Musicians - what is the one piece of gear that "got away".

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But in my mind it was an authentic Gibson that they were selling for $300 and I drove right on by

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Damn. Ive had alot of experiences walking into guitar shops and coming across used guitars with a very tempting price tag but just couldnt justify spending the money on at the time. Came across a 72 Les Paul Custom for $1500 about 7-8 years ago that I still think about.

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Yeah, vintage guitars are so overvalued now that even the good deals are well into 4 figures. I have a '74 Strat that I paid a couple hundred for in 1978 and it's now worth about two grand. When I bought it, pre-CBS Strats were selling for thousands but you couldn't give one away if it was built in the '70s.

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Same here, I have a 70s CBS strat that I bought in 79, glad I still have it, but it is only because its value has remained so depressed, tried to sell it once in 1983 for $350.00, and got no takers.

The one that got away was my 1965 blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb, bought it in 1973 for $300.00, sold it in 1983 for $400.00, today they run $2500.00-3500.00.

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The one that got away was my 1965 blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb, bought it in 1973 for $300.00, sold it in 1983 for $400.00, today they run $2500.00-3500.00.

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Oh man, that's a nice amp. I have a '66 blackface Princeton that I bought with that '74 Strat. Both together cost me $375 I think it was, from Specialty Sound in Monroe. The Princeton has no bells & whistles other than tremolo, single channel, no reverb, no master gain and even that is going for 8 or 9 hundred these days I believe. Technically it's post-CBS but they used up the inventory of parts before they switched over to the silverface design.

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I believe the silverface Princeton and deluxe amps retained the same circuits as the blackface designs

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It was the same AA964 circuit until about 1971 and then they changed to the AA1270 circuit.

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The one that got away was my 1965 blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb, bought it in 1973 for $300.00, sold it in 1983 for $400.00, today they run $2500.00-3500.00.

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I bought a 1963 Deluxe Reverb (with pedal) at a pawn shop in the early 80s for $250.00. I was offered $3,000 for it last year. I'll never sell it (my kids most probably will!!!).

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72 Les Paul Custom for $1500 about 7-8 years ago that I still think about

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A guitar like that in great condition is worth that price, but, that is really not that great of a deal.

1972 is a few years into the Norlin Era of Gibson, and, those Les Pauls are not highly collectible, if at all collectible.

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I bought a 1963 Deluxe Reverb (with pedal) at a pawn shop in the early 80s for $250.00. I was offered $3,000 for it last year. I'll never sell it (my kids most probably will!!!).

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I have a long list of Pawn shop prizes I wish I could have bought,the short list would be,

More Fender Bassman heads than I can remember that were plentiful in the 1970s to mid 80s for $75.00 each.

60s telecaster in a shop for $125.00 in 1973

69 Les Paul Custom for $395.00 in 1977

60s Gibson ES340 $375.00 in 1981.

A 1979 Tokai Les Paul Reborn. It was a gold top with a dark back, and the nitro finish had naturally aged beautifully. Thought it was too expensive at the time, but in hindsight it was a bargain, and I will probably never come across one again.

For those that don't know, These guitars were Japanese made, meticulous replicas of 1959 Les Paul standards. They were only made for a few years before Gibson sued them. They are amazing guitars, and some claim they are as good as the originals they are copies of. They used to be quite cheap but have since skyrocketed in value now that people know about them.

I find it almost impossible to sell my gear.