Mickeyboro Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 Some gear sales have stuck in my mind years later… Bought a Hohner Pianet keyboard - remember them?- from a young jazz musician. His name, Django Bates, on the receipt meant nothing, but I later saw him rise to fame in his field. I never forget a name…well, not that kind of name.😁 The guitar player of the Keys, 80s power pop combo produced by Joe Jackson, bought a Maine 50w combo from me. My wife insisted on him signing a single she had - sadly, he declined to perform the song in our kitchen! Finally, in 1981, I sold a PA system to an Oi! Band, or similar. They played me a song I still can’t get out of my heads that would have been a hit for the Angelic Upstarts. The chorus ran T-D-Ayyyy T-D-Ayyyy Taking…and driving…awayyyyyy! Catchy AF!👏 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigguy2017 Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 Maine - that's a name from the past. I had a Maine 2 x 12" Stage combo as the top half of my bass rig, on top of 2 x 15" Vitavox W bins. Very heavy and very loud I recall. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franticsmurf Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 I had a mate and keyboard player in our first band who was so insecure about his playing ability that when he went to try or buy a keyboard he'd bandage his wrist up and pretend he'd sprained it so that he wasn't expected to perform brilliantly. He was a good player but his talents were very much in ideas and composition. He never actually joined us on stage. 😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marky L Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 Blimey! Maine! Yes, I had a Maine head back in the early 80's. I can't remember the output, maybe 200W. I had it sat on a Fender 4x12 cabinet that had the speakers fitted at an angle inside, it wasn't a great sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted July 4, 2022 Share Posted July 4, 2022 I bought a headless Status bass from a deeply middle-aged Elvis impersonator (Las Vegas Elvis, to be specific) and got to meet his much younger trophy wife, possibly named Priscilla, I didn't ask. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 21 hours ago, Marky L said: Blimey! Maine! Yes, I had a Maine head back in the early 80's. I can't remember the output, maybe 200W. I had it sat on a Fender 4x12 cabinet that had the speakers fitted at an angle inside, it wasn't a great sound. A small studio back in the day that was out of town and not really taking off tried to flog me one of those Maine combos. I remember it being loud, and little else. I passed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 I bought a used Carvin DC727 7-string guitar on Gumtree a few years back. I got talking to the seller through Whatsapp to seal the deal and exchange formalities, and thought the name (Joaquin Ardiles) rang a bell. Turned out to be the guitarist of Good Tiger and formerly (and more familiar to me) The Safety Fire. I had seen them live a few years prior opening for Between The Buried and Me and Periphery in the Netherlands. It doesn't add any value to the guitar for me, especially since he stated he had bought it for a project which in the end didn't happen, so it's not used in any recorded music of his bands, but I still think it's pretty cool. I bought a used MM Stingray 5 from an eBay seller, who then contacted me outside of eBay saying "Instead of shipping it, how about I get you some guest list tickets to one of our shows in the Netherlands?". He was Phil Barker of IONA, a Christian progressive and folk rock band, and they would be playing a venue very close to me shortly. After the show we met in the bar of the venue where we had a nice chat and exchanged the merchandise (quite literally: I got a live DVD with the bass in which it is prominently featured). Cool guy, and a cool memory. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Not music gear but with a musical angle - selling my flat to a local musician/gig promoter I know was quite surreal. When he turned up at the door for a viewing my response was of a "what are you doing here?" type. He still bought it though 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 On 04/07/2022 at 11:38, Franticsmurf said: I had a mate and keyboard player in our first band who was so insecure about his playing ability that when he went to try or buy a keyboard he'd bandage his wrist up and pretend he'd sprained it so that he wasn't expected to perform brilliantly. He was a good player but his talents were very much in ideas and composition. He never actually joined us on stage. 😀 That's rather sad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMoon Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 I made a spontaneous auction purchase on e-bay while visiting my brother in Billericay. It was a headphone mixer/amplifier IIRC, nothing special or elaborate. The seller seemed a straight up guy and gave me his address and local landmarks to guide me there, since the place had a name rather than a number. I eventually found this rather swish place deep in the countryside north of Braintree with about 5 classic BMW's on the gravel turn around in front of the house. Rang the door knocker, and there is one Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel fame. Really down-to-earth guy, well used to handling folks stumbling with the opening line: "I'm sure I recognise you.......". Had a really nice exchange over a whole range of topics, although most ended up on his favourite subject of the day (classic BMW's). 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
police squad Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 I sold a custom shop flying V on ebay to a guy with no feedback. So before I accepted his offer I checked with him. It was Ben Grandfeld from Wishbone Ash. Last year I moved house and a chap with long hair, well spoken, Italian wife came to view. Oh you're a musician he says. We chatted a bit and I said what sort of stuff do you play then, Well, he said, I was in Jethro Tull for 10 years, did a stint with Take That and was with Gary Moore for the last 10 or so years. Jonathan Noyce. Lovely bloke but didn't buy the house 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 I sold a guitar (Gibson SG) earlier this year to a guy whose brother was the guitarist in Edison Lighthouse. Given that I absolutely loved Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes when I was a kid I was rather chuffed. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lozz196 Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 Oh yeah, and thinking about it a few years back I wanted a cheapie backup bass that could sit in its gigbag, one I wouldn’t be too concerned over but would be ok if needed. Found a Squier P on the bay, bought it now, then arranged with the seller to pick it up. He said he’d be out but he’d left instructions with his mum to do the handover. I knocked on the door, it opened, and my old friend from work who I hadn’t seen for 20 years was standing there. 