oh derby

as a citizen of the fine city of louisville kentucky, i really should embrace derby more. but i don't. in fact it drives me crazy. i know its good for the economy and blah blah blah....but it really wears on me. i always have to work derby day. at a music store. where no ones comes to shop on derby day. normally we get to go home early, this year not so much. lucky for me i got to scour craigslist all day. and when this popped up listed under farm/garden as an outdoor chimney for $75 i was all over it. 

 for once i was a winner on derby.

here's a couple more pics just for the hell of it.

 

post mess kinda update

never enough time to really catch up on anything.

we just did this.

if you can't tell thats a massive header holding up my attic. goodbye living room and bedroom, hello huge great room. until i have a chance to gather the pics and story in one post, here's some in the mean time sorta set up pics. please excuse the clutter and iphone shots.

 

when the walls fell...

..........there was a huge cloud of dust.

this wall had been staring at me for months......

.......it knew it had it coming.......

....thats what i'm talking about.

long weeks

wow. i have no idea where i've been or what i've done since last post. things aren't supposed to be this hectic. oh wait...yeah they are. here's some pics from lately.

 

 

one in a million

i throw low bids on things all the time. bids that i know i'm not gonna win anything with. why do you ask? for days like this.

when this was first listed it had a BIN of $175. i didn't even really give it much of a thought other than "gee, i wish i could afford to have 'real' nice things like that". and went on with my day. now don't get me wrong, i love my thrifted collection. but sometimes i just wish i could have things that didn't need cleaned up or fixed. or things that were actually don't by an artist or designer instead of some jackassed knock off.

 how i even came across it again i don't know. but there it was, with 2 days left sitting at $10.50. without thinking i bid $15. 

i won for $11.50.

really just a beautiful thing.

designed by Bengt Orup for Johansfors.

retail horror

i'm super passionate about what i do. to the point that i let a lot of things get pushed to the side because of it. one thing i'm super passionate about is danelectro guitars. these were student guitars built in an era where things were built right. even things for students. i have a small collection that i'm always hoping to add to. this was my goal yesterday.

yesterday i went to try and trade for a guitar. the store was "the music store", also known as the drummer superstore in clarksville, indiana. i've never had personal issues trying to make a deal with this store, but i have heard tons or horror stories, and have had lots of issues trying to make right the "custom" guitars they've created. as well as try and help the people that bring gear they've bought from these guys to my store to learn to use it. after yesterday i will never go back.

i went in to trade for a good condition old danelectro built silvertone guitar they had. nothing crazy, just a nice little short scale, single pickup guitar. missing a few parts, but nothing that bothered me. i've owned this model before and wanted another. a friend told me they had it.

i walk in to no price tag, but a nicely set up guitar. ask the owner greg how much the guitar is. he sighs and says i'm welcome to make an offer. i again asked what he wanted and he refuses to give me a price.

i asked if he was willing to trade, he asked what i had. i told him: a parts p bass (listed what the parts were)in a hard case, an acoustic 260 mini, a roc and soc throne, a japanese snare, a 50's supro guitar with changed parts, a rat: we went and looked at it all.

he starts asking what i want to trade, to which i reply any number of the things in my car that we just looked at, what would you take? i tell him i'd trade the bass and amp, or vintage guitar straight. i was expecting a counter and i had a few small things to throw in boot. his son and other workers start getting in the deal. i continue to explain to each guy what i have and what i would like. they just keep telling me how perfect their guitar is and how my pbass, that i told them was a parts instrument, was parts. how the other vintage guitar i brought had changed parts, after i told them exactly what had been replaced. that everything i had i should give them for a guitar that they wouldn't even give me a cash price on. they continue asking what i want to trade for the guitar, after i've told each guy and greg at least 3 times.

at some point they decided to tell me that they were being so wierd because they had just put the guitar on ebay 45 minutes before i walked in, and they just want to get as much as they can. i understand that. still doesn't mean they can't work out a deal (and the guitar isn't on ebay, i checked as soon as i left the store. this was a flat out lie to try and get my blood boiling in hopes i'd make a bad call). the owner starts asking me what i want to get for certain items i have, he still hasn't told me what he wants for his. i tell him what i would price the items i have for and what i would give trade if i were making the deal, he tells me that has nothing to do with what we're doing. then why did you ask?

i ask one more time what the cash price would be so i can know what i'm trading for. the owner again asks what i'm willing to trade, and keeps telling me "you still haven't told me what you want to trade". when i ask one more time what he wants he says everything in the car, quickly with an attitude. this entire time tension has been mounting with the staff when they figure out that i know what i'm talking about. guess they do this tag team, try and confuse the customer stuff regularly.

the guitar they have is worth 350-500 on any normal day. 800 some days on ebay for the cleanest one missing no parts that someone puts up buy it now, which this one certainly isn't. i had at least $1000 sell price worth of gear in my car. the vintage supro i had was very similar in condition and value on its own.

at this point i got mad. told them i'd received nothing but attitude since i walked in and headed for the door. all three of them started yelling at me at once. they screamed $500 on my way out, i said thank you and left.

at this point i don't even care about the guitar. i mean i do, but its not worth fighting over. was it a nice version? yes. was it perfect? no. missing strap buttons, knobs and changed screws. as well as repaired electronics. the vintage supro i was hoping to trade had a changed bridge and tuners and knobs and repaired electronics. pretty similar condition really. and if they had bothered to look them up it generally brings more in any condition, i just happen to prefer the danos. i was trying to be fair, even brought several small items to throw in as boot.

