| Yeah !! ... I love stories like that !
I'm not sure I can top that one .... but, this may raise a few eyebrows --
I'm nearly at the end of a long, protracted "saga" with a one-owner, true "closet case", 1949 Martin Med-Bore Committee. The owner (soon to be "ex-owner") is a friend I've never met -- something of an "e-pal" ... (and a few long-distance telephone conversations). He was endeavoring to sell the horn, and in a round-about series of events, we happened to "connect" on-line. He needed a lot of technical assistance, which I freely offered. After a sale was aborted (at true market value), he offered the horn to me at a price I could not refuse. I have the horn now, through an arrangement we worked out, wherein I worked on the horn to un-stick the valves and slides. It now plays wonderfully! My 1946 Committee is actually a better horn, though, and is the subject of two top "pros" attempts to buy recently ... (I'm still thinking about it).
In any event, I now have some shop time in the 1949 horn, and ... the grand total of $225 American Dollars !
**On a different note ... I also am a guitar / mando / banjo player. I
acquired a rare Fender Electric 12-String guitar about 7-yrs ago for
$2000 -- a pretty hefty figure then. I had been looking for a guitar
of this ilk for 25 years! (It is an Artist-Promotional instrument,
not made to be sold to the public). I recently learned that it is a highly
sought after (by collectors) guitar, worth $25,000 - $30,000.
With me, "The Hunt" is always on ....
Regards,
Robert Rowe |