What's the best bargain for an acoustic guitar you've ever bought

[baldbloke]

What's the best deal you've ever stumbled across? Ever come across a real, genuine, honest bargain?

 

Nowadays, a seller without much guitar knowledge can easily look up going rates on the internet so I think the bargain to beat all bargains is going to be harder to stumble across.

 

 

 

Me? Nothing special. A few months ago I did manage to get two Tanglewood guitars for

[FretFiend.]

Got my '89 D-28 for $1100. Not quite a steal, but I'm thinking I got a pretty good deal.

 

[Freeman Keller]

That is easy, my 1932 Dobro. It is impossible to trace serial numbers, so the reason that I know the year is that the woman who sold it to me said that her dad had purchased it when she was born, in 1932. This was a complete basket case when I got it

[gitnoob]

I saw a Larrivee parlor sell on eBay for $50 once (seller didn't know what it was. BIN lasted about one minute). One of the better deals I've seen.

 

Saw a Martin advertised as a "Martian" sell for about 1/10th of its value, and then the buyer flipped it for fair market value as soon as he got it. Spelling errors can be expensive on eBay.

 

I've passed on some excellent deals simply because I already have too many guitars. There are enough of them out there that you could buy a few, flip a couple, and end up with a free guitar.

 

Check out this guy. He flips for a hobby and often makes a killing:

http://shop.ebay.com/cpabolting/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=10&_rdc=1

 

He has very specific criteria on the buy side. See if you can figure out what he buys.

[Freeman Keller]

My second story is the day my old dad called me. "You like Martins, don't you?" Ah, yes Dad. "I'm at a yard sale and they have an old Martin, should I get it for you?" Ah, whats it like, Dad? "Well its really old and its all redish brown and its pretty small" (Thinking to myself, "self, that sounds like an 00-17") I said, how much, Dad. He said "buy me lunch"

 

Over lunch a few weeks later he puts a 1930 Martin style 0 uke in front of me. I think I got ripped off, lunch cost me 20 bucks, he only paid 10 for the uke.

 

 

btw - new, it also sold for ten dollars

 

(I changed pictures 'cause the Martins were pretty good deals too. $600 for the D18, $700 for the D12-28)

[Michael Martin]

$9.95 for a nearly-new Chinese dread ("Lauren" brand) that someone had torqued the neck way back--strings hard up on the frets. The pawnshop couldn't figure out what to do with it. I bought it, took it home, posted an HCAG thread asking which way to turn the truss rod, somebody told me wrong, Freeman corrected him, thank god I waited for FK, got out my allen wrench, and two or three or four complete complete turns later she was all set up.

 

Now the bridge is lifting and the action a bit high, but you can hear "Black Lauren" here, on a recording done last week:

 

http://www.box.net/shared/2199ji72ac

[kiowa1]

My D12-20. I bought it brand new in 1968 with the gaudy light blue case, 2 sets of strings, and a leather strap for $438.68. Still have the receipt and all the tags, along with the Care and Feeding booklet. Pretty good deal for a 43 year friendship.

[seagullplayer77]

I got my second Seagull S6 for $90. The guy needed money to pay rent and the guitar wasn't in great shape---a few small cracks in the top, and it'd been played hard---but I think it was a steal for less than a hundred bucks. It sounds good plugged in too.

[Fendouglas]

My 1986 Ibanez LE300, which I first saw (new) in a shop for

[Howie22]

 

I got my second Seagull S6 for $90. The guy needed money to pay rent and the guitar wasn't in great shape---a few small cracks in the top, and it'd been played hard---but I think it was a steal for less than a hundred bucks. It sounds good plugged in too.

 

 

I picked up a Simon and Patrick dread a little cheaper than that. It was about 15 years old. I had to have some repairs done to it to make it a "gig-able" guitar, but it could have went "as is" as a beater guitar and been a great deal.

 

For what I've put into it since, I could probably have bought a new model just like it. However, this thing has a ton of character and sounds fantastic!! No way a new model would sound this good.

 

S&P looked back at their records and told me it was laminate B&S. My luthier felt like it was solid all around.

[guitarcapo]

I got a Harmony H1260 for $50 at a guitar shop. It didn't have tuners and needed a neck reset. I learned how to do a neck reset myself and after I got it playing it sounded fantastic. Better than a lot of Gibson and Martins I'd played built in the 60's. It not only taught me how to do neck resets, it started my love affair with that particular vintage acoustic. I own 6 of them now. So I think I got my $50 worth.

