The one that got away...

[Jasaoke]

I had some NS-10 drivers that fit perfectly into the speaker cut-outs of my Volkswagen Fox. (Aw, Yeah) Tweeters in the front dash, white cones in the rear dash. The car refused to die and I eventually scrapped it when I moved out of town.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Yeah. I did get a really cool vibe pedal that’s much much less noisy than the old homemade one. It’s mainly the sentimental value I had in it.

 

I can totally understand the sentimental side of it - especially if it's something you built yourself, along with help from your dad. That kind of thing is totally irreplaceable. You just can't put a value on stuff like that - the value goes way beyond just its musical usefulness.

[Into Nation]

'60s blackface pro reverb. Weighed about a million pounds. Used to electrocute me. But man' date=' at around 6 or 7 that thing would SING![/quote']

 

I still have a '74 that I bought around '76 - before the gain/master was added. It always had an MXR Distortion + in front of it, and I don't think I ever got it past 5... If it had natural breakup higher, I never heard it.

[Phil O'Keefe]

'60s blackface pro reverb. Weighed about a million pounds. Used to electrocute me. But man' date=' at around 6 or 7 that thing would SING![/quote']

 

It probably just needed a three-prong plug and a general servicing. I'm kind of surprised you thought it weighed so much - IMHO they're the Twin that is actually useful in the real world - not as over-powered (and less likely to kill rodents and frighten small children if you turn it up past 2), it's still a 2x12, and they're lighter. IMHO, it is one of the best amps Fender ever made... at least until they released the mid-70s Ultra-Linear 70W versions.

 

I used to have a Super Six Reverb (for cleans) that I ran along with a Mesa Boogie 1x12 combo (for leads and crunch), so I think I have you beat on the masochistic heavy amp scale.

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

Well' date=' I'm a telecaster guy now but in the past a couple got away for me and they were both Les Pauls. Back in my playing days I had a cherry burst Les Paul standard with Seymour Duncan pus and itjust sounded fantastic and played nicely. [/quote']

 

Seymour's so cool that even his pus sounds good!

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

It was a standard 90s era 4003. Loved everything about that bass. But I had no bass gig at the time and the Mastertone was calling me. I‘ve had this bad habit for trading away good basses when not gigging with them because of GAS for one thing or another. It’s a really nice 2004 Greg Rich era RB3 Standard. But I’ve never gotten a gig on banjo, lol.

I really miss that Ric. Someday I hope to replace it, the blue color ones give me tingles.

 

 

I used to do the same thing a lot when I was younger, then I realized I was getting killed on the deals. Now I pretty much hold on to everything, and if it takes a bit until I can save up and get whatever I'm gassing for, then it takes a bit.

 

I've got an ever-growing collection of gear now, and my kids will probably wind up with all of it someday, but I have really cut down on the gear regrets.

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

Its not vintage or anything' date=' but I let a nice Rainsong dread go when I was broke in graduate school. I’ll probably replace it someday if my tennis elbow ever lets up. [/quote']

 

Do they still make the same model as the one you had?

 

 

[thankyou]

Fireglo Ric 4003. Sold it to buy a Gibson RB3 Mastertone banjo. Dumb.

 

There's a banjo joke in there somewhere.

 

My folks had a Hammond organ they offered me. I don't know which model, but I think it was kind of the "home" version of the B3. I really didn't have room for it, though I should have made space somewhere. My dad gave it to a small AME church. I also turned back from a Wurlitzer keyboard at a garage sale. I don't think it worked and I didn't need more projects.

[Opposite Day]

 

It probably just needed a three-prong plug and a general servicing. I'm kind of surprised you thought it weighed so much - IMHO they're the Twin that is actually useful in the real world - not as over-powered (and less likely to kill rodents and frighten small children if you turn it up past 2), it's still a 2x12, and they're lighter. IMHO, it is one of the best amps Fender ever made... at least until they released the mid-70s Ultra-Linear 70W versions.

 

I used to have a Super Six Reverb (for cleans) that I ran along with a Mesa Boogie 1x12 combo (for leads and crunch), so I think I have you beat on the masochistic heavy amp scale.

