Ones that got away

[Phoenix59]

What one instrument or piece of equipment do you regret letting get away from you?

Maybe you decided not to buy it, or maybe you sold it in a moment of weakness or need?

For me it was a blonde tolex, blackface Fender Bandmaster amp -- a 1963 or 64, as best I can tell -- and mismatched 2 x 12" cabinet that was black tolex and silver grill cloth.

At the time, I was into hard rock -- Zep, Kiss, Aerosmith -- and the thing didn't sound like a Marshall. I sold it for $150.

<kicks self many times>

A certain Vintaxe admin may remember this amplifier, and the name GREYHAVEN. (Hi, Steve!)

[cheepaxes]

One I owned: A '62 Les Paul. It was a basic rock guitar with one or two P-90s (can't recall). More an SG than a Les Paul. Traded it away. A classic example of being more aware of what it wasn't than what it was. The guitar I got as part of the deal, an ES-175, is fine but I rarely play it. I know I would have had plenty of opportunity to play that LP over the years.

One I didn't own: A vitage Gretsch Jet with a headstock repair. For sale in a local used guitar store. No guitar has ever called my name louder than that one did. Couldn't justify spending that kind of money ($900) at the time (about 1998). :(

-Scott

[Mgeek]

someone offered me a Burns Vista Sonic for fifteen quid when I was Eleven...turned it down



Very rarely see that model come up for sale. Amazing looking thing as well...

[Mgeek]

well...what do you know. I managed to get hold of one. Not quite fifteen quid, but still a very good price.

[Michael Ambrose]

One I owned... man, do I miss it... it was a '57 Duo Sonic, totally modded by a previous owner... aluminum PG, original pickup... pro-refinned in Daphne Blue... routed for a Hagstrom tremolo. I called it my "No. 2"... it was a beat-up piece of shit, and it had all my 2nd-favorite appointments (2nd favorite pickguard type, 2nd favorite tremolo, 2nd favorite guitar color, et al)... Man, did I love this guitar. One of the first guitars with which I really felt at home.

I was playing a gig down the shore one night with a few other bands... we finished our set, I tore down, piled up my gear, and hit the bar... when I went to load out an hour or so later, No. 2 and her tweed Dano gigbag were gone.

So it goes, I suppose...

And then there is one for which I kick myself every day for passing on... Its going on 7 or 8 years now... I was just beginning to learn guitar work, building, modding, all that jazz... when I became enamored by Elvis Costello's Magnatone Typhoon. Broke-ass 23-year-old punk that I was, I knew I couldn't afford a decent one, so I'd best find a beater I could rebuild.

A year or two prior, I became obsessed with The Ventures... already being a Screeching Weasel fan, I knew I HAD to somehow get my hands on a Mosrite Ventures Model... and I did, in the form of this beat up, stripped down ol' clunker... which I absolutely love to this day. I figured I could do the same with some kind of Magnatone.

So!

I began scouring Ebay, commonly using the phrase "Magnatone Project."

Now, like I said, at the time I didn't know a fraction of what I know now about oddball guitars... just that there was something special about them, something alluring to me... the builds, the designs, the short runs, the companies that would pop up for a moment in a fit of capitalistic passion and quickly fade away... the subsequent mystique... it called to me back then.

So. I'm searching every day for a suitable "Magnatone Project"... when it pops up... a Magnatone Mk V... Beat to all holy hell... looking like it had been left out in the rain, or maybe a monsoon... partly dismantled, but ultimately entirely complete... original right down to the screw-on amphenol insert... finish crazed, chipping away, and nearly gone in parts... pits, dings, finish cracks, rusting into oblivion... Man, I wish I saved the auction pictures. It was love at first sight. And I'm watching the auction every day, and I've a bid here and a bid there... and its staying pretty low... and it gets down to the final hours... and what happens?

I fall asleep at the controls, and I'm out-bid by just a few bucks.

Its a common tale... but man, oh, man...

That right there, friends... That's the one that keeps me up at night.

That's the one I think about every time I'm "on the hunt."

That's the one that got away.

Of course, shortly after this, there were numerous write-ups about Paul Bigsby, and there was a brief confusion as to whether he built or just designed these guitars... and, of course, their prices EXPLODED. I mean, I remember not long after watching a fairly clean Mk V for for over $12K!!

Two years later, I found myself on heavy tours, popping into every guitar store I came across as my own version of R&R... and I had the pleasure of playing a nearly-cherry Mk V... and I was distraught to learn that, well, it really was everything I'd ever dreamed it could be... body, just the right weight and thickness... single coils hot as they can be... beefy neck... its like the guitar was made just for me.

But the price tag? Well into the mid four-figures. WAY more than a hired gun could afford.

And they pop up now and again... and almost always cherry as anything... and I'm so tempted... now and again I think about how many and which pieces I can ditch to snag a Mk V...

But then I stop and think about it... and at the same time... I realize I'm a hard-hitter. I'm the guy that, depending on which band I'm playing with, has no problem dropping a quart of blood on my axe. I'm the guy that would literally throw his Farfisa on its side and climb on top of it mid-set. I have no problem jumping on top of my Dual Showman or kicking my Premier 90. I'm hard on my gear. Do I really want a cherry Mk V? No... I want that beater I missed out on many, many moons ago.

Sigh.