lapdawg wrote
I've carried this from the amp section becasue its evolved into something else.
see
http://www.guitarforum.co.za/amps-speakers-and-valves/imported-vintage-amp-help!/
Vic- Let me explain the radio silence. I've been trying to buy this guitar. It is in fact a 1939 EH-150 made at Gibson (not Kalamazo). I went to Caledon to see it on the weekend & took a few photos. The condition is excellent. It has a orginal case, missing a handle. It had a few finger/thumb picks & 2 slides vintage slide bars. I was expecting to close the deal & come home. Took cash - more than enough. The plan was that I would get directions to meet the seller when I arrived in Caledon... I called when I arrived & he insisted on coming to see me in the town.
He wouldn't sell & just gauged me for a price.
I said name the price, I'll pay. He's been stringing me along ever since. I think he's hanging on and playing buyers off against each other. I got a frind to phone & ask what he was seling & he got a different price & different story. He's asking more than you you would pay in the US. He's selling other stuff online. One related item is a vintage Gibson acoustic. He's saying its a J-45 from the early 40's. This could potentially put the price above $20 000 - if it was one of the first. He's shifty & has been cagey about all questions & letting me see it & get serial numbers etc.
If you look on Gumtree don't be mislead - the headstock pic of the Lapsteel is shown with the acoustic ad - fooled me at first.
I think its a Gibson LG-1 from about 1948 - not worth nearly as much & not as nice an instrument (but still OK) - not on my wish list.
I would really like to get my paws on the lap steel. It is a magnificent specimen. I am really, really miffed. I just don't trust this guy and his stories. Ethically I can't buy this way i.e. I question how did this guy got hold of these instruments (& other stuff).
I had a LH Gibson solid body stolen from my palce in Rondebosch in the early 90's. It appeared in a music store on the main road in an adjacent suburb. (I believe that the all the Corts are legit though.) I managed to get it back eventually. It wouldn't be good Karma if did the same backstreet deals.
I'm going to take the cash & buy myself something else... maybe a Weissenborn...
Congratulations on posting the single best post I've ever read on any forum that sums up my viewpoint on buying (and selling to be clear). I've done the running around after sellers, done the long drives with a bag full of hard cash with me, pretty much done it all ... and still been messed around and had the "happy" and "fun" sucked out of potentially great deals.
I've offered friends items of mine they've salivated over for years for prices that are ridiculously low (I get my moods and just think I'd like to make someone's day), and had them want to again come over and fondle the instrument, and check it over and and and ... when they've played it each visit for the last 5 years and know who I am and how I operate and how I respect and maintain my gear. What an insult when they already know the gear, have told me how much they'd love to own it, and then when I offer it to them at a price that would make me think twice about "can this deal be legit" they want to come check it out ... like I'm some sort of druggie looking to sell my brother's collectable for a hit. C'Mon! I'm your friend not some stranger on Gumtree!!
These things have caused me to become really hard and cold about gear purchasing and selling. If someone won't post or tell me an asking price, I'm out. Simple ... no further negotiation. Tough if I loose out on something, I'm just not going to be anyone's b!tch for a piece of gear. If they make an arrangement re a meeting and don't meet their own time-schedule and don't let me know well in advance if there's a problem, I'm out ... no negotiation.
I CAN afford what I chase, and I don't mess people around. I expect the same in return. Simple, clean-cut, respectful, decent. I never sh!t on someone's for-sale advert telling them their price is wrong. If I don't like the price, I simply move on. If I make an offer below the asking price, I will qualify why I've done that and share my thought process. If I won't buy it at some inflated price, then neither will anyone else that knows what they're doing. And if the seller is able to get his inflated price from some idiot who has not done their due dilligence, then good luck to them both. I make no effort to be friends as I go, but anyone who knows me, knows that if I like what I see and I want it, I buy it and don't mess them around. I do not tell them I'll buy it and then string them along. As a result, over time I've come to interact with some really nice people who have in fact become friends and regulars at Casa MoJo where the coffee is always good, and the talk is almost always gear ... and nothing has a "do not touch" label on it.
To sum it up, the old addage of "If it seems too good to be true it probably is (too good to be true)" never fails me. When I read those ads for the Gibbos, I already knew who the usual suspects would be that would be chasing them. I didn't like the tone (no pun intended) of the ads and it seemed like the advertiser was going to be playing the field. I was out right from the beginning. I really hope someone gets a shot at those and that they are happy with the outcome, but I'm with you .... ain't gonne be me!
- MJJJ