 

 

Heh, well now I'm used to a vox modeling amp which is much lighter. For a while I was using a half-stack, H&K Triamp. Looked great, sounded great. And I couldn't get it up to 1 without making everyone's ears bleed. That was my masochism phase. Many years ago, missing the pro, I bought a Fender Twin reissue hoping to recapture some of the pro's glory. The sound that came out of that thing was totally sterile and lifeless. No comparison.

 

Probably the best sound I ever had at a gig was the pro and my friend's dad's silver face twin which I borrowed. I went in to an SGX 2000, one of those cheesy '80s multi-effects processors. It had stereo outs, one to the pro, one to the twin. Also we rented a smoke machine. It was glorious!!

 

It's really a pet peeve of mine that a company will make a magnificent product like that that people love and then "reissue" under the same name a clearly inferior product. How hard is it really just to make the exact, same thing? Old fender amps, the original whammy pedal, griswold cast iron pans, etc. And of course used originals become obnoxiously expensive.

[SteinbergerHack]

Hard to say which was the worst loss - there have been a few.

 

Probably my first Les Paul - an early 70s clownburst Deluxe. I got it when I was 16, then let it go when I was 19, because I started playing with a band that had an endorsement deal. Not smart.

 

A very close second was the '60s Epiphone Casino that I traded to get the LP. :facepalm: I worked for two years delivering newspapers to get that guitar.

 

I've never had a pedal that I missed after it was gone, and there's only one amp that got away that I would like to play through again today....but given the collection I have now it's probably more about nostalgia for the gigs I played with it than actual good sound.

 

Now, the best sounding amp I ever got to play through was probably the house amp at a theme park gig I had for a year - an old Super Reverb that was just magical. I tried to buy it from them....no chance. It probably went in the dumpster when they stopped using live music.

[Balthazar Munoz]

1970 Pre CBS mint custom color Fender Strat. I walked into Don Weirs Music City in North Beach SF when I was 22, and traded it straight across for a whizz Bang Fender Lead III. Dang me...

[willhaven]

It might be a mic, or a guitar, or a keyboard - whatever... what's the one piece of musical equipment that you either once owned and lost (due to selling it, theft, accident or whatever) or that you had a chance to get and passed on, and that you now regret the most?

My main guitars are some hard to find early 90s deals.

 

I sold one of two in the early 2000s and wanted to replace it 6-7 years later. I finally found one, bought it, had it delivered. Two weeks later I found MY OLD GUITAR for sale. I bought it back from the guy I sold it to. Now I had three.

 

A friend had a fourth and sold it. I wish I had bought it. Pissed that I didn't.

[Zipperhead]

My first instrument was a red Sears J-Bass copy. Dad bought it for me at a flea market for $20.00. I was 12. Played that thing every day for hours. A year later I sold my dirt bike and Dad matched the money and we drove up to Mannys and I got a Ric 4001 ($400 new with a hardshell case. You Know that was a long time ago). Still have the Ric but I sold the Sears bass for $25 (hey I made a profit!)

 

I've got a stupid number of instruments now but I wish I still had that first axe.

 

Zip

[Red Ant]

It might be a mic, or a guitar, or a keyboard - whatever... what's the one piece of musical equipment that you either once owned and lost (due to selling it, theft, accident or whatever) or that you had a chance to get and passed on, and that you now regret the most?

 

 

I was working at the old Music Grinder studio on Hwd & Western, on the 1st Ozomatli album. About 8-9pm one day a guy walks in, with a freakin' Neve BCM-10 under his arm. Wanted $3000. Where do you get $3000 in cash, at 9pm, in 1998? Nowhere. I told the guy if he came back at 10am the next morning I'd go the the bank with him and give him $4k. He never showed

[Zipperhead]

 

I was working at the old Music Grinder studio on Hwd & Western, on the 1st Ozomatli album. About 8-9pm one day a guy walks in, with a freakin' Neve BCM-10 under his arm. Wanted $3000. Where do you get $3000 in cash, at 9pm, in 1998? Nowhere. I told the guy if he came back at 10am the next morning I'd go the the bank with him and give him $4k. He never showed

 

Don't feel bad. It was probably a Behringer knockoff...

