funkywrench

+1000. You have to realize that a lot of gear is worth a lot of money overseas and that what counts as a bargain for them might be a great sell for you. Shipping overseas isn't all that expensive. Besides, you can charge for it. I sold an MIJ Jaguar for over $1,000 to a buyer in Russia. IMO, that thing was worth at most $700, which is what I paid for it. Think of it this way. Let's say you have a guitar that was $800 new. You might get $400 for it here. Now, that same guitar might be over $1200 in, say, Russia. So when they offer $600 as a good price, you still get a great sell. I sold some nice Seymour Duncan pickups to some folks in France and Australia and they paid pretty much what was full US retail price for used pickups. Well worth it. Spot on, exactly what I meant. I buy most all my gear internationally, and I almost always make a profit when I sell it locally. I wouldn't have anywhere near the amount or quality of gear that I have now had I bought everything locally. As an example, I recently sold my Eden WTX-260 head for $AU600. I paid around the $400-450 mark shipped to my door from the US about 2 years ago. So after owning it and using it regularly for two years, I then turned around and made a profit on it, that's my type of rental scheme right there! It gave me the funds to buy my Eden WT-400 (which incidentally I also bought from the US for about half the price that they go for used here in Oz). Like honey says, a fair price for you Americans may be a steal for us foreigners!

Some of you guys should consider shipping internationally. It might be more hassle but it certainly opens up your options. I can't speak for other countries but the Aussie dollar hasn't been this strong for years. When you factor in the price of gear in Australia still being significantly higher than US pricing despite the strong dollar, there is definite potential for both sides to come out happy.

Stumbled upon this thing today: http://www.ehx.com/products/22-caliber Not sure if its any good but if theft is rampant and space is at a premium, this and a decent multi-effects pedal and a cab would be another option.

Originally posted by edbud Hey Roy, The name "The Percussions" does ring a bell, but I don't believe we ever played nearby or met in person. Those days sometimes come in "as a haze" if you know what I mean. On with the tale..... After I got to Houston, I found that work in my field was abundant to the point you could quit one job on Friday and start a new one on Monday making $1.00 more an hour. I spent two weeks there and accepted a job as a field service engineer with the agreement that it would take me several weeks to tie up loose ends in TN and move myself to Houston. Upon returning to TN, I got a phone message from the drummer saying that he needed to speak with me urgently. I guessed they had experienced problems with the PA and wanted my help, but to my surprise that wasn't it at all. I walked in to find that the bass player who had joined the band wasn't able to go on the road afterall. Seems his parents who had footed the bill for his college education, he had about a year left for his degree, had threatened to disown him and cut him out of their will if he did not finish college as he had promised. Thus the delima....how to replace him with less than two weeks until the kick off of the tour at C W Shaw's in Atlanta. Their thinking was that since they played mostly the songs that our previous band had played, the learning curve for me would be very short. What to do, what to do? A secure job as an engineer in Houston with a future, or a life on the road living out of a suitcase. I decided that it was time to solicite the advise of someone that I trusted more than anyone on earth, my Father. My Father, while having only an 8th grade education was wise way beyond anyone else that I knew so I posed the question to him, already guessing what his answer would be. Boy was I shocked when the answer came. He first asked me several questions. "Did you have any problems finding a job once you got to Houston?" No sir! "Will you lose the knowledge that you have that would enable you to get another job in that field if you don't accept this job?" No sir. Well, since it has been your dream to earn a living in the music business ever since you were a young boy, if you don't try it now that you have the chance you will always look back with regret and wonder "what if". If it doesn't work out, you can always get another job. Sage advice indeed! I called the band with my answer and we began preparing for the tour. As I said, the first stop was Atlanta for a meeting with our agent and a gig at Chuck Shaw's club. The gig proved most memorable in itself, but that's another story unto itself. On the trip from TN to Atlanta, we had a discussion on the bus about the difference between gigging locally vs. going on the road and the issue of groupies came up. I was warned that I hadn't seen anything yet. The lead player said that he felt that the groupies especially in Florida, had no inhibitions at all and that I would be surprised by some of the goings on that I would witness. Yeah right, I said. One thing became immediately evident during the first few shows. The groupies would gather at the foot of the stage or nearby and start planning their strategy. Our "fearless leader" being the front man and wearing "stage clothes" would almost always get his pick of the litter, and then the rest of the band ,and then the road crew, just seemed to be the order of things. It is the way it is...........just let it be! Let me just say that I've allways been a jeans and tshirt kind of guy and no one could change that, not even groupies who were attracted to the sequins and satin fluff. After the gig was over, we packed up the guitars and headed downtown. It seems that Atlanta had a night life like no other and the bands playing locally would all congregate after their gigs at a downtown club to watch the floor shows and party with one another. I noticed everyone at the table watching me for a reaction as we watched the "ladies" dressed in their gowns strolling down the runway in the middle of the floor and twirling to everyone's applause, but didn't pay it much mind. Eventually, I had to give back my last few beers and asked which way to the little boy's room. This caused a little chatter at the table and a few snickers also as they pointed to the rear of the room. As I rounded the turn to the restrooms holding it as best as I could, I noticed the signs on the doors read "Gay" and "Straight". Ha ha, I thought as I entered the "Straight" bathroom and bellyed up to first urinal to let 'er rip. As I was just getting started good, the door opened and a tall, very attractive blonde lady in a very short black dress walked in and proceeded to the first stall to take care of business. Well let me say that my willie shrank so quickly that I almost wet my pants. I rushed back to the table and asked what had just happened. I asked if she was a real lady or one of the supposed "ladies" on the stage. The question was asked "Which restroom were you in?" Duh, straights was my reply, to which they replied "Then she was a real lady, what's the problem?" I guess I wasn't ready for unisex bathrooms with multiple stalls/urinals. I should have been prepared for what happened next, but some country boys never learn.......... How long are you gonna leave us hangin for?

