The one that got away

[cfh]

I'm really down right now. a guy from southern CA contacted me with a nice burst. Actually i had been talking to this guy on-and-off for 6 months. but he got motivated and took it to guitar center and they offer a low 6-figure amount for the guitar. i told him, 'hey i can beat that offer'. but he wanted to shop around a bit, because he really didn't know the value. so he did, which is fine, and the prices he was getting, at least to me, still seemed very reasonable (affordable to me). he told me, "wednesday i'm seeing one last guy, then we'll talk wednesday afternoon, and you can buy the guitar." great! so that call never came yesterday, and instead i got the "i sold it to guitar center" email.

i guess sometimes it's all about location location location. me being in detroit and he in CA, well, i guess it makes things more complicated than he wanted to deal with (though i told him i would fly out and buy it in whatever payment form he wanted). but looking at this guitar, MAN i'm just sick about it. and the guy really wanted to sell it to me too, at least so it seemed. And what a killer guitar too. I mean yea the knobs are wrong and the tuner buttons are wasted, but man, what a beautiful thing. *sigh*

 

[Seoighs]

Wow...to come THAT close, then lose it.
Devastating

Sorry Man!

 

[shuie]

Cool guitar. Looks like its in great shape. Do those pickguards shrink?

Sorry you missed this one. Good luck on the next. Detroit is an NWA hub. You can get a non-stop flight from there to anywhere in the country.

 

[MapleFlame]

bracket is bent, sorry CFH for missing that, but your girls you have in the house should keep ya warm for a minute.

 

[DrRobert]

Bummer, man. I'm guessing they still lowballed him on it and he just got pressured into it. There's a local "dealer" that actually took his parents along to pressure a little old lady into selling him her husbands mint 55 strat for 20% of the value, even my friend was waiting with all the cash. It happens... Good luck on the next one.

 

[zorglub!]

Clay, sorry to hear that. It sure looks like a nice one, but you cannot complain on what you have!

 

[John B.]

I'm in sales. ABC!!! I would of said: "I'm flying out tomorrow." Then he would of had to honor your efforts... If you were lucky. It's a shame, not too many bursts in Michigan anymore even though Kalamazoo is in MI. A Japanese guy used to go to Gordy's Detroit Guitar Show every year with a briefcase full of hundreds, not to mention Gruhn and others.

(ABC = Always be closing)

 

[roadrunner]

My father was a used car saleman, wonder why I play the blues?:hee

The one thing he taught me was how to close a deal...

When the guy in Cali said, "... we'll talk Wed. and you can buy the guitar." The reply, the INSTANT reply is, "Great, thank you, I'm calling (... name your fave airline here...) and I'll be out there Wednesday morning... with cash. I'll call you when I arrive."

When the door opens, even if it's just a little bit... ya gotta run, don't walk, thru it.

You've found some great guitars Clay, and good for you... you'll dig up another!

Gary Bohannon
Nashville, TN

 

[roadrunner]

I'm in sales. ABC!!! I would of said: "I'm flying out tomorrow." Then he would of had to honor your efforts... If you were lucky. It's a shame, not too many bursts in Michigan anymore even though Kalamazoo is in MI. A Japanese guy used to go to Gordy's Detroit Guitar Show every year with a briefcase full of hundreds, not to mention Gruhn and others.

(ABC = Always be closing)

Exactly... take the initiative, keep the ball in your court.

 

[tuberide]

Yeah... missing a sliver on the port side wing but man I'm feelin sick for ya. What a beauty !

 

[Joe Ganzler]

Too bad you didn't contact me; for a little bit of $, I WOULD have gotten that guitar for you...:ganz

 

[bern1]

Cfh, I admire your temerity in posting this story on the LPF! We all know the feeling...get well!

 

[Dire Wolf]

Same thing happened to me on an old Strat from a guy in Kentucky(that should have been a warning in itself) a few years ago. I was selling another guitar to get this one. The seller was cool with that(or so I thought).

Well, too much time passed(a few weeks). I called the seller many times & he was holding the guitar for me. Then I got an e-mail: sold it for a higher price locally.

Moral of the story: when an opportunity presents itself, one must ACT IMMEDIATELY! Should have raised the money anyway possible(home equity line, i.e.) and hopped on the next flight up to get it.

 

[Tom Wittrock]

I have been around 8-6893, 8-6894, and 8-6897
[all seen at Burst Serial website http://www.burstserial.com/gallery/main.php?cmd=album&var1=1958/&var2=2 ].
I have always wondered if and when 95 and 96 would show up.

 

[cfh]

Guitar center paid him $160 plus two new basses and an amp.
*sigh* It wasn't a problem with the money. Just he told me it
was my guitar. I had been dancing with the guy for a long time.
I had no reason to not believe him. I use trust pretty openly.
and when someone says they will do something, i tend to believe
them. i guess that's my shortcoming.

 

[TomGuitar]

That's a real shame. Sorry to hear it Clay. e need to bring more bursts home to Michigan.

Beautiful guitar.

TW, were the other close serials as pretty as this?

 

[funk49]

Wow, sorry to hear how this story turned out. I also can't believe someone would actually take a vintage burst to GC to sell. That's baffling. He probably got about .30-.40 cents on the dollar (and that's being generous) by selling to them. GC is the last place I would take anything to sell...they buy low and sell high.

Was the provenance screwy? Why wouldn't they just get a industry recognized appraisal and have a broker sell it for them? Sorry again to hear about this...I know how coming close to deals and having them fall through feels.

 

[585960]

I have never been low balled by the Burst Brothers. Actually they are right up there, in most of my dealings with Dave and Drew.

 

[Tom Wittrock]

TW, were the other close serials as pretty as this?

Not as flamey, but as I mentioned, the pics are there for you and all to see.

 

[seafoamer]

i'm bummed for u.