 

Zip

[Prime8]

Not sure there would have been anything I could have done to have changed the outcome but when I was 14, (this would have been in 1964) I purchased some gear from an older fellow who was a college student from out of state. I bought three different items from him for around $275 which included a '58 Fender Precision Bass, a '63 Epiphone Wilshire solid body (kinda similar to it's cousin - Gibson SG but with mini-humbuckers) and finally, a '58 tweed Fender Tremolux (much like a Deluxe without reverb).

Since I had literally spent every cent I had on these items, my dad was furious and made me sell the bass and the amp while reluctantly allowing me to keep the Epiphone.

My closest friend in high school bought the Tremolux from me which I repeatedly attempted to repurchase from him over the course of numerous decades. Oddly, he never became a working pro although he did amass quite a collection of equipment over time. I found out that he sold the Tremolux late last year to a player from Miami for around $4500; however, he never gave me the opportunity to make a counteroffer. I was quite crestfallen over that one as I always LOVED that amp!

Of course neither that bass nor the Epiphone Wilshire remain with me today but oddly, that old Tremolux is one that got away that I remember most fondly.

[onelife]

My first electric guitar was a cheap difficult to use model but it was a start. With help from my father I built a Heathkit 25 Watt solid state two channel 2x12 amp. My friend had a Mansfield black Les Paul copy that was much better than my guitar so we teamed up his guitar and my amp and shared the rig.

 

I talked my parents into ordering a guitar like my friend's. When my Mansfield arrived it was a goldtop copy and much better than the one my friend had. I played that guitar all though high school and my first year at college - but I wanted a 'real' Gibson.

 

I had a summer job while in college and went into the music store where the guy talked me into buying a Gibson SG ii which turned out to be an awful guitar - but I wanted a Gibson and sold the Mansfield. The SG didn't last long and I ended up selling it and buying a Stratocaster.

 

 

"The one that got away" is the Mansfield which I later discovered was a re-branded Ibanez 'lawsuit' model (with a Gibson headsock). It was the guitar that I discovered my musical voice on - similar to the one in this photo.

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"ibanez-les-paul-xl.jpg?v=1546474059.jpg","data-attachmentid":32511437}[/ATTACH]

[Red Ant]

Not sure there would have been anything I could have done to have changed the outcome but when I was 14, (this would have been in 1964) I purchased some gear from an older fellow who was a college student from out of state. I bought three different items from him for around $275 which included a '58 Fender Precision Bass, a '63 Epiphone Wilshire solid body (kinda similar to it's cousin - Gibson SG but with mini-humbuckers) and finally, a '58 tweed Fender Tremolux (much like a Deluxe without reverb).

Since I had literally spent every cent I had on these items, my dad was furious and made me sell the bass and the amp while reluctantly allowing me to keep the Epiphone.

My closest friend in high school bought the Tremolux from me which I repeatedly attempted to repurchase from him over the course of numerous decades. Oddly, he never became a working pro although he did amass quite a collection of equipment over time. I found out that he sold the Tremolux late last year to a player from Miami for around $4500; however, he never gave me the opportunity to make a counteroffer. I was quite crestfallen over that one as I always LOVED that amp!

Of course neither that bass nor the Epiphone Wilshire remain with me today but oddly, that old Tremolux is one that got away that I remember most fondly.

 

There's a dude in Fla who makes absolutely PERFECT Tweed Tremolux clones. For about $1200. Here's my friend and guitarist Shea McCoy (Telephant on HCAF) rocking the **** out of his clone a couple of years ago:

 

[video=youtube;2VSOVf9EZ7I]

[Red Ant]

My first electric guitar was a cheap difficult to use model but it was a start. With help from my father I built a Heathkit 25 Watt solid state two channel 2x12 amp. My friend had a Mansfield black Les Paul copy that was much better than my guitar so we teamed up his guitar and my amp and shared the rig.

 

I talked my parents into ordering a guitar like my friend's. When my Mansfield arrived it was a goldtop copy and much better than the one my friend had. I played that guitar all though high school and my first year at college - but I wanted a 'real' Gibson.