Originally posted by J. I have never gotten so much as a kiss from a girl in my days of gigging, but that's just the way it goes. It's always the other guy. Still, I do have a story. My old band was playing at a biker clubhouse. Biker gigs are always fun because the guys are super nice and they love live music. One perk is that they almost always have a titty contest. They pass around a hat and collect all the cash they can, and then whichever girl wins the contest takes the pot. It was later in the night and the money had been collected. There were several women teasing about taking it off but only two of them actually had the balls to do it. One was an old 55+ lady who just gave a peek. The other was not at all shy about showing her body. Now under better circumstances it would've been great, but this chick was about 5'3" and probably pushing 315lbs. First the shirt and bra came off, exposing huge, swinging, stretch mark-covered breasts with nipples that pointed downward just above her waist. If that wasn't bad enough, she started pushing down her pants. No one wanted this to happen but by this time she was out of control. Down they went, little by little, until you could see what appeared to be pubes. As she pushed them down farther we all saw in horror that she was shaved, and what we thought to be her pubes was actually a "property of" tattoo. It was a train wreck and everybody was watching in spite of themselves. To compound the nastiness, this woman had been pounding a bottle of vodka the whole night and had emptied her bladder in her pants sometime before the titty contest. Luckily some big biker guy had the courage to step in and put a stop to the spectacle before it went any further. We ended up playing until about 3am (Their clubhouse was way out in the country on private property) and it was one of our best gigs, save for one very bad spot there. Is this what led you to choose your avatar?

This most excellent thread could do with a bump!

Originally posted by unistudent1980 Here's what my brother does on his acoustic. He buys a bag of styrofoam beans (the ones in you put in bean bag chairs) and puts them in the soundhole & fills to the top. gets masking tape (the good quality ones like 3m)and a peice of paper to cover the sound hole. To get it out her removes the paper and gets the dustbuster and hose attachment to suck it out. It doesn;t makeas much difference as you would think. Haha! That's really funny! I'm not dissin the idea, because it may well work to some extent, i just find it hillarious that someone would go to so much trouble to reduce the volume of a guitar! Those bean bag beads are bloody awful, they go everywhere and they stick to everything because they generate so much static electricity! I can imagine how much of a pain in the arse it is to fill and remove them! My mate accidentally popped a hole in one of those bags and he's still finding the beads 6 months later!