Guitar Hunters

Greetings Mech Fans. It has been a long time since I visited Vettie's Views and passed along my thoughts about whatever topic I randomly picked. I have kept an eye on mechland, even though I haven’t been able to get on line an play very much. I keep a close eye on MekTek so I can keep up with the changes and I drop in on the http://www.sunderjunkies.com/ to see whats up with the old friends and the new guys. Of course I sneak into the halls of the Blood Pearls cause that is where it really all started for me.

Many of you know that Vettie and Ms. Vettie have divorced. After 16 years, we grew apart and all my medical issues and then financial issues became too much and well, never mind the details. Facts are facts. Ol' Vettie has medical issues that will only get worse as time goes by but he is doing everything he can to make the most of each day.

One of the things Ol Vettie has always liked or has always been a part of is music. Every since I heard my first Beatles song on my older sisters fold and play phonograph, I have had something in me that said “you gotta be part of this!” Well let me set the record straight right up front. Vettie has no natural talent. When I was a drummer, I practiced every day banging on everything from coffee cans to dresser tops. When I got my first kit of drums, my folks quickly moved them to the basement of our well insulated house and I wore that kit out practicing every day. Later I joined the school band for some real “music education” but other than drum and colour guard competitions, I really didn't care for it. I preferred football and basketball and baseball (that’s all we had back then) and rock and roll. I was in a few garage bands and later, in the high school years, I managed to get with some guys that really had talent. We did a few covers and created some of our own stuff and it sort of took off from there. We toured the southeastern U.S. And made lots of money and had lots of fun. We were signed to front a major act and did that for one year, then we were picked up by another one for the next year. During that time, we signed a record contract and went to Memphis to cut the tracks. Soon after the deal was done, tragedy struck our band as one of our lead guitar players was killed in an auto accident. One week later, in the exact same intersection, our bass player was killed in an auto accident. Suddenly, our future became very bleak. Of the surviving members of that band, I am the only one still alive.

Let me back up a little more. Yes I was a drummer and yes I loved it. My current condition with my back and lack of some motor controls prevents me from being an effective drummer today or I would still be doing that. As I said, backing up a little (my I easily get side tracked). When I was in second grade (yes Homer they had schools back then, my father was in the Air Force. He was some sort of a Sargent or Chief Master Sargent or something. He had a squad of airmen assigned to him and most of them were single guys. Being single, young and dumb, they often ran out of money before they ran out of month. This is the main reason you see so many pawn shops near military installations (and there used to be MANY more than there are today). One of the airmen assigned to my dad had borrowed some cash from him promising to pay him back at the end of the month (payday). Well, when payday rolled around, the young man didn't have enough cash to pay back my father. I remember the dude coming to our home (we lived in on base housing) and he and dad going out to the back yard and then to the guys little VW (it was a square back sedan). A few minutes later my dad comes in the back door carrying a long black rectangular case and a small blonde coloured box looking thing. My dad and mom had a few words and then my dad asks me if I would like a guitar. DUH!

My dad laid the long black case down on the floor and flipped a few latches and opened it up. Inside this case was some orange coloured velvet like material and a fairly new Fender Telecaster. It was Black with metal flake specs and it was brand new looking. The little blonde box was an amp and it too was a Fender. I would love to have either of those today, but mostly the guitar. It was either a 1964 or 1965 model. I took a few lessons way back then and learned a few chords, but my interest had always been on the drums and sports.

Let's skip forward to present times. Many of you know I manage a local band (II Daze Gone). The lead singer of the band and I have have become very good friends. He owns a music store. The days of our youth followed similar paths, at least musically, except he stuck with it and is still doing it today.

Many of you out there watch TV? True? A show on the History Channel (I think) is (or has been) running lately called American Pickers. Ever watch it? These two guys travel around picking through peoples old barns and stuff looking for “Old Americana”. Its a pretty good show.

Well, Henry and I sort do that, except we are looking for musical stuff, mostly, guitars, basses and drums. We have found some pretty cool instruments and we have made a little cash along the way. Living in North Alabama, we are located close enough to Nashville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Huntsville and Muscle Shoals that we can work up a deal, go there and be back in just a few hours. We have traded and/or bought some really nice items at some really good bargains.

Let me give you an example. We were sitting in the store one day, both of us broke, down to about 200$ between us, wondering what we were gonna do about the store rent that was rapidly coming due. A gentleman walked in and asked if we bought guitars. Henry explained that we do, but it depends on the item, what shape its in, and of course how much the person wants for it. The man walked out to his car, raised his trunk and came back in with two guitars. He hands one to me and one to Henry. Henry and I looked at the guitars and then swapped with one another and to look at the guitar the other was holding. We both asked the guy almost in unison, “How much did you want for them?” The guy scratched his head and said “well, my dad bought me that Gibson when I was a kid to learn how to play on. I cut grass and saved my money to buy that other one. I have arthritis now, and cant play anymore. They just sitting in the corner collecting dust. I want someone else to enjoy them as much as I did. Do you think 150$ for the both is too much?” I damn near fell out of my chair. I was holding a 1963 Gretsch Corvette in near mint condition (other than the dust) and Henry was holding a 1958 Gibson LG-1 in good condition. The Gibson had the original case with it. I handed Henry a 100$ bill (my last bit of money) and he coughed up 50$ more. The man said “thank you” and walked out the door.

