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  #46  
Old 03-03-2019, 08:30 PM
zmf zmf is offline
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Originally Posted by Texsunburst59 View Post
Here's are some of my killer "STEALS" in the last 10 yrs.


$59.95 - '74 Fender Jazz Bass
$125 - '90 MIJ Fender '57RI P-Bass
$180 - '79 Fender P-Bass
$180 - '98 USA Parker Nitefly
$149 - '98 Yamaha LL-11
$180 - '78 Hamer Black Bound & Crowned Sunburst
$202 - '94 Fender Jazz V Bass 5 string bass
$212 - '85 USA Kramer Baretta 1
$230 - '00 Gibson LP Special
$270 - '03 Taylor Jumbo Custom (Custom ordered Jumbo)
$300 - '03 Epiphone "Elite" Les Paul Custom
$315 - '89 Fender Jazz Bass
$325 - '90 Fender Strat Plus
$400 - '07 Fender '57 American Vintage Reissue AVRI Strat
$400 - '78 Fender P-Bass
$500 - '75 Fender Strat



Here are my "Almost Steal" scores that are at or below wholesale prices:

$425 - '01 Gibson LP Jr.
$500 - '11 Fender Telebration 60th Anniversary Tele
$600 - '86 MIJ Fender '69RI Pink Paisley Tele
$600 - '07 Gibson SG-3 LE #006 SG
$600 - '78 Fender P-Bass
$625 - '00 Gibson SG Supreme
$646 - '05 Taylor 414-CE Fall Limited
$750 - '77 Gibson LP Deluxe
$756 - '08 Gibson LP Standard Plus
$1000 - '95 PRS Custom 24 10-Top
$1075 - '89 Gibson LP Standard
$1200 - '03 Tom Anderson Hollow T Drop Top HSH
$1340 - '15 Suhr Classic Pro SSH
$1400 - '83 Gibson ES-335 Dot
$2400 - '63 Gibson ES-330 w/ Bigsby
Wow. That's a hobby bordering on an occupation.
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  #47  
Old 03-03-2019, 09:18 PM
Texsunburst59 Texsunburst59 is offline
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Originally Posted by zmf View Post
Wow. That's a hobby bordering on an occupation.
I'm just able to hit pawnshops ALL day long during my daily sales routes.

I do this 5 days a week 52 weeks a year without fail.

Gotta be consistent and put the time in if you're going to find "Steals".

Fortunate for me, most of the high dollar guitars I've been interested in, eventually end up in a pawnshop in my area sooner or later.

I just have to be ready with the cash to be able to haggle on the spot when I run into a killer deal.
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'49 Martin A Style Mandolin
'76 S.L. Mossman Great Plains
'78 Gibson Gospel
'81 Martin 7-28 7/8 D-28
'03 Taylor Jumbo Custom
'04 Ramirez 1-E Classical
'09 Breedlove Roots OM/SR acoustic/electric
‘15 Martin Centennial DC - 28E
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  #48  
Old 03-03-2019, 10:20 PM
ezra1 ezra1 is offline
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Get a 2nd opinion.
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  #49  
Old 03-03-2019, 10:24 PM
zmf zmf is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texsunburst59 View Post

Fortunate for me, most of the high dollar guitars I've been interested in, eventually end up in a pawnshop in my area sooner or later.
Must be an interesting town.
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  #50  
Old 03-04-2019, 05:24 AM
Texsunburst59 Texsunburst59 is offline
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Originally Posted by zmf View Post
Must be an interesting town.
It's just a lot of musicians trying to live beyond their means.

These guys buy the nice guitars when they really can't afford them.

They get into financial trouble, pawns these nice guitars, and don't have the discipline to keep paying on them to get them out.

I'm just the opportunist that has recognized this trend, and I'm ready to scoop up these guitars when they hit the floor.
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'49 Martin A Style Mandolin
'76 S.L. Mossman Great Plains
'78 Gibson Gospel
'81 Martin 7-28 7/8 D-28
'03 Taylor Jumbo Custom
'04 Ramirez 1-E Classical
'09 Breedlove Roots OM/SR acoustic/electric
‘15 Martin Centennial DC - 28E
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  #51  
Old 03-04-2019, 10:17 AM
guitar george guitar george is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texsunburst59 View Post
I'm just able to hit pawnshops ALL day long during my daily sales routes. I do this 5 days a week 52 weeks a year without fail.
Why not save yourself a lot of time and effort and leave your phone number at all the pawn shops and ask them to call you whenever they get another guitar for sale?
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  #52  
Old 03-04-2019, 10:20 AM
Denny B Denny B is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Texsunburst59 View Post
It's just a lot of musicians trying to live beyond their means.

