smurfco
Meatus McPrepuce
This is my third time going and it's always so much fun. They host it at the Saxon Pub (bar next door with a nice stage) and bring in an actual licensed auctioneer who does the whole fast talking thing. So fun! Each year there are about 80 items they auction off ranging across a wide price spectrum. Some stuff gets into bidding war type territory but most stuff goes for the opening bid or maybe a bid or two above it. And the opening bids are usually pretty low!
They send the list of items out a week or so in advance and I brick up when I see that list hit my e-mail inbox. This year there were a few things that caught my eye, but the main one was a Gibson J-160E, the same style John Lennon played (but not the official John Lennon model). There were a few other interesting things but that was the one that caught my eye. New they're around $4,000 and this one had been on sale in their shop for $3,000. The opening bid was $1,500. Apparently this one other guy wanted it also. I had set my limit at $2,000 but once we started going back and forth I got into it and wound up winning it for $2,300 (tax included)
Not an insane deal but a very good price given the condition (it's a 2019 model in very good / excellent shape).
The second thing I got was a 1995 Music Man Stingray, in black/maple configuration. The opening bid was $1,250 - it's probably worth around $1,500 - $1,600. So the guy is like "do I hear $1,250? do I hear $1,250?" after maybe ten or fifteen seconds I realized no one else was going to bid on it and I thought, shit, why not? I can sell it and make some money, or if I like it better than the Stingray I've already got I can keep it and sell that one. So I raised my paddle to the SKY and I bought that fucker too.
Both are now home and set up. I have some Pyramid flats on the way for the J-160E. This one is actually built like the originals with the thick top and ladder bracing. It sounds nice acoustically but it's really intended to be played through an electric amp as if it were an electric guitar (it has a P-90 and no piezo style electronics). I'm excited to record with it. The Stingray set up great and it sounds fantastic. It's a bit on the heavy side though, 9.5lbs (my other one is a few oz under 9 lbs.)
All in all it was another super fun day! If you're ever in Austin in July you should def go.
They send the list of items out a week or so in advance and I brick up when I see that list hit my e-mail inbox. This year there were a few things that caught my eye, but the main one was a Gibson J-160E, the same style John Lennon played (but not the official John Lennon model). There were a few other interesting things but that was the one that caught my eye. New they're around $4,000 and this one had been on sale in their shop for $3,000. The opening bid was $1,500. Apparently this one other guy wanted it also. I had set my limit at $2,000 but once we started going back and forth I got into it and wound up winning it for $2,300 (tax included)
Not an insane deal but a very good price given the condition (it's a 2019 model in very good / excellent shape).The second thing I got was a 1995 Music Man Stingray, in black/maple configuration. The opening bid was $1,250 - it's probably worth around $1,500 - $1,600. So the guy is like "do I hear $1,250? do I hear $1,250?" after maybe ten or fifteen seconds I realized no one else was going to bid on it and I thought, shit, why not? I can sell it and make some money, or if I like it better than the Stingray I've already got I can keep it and sell that one. So I raised my paddle to the SKY and I bought that fucker too.
Both are now home and set up. I have some Pyramid flats on the way for the J-160E. This one is actually built like the originals with the thick top and ladder bracing. It sounds nice acoustically but it's really intended to be played through an electric amp as if it were an electric guitar (it has a P-90 and no piezo style electronics). I'm excited to record with it. The Stingray set up great and it sounds fantastic. It's a bit on the heavy side though, 9.5lbs (my other one is a few oz under 9 lbs.)
All in all it was another super fun day! If you're ever in Austin in July you should def go.
