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Yard Sale Finds

#21
I found a Sunn B202 cabinet (2x12) for $40. Was in a parking lot sale in front of a piano store. Used it a lot at first, pairing it with a 50-watt Yamaha combo. Allowed me to gig small to medium clubs. It only has 100-watt power handling though and as soon as I went to a more powerful amp, it would over-stress (cause it to make farting sounds) if I turned it up too much. So I got another cabinet and stopped using it. Got me through a period where I really didn't have much gear. I'm hanging onto it now to use as a guitar cab, though I still need to get a guitar amp head for it (I play guitar on Chicago songs that I sing lead on).
 
#23
In recent memory, at an actual yard sale, not an estate sale ?
I saw a pile of cymbals, they looked all cracked and chipped.
guy says "take them all for $20!"
Hmmmm.
I thought, well, i have a couple drummer friends who don't have ANY cymbals, so I will just give them to those guys.
there were about 10 cymbals. 8 of them were cracked & chipped.
then there were 2 that were just fine...a Paiste Signature Series 18" crash and a Zildjian A-series 16" crash. Each one worth about $200 easy.

I kept those two for myself and gave away the others. Those guys were so happy to get broken cymbals!
 
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#24
Manhasset music stand--- like new--- $10

Luggage hand cart $3 : I used it for 3 years before the wheels gave out.
$1/ year- not bad

Tripod camera stand-- really high end (probably $150 to $200 new)-- a deal for $20.
I made a shock mount to hold my Tascam hand held recorder-works great.
 
#27
dreamadream99 said:
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.
Click to expand...

I have never found anything at a yard sale, pawn shop or flea market. The closet thing I've found was an empty cab for a Vox AC30 combo amp. The guy wanted $75 for it and it was in terrible condition.
 
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#30
I got several thousand bucks worth of Penn International reels for $50.00 at a yard sale, a couple of them were NIB. It was early saturday and I was on my way home from a night of pier fishing when I saw a pile of offshore tackle on a table among the usual yardsale stuff one sees. Turns out it was a (recently divorced) lady "cleaning out all his old crap" so she could sell the house.

I also spotted a nice looking red MIA jazz one morning on my way to work. The asking price was $150. It was not a steal at the time but it was a very very good deal. I wanted it but didn't have the cash and couldn't swing a trip to the bank and be at work on time so I asked the lady if she would hold it for me and promised her I'd be back on my lunch break. When I got back it was gone. Turned out it belonged to her son who happened to come by to help out and saw his bass in the yard marked SOLD. Apparently mom though since it had been sitting in his old bedroom closet for so long he no longer wanted it and thought she was doing him a favor. He waited around for me to show up to explain so I wouldn't think his mom sold it out from under me. I've found some random old musical related stuff at yard sales and flea markets over the years, but that was the only real nice find I ever almost made. Pawn shops however, pre internet days I was a regular miner of the local shops. Mostly precision measuring tools and old fishing tackle, but the occasional gun or bass was not unheard of.
 
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#31
Not music related... about 15 years ago I bought an old, small watercolor at a Salvation Army. The price tag said $2. I asked the cashier if she would take $1 since it was in a broken frame with cracked glass. So she sold it to me for $1. Hung on my wall for years before my girlfriend figured out the signature: Dong Kingman. Never heard of him, but when I Googled his name I learned he as a famous Chinese-American artist. Had the watercolor appraised and it is worth approximately $1200.
 
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#32
Last year we found this yard sale where it was all by donation. Guy just bought a house full of old junk and wanted to get rid of whatever he could before cleaning it out and tearing it down, so the story went. Buried in the junk I spotted a Peavey Minx, the old school one. Along with some other stuff the gf picked up, she offered him $5 for it all and he said sure. Got it home and it works fine. All I had to do was clean some overflowed candle wax off the top, well I didn't really even have to.

I used to be heavy into the spring cleanup piles on the side of the road awaiting the garbage truck. Found so many good things in there over the years. Music related, my ex's kid found what he thought was just an old guitar case, it contained a 6 string banjo in perfect shape. He toyed with it for awhile and I think eventually he ended up getting $100 for it.

My gf works at Goodwill and is pretty sharp on what comes in. One of those paintings came in on donation and she knew what it was so she put it online. It ended up selling for like 10 grand.
 
#33
tlc1976 said:
Last year we found this yard sale where it was all by donation. Guy just bought a house full of old junk and wanted to get rid of whatever he could before cleaning it out and tearing it down, so the story went. Buried in the junk I spotted a Peavey Minx, the old school one. Along with some other stuff the gf picked up, she offered him $5 for it all and he said sure. Got it home and it works fine. All I had to do was clean some overflowed candle wax off the top, well I didn't really even have to.

I used to be heavy into the spring cleanup piles on the side of the road awaiting the garbage truck. Found so many good things in there over the years. Music related, my ex's kid found what he thought was just an old guitar case, it contained a 6 string banjo in perfect shape. He toyed with it for awhile and I think eventually he ended up getting $100 for it.

My gf works at Goodwill and is pretty sharp on what comes in. One of those paintings came in on donation and she knew what it was so she put it online. It ended up selling for like 10 grand.
Click to expand...

With you talking about Spring cleanup piles, my cousin was into old suitcases. He brought one to me and said,"I think you want this one." I opened it and found a Bach Stradivarius trumpet. It was in great condition, with the exception of a crumpled bell. I posted it on my Facebook page and a good friend messaged me that he was looking for one. We took it to a local repairman and he fixed it right up, I was $200 richer and my friend was very happy.
 
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#34
Found a mint condition '60s Vox 212 guitar cab, like the Beatles used, for $50. Worth >$800 when appraised 25 years ago. My brother still uses it often as it's on wheels and cab pivots to point at your ears.

$40 for a drum kit, sold the snare for $100 and the rest for $75 after years of use.

60's Aria hollowbody bass found on side of road for council clean up. Traded it for a value of $600 after putting $200 into it for strings & regluing the fretboard.
 
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#36
Not a yard sale but....

I was on a job at a house this past Friday. The homeowner had evicted the tenants and was cleaning the house out. The house was empty except for an amp in the garage. I inquire, she says I can have it if I haul it off. Peavey TNT130. It needs a little TLC but it works. If it will handle the job no more carry an amp to the rehearsal space for this guy!

Homeowner tells me the "evictees" had a band. When I ask what happened to all the other gear - she had thrown it all in a dumpster! From the condition of the Peavey I wouldn't expect to find a '66 Jazz bass, but still...
 
#37
The only bass I ever found on a flea market was this one :D

billybass.jpg


he knows two songs, so at least it's not a one trick pony :bassist::bassist::bassist:

may the bass be with you

Wise(b)ass
 
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#38
I found a 1977 Stingray at a pawnshop for about $400US. It was in rough shape. I cleaned it up myself, spent $300 for a badly needed refret, played it for a few years and sold it for $2000.

This wasn't that long ago either. The pawnshop owner didn't know the year, saw new ones were going for $1200-1500 and priced it accordingly. I feel sorry for the poor bugger that likely only got a couple hundred for that bass.
 
#39
Most of my good finds have been at pawn shops, but I got a used '70's Ludwig chrome snare drum and stand for $25.00.

The weirdest one was at a house near mine and he had his garage door open and there was a '74 Rolls Royce sitting there. He told me it was for sale as well and decently priced. Had I had the money I would have bought it. BTW, I don't live in an expensive neighborhood. Not poor or run down either, but it didn't seem too out of character as it's kind of an eccentric neighborhood.
 
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