretty maple face that morphed from quilted to bird's-eye to plain maple, depending on how you looked at her. Three-piece abalone/mother-of-pearl inlays. Six-layer binding on the front, back and headstock. Felt wonderful to play.

I plugged her into a nearby Crate V30 (if you think all Crates suck, try a V30). The neck pickup sounded great. The bridge pickup was dead.

They were asking $180. I offered half of that, explaining that the required pickup fix could cost anywhere from $50 to $150 at a repair shop. They counter-offered: $100 and it never comes back again. I took the offer. As it turned out, the problem was a bad pot, which I replaced for a few dollars.

So why is a no-name knock-off guitar such a bargain? Because it plays and looks better than most of the real Les Pauls I've held in my hands. The stock pickups are also of that caliber. And it doesn't pretend to be something it's not; even an uninformed player will know it's not a Gibson Les Paul. An equivalent "real deal" would cost thousands.


Wind-up:

As cool as the "morphing-maple" finish is, I always longed for one with a more consistent quilted finish, and I finally found one. I had to pay more for this one: a whopping $130. :) Feel, sound, fit and finish are identical.

Decisions, decisions...02.jpg


Oh...did I mention the killer figured sapele backs?

Decisions, decisions...04.jpg
 
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About 20 years ago there was a old Vox amp in a small music shoppe in North Denver. AC15. They were asking $299 for it. I took a look at the back and it had a very nice blue speaker in there. Thinking quickly, I bargained him down to $260, and I snapped it up, flipped it to a guy in Newark, and paid for another guitar with the winnings.
 
Not as good as you guys, but around 2001, I got a mint-condition Gretsch Country Gentleman JR in a pawnshop in Oregon for $1,300. About 5 years ago I got a Fender Jeff Beck Strat on Craigslist here for $800. The guy was willing to go down on price, but the asking price seemed fair. I use that guitar -- with new Seymour Duncan pickups -- 90% of the time.
 
My best 2 were probably:

- an all-original 1964 Fender 1x15 Vibroverb for $600 in 1999. I re-capped it, swapped out the rectifier tube and sold it for $2,900.00.
- a 1967 Gibson ES335 in 1989 for $350. That one is going in the box with me when I die.
 
Not music gear, but I once bought a house and the guy doing the deal never asked for the down and later went out of business. I wonder why...
 
I've got one of thos Mxr distortion pedals - what's it worth?
Thanks
Pauly
I've got one too.

Funny I just noticed this pedal mentioned in this thread.
Someone gave me the pedal back in the 90s. It's mint but doesn't work.
I threw it in a drawer for a project at some point.
I pulled it out last week and aaaaalmost threw it out.
I guess I'll open it up and see if I can fix it, sounds like a good pedal.
 
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