 

I had a summer job while in college and went into the music store where the guy talked me into buying a Gibson SG ii which turned out to be an awful guitar - but I wanted a Gibson and sold the Mansfield. The SG didn't last long and I ended up selling it and buying a Stratocaster.

 

 

"The one that got away" is the Mansfield which I later discovered was a re-branded Ibanez 'lawsuit' model (with a Gibson headsock). It was the guitar that I discovered my musical voice on - similar to the one in this photo.

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"ibanez-les-paul-xl.jpg?v=1546474059.jpg","data-attachmentid":32511437}[/ATTACH]

 

My 1971 "Lawsuit" Ibby LP:

 

 

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[onelife]

 

My 1971 "Lawsuit" Ibby LP:

 

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"200389_1035275441930_2418_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&_nc_ht=scontent-dfw5-2.xx&oh=08e9684fc201e92408c1f864acca7158&oe=5D710015.jpg","data-attachmentid":32511441}[/ATTACH]

 

Back in those days (early 70s) my friends and I would peel the Made In Japan stickers off our copies.

 

Now I seek out Japanese guitars - it's one of those "if I knew then what I know now" situations.

[Red Ant]

 

Back in those days (early 70s) my friends and I would peel the Made In Japan stickers off our copies.

 

Now I seek out Japanese guitars - it's one of those "if I knew then what I know now" situations.

 

This isn't what I would call a great instrument. I like the slim neck profile, but its heavy, and the middle pickup is just the cover - the 1st thing I did when I bought this guitar (for $125 about 15 years ago in a Virginia pawn shop) was unwire and remove the middle pickup. Those things are horrible.

[onelife]

Reading through the thread I realize many of us have had more than just one that got away.

 

Over the years I've had 2 blackface Vibrolux Reverbs, a blackface Tremolux with 2x10 cabinet, a '63 Strat, an old Gibson Les Paul amplifier, a Gibson Howard Roberts Custom, a great sounding Gibson J-40 acoustic and a really nice Ibanez AS-50 (slightly smaller 335 style).

 

I also had a late '70s Gibson Les Paul Custom MF (Maple Fingerboard) which I neglected after a show one night. I left it, along with the bass player's Stratocaster that I had borrowed for the week, with one of the other band members to take back to the band house so I could go to a party. When I got back to the band house the next day, I discovered the car with the guitars in it had been broken into and the Les Paul and the Strat stolen.

[onelife]

 

This isn't what I would call a great instrument. I like the slim neck profile, but its heavy, and the middle pickup is just the cover - the 1st thing I did when I bought this guitar (for $125 about 15 years ago in a Virginia pawn shop) was unwire and remove the middle pickup. Those things are horrible.

 

It would be interesting to revisit my old Mansfield/Ibanez after having played so many different guitars since I had that one.

 

Also in my youth I missed an opportunity to get a Gibson L5CES for $1,350 - which was a lot of money in 1976 but still... I went to the guy's house and played for about an hour but I was olny earning starving musician wages in those days.

[bildo]

My old Lab Series L5 2 x 12 combo. That was a great amp and went a lot of places with me. Sold it for my first Marshall half-stack. Ended up hating that Marshall. What I really regret is selling my 87' CR250R. Should of kept it...but know who has it and can ride it still. Best noise maker I ever had. Two Strokes are musical instruments too.

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Probably the best sound I ever had at a gig was the pro and my friend's dad's silver face twin which I borrowed. I went in to an SGX 2000, one of those cheesy '80s multi-effects processors. It had stereo outs, one to the pro, one to the twin. Also we rented a smoke machine. It was glorious!!

 

ART - I had a couple of their rackmounts. Pretty cool in their day, but my experience was that they weren’t very reliable...

 

It's really a pet peeve of mine that a company will make a magnificent product like that that people love and then "reissue" under the same name a clearly inferior product. How hard is it really just to make the exact, same thing? Old fender amps, the original whammy pedal, griswold cast iron pans, etc. And of course used originals become obnoxiously expensive.

 

Doing it the old way - with the P2P wiring and hand populating the boards is time consuming, and thus really expensive. They would have to charge $3k for a Twin or Pro... like the boutique cloners do...