BTW a Harmony H1260 is the guitar you hear playing that famous acoustic intro to Stairway to Heaven.

[smorgdonkey]

I just got one of these a few weeks ago for $150. It's in good condition and a beat up hard shell case came with it. The seller was convinced that it needed a neck reset which is way off the mark - it has a small bit of clear separation at the neck joint, that's all. Stays in tune, plays great all the way up the neck...I wasn't about to try to convince him otherwise and have him sell it to the next guy for $150.

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/takamine-eg523sc-acoustic-electric-guitar

[acousticdepot]

$750 for a brand new Taylor DN3.

[Stackabones]

[video=youtube;J5KH85o0aAg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5KH85o0aAg

 

I got this guitar in Oak Cliff, Texas, back round '90 or '91. Wish I could recall the name of the guitar store, but I can't. Maybe some long-time Dallasites will remind me? It was one of the places that has guitars stacked against each other eight or ten deep to the wall.

 

I found it a little deep in the stacks and pulled it out. No name on the headstock. Wide nut at 1-3/4" and deep V fat neck. Open-geared tuners still worked. Floating tailpiece don't float. Inside the upper f-hole I saw a stamp, much like a library due date stamp, that said Mar 1939 maybe Mar 1935 -- at least that's what it looks like. It's a bit smudged and I can't get a good pic.

 

I put into open G and pulled out my bottleneck and whoa. This was it. This was the sound I needed, but there was a problem. I had no cash. Guitar was $75, but I still had to make rent. I tweaked the B-string done just a bit and put it back in the stack.

 

That weekend I had a solid gig (Dead Thing at Dada). I made rent and had some money left over, but only $125, which needed to go to groceries and an electric bill. I went back and messed around with a banjo (still have it, too). They wanted $75 for the banjo, which was a little steep I thought. Would he take $50. Maybe, maybe, he said. I asked him about the acoustic archie and pulled it out of the stack. He strummed it, frowned a little, and then put that B-string back in tune. No one had touched in the week since I'd been there.

 

Nice sounding guitar, he said. I asked if he'd take $50 for it. He glanced at the tag and shook his head yes. How about a bill for both the banjo and the guitar. He walked me over to the register and rang me up. I still had enough money to get new strings for both! (Though I ate ramen till the next gig.) Banjo had an old ratty case, but the guitar didn't have nothing.

 

This is the guitar I learned how to play bottleneck on. I used to sit on my front porch of my apartment building on the corner of Cole Ave & Fitzhugh in Dallas and play to the cars during the hot summer month's 5pm rush hour. Sweaty and mosquitos buzzing round and car windows sealed tight to keep the cool air in. Nobody ever walked by. Nobody walks in Dallas during the summer.

 

The only guitar I've owned for a longer period of time is my gutbox Takamine.

[Opa John]

It had to have been the old beat up mid-30s Gibson L-5 that I bought and sold three times back when I was in the Army in the 60s. Paid $17 for it each time and sold it for the same amount. Shoulda kept it. It was in rough shape, visually, but it played and sounded like a dream.

[Chordchunker]

1950`s Gibson es-125 for $36.00 at a thrift store..

[Michael Martin]

