Warning: long story
In the fall 1974 I caught a ride with some other young musicians going to Chuck Levin's outside DC. I had all of the cash that I could spare at the time, and my heavily modified 1968 Gibson EB-0. The group went to a restaurant in Georgetown where all of the others bolted without paying their checks. The waiter hurriedly rewrote a check with all of the tabs for me to pay. I insisted that I would only pay for my own meal. The manager intervened and stated that since the waiter did not clarify whether or not there were to be separate checks, I only had to pay for my own meal. Afterward, while walking the streets of Georgetown, I encountered the other musicians who said they never intended to pay for their meals. They also stated that I could not crash where they were staying the night. Pretty low class on their parts.
I continued to walk around Georgetown when a curbside flower vendor, whose help did not show that evening, asked me if I wanted to make $10. I agreed and worked about two hours. The flower vendor told me to show up the next morning and help setup for another $10. I agreed and sought a place to spend the rest of the night. Eventually, I ended up at the local Greyhound bus station, where an endless cup of coffee cost 50 cents. Being inside was definitely preferable to standing out in the cold. I also bought one of the endless cups of coffee for a homeless man to get him out of the cold.
The next morning I again helped the flower vendor for another $10. I met up with the low class musicians again and traveled with them to Chuck Levin's. At Chuck Levin's I tried three different bass guitars, a sunburst Fender Jazz, a Gibson EB-3, and a Rickenbacker 4001. Of the three I like the Rick neck best, I could easily play the entire fret board. They wanted $425 for it. The only way that I could buy it was if they gave a generous trade-in for the EB-0. The Gibson EB-3 did not offer much over the modded EB-0 that I brought, the short scale being the greatest limitation. The Jazz was good to the twelfth fret for all strings and above that for the D and G strings. Chuck Levin's only offered a $50 trade-in for my Gibson EB-0. I declined and later sold it for $150. I only had $286 dollars in cash. The Jazz with hard shell case was $275, plus tax, or $286. I has placed the cash in various locations on my body and could only find $285 at checkout. The sales person accepted this.
If not for helping the flower vendor, I would not have had enough cash to buy the Jazz. As it was, I left Chuck Levin's with $1 and the EB-0. Definitely worth every penny, plus the time and night of lost sleep.
My brother has had that Jazz for the last 40 years.
