Your Best Musical Bargain

[lbpesq]

What's the best bargain you ever got in acquiring instruments and/or music equipment?
 
I'll start off:
 
In 1975 I bought a 1961 Strat with case and a Crybaby for $125.  The case fell apart, and the Crybaby is long gone, but I still have the Strat.
 
Bill, tgo

[lembic76450]

I'll, give it a go. In about 1978-79 I walked into a small hardware store that was going out of business. Under one of the tables I saw the edge of a Fender amp mixed in with some boxes.  I asked the owner about it and he told me it did not have a speaker, but, during the holidays he would plug a Radio Shack horn into it to play Christmas songs. When I asked how much, he told me to give him $10.00. I couldn't get it out of my pocket fast enough. It turned out to be a 1954 Deluxe Amp. Bill, like you, I still have it.

[Bradley Young]

I bought a Rickenbacker 4003 a couple of years back for $500. It didn't turn me into Geddy Lee, so I sold it. I think it might have been defective.

[jazzyvee]

In 1992, got my Fender Stratocaster Ultra guitar at trade price from a guitar shop in Florida who's owner was a fan of the band I was touring with at the time. Which was about a third of the UK Retail price for the guitar at the time.  
 
Jazzyvee

[southpaw]

Everything in the pre-internet days! I bought 70's Rickenbacker's 4001's in the early eighties for $350. Rick 320 John Lennon guitar in the late eighties - $400. Hofner Beatle basses for $300 on average. Fender P or J's, same price range as the Rick's. A Gibson 335 with a headstock repair for $300 in 1985. All left handed too.  I was away from the music scene for a few years and was shell shocked at the prices of everything when I returned. My local dealer told me the internet had exploded the market worldwide for him as opposed to the isolated, local cliental he had as a neighborhood ma & pa music store. He said he could sit in our town and sell guitars online with a worldwide audience and command New York prices as opposed to what the local economy would dictate. The law of supply & demand; and when you reach a worldwide audience, the demand and prices increase. I believe today's prices are out of line for many manufacturers, I cannot afford any new toys anymore. Another law of economics; what the market will bear! End of old man rant, thanks.

[pauldo]

Best bargain (against me); I had an all maple Fender Precision neck, not sure what year. The guy at the music store told me I could trade it for any of the guitars in that corner.
 
Young and dumb, and always wanting an electric 6 string I handed the neck to him and grabbed the cherry Lotus Les Paul copy . . . still have the guitar. Wish I had that maple neck. Maybe I should upgrade the electronics in the Lotus and make it a Lotumbic!  
:-D
 
I did get a MIM Stratocaster for $100 bucks about 7 years ago - still have that, it's a decent instrument.  
 
Bradley - defective Rick - you crack me up!!!!

[fmm]

Early 1900's (we think about 1910) zildjian ride cymbal, garage sale, $10.00.

[hieronymous]

I got a modded early-mid-'70s Telecaster Bass (the humbucker kind, though the humbucker was long gone) for $250 in around 1994. Even after paying $100 for an NOS humbucker I think it was still a bargain. Heck, I think just the neck is worth that! (speaking of maple Fender necks)

[edwin]

'67 Starfire bass: $275
'65 Fender Mustang (refinished): $10
Trace-Elliot 4x10 combo amp: free
Alembic F-1X $125
Alembic F-2b, $100 and $75. (They weren't very popular in the early 90s).
Very early Bag End 2x12 cabinet: Free. But's too huge and doesn't actually sound all that good.
6 JBLs, K120s and E120s mixed: $125 from Tom Scholz. He said they were blown from experiments with an amp he was thinking about bringing to market. Only one was blown. They all are now!
Modulus Q6: ~$600
'67 Fender Bandmaster head (with bad OT): $25
McIntosh MC30: trade for Denon integrated amp (an admittedly very good one). I got a second for $500, so the pair for $250 each is pretty good.
 
I'm sure there are others. Of course, there are the ones I passed on or just missed, like the '57 Strat in mint condition that the owner decided at the last minute not to trade for my Hagstrom II (it came from his neighbor who had passed and he thought that his neighbor's wife would miss it) or the '59 ES355 for $1k, one of the very nicest guitars I've ever played. It rang like a strat. 3 Mutron IIIs for $50 apiece at Daddy's Junky Music ca. 1993.

[hieronymous]

Edwin - I think you win!

[edwin]

Just gotta keep your eyes and ears open!

[southpaw]

Edwin send some of that 'Bargain Mojo' my way please!  Terrific deals. Congrats.

[lbpesq]

While in college, I had a roommate who wanted a battery powered amp.  He traded me a '50's tweed Champ for my Pignose.
 
In the early '80's I picked up my '71 ES-335 from Guitar Center for $400.  After the deal was negotiated they offered me a job (which I turned down as I was in Law School).
 
A few years ago I happened to stop by a shop called The Starving Musician on my birthday where I found an early '60's National Studio 66 Resoglass on consignment for $250.
 
Bill, tgo

[gtrguy]

I bought a vintage 70's guitar effects box last year at the goodwill for $9.99 that was a 4 channel band booster that I forget the name of. The guitar player from Yes used one back in the day and they were only made for 2 years or so. I sold it on EBay 2 weeks later for $430!  
 
At a local garage sale 2 years ago they had a stack of rack gear selling for $5 each unit and they told me they all were broken. I bought a Focusrite vocal input (voicebox) and a MP20 mic preamp and a distressor for $15 tota The MP20 had a bad front input but the back one worked great. Everything else worked fine. The Focusrite was a $1200 unit!
 
I recently bought a 1929 Prague violin (with a high end pickup installed) at a local estate sale for $50 that is worth quite a bit more and is in excellent shape. Now I have to learn to play it!

[kenbass4]

When I was learning to play, I had one of those Memphis Pbass clones (HORRIBLE), and I had my eye out for (at least at the time) my favorite bass, a Rick 4001. My teacher said his bassist was selling his Rick for $250, a lot of money for a 17 YO in 1982. It was in pretty bad shape, but it was an Early 1973, which are pretty rare. Got it re fretted and cleaned up, and it plays and looks pretty great now. Still have it.