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I haven't done anything in the vintage guitar field in quite some time. I Started back in 92, driving my BMW 2002 to shows around the country. It was soon followed by my first Tercel wagon, and that's when I hit my driving stride. Most weekends I was at a show someplace, and driving back home on Monday. I managed a pace of over 1000 miles a week for a year. It was tough, but I really didn't have anywhere I had to get back to, so it was kinda fun.
I was really into the lower end fender and Gibson stuff before it was cool. Guitars like pre-CBS Musicmasters and Duo-Sonics were $100 all over the place. I'd hit the shows, sell what I'd brought, and everybody in the circuit knew they could unload all the $20 Harmony, Silvertone, Kay, etc, etc, on me. I'd leave some of thhose shows with 20 or 25 of those cool old 50s and 60s beginner electrics. I had a couple of shops that bought a lot of them, the rest would sell well at shows in other parts of the country.
I have 3 guitars that stand out in my mind. One was a 1964 Fender Musicmaster with the rare see-through red finish. It was chipped up around the edge, and I picked it up cheap. The neck on that thing was just magic. The pickup was dead, and I had Lindy Fralin rewind it for me, and it was just the sweetest sounding guitar I ever owned. It was my keeper, but I pawned it once and couldn't get it back out. A couple of friends of mine saw it at a couple of different shows after that, but I couldn't bring myself to call and find out what it'd cost to get it back.
Another time I was at a show and went out to get something out of my car. This particular show had a rule against dealing on the sidewalk in front of the building. I saw a guy walking toward me on the next block, and his look just screamed "bass player". I caught him before he walked across the street, and asked what he was selling. He had a Fender Wildwood Coronado II bass in beautiful condition, and a 50s Supro amp with a blue-frame Jensen 10, complete with the store tags on it, just a dead mint amp. I asked how much for both, and he said $150. I didn't have the heart to price the bass while he was in the show. Suffice it to say I recouped my money off the amp alone, and then some.
The last one was a WWII era low-end jazz-box, I believe it was a Kay. It had a 17" lower bout, solid spruce top, with a DeArmond pickup and no cutout. The action was dead, but I could see the problem. The guy was shopping it all over the show for $75, with no takers. I wanted it, but I was tired and didn't try to intercept him. He finally walked up to me and asked if I'd give anything for it, and I got it for $50. Back at the motel, I shaved the frets at the neckline, polished them all, oiled the fretboard, and polished the entire guitar with some glaze I'd found that worked great on that stuff. The next week some guy came along and offered me $350 for it, so it found a new home. I still think I made the wrong decision.
I miss it, don't get me wrong, but toward the end everybody that walked in the doors figured they were carrying a chunk of gold under their arm. Some were right, but most were wrong. I still wanted to deal in the cool old stuff, but it got too hard to buy them, so I took a vacation and nevver went back.
Then there was that beautiful 100% original '58 Les Paul flametop that walked in out of the cold, and the guy asked if it might be worth a grand or 2. That's another story altogether... ;)
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1991 245, 61k miles, looking for a 5 speed 92-93 245 cheap.
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