Jump to content

Gear you had, but lost, and miss dearly


Recommended Posts

My old rehearsal space was in a basement that suffered an awful flood. While my guitar was sealed in its case and floating on top of the water and I was thankfully able to salvage my amp once we got it dried out, I lost this:

20100717_956960.jpg

So hard to find another one from that era for anything close to affordable. I didn't use it all the time, but for certain things, it was perfect. And its sound is inimitable.

:(

Link to post
Share on other sites

I wish I still had my Traynor YCV20 amp.  I sold it (and a bunch of other stuff) a few years ago because I was moving to a smaller house.  I wish I had sold my Fender Deluxe Reverb instead,  The Fender Is a nicer amp, but I preferred the sound of the Traynor.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I wish I still had my Traynor YCV20 amp.  I sold it (and a bunch of other stuff) a few years ago because I was moving to a smaller house.  I wish I had sold my Fender Deluxe Reverb instead,  The Fender Is a nicer amp, but I preferred the sound of the Traynor.

I had an old Traynor, too! This one:

45292811_614.jpg

But I couldn't get any power out of the damn thing. Took it to a couple of different places to get looked at, but nobody knew what to do. So, finally, I traded it in at a music shop down by where I went to school in Southern Illinois. Got a piece of shit mid-80s Peavy that I really hated.

A couple of months later, one of my bandmates went to the same shop, saw my old amp and asked about it. The shop owner said that it wasn't for sale. Told him that it turned out to be a $35 dollar repair and it was the best-sounding amp he'd ever heard.

FUCK!

Link to post
Share on other sites

I had an old Traynor, too! This one:

45292811_614.jpg

But I couldn't get any power out of the damn thing. Took it to a couple of different places to get looked at, but nobody knew what to do. So, finally, I traded it in at a music shop down by where I went to school in Southern Illinois. Got a piece of shit mid-80s Peavy that I really hated.

A couple of months later, one of my bandmates went to the same shop, saw my old amp and asked about it. The shop owner said that it wasn't for sale. Told him that it turned out to be a $35 dollar repair and it was the best-sounding amp he'd ever heard.

FUCK!

 

Did you take it to Golden Frets? Use to go play guitars there all the time - don't think I ever bought anything there, except strings.

 

I use to have a Fender Bassman amplifier head and Kustom speaker cabinet  - it was at my friend's basement who was killed in a motorcycle accident - didn't really want to go back over to his house to grab it after his death - mostly because I wasn't particularly fond of his roommates.

Link to post
Share on other sites

First amp I ever played through was an old Traynor amp the drummer of my first band let me use. Ha, just found a picture of one:

 

P3180209-1.jpg

 

After a few months using that, I bought a Peavey Backstage Plus, which I had for a few years. Eventually I had to get a bigger amp as the gigs got bigger.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Did you take it to Golden Frets? Use to go play guitars there all the time - don't think I ever bought anything there, except strings.

 

I use to have a Fender Bassman amplifier head and Kustom speaker cabinet  - it was at my friend's basement who was killed in a motorcycle accident - didn't really want to go back over to his house to grab it after his death - mostly because I wasn't particularly fond of his roommates.

No, and not Bayase in Marion either. It was some place out in Murphysboro, I think.

Although I did buy a banjo from Golden Frets and took my acoustic guitar there for setups and whatnot.

Link to post
Share on other sites

i came upon a 1967 Grestch Champagne sparkle club kit. FOR FREE. Really needed to be polished up, new heads, and a couple other things. I didnt have the money at the time to get it in working order plus I really needed money to get rid of some debt/be able to actually live so i sold it to my friends dad who made it look wicked nice. I hate to live with regrets but I definitely regret that move. If i could I'd go back in time and smack myself in the face for even thinking of selling it

Link to post
Share on other sites

When I left NYC in the Summer of 2000... the Mets & Yanks ended up in the first all NYC subway series in over 4 decades... The Mekons finally did their "Club Mekon" residency (played 3 dates highlighting various aspects of their career @ CBGB's, Bowery Ballroom & Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ)...and...

After lightning struck & I ended up losing both my sublet & job in the same week I ended up back at my mom's house (with my younger brother, who had never left) & promptly injured my left arm. I thought I'd end up on disability (as the injury lasted over 2 debilitating years.)- couldn't play guitar, do yoga, etc.- looked good in jacket, but the left arm was useless for any activity. It was saved by acupuncture, eventually.

So I did a deep meditation & ended in calm resolve that I was selling all my musical instruments. During the meditation there were a couple clear things-
a) that I wouldn't be in a position to be playing much for the next few years (injury, then deepest immersion in Shamanism & so much so that the music used by the Shipibo-Conibo tribe had me relating to sound itself in a very different way for years to come...then grad school for 3 years- all of this amidst lots of silence, stillness, solitude & celibacy)...
...&... that, when it was time again, I'd know & these things would come back to me.

While everything & way more did, eventually, come back to me... that wasn't before things got worse. The place I sold almost everything through went bankrupt. They were good to their word, though it took them about 3 years to get back up & fully pay me off (Bravo & Viva Main Drag Music from Brooklyn, NY- started by a Buffalonian)- so I was left pretty destitute with my nest egg, last line of emergency financial defense gone. The place that sold the Rick were bastards about finally paying me out (won't mention the name, long since closed guitar store from St. Marks Place in NYC) & the last thing to go was the old Martin...sigh...but I love the ones I have now even more!!! So it's a very, very happy ending really!!

What I jettisoned (which, believe me was a leap of faith & then some, but, I was sure & it was the right thing to do, at the time, but look at that list & try not saying "ouch" out loud...)...
1982 '57 Reissue Fender Stratocaster
1965 Fender Jazzmaster (refinished in Silver Sparkle with Japanese Re-issue 1988 Jazzmaster neck)
1966 Rickenbacker 360-12 (Mapleglo, but with a break in the neck near the headstock that forced me to have it re-repaired 3 times... a total cursed guitar for me...but beautiful)
1961 Martin D-18
1972 Fender Deluxe Reverb Amp
1990's Fender Jazz Bass
1970's/80's Fender Rhodes Electric Piano
Tama Drums
 

I haven't yet bought any drums or keyboards (waiting for more permanent housing to happen), but...I have gotten back to music & far more musical equipment than this has ended up coming my way. Again, it was a meditation where I knew it was now time to go out & gather the instruments to make music again.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Ouch (out loud).

 

 

But it sounds like there was a happy ending, so, that's good.

Thanks for the supportive "Ouch (out loud)". Oddly though, when that whole ship went down, I was quite calm & clear about it. It hurt & was bittersweet, but I knew it was the right thing at the right time. And, as you noted it was a very, very happy ending... :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...