I got this guitar in Oak Cliff, Texas, back round '90 or '91. Wish I could recall the name of the guitar store, but I can't. Maybe some long-time Dallasites will remind me? It was one of the places that has guitars stacked against each other eight or ten deep to the wall. I found it a little deep in the stacks and pulled it out. No name on the headstock. Wide nut at 1-3/4" and deep V fat neck. Open-geared tuners still worked. Floating tailpiece don't float. Inside the upper f-hole I saw a stamp, much like a library due date stamp, that said Mar 1939 maybe Mar 1935 -- at least that's what it looks like. It's a bit smudged and I can't get a good pic. I put into open G and pulled out my bottleneck and whoa. This was it. This was the sound I needed, but there was a problem. I had no cash. Guitar was $75, but I still had to make rent. I tweaked the B-string done just a bit and put it back in the stack. That weekend I had a solid gig (Dead Thing at Dada). I made rent and had some money left over, but only $125, which needed to go to groceries and an electric bill. I went back and messed around with a banjo (still have it, too). They wanted $75 for the banjo, which was a little steep I thought. Would he take $50. Maybe, maybe, he said. I asked him about the acoustic archie and pulled it out of the stack. He strummed it, frowned a little, and then put that B-string back in tune. No one had touched in the week since I'd been there. Nice sounding guitar, he said. I asked if he'd take $50 for it. He glanced at the tag and shook his head yes. How about a bill for both the banjo and the guitar. He walked me over to the register and rang me up. I still had enough money to get new strings for both! (Though I ate ramen till the next gig.) Banjo had an old ratty case, but the guitar didn't have nothing. This is the guitar I learned how to play bottleneck on. I used to sit on my front porch of my apartment building on the corner of Cole Ave & Fitzhugh in Dallas and play to the cars during the hot summer month's 5pm rush hour. Sweaty and mosquitos buzzing round and car windows sealed tight to keep the cool air in. Nobody ever walked by. Nobody walks in Dallas during the summer. The only guitar I've owned for a longer period of time is my gutbox Takamine.

What a great story. And I do love the way you make that no-name sound!

[Stackabones]

Thanks, MM!

[kujozilla]

And here comes Joe the member who never pays over $200 for an instrument.

 

Nagoya N18 & Yamaha FG-180 Red Label - $150 for both

(Traded $75 FG-180 for 1970's Aria Pro II PE450 w/ seymore duncans and original pickups included as well)

Broken Headstock Epiphone Dot w TKL HSC - $60 Fixed neck sold at decent increase

1950's Harmony Archtop (solid wood) - traded for $50 off brand bolt on neck les paul knockoff

3 FG75's - $75 for the three have since donated and given all 3 away to people unable to afford themselves a decent instrument

Nippon Gakki FG260 12 string - $75 needed no work love this guitar

Nippon Gakki FG230 12 string - $50 gave to a musician friend who always wanted a 12er great guitar just needed a set up

Black Yamaha FG435 w tweed HSC - traded for yamaha strat I spent $50 on and a worthless Gorilla amp Guy loved the guitar and took the amp to throw away I also repaired an old Epiphone he had lying around

1960's Mint Condition Teisco Bass - $50 I have actually learned bass just because I own this thing

1950's Kay Cutaway Jumbo - $50 currently on loan to a friend on tour (hope it comes home in one piece)

and plenty more as you guys know, but those were the ones I liked the most either because of what I did with them or because i still play them to this day.

[Stackabones]

Sir Kujozilla, I hereby enjoin you to find the Holy Grail of Bargain Boxes, the $25 Lifetime Guitar.

[gitnoob]

Sir Kujozilla, I hereby enjoin you

 

Jeez, get a room you two.

[Queequeg]

Jeez, get a room you two.

Hate to be a stickler for detail, but shouldn't there be another comma after "room"?

[gitnoob]

Hate to be a stickler for detail, but shouldn't there be another comma after " room "?

 

Stickler this, you! Hmm, that means that "Screw you!" has a slightly different meaning than "Screw, you!" Do you think I could safely use the latter without offending anyone?

[Pine Apple Slim]

Cant say I really got a great lifetime bargain in a an acoustic. I tend to get one and keep it forever, low low price being secondary to what I really want.

Yea Ive had some 50-100 pawnshop prizes, but nothing I fell in love with, eventually would up unloading them for some quick cash or giving them away to a youngster starting out.

 

I paid $900 for my D28 in 1985. A sale price, prob $200 off.

 

I overpaid($400 tax,case,strings, set up) for my Recording King 000. But it came from a very reputable shop, I got to play it 1st, and set up to my specs.

I could have gotten it online for perhaps $320.

 

the only acustic I ever regret selling was my 2nd. In 1973, I had only been playing 3-4 mo, traded a cheap nylon str my mom had bought me +$50 for it. A small bodied almost new little Yami. The action was a little high and it hurt my fingers, of course then I had no idea how to remedy that. Traded it a couple mo later for a crappy electric that woudnt stay in tune.

[Queequeg]

Stickler this, you! Hmm, that means that 1#"Screw you!" has a slightly different meaning than 2#"Screw, you!" Do you think I could safely use the latter without offending anyone?

I believe I would opt for a semi-colon in example #2.