I'm such a pack rat that I rarely (read that, NEVER) decide to sell anything (thus the 300 plus guitars), but I have decided to build a youth center here in Lexington, where kids can learn music and work towards earning an instrument. To raise the funds (you REALLY don't want to know how much), I'm cutting the size of my collection; keeping the really neat stuff and donating some to the center; selling the rest.

As a trial (and to see if I can survive the separation anxiety),I had my son put up three old pieces of Peavey gear, and all three sold within 3 hours. The stuff was pristine, but 20 years old. (A 400 watt Mark IV head, a 15-16 cabinet...2 8's and one 15...a 4-10 cabinet.

These pieces had been played on a 6 month 4 night house gig in 1991; then stored, with no damage.

I priced the stuff at $150.00 for each piece or the head and one cabinet for $275.00.

Questions: * Do you have good luck on Craigs list?
* Was my pricing right?
(They're still up-pick-up is scheduled for
tomorrow-posted on 10/11).Take a look to
see what you would do to improve the
posting, if you hve a minute).

I used Craig's list because of the problems with shipping big, old amplifiers.

The old Fenders and collectable guitars will be a different matter. When it's over, I hope to be down to:
* 40 guitars
* 10 basses
* 2 PA's
* 10 Keyboards
* 10 miscellaneous instruments (double neck mandolins,
Sitars, etc).

All funds raised will go to the center I'm building (having architectural drawings finished next week for presentation to the city council) and to the Habitat project in New Orleans,
dedicated to retired/disadvantaged musicians.

You folks who buy, trade sell all the time....any advice for a "nubie"?

As you can probably tell, getting rid of my "stash" is a hard thing for me to do, even though it is for a GREAT cause, or causes.

If it weren't for that, I couldn't part with a single piece. To this date, I've given guitars to three deserving players, sold one to Bill (Semilive) and willed some to three long-time friends (several from Synthzone). That's it!

HELP!

Russ (pack rat supreme) Lay

Hey, what's that saying..."You can never have too many guitars.!" A guy I work with in Yamaha has over 50...all brands, some even with double necks.

What keyboards are you selling, Russ?

It's tough letting go, especially if the equipment has a history with you.

Ian

Right now, I only have a C-3, an old B-3 in need of repairs and a Midjay for sale. I think the B-3 is sold. I'm looking for a broker to sell all this stuff. It would take too long to piece it all out, except for the amps, which are hard to ship.

Actually, at 50% of the retail value, I'd still clear enough for my two projects.

There is an old Clavinove (65, I think), but it's not worth very much, and it would be impossible to ship. May keep it for the center.


Russ

Russ, if it is a Clavinova CVP-65, it is still a pretty good sounding instrument (it was second from the top range, which was a CVP-75)...the piano sound was one of the best in it's day, and the hammer action 88 note keybed was nicely weighted and responsive. Would still be viable as a home piano today, as they were quite well made, and great for a community center...even has decent amplification.

Good luck with your sales.

Ian

And you often meet the strangest and most interesting people on Craigslist and you end up wishing you never let them see where you live, and what's in your home.

Russ - I have a sort of modest collector friend who would love to see a list of your wares before you post them wordwide - any chance at that? We'd probably all love to know whats on the block too!
Your best bud, from Philly (who kneels to the mighty Lions today!)

Uncle Dave

Ian, the 65 is a great mechanical piano. It's the one you mentioned. This one is in excellent shape, so I'm keeping it for the center.

Dave-I'm going to work with a broker for the big stuff (high dollar). For instance, there are 23 L-5 Gibsons, a Fender Broadcaster, a 52 ES 295, a 75 Howard Roberts, a 62 P bass, a 64 Jazz bass, several pre1960 tele's and Strats, a double neck Robbin (Stevie Ray and Jimmie played Pipeline on one-25 total made in the world-Google it)., 335, 345, 355's; all from the 60's...the list goes on and on. Plus, there are pre-CBS Fender Super Reverbs, Bassman 50's, Ampeg flip-tops and more.

When I get those placed, I'll figure out what to do with the rest. There are lots of neat things in the collection, but I'd rather get the bulk of them placed before I worry about individual pieces.

I'll let you know.


Russ (pack rat )Lay

Russ,

I sold on eBay for almost two years trying to get rid of stuff that my son and I bid on at mini storage auctions. We used Craigslist too. We had yard sales weekly for a while. We just about got most of our money back, but it took forever. No profit. Everyone shopping these sites and strolling yard sales are like you and me, looking for something for nothing. In my opinion these outlets for most wares are going down hill.

We were always hoping to find a gem in the mini storage that we could make a killing on like the shows you see on TV. They can do that in California. Some of those folks out there put stuff in mini storages worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It ain't gonna happen in Grand Junction Colorado. Ha ha!

We tried vehicles on Craigslist too. They drive you nuts for more pictures. We had more success selling the vehicles in two weekends and sometimes in one weekend in Walmarts and Lowe's parking lots. We never heard a complaint from neither Walmart or Lowes about the vehicles on their lots.

Now you have a different animal that you're dealing with. You shouldn't have problems with shipping, selling on eBay. Charge a lot and learn about shipping cost on the WEB.

If you get the attention of serious collectors, they will not turn down an item they want because the shipping might be a couple of hundred bucks. I'm talking a serious collector with the money. Not some poor sax player who's always wanted a Stradivarius Violin. Ha ha!

Try eBay for a week or two. You might be able to do very well. Have someone in town to list a few of the items for a small fee only if it sells.

From my experience with eBay I would really try a couple of items to see what the market will bare. Put a few items at a "buy now" priced high. Do a couple for "Auction" starting the bid at what you want for the item, or what you can live with. If you get the right fish to bite there's no telling how high the bid will go.

If you'd like, send me every bit of info you can get for one expensive item you have. Describe it to a tee. Condition, contact info, how old, year manufactured so on and so forth. Maybe I can list it for you on my eBay account. We can just have the buyer pay for it in your PayPal account.

Boo, I might want to talk to you about brokering some of this stuff. We're set up with UPS as a shipper for the business, and have access to cartons,and I have photos of all items from our studio.

I'm meeting with a brokeer of high end stuff Friday. He will want to pick through the stuff, but there will be over 200 pieces left....good equipment, but in the under $1,000 range.


I'll get with you after that to see if we can work together.You'll get a percentage, of course. Sounds like you have had lots of experience selling stuff and I am a total pack rat...

The good news is, I've sold three items to people who have been after them for years for well over $300K. That covers my Habitat donation and will fund a trust that will provide instruments to deserving musicians who are residents of the Habitat facility.

Thanks,


Russ

never had a problem with craigslist up my way - Detroit, Ann Arbor, Toledo areas...