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meterman Posted July 5, 2022 Share Posted July 5, 2022 About 15-16 years ago I bought a 1990’s Danelectro 59 guitar from the bassist of The Selecter. He absolutely insisted we did the deal in the McDonalds at the top of Oxford Street by the Virgin Megastore, which was a first for me, but for all I knew that’s where folks sold their unwanted instruments all the time. Anyhow while we were in there I asked him if he wanted to get anything to eat or drink and he said “nah, not my thing” so we did the deal and both went our separate ways. Weird! Couple of years later I used the guitar on a session where the drummer from The Selecter was on kit duties and he said it was typical oddball behaviour from him. Never once thought to ask the bassist why it had to be McD’s at the time, and I’ll never know now either. Great guitar though, and he did me a good deal on it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebob Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 I bought a guitar practice amp from Glenn Tilbrook out of Squeeze in the 90s. Had no idea it was him until I saw his flight cases with his name on, and then it clicked (I'm not a Squeeze fan...) Very nice chap, though. Tried to flog me an acoustic 6-string as well IIRC. He had stuff advertised on the wall of a local, independent rural supermarket - same place, in fact, where Linda Mcartney had stopped in the car park to let me cross some years before! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted July 6, 2022 Author Share Posted July 6, 2022 3 minutes ago, spongebob said: I bought a guitar practice amp from Glenn Tilbrook out of Squeeze in the 90s. Had no idea it was him until I saw his flight cases with his name on, and then it clicked (I'm not a Squeeze fan...) Very nice chap, though. Tried to flog me an acoustic 6-string as well IIRC. He had stuff advertised on the wall of a local, independent rural supermarket - same place, in fact, where Linda Mcartney had stopped in the car park to let me cross some years before! If Linda had joined Squeeze, it might have saved the world from Jools Holland!😂 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 On 05/07/2022 at 13:02, BlueMoon said: I made a spontaneous auction purchase on e-bay while visiting my brother in Billericay. It was a headphone mixer/amplifier IIRC, nothing special or elaborate. The seller seemed a straight up guy and gave me his address and local landmarks to guide me there, since the place had a name rather than a number. I eventually found this rather swish place deep in the countryside north of Braintree with about 5 classic BMW's on the gravel turn around in front of the house. Rang the door knocker, and there is one Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel fame. Really down-to-earth guy, well used to handling folks stumbling with the opening line: "I'm sure I recognise you.......". Had a really nice exchange over a whole range of topics, although most ended up on his favourite subject of the day (classic BMW's). Nice guy. Race horse ownership was the subject of the day when I met him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted July 7, 2022 Author Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Mykesbass said: Nice guy. Race horse ownership was the subject of the day when I met him. Did you make him smile, Mike - yay or neigh? 🐎 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 31 minutes ago, Mickeyboro said: Did you make him smile, Mike - yay or neigh? 🐎 I think it was the red wine that did that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tdw Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 I bought an ovation magnum about 10 years ago off a cool hippyish guy. He demo'd it by first selecting just the neck pickup (huge quad coil right at the neck) turning down the tone knob fully and then turning the bottom half of his trace 12 band graphic up full and the top half completely down and thrashing the low notes. He then selected just the bridge pick up (placed right at the bridge )turned tone fully up, set the lower half of the graphic to the bottom and dimed the top half. He then thrashed the highest notes on the bass. It sounded like an earthquake followed by an accident in a glass factory. actually an awesome bass. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted July 7, 2022 Share Posted July 7, 2022 (edited) I sold a blue Ric 4003S a few years back to a lovely chap who lived out past Cardiff. We agreed to meet at one of the service on the M4 to hand it over. He was telling me that having recently lost his cherished blue 4003 while touring the US (fortunately recovered) he wanted to buy a spare to use for overseas tours in case it happened again. Turned out it was Paul Gray from Eddie and the Hotrods/ The Damned. Nice guy. He said he was going to use the bass the following day for a gig in Bath/Bristol (can't remember) but my friend was going to it and told me she'd take a pic for me. He was true to his word so I'm glad it went to a good home 😊 Edited July 8, 2022 by Old Horse Murphy 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 I recently sold my beloved 1960’s Marshall 18 watt combo to a UK vintage dealer. It was shipped to Australia and then on to Hawaii to it’s new owner, Kirk Hammett. ( I was promised some footage of Kirk playing the Peter Green Les Paul through it, but not received anything yet.) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted July 8, 2022 Author Share Posted July 8, 2022 45 minutes ago, casapete said: I recently sold my beloved 1960’s Marshall 18 watt combo to a UK vintage dealer. It was shipped to Australia and then on to Hawaii to it’s new owner, Kirk Hammett. ( I was promised some footage of Kirk playing the Peter Green Les Paul through it, but not received anything yet.) Good god, Pete, beat that… All i can offer is interviewing Gary Moore on the phone some months after he did the dirty deed. My mag had taken him to task and I was told if I mentioned it the phone would go down…😂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted July 8, 2022 Share Posted July 8, 2022 14 minutes ago, Mickeyboro said: Good god, Pete, beat that… All i can offer is interviewing Gary Moore on the phone some months after he did the dirty deed. My mag had taken him to task and I was told if I mentioned it the phone would go down…😂 Funnily enough Mick, a number of years ago a friend of mine rang to ask me if I wanted to part with the Marshall amp, to which I replied that I didn’t. He then said I should consider it, as it was Gary Moore wanting to buy one, having used a rented or borrowed model on his ‘Still got the blues’ album. Anyway, I declined, and only decided to relinquish the amp following Covid and moving house. Will no doubt regret selling it, but having owned it for 45 years (and not being a great guitarist!) thought it was the right time to move it on. Glad it went to such a notable player too. 😊 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrycreed Posted August 11, 2022 Share Posted August 11, 2022 Bought an SG bass off the Cranberries drummer a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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