The coolest thing you ever picked up at a Garage sale?

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THIS:...

IS ELVIS!

$2 -as I posted above.;)
 

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" The first album that had a 3D cover on it. Can't remember the name of the band now.

Bought it because I liked the 3D effect.

Cost a dollar. Had it appraised along with some other stuff I had and found out it's worth about $600.00 to serious collectors.

I actually like the band just can't remember there name now."


David Artis
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Was it Captain Beefheart??


:)
 
Crumar Performer synth and Faemi 2, absolutely different sounds from anything I've heard!
 
I had to really think about this, as I have found some eye-poppingly sweet deals at garage sales, but the coolist may have been a '68 Mosrite Celebrity 12-string. Really, the cool factor on this one was off the charts...

I lived in New Orleans at the time (about as cool a city you might ever find) and one Saturday morning, I was out garage sale shopping. Stopped in at a house in Gentilly, near City Park, being run by a wizzened, old black woman (cool factor #2.) I didn't see anything I liked, but I asked her if she had any guitars. In an old black southern New Orleans woman voice, she said (and I am not making this up) "I does have an old hand-made guitar up in the attic..." (attic spelunking- cool factor #3.) Her attic was short- I could crawl around on my hands and knees, but that was about it. While I am looking for it, she's saying "It was left here by an old man, he used to carry it with him to the 'Quarter and play it on the street..." (old guy was probably boinking this woman, disappeared without any explanation, played the guitar on street corners, for money, in New Orleans' French Quarter- cool factors #4,5,6,7,8)... "I calls it Willie, 'cause that was his name..." CF #9 & 10- the guitar has a name it got "honestly," and CF #11- she has fond memories of the old guy.)

I finally found it, and dragged it down stairs. An honest-to-gosh '68 Mostrite 12-string. I had never seen one before, and didn't know anything about the make- but I could tell this was a cool guitar. But Willie had decided to refinish it, and HAD TAKEN A HOUSE ORBITAL SANDER TO THE POOR THING. All the wood on the body was down to bare wood, with some pretty deep gouges from the rough sanding. But, it was all there, including the original hard-shell case. I paid her $15 and brought it home.

I reverently set it on my work bench, and just looked at it for about half an hour, just communing with it and soaking in it's nearly overwhelming mojo. The internet was not what it is now (this was about '98 or '99) but I was able to learn much about it. I finally took it apart, and carefully sanded the wood smooth, hoping none of the gouges went through the outer-most layer of the 3-ply wood. I got lucky- only place it went through was on the top, and that one spot would be covered by the pick guard. Or, maybe it was not luck- maybe it's mojo had protected it- VooDoo can do that. Celebrity 12's were most often finished in either Cherry or 'burst, with some being blond. This one was most likely burst (there was overspray left on the inside, behind the pickup holes.)

But then, I got overwhelmed. I had never refinished a guitar before, and I wanted to return it to it's sunburst finish. Must have been about 5 or 6 times, I put it back on my bench, and just stared at it. I could not bring myself to go on, for fear the top layer of ply was too thin to take re-sanding if I screwed up the refinish. I finally sold it for several hundred dollars right before I moved to Atlanta-
maybe it was best it stayed in New Orleans- Atlanta probably could have not taken all that cool all at once.
 
cool story! all I ever found was a Boss Chorus pedal sometime in the mid-90s. still use it tho.

I found a Slingerland 4 string banjo, too, but the neck is coming apart fom the body. I think it's from the 40s or 50s, but I can't be sure. it might be worth some cash, but I'll never fix it sooo....
 
That 'jo should not be hard to fix, dickens. Some wood glue, clamps and make some "cauls" out of 2X4's that are "negatives" of the parts you are clamping and you should be good to go. Of course, you could just go dirty and use wood screws...
 
yea. it doesn't look like too tough of a job, but the thing just feels so damn FRAGILE! I'm afraid it would crumble to dust if I look at it wrong. wanna buy a banjo? :D
 
Already got one- a Harmony Tenor, which is the same as yours, just different name on the headstock.
 
Picked up a NAD reciever, amp, CD player and a pair of JBL LX7's for $40. Also a early 60's Silvertone amp built into a guitar case for $5.
 
Also a early 60's Silvertone amp built into a guitar case for $5.

images


i've owned two of those danelectro made silvertones with the amp in the case :)
one was my very first electric. i got it from my friend's dad who gave it to me for sorting scrap metal in his back yard when i was 12. the top cutaway was sawed off so he could play it left-handed. i cant even remember what happened to it.

i got another one (minty) in the early 90s out of nostalgia and ended up pawning it a couple years later for dope money. oops.
 
Not at a garage sale but it my town dump I found an old Rogers snare drum with only a 4 digit serial number! Next to mint condition at that.
 
A cassette case filled with 24 TDK MA-XG's still sealed new in wrapper. $5.00
 
Midas Venice 24 ch with 5 channels dead. Bought it for $100 and sold it for $1100
 
I am not bragging or ragging, and there are some great deals reported in this thread- but I really think that my score, while not the biggest money-maker, was the coolest, so far.
 
I picked up a couple pair of Sony MDR-V900 Headphones for $15 last year at a garage sale in Havasu. Guy had a studio out back, said he needed to de-clutter.:p

Found out later they go for over $200 street!:eek:

@Stevieb, yep, coolest and most well written story for sure.
 
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