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They ARE still out there


nickjwill

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My job takes me all over Central Florida and when I have time I'll drop into pawn shops to have a quick look. Over the course of 10 years I have found that there are only a handful of shops that consistently cough up good deals. One of those in the handful happens to be the closest to where I live. Since 2002, at this pawn shop I found & took home numerous items including a 1965 Gibson J-50 adj for $800 a Kramer aluminum neck XL8 8 string bass for $150.

 

Last Wednesday I walked in there with my wife and scanned the guitars on the wall and my eyes zeroed in on the Gibson head stock amongst the Squiers, Behreingers & Estebans. Heart starts beating a little faster. OK it's an acoustic but kinda beat up, Teardrop pick guard. Heart rate increasing. Only 2 severely deteriorated tuned buttons. Heart starts skipping now. Where's the price tag? Found it! Says $399.99. Even with the heart palpatations I locked my hand on the neck and dispatched wife to summon a sales clerk.(it had the alarm attached and I was not letting go of the neck) Turns out to be a (I Think)48 49 50 J-50. I didn't dare dicker on the price and walked out with it for $427

 

My new (old) J-50 needs tuner buttons, Bridge re-glued, has a belly below & dip in front of bridge a few nicks lots of finish checking shrunken pick guard and NO cracks. Strings that were on were black from oxidation suggesting it sat unused a long time. Action a little high but plays and sounds nice as it is. Tuner buttons will be here tomorrow and it's going in for repairs soon after they are installed.

 

Not sure of the year. It has a rectangular bridge and FON is 605 and -31 in red. Any help dating it is appreciated.

 

Keep looking. Deals ARE still out there. Thanks for taking time. Nick

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I agree in regards to finding good deals at pawn shops---they're typically rare. There are the proverbial stories of finding great guitars for $35-$40. The legendary "pawn shop guitar." For the most part they're stories, but my cousin has a Yamaha CG120-130 or something folk guitar that he bought at a pawn years ago and it still plays very nicely. Decent little guitar, and he paid some $25 for it. He's had the guitar since the early 90's. It was scratched-up and it might have only been worth $100 or so new, but it's a good little guitar to have sitting on the sofa.. Just be aware of what you're buying.

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Hmmm. Hard to tell what you got. The FON does not work for a J-50 as the 6XX dates the guitar to the mid-1930s before the J-50 came into being. The two following two digits in red though generally indicate a wartime guitar but the J-50 was not introduced until after WWII.

 

Posting pics would help a great deal.

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Very nice...... ....... you lucky s.o.b. [thumbup] Looks to be in pretty good shape, no adjustable saddle either.....sweet.

 

One like that came up on my local CL for $275...... got snapped up in about 15mins....I noticed it 20 mins after it was posted, missed it by 5 mins ......doh!!

 

It is good to know that they are still out there............Enjoy [biggrin]

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My cousin's husband owned a pawn shop in Cleveland. I recall buying Fenders, Gibsons, and even a Gurian there over the years during the 70's and 60's. Most of all, I remember and episode that took place around 1978. He showed me to a back room where there were at least thirty golden era Gibson archtops. He collected them for a music dealer from Michigan came through town once a year. He offered to sell me whatever I wanted for $100.00 each, but I was a poor struggling working stiff with young children, alas.

 

Things are different today. His son owns the shop now, and, like most folks in that business, is very aware of ebay and the internet in general. National customer base and more awareness in general of true market value.

 

I wish I still had the J45 I bought there and that Gurian!! I used to sell instruments during tough times and there were more than a few.

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That's a phenomonal deal for a crack-free J-50. I don't have a lot of good pawn shops around me, so it's rare that I can't find good deals like this anywhere. Congrats on a great find, You can get replacement tuner buttons from StewMac. The FON is an odd one. Seems to date to 1947, but the logo is wrong for a '47, so I think you're probably looking at a 1948 guitar.

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Whew! i sure don't like pawn shops..

I grew up in Jamaica Queens (NY) on Hillside Ave across Sutphin Blvd..

The Pawn shops had either things people were giving up out of desperation & giving nothing for them, & a lot of things that were stolen.

My two best friends who I learned guitar from got/gave guitars there ,from which I ended up with one that I learned on..a Univox Les Paul..till I got my 57'Les Paul Jr two years later in the Village (NY).

 

Anyway there were two Pawn Shops on Sutphin Blvd in the early 70's,one of which stuck around & may still be there.

My brother (a lefty) is a big Tony Iommi fan...he goes in there one day...looks up and say's ..that looks familiar...

This was in the early 90's..it was the B.C.Rich Tony Iommi used in his instructional video (Star Licks or something) with the inlayed crosses on the fingerboard.

He bought it of course..somehow he wrote a letter to Mr.Iommi telling him he had it,..and my brother offered it to him after finding out it was stolen..to which he wrote back thanking him

& that it was ok.

What an incredible coincidence to come across that guitar..on Sutphin Blvd..in Jamaica Queens.

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