Yard Sale Finds

[Chuck Chill-Out]

This past weekend, I found a Hohner bass case for 10 bucks. All it needed was two zipper pulls (hey, key rings work!).

This got me thinking, what were your biggest yard sale finds?

 

[dreamadream99]

I've never seen a bass, nor bass related stuff. Never. Not once.
But I have found a clarinet, a cornet, and a battery powered guitar amp.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

eBay et. al. completely changed the 'yard sale' discoveries. If someone suspects gold, takes five seconds to check it out. Nothing in yard sales except crap. Yet for some inexplicable cosmic reason, some people seem to love crap. And so the crap continues shifting from one garage to another......

 

[RSBBass]

Not a bass but I got a Squire strat for $10 a couple of years ago. It needed two bridge saddles and a setup but otherwise was in good shape.

 

[lo_freq_geek]

Found a MIJ 6-string in the trash a couple of years ago. Missing some tuners but everything else checked out ok. Sold it for $50. Not exactly like winning the lottery but kinda cool.

 

[1st Bass]

While I tend to feel that yard/garage sales are usually just someone elses "cast-offs", I keep having people show up with "I saw a great old fiddle at a garage-sale, and I thought of you!" (Well, thanks...I guess....)

One of them actually bought the instrument and had me set it up for him. Very nice amateur-made violin, in virtually mint condition, and he got it for $2 (yes, that is a two, with no zeroes.) He doesn't even play, but he wouldn't sell it to me. In spite of this I have no intention of beginning to cruise garage-sales, hoping to strike gold. The odds are just too slim. (I don't play the lottery, either...)

 

[JRA]

i got nuthin'. my karma 'doesn't work' for yard sales, ebay, dumpsters....

but the bass case is a nice find!

 

[Cowboy in Latvia]

My one garage/yard sale find was a Bach trombone for $5. I figure my luck ran out with that one.

 

[sharkbait130]

Every year , my neighborhood has a monster yard sale. Gatorbait (my son) and I headed out a few years ago to check things out. We each took one side of a street to save time. After perusing a couple of blocks , I saw the boy making a purchase across the street from me so I headed over to see what he had found. He was buying a Selmer alto sax. I said to him "Gatorbait , you don't play the sax." He laughed at me and replied "For $25 , I'll learn." He did fool around with it for a couple of months but playing bass really took off for him so the sax didn't get much use. He sold it a couple of years later for $250.

 

[JimmyThunder]

a near-mint Wurlitzer 200A for $10 is my best musical find

tops overall, my pair of original 60s Knoll tulip armchairs for $40. his wife came running down the driveway shouting and waving her cellphone mere seconds after i handed him the cash. respect to that guy for honoring the deal.

 

[CatSquare]

Love that bass, OP. Not to derail, but what is that?

 

[The Chuck]

Years ago, in high school I bought a huge Millennium Falcon for a few bucks. It was like 3 feet across! We threw it out the side door of my buddy's van at 60 MPH. It didn't fly very well.

 

[Chuck Chill-Out]

Love that bass, OP. Not to derail, but what is that?

Cat, that is my first home built bass. Fret less cherry and maple neck through with a persimmon fretboard. It is heavy, but plays great (at least I think so). Looking forward to improving my building and playing abilities.

Maybe an EUB next...

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Years ago, in high school I bought a huge Millennium Falcon for a few bucks. It was like 3 feet across! We threw it out the side door of my buddy's van at 60 MPH. It didn't fly very well.

You don't want to know what one of those in good condition is worth to Star Wars collectors...

 

[dpaul]

I got a Squire P-Bass last year for $20 at a yard sale. I cleaned it up, tweaked it a little, and it played and sounded good. I sold it a month later on eBay for $80

 

[dpaul]

Not exactly a yard sale find, but in the early 2000's a buddy of mine bought a painting in a thrift store in East Hampton NY for $3. He had it appraised, turns out it was an original Salvador Dali, its worth about $10,000.

 

[hermetic]

my best recent garage sale find was a working roland juno keyboard and stand for $10. It sold on ebay for over 400. Pretty happy with that, except shipping the thing was a royal pain. had to create a suspension system in a huge box to ship it safely.

best ever yard sale find was a 1955 fender pro amp that was sold for $1. had a sign on it, don't work $1. needed a rectifier tube and a few caps and it was awesome. had the original jensen p15n and was painted blond over the tweed. sold it a few years later for 1600.

 

[roller]

I found Alec John Such.

He was selling his bass-playing services...





... cheap.

 

[rtslinger]

once and only once came across a Peavey mini amp battery power 5 watt guitar amp actually sounds pretty good $2.00 only because the person said it wouldn't turn on
but they didn't know it only works when you plug in the instrument cable

 

[bolophonic]

I went to a yard sale last fall and bought the contents of an entire old man machine shop for $200. I wound up not taking all of it, but the first thing I found when I was unpacking was a $1000 metal punch.