We had some work to do on the Gibson, but all the Gretsch needed was cleaning and a new set of strings. The neck was still straight!. We sold them both on EBAY in the Vintage Guitar section and yeah, we made our money back and paid the rent and managed to buy some groceries.

We have made many deals and will continue to do so. One of our favourite things to do is looking on Craigslist and trying to find someone that has a guitar that is broken or doesn’t work properly and they just want to sell it cheap. I bought a nice Epiphone Les Paul standard for 50$. It didnt work, no sound came out of it when plugged in and the kid's parents didnt want to fool with it because the kid had lost interest in playing it. The input jack wires were broken.

A close friend of ours, a guy who runs a studio in Decatur has the done the best deal to date that we have heard of. We call the guy Slugger. Slugger always has some kind of wild deal working. He came to the store on Saturday after calling us to see if we had any acoustic/electrics. We had a very nice Samick the we had just bought for near nothing. Slugger shows up and sees the Samick. He picks it up and plays with it. He likes it. He sits around and shoots the bull for a bit and decides to go. As he is paying for the guitar, he notices a white LTD (SG Copy) hanging on the wall of electrics. He says “Wait!” “Make me a deal for the Samick and the LTD!” We did and he paid for them and off he went. Later on in the day, we get a call from Slugger. “How much is an American Tele worth? Its a natural wood and in damn good shape.” We tell him the Blue Book value. About 4 hours later, we get another call from Slugger. “Shhh, shhh. I am in this guys bathroom. I need to know how much a DoBro brand Dobro is worth, hurry!” Again we tell him the value range based on the Blue Book. About 2 hours later, old Slugger pulls up in his Jeep pulling a trailer loaded with a brand new Craftsmen Riding mower. He comes bouncing in to the store grinning from ear to ear. “Guys let me tell you what I did today! It started with me buying those 2 guitars from you. I ran into a guy with an American Tele that he didnt want, but he did want an acoustic. I swapped him the 2 I bought from you for the Tele and he gave me some boot. I sold the Tele to another guy. This guy tells me about an old dude that had a dobro he needed to sell, so I looked him up and bought it from him. I was on my way home and a guy saw it in my Jeep at a red light and pulled up beside me asking what I would take for it. We pulled into the Sears parking lot so he could look at it. He asked me how much and I said, well I just got it and I been wanting a Dobro for a long time. How about you buy me a riding lawn mower and you can have it. He did. A brand new Craftsmen Riding lawn mower. Well I still had cash I had made from selling the Tele so I went back to the guy I traded to for it and bought back the 2 guitars I traded him.” So Slugger started the day with 300$ and a want for for an acoustic guitar. He ended the day with an acoustic electric, an electric, a riding lawn mower and some cash!! Now thats pickin!

The key to being a good Guitar Hunter is knowing the value of the item you are trying to buy and never, let me repeat, NEVER get attached to a guitar. You have to separate your “I want that” from “can I sell that?” mentality. Once you do that, then you can be successful, or make a little money. Unless you just find an old 1957 Mint Condition Gibson Les Paul in somebody's basement or attic or under their bed, you ain't gonna get rich doing this, but it is a lot of fun. Hell, most of the fun is just in making the deal.

A recent deal we made went real smooth. We worked with a guy over email and txt messages for about 2 weeks. He had a (semi rare) Epiphone Sheraton II in an antique white colour (that had already started to fade to blonde). He wanted to sell it but we were cash shy. We found out, by working with him that he needed a set of drums. Ta DA! We had a bastard set of drums that we pieced together from several others, basically leftovers from several other kits with an odd kick drum we had taken in on trade from something else. Altogether, we had about 100$ tied up in the various pieces of the kit. We put it together to make it look like a fusion kit and sent him some pics. He loved it. He was in Northern Mississippi, so we agreed to meet at a half way point. When we got there, he was anxious to see the kit. So we pulled it out and assembled it quickly. The guy was drooling. He sat on the throne and banged a bit. He said, if you guys wanna trade I am all for it!! He pulls out the case and inside is a pristine guitar, it wasn’t even dirty, no dust or anything!! We sold the guitar later that day for about 400$ he was happy and we were. A good deal all around.

Personal guitars? Yeah I got a few. I have a Union Jack Mexican Strat with Floyd Rose Tremolo system and Seymour Duncan pickups. I have a Fender American Standard Telecaster and a an Ovation CC48 that I won in a drawing. Those are my current keepers. I also have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Studio in Antique White, a Dean Acoustic Electric Cutaway mini jumbo, a Dean Exotic Wood Acoustic electric all for trade or sell and I have a Squier (yes a Squier) Tobacco Burst finish Stratocaster that I bought new specifically to try out a new Vendor's pick ups. WOW was I shocked. These things are exclusive from Concert Parts and they blow away Seymour Duncans at half the price! They have a deep rich bluesy tone and even using distortion, each string is clear and vibrant. This may be a keeper. I have had a couple of offers for it already but I am not quite ready to sell it. I know, its just a Squier, but it is bad ass!

I am not making a ton of money, but I am having a lot of fun and learning a lot about guitars. I make enough to keep the bills paid and keep the belly full, but money isn’t everything. I am doing something I really enjoy.

Below are some pictures of some guitars and drums we have traded for or bought during our hunting escapes.

First up is a Heavy Metal Strat Made in Japan

Next is a Shector Devil Tribal

We also have an Ibanez S520 (ohh so hottt!)

as well as a couple of Les Pauls

a Jackson Dinky

as well as many others