Posted on 09.23.2003 @ 16:10:38 PDT
by
admin
Little message board blurb I found about Pawn Shops on the Bottom Line website. A little inside scoop about getting music equipment or anything at Pawn Shops....
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 1999 09:35:07 -0500
From: "JP"
Subject: pawn this/but why bother?
Re Pawn shops:
Here in my little city state of Chicago (pop: 10m+) the only "deals" at pawn
shops happen like this here:
A guy that has a deal with one of the shops gets first crack at anything
that comes in, including all hot stuff (as in stolen). This person "helps"
the owner by telling him what the piece is worth on the street, and hooking
him oup with various "alternative" ways to ditch a piece..someone he knows
is looking for it, or one of the various dealers he knows can move it
sideways. You, MR CONSUMER, will never see this piece "on display". This is
the norm for doing biz in cities these days. And despite the effort to clean
up the image of shops..there be a lot of stolen stuff that goes through
these places. You think it's going to be displayed so you can have a lucky
find? Might as well cut out the middle man and pay a crack head to steal
something for you. Much cheaper.
There are also the semi legit chain store pawn shops hooked into networks
who use the Orion blue book for values. The book is usually hideously off. I
was having a little chat with a friend who works at a store yesterday re the
value of a 40's L-4 someone had for sale. The Orion book lists 12-15K. Walk
into a store unsuspecting of the value, or try to pawn it and you'd be lucky
to see $500. You might be able to find something good, but there are too
many guitar pimps who make their living hustling.
But with the big manufacturers remaking all the crappy things they couldn't
give away 15 years ago, why bother going to a pawn shop? want an ebo in gold
sparkle? Guitar Center..Epiphone.."cheap" too. This of course has nothing to
do with tone or sound or innovation or craftsmanship, merely with musical
instruments as a commodity. It's been said time and again here, and it's
true, especially in regards to bass guitars, the newer things from people
who have dedicated their lives to the art and science of luthiery are the
best instruments ever. If you know where to look, and have the ears to hear
it when you get there, you'll also find these instruments are great deals
compared to the over inflated prices for 70's vintage crap.
I am starting to really feel sorry for the younger guys on this list who
think that $1000 for a 78 p bass is a real find, and that these things sound
great..when for a little bit more they could be playing a real bass that
blows away a piece of shit like that. Sometimes the older folks (and I
include myself in this, as my rantings on danos were in this cat, though I
have changed my tune) perpetuate this nonsense.
I know the great attraction to stuff that you couldn't have when you was14
will always be there, but before you offer an opinion of how great these
things are, and go building the great mystique wall of voodoo around them,
please consider our "younger, more sensitive viewers", who may take what you
say about a piece of garbage at face value.
jp