These guys buy the nice guitars when they really can't afford them.

They get into financial trouble, pawns these nice guitars, and don't have the discipline to keep paying on them to get them out.

I'm just the opportunist that has recognized this trend, and I'm ready to scoop up these guitars when they hit the floor.


I think finding deals in pawn shops is a regional thing...

I've said before, I know where all the shops are in a 2-3 hour radius in my area...I'm retired, so I can get out and browse whenever I want...

It's a given around here that in any shop, half the staff plays guitar...

If ANY thing worth having comes in, the staff will grab it, and it NEVER hits the floor...

Just a fact of life around here...
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  #53  
Old 03-04-2019, 10:36 AM
Texsunburst59 Texsunburst59 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by guitar george View Post
Why not save yourself a lot of time and effort and leave your phone number at all the pawn shops and ask them to call you whenever they get another guitar for sale?
That's on of the 1st things I do with all the managers and sales clerks.

I give them my business card with what I'm looking for and to give me a call when something comes in.

I do and get a lot of calls from many of them.

Managers and sales clerks move on, and you have to start the process all over again, so that's why I still have to go by on a regular basis.

You never know when a manager or sales clerk who used to give you a heads up on gear has moved on.


I've gotten some really good scores by the managers giving me heads up on guitars that are coming out that day.

I have 1st right of refusal with A LOT of the pawnshops.

I've been doing this a very long time with a lot of success.
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'49 Martin A Style Mandolin
'76 S.L. Mossman Great Plains
'78 Gibson Gospel
'81 Martin 7-28 7/8 D-28
'03 Taylor Jumbo Custom
'04 Ramirez 1-E Classical
'09 Breedlove Roots OM/SR acoustic/electric
‘15 Martin Centennial DC - 28E
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  #54  
Old 03-04-2019, 11:44 AM
Archsas Archsas is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Denny B View Post
I think finding deals in pawn shops is a regional thing...
That's what I've always thought, too, comparing my experiences to the kinds of things I hear about online. Most of my life, I lived in a fairly low-income area with most pawn shops focused near a large military base. None of them ever had anything of value, just Squier and no-name Strat copies and no-name import acoustics listed at exorbitant prices. The only exception to this I can think of is one large shop that has a few Harmonys and '70s-era Yamahas that have never sold and would be good buys if they weren't neglected and in such poor shape (ex: a red label FG180 for $150 that's been there for at least 15 years with incredibly high action and a completed butchered, ill-fitting saddle). I'm currently living in a mid-sized midwestern city that has almost no music scene and it's even worse.

Hearing stories about people even being able to find interesting instruments at a pawn shop always makes me jealous. The only comparable story I have is one time I was in a chain pawn shop with my dad when he noticed a '90s Danelectro U2 listed at $50. After asking if that was correct, the manager said someone must made a mistake and dropped a zero before printing the label (meaning the price was supposed to be $500, as typical, pretty inflated). They honored the mistake, while saying if either me or my dad, didn't buy it, they'd up the price immediately, and I let my dad take it.
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  #55  
Old 03-04-2019, 07:14 PM
John Arnold John Arnold is offline
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These models are made of HPL, which is a fancy name for Formica. It is not 'laminated', nor is it plywood.
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  #56  
Old 03-04-2019, 07:50 PM
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DenverSteve DenverSteve is offline
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They are similar in construction but use different resins to bind them.
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  #57  
Old 09-02-2019, 04:26 PM
whvick whvick is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by welshr View Post
ManyMartinMan,
Gee whiz, I really appreciate your reply. You sound like you really know your Martins. For sure, the material that guitar is made of is pretty tough. Now I can play and enjoy my "plywood" guitar instead of not playing it and feeling like an idiot every time I see it sitting in the corner. So it's not a total loss after all!
Robert


I would say it is closer to Formica than plywood. We have one and the great thing is that humidity does not affect it. If set up right it still plays great and the HPL sounds better than you can expect. Have fun!
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  #58  
Old 09-02-2019, 04:37 PM
macoshark macoshark is offline
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Dan Erlewine has a couple of videos on broken truss rods at the Stu Mac site. Good info
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  #59  
Old 09-02-2019, 04:44 PM
DesertTwang DesertTwang is offline
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Dear OP, when I read "pawn shop" and "Tucson," I knew exactly where this was going. To me as a longtime Tucson resident, the moral is very clear: I would never consider buying a guitar from a Tucson pawn shop to begin with, and I'm very sorry this happened to you.
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