Have you ever been desperate for cash and virtually given something away for pennies on the dollar at a pawn shop?

I sure have. I went through a divorce and lost alot financially.

I thought it might be interesting to hear of other pawn shop nighmares.

I sold my Taylor 710CE for $500...ouch
O1v for $150
PRS CE22. MesaBoogie F50, and vox multi effects pedal all..for...$4oo...that hurts me.

Anyway...there may be no interest in this here but i thought id try.

Anybody wanna fes up to a pawn shop nightmare??

We've all eaten humble pie in one way or another trying to scrape by.

One week playing in front of 2000 people, 2 weeks later glad to get my foot in the door at the local power company, even if it meant starting out pushing a broom in the store room.

When times were lean, we rented out a room to keep money coming in.

Uptoolate, I would say more or less every single person in the industry, unless you have rich parents, has had to get rid of prize gear fast to get from A to B.
I let go the best '64 precision I have ever seen for £1000, my friend had to sell his American Tele in the foyer of music college the first day and a drummer friend 15 years ago let go his Tascam 8 track for £100 to put food on the table.
I feel like money has different value to me at different times, as in sometimes £100 is a lot and sometimes it isn't, if that makes sense.

Yes, I feel your pain! I had to sell my Vintech 473 and UA 2610,for way less than I paid. I'm sorry for your rough times!

Not me but an old friend once pawned an original Rickenbacker 660 for very little cash and was unable to redeem the ticket and lost it.

I must admit, there are certainly a few unscrupulous pawn owners out, but I would think that a majority are running a proper honest system. So I hope this thread isn't to plug at all of them. I am curious, why didn't you "pawn" those items instead of sell? You might have got less, but at least you wouldn't lose them when you can come up with the funds.

That said... I loaned a really nice TC Helicon effects to my musician son quite a few years back... and it's just simply gone. Along with many other items I lent for his band. But I sure wish I had that TC Helicon back.

Pawn shops offer several useful functions thats hard to get other places, even though the deal is "bad":

1. Cash now, like right now. You walk in with the gear, walk out with cash. This can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or going homeless or losing their car to a lot of people.
2. A fast way to get a loan, even if you're at the point where no bank is going to talk to you.
3. You can use things for loan collateral no bank would accept.

Exactly! It's not for everyone for everyday business. Afterall, it is the primary source of "doing business" going back centuries! And they are regulated and monitored. So most operate under strict control.

I scour some of them just for bargains... It's hard to find bargains cause they love to markup for sales. And with ebay history sales it makes it that much easier to research. But sometimes you stumble across a treasure the owners had no idea what is was...

Now with the internet around, everyone pretty much gets a fair deal, since anyone can figure out the value of anything quickly. In the early 90's I couldn't borrow $100 against a 72 SG. The guy didn't know it was worth anything. I could have REALLY used that money right then. On the other hand, the days of outrageous deals are gone too. That same pawn shop had a blackface vibroverb sitting there for $125! The guy didn't know it was worth anything.

in the uk there is cash-converters. preying on the poor...bastardi! i have not seen the like here in italy. i like the idea of the pawn shop, if it is done ethically. always useful to have the remnant of a safety net.

The smart thing is to never put yourself in a position to need a pawn shop or
quick cash lender.

Rent out a room, find a part time job or better career altogether.

I've sold my antiques and other items, but never once considered selling my musical instruments.

obviously, but there are always those black swans. i'd have to keep my favourite guitar, even if homeless. it has given me joy even when everything else seems to be going to ****. that then helps deal with the ****...something to write songs about, get some perspective, and then bounce back stronger.

Your instrument is your freedom, your way to cope, your way to sooth a tortured
soul, your way to apply your experiences to music.

I've come close. But I find buying (read: hunting) used is great because if it's a high quality piece at a good price, it's value will never really depreciate past the point you've purchased it for. I've sold gear for cheap in a pinch, but thankfully never took more than a $50 or so hit on it.

The title of this thread sounds like one of those horrible reality shows.

closest thing to horror for me was having to pawn my
69 Gibson SG Special to cover rent.

And the pawn shop was sleazy , they tried to tell me it was not worth
What I wanted because Musicians friend had a model listed for $600.

I sure as hell went and got it back as soon as I could.
It made me feel dirty, like I just took my girlfriend to
A pimp to borrow some money.

But needs must when the devil drives.

What you do to keep a dry roof over your head does not define who you are.

One of my less fortunate musician friends told me he made $10,000.00 the previous year playing music and living with his sister or crashing at a friend's house.

I told him. The national poverty index is a bit over $11,000.00 for a single adult.
He qualified for food stamps, housing assistance, all kinds of help.

He was no stranger to pawn shops.

in the early days of the internet I sold my Tokai SG for £100 to help make rent. I couldn't find anything about it, and I knew nothing as I had picked it up second hand (for £90!)
A google now shows them going for £1k

Went to a rummage sale once and when I pulled up to the place, I could see what looked like a Rickenbacker in the garage. Ran up to inspect it and it turned out to be a knock off of a Rickenbacker made by the "Custom" company. Custom was known for their guitar amps and PAs that had padded sparkle vinyl stuff covering the enclosures. Someone had painted the Rickenbacker logo rather crudely across the sanded headstock of this Ricky clone. I bought it for $5.00 and thought I'd really gotten a deal until I strung it up and realized it was a poorly intoneated, untuneable piece of garbage. I hung it on the wall for decoration where it stayed for years until times got really tough. I took it to a local pawn shop and layed it on the counter. The Pawn Shop owner went gaga. He started trying to look up a model number he saw on a little sticker inside (which clearly indicated it was made by Custom) and kept asking me... "What model is it:?" I replied it was a Custom, made by Custom. He kept referring to it as a Rickenbacker. In my desperate financial state, I didn't correct him. He gave me $200 and a pawn ticket and said I know this is a good deal cause who'd ever lose a Rickenbacker for $200.

Spectacular!

Glad to hear someone gave a pawn shop a piece of their own medicine.

I have a pawn shop good story

I went into a pawn shop and found a Washburn spitfire
Was a luthier 36 fret model from the 80s
Got it for 70 bucks because the pickup was not wired in.

Few years down the road sold it for $1700
Was amazed

So pawn shops are not that bad.
In today's internet market the pawn shop is a bit
Of a dinosaur , you have to be really hard up to use one now.

Strange though True.....I was buying an 8 Track 1/2 Otari and I took a PortaStudio 4 track to a Pawn shop to se how much I'd get (Thought maybe 70-100$) and the guy told me he'd buy it for $420.00 Blue Book Value!

Astonished, I walked out!
$200 bucks more wealthy then 3 years previous!

When I was younger, i'd pawn my guitar to get my bike out and vise-versa.
Don't get me started on how many times I pawned a stereo system for rent or food or....

Never had to pawn anything yet. But I did find my Hofner Verythin Special for $300 at a local pawn shop.