Bargin shopping

[mandodebbie]

Is it just me, or does anybody else out there buy their music (or even instruments!) at yard sales and flea markets? I 've just bought a whole schwack of music books (mostly for piano and organ) at my local Minnonite Thrift shop. I'm in Laurence Welk heaven! This is really neat old music. Now, if only I could find some bluegrass or old time-type music books... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[mad dawg]

I alway have an eye out for music instruments when I drive by garage sales or walk-through flea markets. So far I have not purhcased anything in such a venue, and the only mandolin I have ever seen in these places was an old no-name bowl-back with a warped neck.

[John Rosett]

this glorious thing that we call the internet has pretty much ended the days of finding nice old instruments for cheap. my first mandolin was a beautiful blonde stradolin that i got at a junk store for $35. my guitar is a '46 gibson sj that a friend bought at a yard sale for $100, but that was 12 years ago.
i'm sure that every once in a while some one gets a great deal on an instrument, but it's alot rarer. heck, i bought an old fender double 8 pedal steel at a pawn shop yesterday for $20o. - but it needs work.
john

[jim simpson]

I still scour the yard sales and flea markets for instruments. A recent find was an Ampeg 50 watt tube amp for $135.00 - it works great, a Guild 12-string for $100, a Peavy Classic 2 -12" tube amp for $20.00, a National Steel resonator mandolin for $40.00, at auction a 30's National Steel style 0 for $15.00, at a pawnshop a Gibson Melody Maker for $150.00, that's all I can think of right now but it is true that the Ebay has slowed things down a little or raised the prices some folks ask.

[evanreilly]

Bill Monroe used to stop at Yard Sales all the time.

[tofuhippo]

I always check the yard sales, i found an Arthur Godfrey Martin baritone Uke for 30 bucks, and traded it in at Elderly for a nice chunk of change to fund my 1st mandolin.

[Rex]

My first mandolin was an old Kay archtop made entirely out of birdseye maple that my Mom found at a yard sale for $15. That happened about 15 years ago.

[Fred_Murtz]

My mom picked up a 1955 Gibson BR9 lap steel w/ case for $5 at an estate sale.

[JanJan]

Well, if you're in Massachusetts on August 14, find your way to Byfield. At my yard sale there, I'll be selling (hopefully) a Juzek fiddle, a junker banjo (!), and an '88 Flatiron Festival A mando. Not to mention a whole lot of junk!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

O yea just recently we were at a yard sale and i got a brand new mandolin in great shape. Yea you can fine all sorts of music at yard sales and pawn shops!

[mandodebbie]

Gee, now I don't feel so cheap and stingy...er... frugal. Just remember, someone else once bought this stuff brand new. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[levin4now]

Frugality is very respectable I think. No use living above your means. Frank Wakefield's F5 - he found it in the garbage with a broken neck I believe. Great story at the end of the Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza CD.

[mrbook]

My best guitar-playing friend has a couple Martins, a couple Guilds, a new J-200, and a few other good guitars, but is really in heaven when he buys 7 guitars for $100 at a flea market. He once came by with a decent Kay mandolin which only needed a little adjustment to be playable, and which made a Kay collector (they are out there) quite happy. I give him a hard time about his acquisitions (probably not as hard as his wife), but then he takes them to local music stores and gets more in cash or trade than I can ever believe. I have found a few instruments at garage and estate sales, but over the years have upgraded and moved them out. Always worth a look, though.

[odeman]

The market for vintage instruments has become so huge and more people are so savvy about collectibles that I have had absolutely NO luck at yard sales or flea markets. The timing must have to be perfect. I spent decades hitting these places hoping to find that beat up old Gibson F-5 for $200 - nothing. However, my first or 8 ukuleles was at a commercial flea market for $20 - a German mahogany BRUKO. A friend of mine called me about an Ovation guitar at a neighborhood garage sale for $200. There must be stuff out there, but I've just about given up that dream of personally finding it.

[mrbook]

The chances of finding the $10 F-5 are small, partly because everyone knows the big names like Gibson, Martin, etc., but also because most households with good old things were often broken up 10-15 years ago, and many current garage sales are filled with baby clothes and things that came from Walmart during the previous couple years. Not very interesting stuff, but if your interests are wide-ranging - instruments, sheet music, books, records, etc. - you are likely to be rewarded. Instrument repairmen and dealers who travel around a lot continue to find good things - the more you are out there, the more likely you are to find something.