• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

NBD! A CL/pawn shop mash up.

FloridaSam

FloridaSam

Feb 7, 2013
590
1,386
54
Under a palm tree
#1
I was perusing Craigslist yesterday and saw a pawn shop ad for "Ibanex bass $180"
The lone picture looked good so I hopped in the car to take a look. When I walked in the shop the owner says, "Happy Friday, I need some beer money so I'm ready to deal".

I wondered to.the Ibanex SRX705, looked it over and offered $125.00. He countered with $130.00 cash out the door.

I couldn't be happier. Nice tight B string. Being about 100 yards from the beach the frets were green so I polished them up and no she's a beaut. Can't wait for band rehearsal tonight to crank this up.

91i6pv.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: dkelley, Splods, KevInDaBassment and 6 others
#10
Thankful it was Ibanex on CL, gave me a good chance of scoring it.

I just finished band practice. This is an incredibly good instrument. Great tone, superb playability and it ain't ugly. I've read this is a "metal" bass and we're a metal band. It cut through very nicely. The B string is near perfect. Nicer than any 5er I've owned.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nino D
#11
PetersReviews said:
Looks like you got a great deal. All the pawn shops around me think every guitar is a vintage treasure. I've seen many old Squier guitars going for more than retail.
Click to expand...

Same over here. Another thing which I highly frown upon is the neck swaps that some do at guitar stores. You'll have a Fender neck, but you can even tell by the neck plate it's not a Fender...it will say Squier on it. I usually run from a shop like that, no telling what you are buying there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mdogs
#14
I swear by checking pawn shops for music great. Most of the time, they don't even know what they've got. I guess that's changing with them being able to look stuff up on the interwebs though.

When I bought my first good bass, it was an Ibanez ergodyne 5. I spilled some kind of story like "can we get a screwdriver and take the back cover off? I want to make sure it's not one of those crappy ones that need batteries to run.Aw man, it IS. II'll give you $80."
 
  • Like
Reactions: hillerup and Sartori
#18
The neighborhood adjacent to mine is sketchy and there are a couple of pawn shops on the strip there. 99% of the time, there's nothing there worth looking at and the stock seldom changes, so clearly stuff isn't moving.

About three years ago I spotted an NS Design CR5M hanging in the biggest of the shops. The tag said $460. More than happy to pay 460 bills for it, the guy at the shop actually talked me down to 400! After the deal was done, the instrument was in it's case and I was on my way out of the shop he stopped me and said: "Listen; I know what that thing is and I know what it's really worth." "Then why did you sell it so cheap?" I asked. "I know this neighborhood and I knew there was just no way I was ever going to move it. A kid brought it in... I didn't even want to buy it from him, but he only wanted a couple hundred dollars for it. I figured it would sit here for three years. You came in, you knew what it was, you didn't try to haggle or jerk me around... now the kid got his money, you got a great deal and I got that thing out of here. Everybody's happy." I wanted to hug him. I went ahead and bought a volume pedal from him for the remaining 60 bucks just to show my appreciation. I've gotten some great deals over the years, but I'm not likely to get one that good ever again!
 
  • Like
Reactions: FloridaSam, Sartori and oysteivi

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back