I bought a Titano accordion that was "packed" with a really ratty blanket.
Serves me right for buying an accordion.
Serves me right for buying an accordion.
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Accidental bonuses with gear purchases
- Thread starter pklima
- Start date
Here's one that got away. I called a Guitar Center about a "Vintage Ampeg Speaker Cabinet" pictured on the website. It was obvious to me that it was a B-15. Definitely pre-1967. I assumed that the amp was no longer mated to the speaker, or that it was an extension speaker that never had an amp. It was maybe $300.00. I wanted to know what speaker was installed in the cabinet, and I told them to flip the lid to check. The guy seemed confused when I told him to take the top off to look at the speaker. As he was on the phone, and I was telling him about the latches, he opened it up, and said Hey, there's an amplifier in there. I said I'll take it. He said that they did not know there was an amp inside, and that they would have to reprice it. I should have immediately bought it on the website, but I did not. Rats!
Not MI related, but back in the 1970s, a friend bought a US Army surplus Jeep at a government auction. When he discovered that the heater did not work, he asked me to check it out. I found about a quarter pound of weed wrapped in plastic jammed in the heating system. It was a little dried out, so it burned real good!
Not MI related, but back in the 1970s, a friend bought a US Army surplus Jeep at a government auction. When he discovered that the heater did not work, he asked me to check it out. I found about a quarter pound of weed wrapped in plastic jammed in the heating system. It was a little dried out, so it burned real good!
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Not MI related, but back in the 1970s, a friend bought a US Army surplus Jeep at a government auction. When he discovered that the heater did not work, he asked me to check it out. I found about a quarter pound of weed wrapped in plastic jammed in the heating system. It was a little dried out, so it burned real good!
I think they call that, Army Green.
So Anyway, I saw an CL ad for a Bose for $50. The picture was of a Bose L1. Ad said it was missing the top speaker component, which is stored in be base. I have one of my own and figured the base (power amp and sub) was easily worth $50.
When I arrived, the Bose was sitting on the porch of a duplex. The lady said her Dad had recently passed and she was clearing out his apartment. She said she'd taken the Bose to a music store, and they told her about the missing speaker.
I pulled the cover off the Bose and everything was there. The power was off at the apartment, so there wasn't a way to test it. I gave her the $50 and figured I'd either just made a deal or had bought an expensive door stop. Got it home, put it together, powered it up and everything worked fine. Tested it for several days w/o any issues. She also gave me a hardshell case that was probably used for a mixing board.
So now I've got two Bose LP1s.
When I arrived, the Bose was sitting on the porch of a duplex. The lady said her Dad had recently passed and she was clearing out his apartment. She said she'd taken the Bose to a music store, and they told her about the missing speaker.
I pulled the cover off the Bose and everything was there. The power was off at the apartment, so there wasn't a way to test it. I gave her the $50 and figured I'd either just made a deal or had bought an expensive door stop. Got it home, put it together, powered it up and everything worked fine. Tested it for several days w/o any issues. She also gave me a hardshell case that was probably used for a mixing board.
So now I've got two Bose LP1s.
Around 2008, I was looking on Ebay to replace my G&L L2000 Tribute with an L2500. A listing for an L2500 Tribute caught my eye. IIRC, it was listed for $400 or $425. It had the cherry sunburst finish and looked in very nice shape. I zoomed in on some pics and the headstock didn't have the big "Tribute" logo on it. I also didn't see the smaller Tribute sticker used on later models, although the headstock pic was kind of fuzzy when enlarged, so I wasn't sure.
I remembered a difference in the USA vs Tribute models. On Tributes, toggle switches are oriented so the paddles move across the body. On USAs, the switches are oriented 90 degrees different and move toward the neck and bridge. From what I could see after enlarging pics, it appeared the switch paddless were in the USA orientation.
I decided to buy it. For the price, I would have been happy if it were a Tribute. When I received it, my suspicions were confirmed and it was a USA model (1998). The seller was probably mistaken about the model and mis-labeled it. I didn't tell him of his mistake. I just happily accepted a USA model for the price of a Tribute.
I remembered a difference in the USA vs Tribute models. On Tributes, toggle switches are oriented so the paddles move across the body. On USAs, the switches are oriented 90 degrees different and move toward the neck and bridge. From what I could see after enlarging pics, it appeared the switch paddless were in the USA orientation.
I decided to buy it. For the price, I would have been happy if it were a Tribute. When I received it, my suspicions were confirmed and it was a USA model (1998). The seller was probably mistaken about the model and mis-labeled it. I didn't tell him of his mistake. I just happily accepted a USA model for the price of a Tribute.
When I worked for Guitar Center, we bought a Les Paul and when cleaning it up we found a small bag of brown sugar, the Keith Richards kind, in the switch cavity...
Over the years I've gotten a ton of music related stuff - cables, straps, tuners, strings, straplocks, guitar polish - more than I can count. A few things that stand out: a few times I got pickups in the case/gigbag, including at one point a pair of Sadowsky single coils. Another time I got a perfectly new Badass II bridge.
With non-music stuff - blankets, shirts, towels, a (single) sock, a few times some cash (the most was a $20 bill in a gigbag), tools, stickers and the like. Once I got a pair of handcuffs in a gigbag pocket. When I let the seller know, he said "oh, so that's where they went." I also got a bottle of fake blood in a gig bag pocket. Quite a few empty and full weed bags, never more than 1/8th though, but more than a few joints. A few cocaine bags (mostly empty ... mostly - those small bags aren't for picks!), a bag of meth and a crack rock in an earplug container (different purchases).
One of my favorites - I found a folded up slip of paper in a case with a bass that I bought. It was a very nasty break-up note. Apparently she was very sick of all of the sluts and whores hanging around the band, and told the guy in no uncertain terms that he could f*** the hole in his guitar, as "it" would fit with room to spare.
With non-music stuff - blankets, shirts, towels, a (single) sock, a few times some cash (the most was a $20 bill in a gigbag), tools, stickers and the like. Once I got a pair of handcuffs in a gigbag pocket. When I let the seller know, he said "oh, so that's where they went." I also got a bottle of fake blood in a gig bag pocket. Quite a few empty and full weed bags, never more than 1/8th though, but more than a few joints. A few cocaine bags (mostly empty ... mostly - those small bags aren't for picks!), a bag of meth and a crack rock in an earplug container (different purchases).
One of my favorites - I found a folded up slip of paper in a case with a bass that I bought. It was a very nasty break-up note. Apparently she was very sick of all of the sluts and whores hanging around the band, and told the guy in no uncertain terms that he could f*** the hole in his guitar, as "it" would fit with room to spare.
I went by the label on the bottle, but in retrospect I should have checked to see if it was sweet ... or salty.