this is more about not treating a relative stranger with any sort of respect. because they showed me no respect they lost a deal. on something thats gonna be hard to sell, not too many people looking for short scale dano's these days. i'm sure they treat people like this all the time. from working the same job i know that there are a lot of people you can push around when you're a salesman. to a lot of people thats the game, push people around until they finally break and you get your way, and therefore your sale. i like to sleep at night, i'd rather not work this way.

i do the same job they do. do i have bad days and bad moods? yes. have i ever not given a price to a customer just so i can see how much i can get out of them? no i really wanted that guitar. because i love those guitars! but i couldn't handle any more. if i'd stayed i could've made a stupid trade to get it. but the reality is i can buy one just as nice on ebay, for less than i would have had to trade them for that one.

i now understand why people have such an attitude when they come in to my shop. if they're used to dealing with salespeople like that no wonder. i rarely go to stores so i guess i'd forgotten how it can be. i hate it though. i really start each day trying to be pleasant. but because of a customer thats been burned and is now standoffish, or customers that have the same attitude as some salespeople (read: beat you up until you cave just to get them to go away) my days generally turn to shit. if there were just less people out to get one over on the person next to them out there maybe my life and hopefully the lives of a lot of other people would be so much better.


closing notes.
greg made sure to tell me several times that he knew what he was doing since they sell 600-800 items a week on ebay. well with the kind of treatment i got no wonder you have to sell everything on ebay. no one would put up with that kind of treatment just to buy a guitar, or anything for that matter. even if it is their passion.

days to post.

wow, holidays are rough. i really love getting to see family, and time off work. but all the extra gigs and holiday time instrument/present set ups really take it out of me. somehow this year it was extra long. i did however take a little time to go hunting, which i've been taking a break from. maybe everyone else was too!

 this little lamp was waiting in a peddlers mall just this monday. no shade, and i'm not sure this is the one for it. man i gotta find a decluttered place to take pictures. just a cool little atomic wire and lucite lamp.

i've actually had a pair of these baughman style floating cube chairs for a while.

the backs aren't quite like any others i've seen, but they are made from chromed flat bar steel like the baughman style. the maker tags are gone, but there are labels from a local public library on the bottom, as well as the upholstery shop that recovered them at some point. oddly enough the same company did my $5 9ft auction couch. since these were sold as institutional stuff they are super heavy built.

 these are my favorite recent find. i actually got a set of 3 of these kent coffey perspecta tables at big al's charity thrift. one has a drawer, the other 2 don't. usually al is very high on his prices, but i picked all of these up for about what he wanted for any other single table. they aren't perfect, but they're still stunning. i've yet to clean them up and they're still very presentable in use. only the table with the drawer has the stamp. i never would've known what the others are without it either as the telltale handle from this series obviously isn't on them either.

i wasn't going to post this shot since there is so much clutter, but i have to face the facts that i just like clutter. maybe one day i'll be able to go minimalist like all these other people into modern design seem to think is necessary. either way this arc lamp i picked up at unique for $15 at least goes with the clutter nicely. i'd actually seen one the weekend before for $225 at goss antique mall, but just like the perspecta china cabinet thats in the same booth it was just out of my range. 

run ran rant

i just need to rant for a minute. 

i work in a music store. a used music store. a used and consignment music store.

how come everyone that comes in here is immediately my best friend in the world?

i've never seen you before in my life.

so explain to me why you deserve special treatment again?

 let me break this down:

i don't know you.

i don't mean to be rude, i just don't care to have personal conversation with every stranger that walks through my door.

this is my job, not social hour.

i'm sorry things have been rough lately, they have been for most of us.

wow, your story sounds like every one that walks through my door.

yes the economy sucks

no you cannot have a discount.

if you think the same item on ebay with the same price as the one in front of you is going to be better go ahead and order it.

you could have this one today.

and you know it works.

and that ups isn't going to ruin it in shipping.

i dont work on commission.

your sale doesn't affect my day.

i'd love for you to buy this one.

but

i'm here to give you a fair price, not give things away.

 there is a list of rules this store operates by. they are plainly marked on signs throughout the store.

you're buying things used.

there is no returns or warranty.

please try it out here.

spend all the time you like. 

ask all the questions you like, i'll try my best to answer them all.

if you consign something to sell you sign a contract that is very clearly printed with the rules for selling.

i don't control those rules, i just run the place.

and i don't get paid that well to do so.

that does not mean i don't know or don't care about what i'm doing.

i'm actually very passionate about what i do, and believe it or not i want you to be happy with your purchase.

 it does mean that i will only put up with so much shit before i stop being cool.

if i was making more money, you could be as big an asshole as you want.

but i'm not, so please be cool.

yes i'm here by myself.

yes i take care of everything.

no i don't have a bathroom.

i'm not happy about it either, it's been almost 3 years.

i can give you any amount of information on anything in this building.

and if i don't know about something, i'll look it up.

 my personal opinion shouldn't matter on any piece of gear.

chances are we don't use things the same way.

usage really is everything.

what works for me may not for you.

generally the things i like no one else does.

no i don't play in a cover band.

no i don't care about your cover band.

no i don't want to be in your cover band.

i think that a lot of people hate their job.

so why is it when they come into mine they must make me hate mine even more?

customer service is as bad as it gets sometimes.

especially when you're selling used stuff.

to musicians.

and work for someone who could care less about anything but playing the game.

hope he feels like he's winning.

sure makes the rest of us here feel like losers.

be cool to your local music store guy.

he's a person too.