i SHOULDN'T have walked into the guitar shop...[heartbreak inside]

[BITBY]

Tell me some stories of heartbreak. I want to hear about the things that almost happened...for money. (sorry if its a repeat)

Anybody in or near Catonsville MD should probably knows about the guitar exchange...(btw if u live in MD, and you haven't been in that area DO IT NOW, there are many music stores on that block) This happened awhile ago, but I was thinking about it and wanted to share it in text.

Walked in one day... I look up on the wall, and there was this absolutely stunning PRS...the top was a very subtle orange/pink burst, and this insane quilt; three dimensional texture, I have never seen the likes. It had deep valleys and high peaks, looked like it was two inches deep in places.

I'm talking to the guy there (awesome guy), he lets me punch this thing through a mesa dual rect he had on the floor...Love at first feel, best guitar I have ever laid eyes on and I wanted it BAD.
Story:
1990 PRS Employee model
22 frets
dot inlay
rosewood fretboard
tune-o-matic
uncovered Dragon's
one volume knob
little selector switch.
bare bones PRS

I kept feeling it up for a good twenty minutes or so...I asked how much:

- "$10,000"

omg, heart breaking...

- "Listen I see you in here a few times, I can let it go for what I got it on trade...$5,500 "

(note: hell of a markup, but EASILY sold at that price listed)

I spent three days thinking about becoming absolutely broke, I am not joking. I was willing to sell off almost every piece of guitar wood I had including amps...I would have been happy with a cable and a 10w Crate amp with this thing. "Would" being the key word here.

Walked in two days later to visit it. He sold it for $9000.

STILL thinking about it even though its gone...I have started the "AWESOME PRS FUND", dumping 20% of every paycheck into it.

[2012]

The sad thing is that it was probably snagged by a collector, rather than a player.

[DeathMonkey]

I bought a gorgeous Gold Flake Epiphone Sorrento from Broadway Music Consignment in Nashville - a Gibby employee, I believe, had also put real Gibson P90s in it, still one of my favorite guitars. A few months later, they had the matching Casino for sale, also Gold Flake, with PAFs and a hard tail.

Why didn't I buy that guitar? I'm an idiot.

[TAVD]

You'd be hard press to find anything at a decent price in that store, but I will contend that he has some nice inventory. I'd go across the street to Bill's if your looking for deals. I saw a used Gefell LDC there once for $750 and of course it was gone when I went back.

I bought a used PRS bass back in the early 90's from a pawn shop on Lexington. Tons of Alembic & Tobias stuff. They always had a few employee PRS guitars and they were cheap (well under $1k), so I'm always a little surprised when people want to pay more for an employee model than for a custom or even a run of the mill PRS. It's nuts. It makes me consider moonlighting there for 6 months, just to sell a PRS at an inflated price.

[4stringerfinger]

I unloaded a ~74 Fender Bassman 100 for $60 that didn't work. (Me circa 1992)

dfegad ME.

Edit: Looked like this with cab: eBay: Early 1970s FENDER BASSMAN 100 Head & Cab...CLEAN! (item 320129786960 end time Jun-27-07 20:44:12 PDT)

[BITBY]

Originally Posted by TAVD

You'd be hard press to find anything at a decent price in that store, but I will contend that he has some nice inventory. I'd go across the street to Bill's if your looking for deals. I saw a used Gefell LDC there once for $750 and of course it was gone when I went back.

definitey agreed...

[eligit]

personally i have owned a "vintage" prs "custom"('89)....and played quite a few others.

there is not a prs made that is worth 9k. period. all that cosmetic stuff is a tasteless distraction anyway. and as far as high gain mesa amps....there is so much going on with the different gains and eqs that the type of guitar matters much less than it might.

so don't let your heart break too much. you did not miss out.

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by eligit

personally i have owned a "vintage" prs "custom"('89)....and played quite a few others.

there is not a prs made that is worth 9k. period. all that cosmetic stuff is a tasteless distraction anyway. and as far as high gain mesa amps....there is so much going on with the different gains and eqs that the type of guitar matters much less than it might.

so don't let your heart break too much. you did not miss out.

I have an '87 custom 24 that is a real workhorse.
I pulled the pickups out and put in Duncans, changed the 5way rotary to a 3way and pulled out the sweet switch and replaced it with a momentary kill switch.

I love it for the hard rock stuff I do but it is kinda useless for anything else compared to my various telecasters.
I have come to accept that for the most part, PRS are a one trick pony- but they do that particular trick very well indeed.

[eligit]

Originally Posted by octatonic

I have an '87 custom 24 that is a real workhorse.
I pulled the pickups out and put in Duncans, changed the 5way rotary to a 3way and pulled out the sweet switch and replaced it with a momentary kill switch.

I love it for the hard rock stuff I do but it is kinda useless for anything else compared to my various telecasters.
I have come to accept that for the most part, PRS are a one trick pony- but they do that particular trick very well indeed.

i honestly prefer a GOOD LP for hard rock. more practical switching system and i just relate to the vibe more.

there is a certain "modern hard rock sound" that was created using prs guitars and mesa amps....so it is going to have that....(not my taste is tones, but it is a commercially used one for sure)

and that "one trick" is just not worth 9k no matter what the top looks like.

i would take a good tele type (G+L!) over the prs i had (89 custom 24) for the non hard rock stuff. more personality and tactile vibe...and less the fancy tacky look.

naturally i just use my Zs now anyway so it is kind of a non issue for me......

[Methlab]

Wow..I would NEVER pay 5k for an electric guitar. I just can't feel bad for you man. I feel like you were actually saved from going broke for no reason. I understand the guitar lust, I have been there, but it's simply never worth going broke over an instrument, especially a PRS of all things. Saving your money for a guitar like you are doing now sounds a LOT wiser. It all happens for a reason.

[max cooper]

to quote Tom Waits:

"Christ, you don't know the meaning of heartbreak, buddy"

[BadJones]

$5500.00 for a guitar is way too much green for me. I'd rather put 20% in an IRA, but I know this is gearslutz and saying something like this is blaphsemy.

[biggator6]

OK - I'll bite...

It's 1985, and I'm just shy of 16 and about to move from Boston to Florida.. I'm spending my last few days kicking around the shops near Berklee and wander into LaSalle Music..

Now, I was in the market for a new guitar - and had JUST about settled on a Kramer Baretta... but up on the wall was this funky thing.. I think they wanted 1200 or 1500 for it at the time, which to a 16 year old is a lot (the Baretta was about 800 if I recall).. so, I'm playing this wierd, fishbone looking thing.. it had no fretboard! it had a hexaphonic pickup.. and it was cool. Wierd, but cool. I kinda wanted it, but passed.

It always kinda ate at me that I didn't grab it... moreso after I found out what a Gittler guitar was, and how much they'd be worth later since so few were made.
"-(