Sell, trade or keep the old one?

Paul Warnik · From: Illinois,USA

Johnny C-I am sure that we all can attest to some great instruments that have gone the way of "water under the bridge"-literally hundreds of guitars and such in my collecting days-But I must somewhat echo the sentiment of my friend Chas Smith about the "spirit" that comes out from within certain instruments-like Chas I own several wonderful original Bigsby steels-which were the first owned by Maurice Anderson and the newest ISGA Hall of Fame Member Pee Wee Whitewing-they are wonderful examples of what I believed would be the most valuable collectable steel guitars as ones with personality attachment-but it is the Bigsby guitar that I have which was owned by Vance Terry-which really has the "magic spirit"(if you will)that makes it special-you hear the tone of Vance's playing the guitar on all the Billy Jack Wills stuff and such by just opening the case and strumming the strings without even setting the guitar up and plugging it in-it's an almost haunting kind of thing-I had heard something about violins some time ago that described how when certain of the finest crafted instruments are played in the hands of the finest players for a time playing such wonderful things-that it can cause the molecular structure of the woods to change and become something that is much greater than the mere sum of its parts-well if that can happen to say Pagganni's Sradavarius then why couldn't it happen to a vintage steel guitar from a master player???

Wayne Cox · From: Chatham, Louisiana, USA * R.I.P.

Hey there, little brother,
I usually don't have much trouble letting
go of one,if the one I want plays better and
sounds better. However...I still have my very
first steel guitar (a lap steel). It doesn't
sound very good and I never play it, but I've
sold it twice and re-bought it twice. It steel looks good and I guess it's mine.
True story: As a teenager growing up on the
farm, I opened a Sears & Roebuck catalog and
saw a page that said "Play the sounds of the
Islands". I worked all summer long, hauling
hay, to pay for it. Sears promptly shipped it
to me. Then someone told me that I had to have an amplifier! Guess we've come a long way! W.C.

Johnny Cox · Posted 8 Sep 2002 5:28 pm

Some very interesting and very different attitudes on this subject. There are many guitars that I had that I don't care to have again, but there are those that have special memories or belonged to the players that influenced me that I wish I still owned. I also have a passion to own guitars that were owned by the players that most influenced me. These would be: Hal Rugg (he was the first pedal steel player I ever heard and the guy that made me want to play) Weldon Myrick, who along with Hal helped to raise me. Pete Drake, Buddy Charlton and Reece Anderson who unknowingly taught me so much. And Curly Chalker who was my friend.
So far I have only two, one is is Curly's MCI. I also have the first pedal steel I ever played. It is a Fender 400 that was owned by Eddie Hawkins. Eddie's name will not be familiar to you but he was a family friend that let me play his guitar before I ever had one. Eddie taught me the very first thing I learned to play. About two years ago he gave me the guitar.
This may be silly to some, but these people meant and still mean so much to me, both personally and to my career. These people are not gods to me nor would there guitars be, but I would love to find some of their old steels just so I could play them from time to time.

Johnny

[This message was edited by Johnny Cox on 08 September 2002 at 06:36 PM.]

[This message was edited by Johnny Cox on 08 September 2002 at 06:39 PM.]

[This message was edited by Johnny Cox on 08 September 2002 at 06:40 PM.]

Wayne Cox · From: Chatham, Louisiana, USA * R.I.P.

Little brother,
I can't argue with any of that. I would love to have the old Sho-Bud that Pete Drake played on so many hits, but I heard that its in The Hall of Fame, now, but what a shame no one is playing it.
Truthfully, though, I don't know where I would put it if I had it. My sweet wife is very tolerant, but our living room is filling up with musical equipment. Hmmmm... now that I think of it, an old Sho-Bud might make a nice coffee table!
God bless you, Johnny! There is nothing wrong with being sentimental.
Now,if we can just convince Bobbe Seymore.
Oops! Hello Bobbe!
W.C.

chris ivey · From: california (deceased)

they're the loves of my life...though i've sold my first double neck sho-bud, and my first decent steel (single p/p emmons) i wouldn't do it again unless it was a matter of survival. i've had my only new guitar, 9+8 D-10 blue zum, since 1982. it's still my main tool that i rely on and can't think of any reason to change. since then, i've acquired two p/p bolt-on wood neck emmons' and each have attributes to hold on to. women come and go, steels come and stay.
'course i wish i hadn't sold my '60 el camino or my '55 panhead either, but music is the main importance to me...even though i'm broke and don't know how i'll survive....oops, gotta go jam!

Larry Bell · From: Englewood, Florida

Chris,
I wish I had the good judgment you have exercised. Bruce built my Zum in 1980 and I played only it until 2000, then bought a push-pull which I dearly love. I got the hots for another old Emmons and traded my beautiful old Zum for it. It's like selling your favorite dog or something. BAD DECISION. Maybe I'll try to buy it back one day. I do regret selling it.

It's a black S-12 on a 12/10 frame with 7 and 7 and was last seen in the southwest (Arizona). I'd be curious if anyone knows where it is.

------------------
Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Dobro

[This message was edited by Larry Bell on 09 September 2002 at 07:17 AM.]

Duane Dunard · From: Troy, MO. U.S.A.

JC, as you know, I just let loose of a great guitar that you are very familure with. Before I sold it, I asked myself if I wanted to play it in the future? If so, when? Tomorrow, next month , next year, five years? Probably not. Then why do I want to keep it, knowing that may someday be another burden on my wife, should I pass before her. You and I both have other great guitars to work jobs with and enjoy.

Gary Walker · From: Morro Bay, CA

Johnny, I also let go my '75 White MSA D-12 when I switched to a D-11 Mullen in '91 and have regretted it ever since. It had that great big MSA sound that Curly had when he played his Black MSA.

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

Actually, I don't regret selling any of guitars I've owned. When I latch onto a spectacular classic instrument (like my Stringmaster D-8 or my Sierra Olympic), I keep it.

I tend to play my "main axe" into the ground, though, and I feel the need to replace it after about 7 years. There's not one that I'm nostalgic about. The new one is always a bit better than the one that's going away.

------------------

Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic) Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6)

Doug Earnest · From: Branson, MO USA

Johnny,

If you have an instrument you like and don't have to sell it to finance something else, keep it as long as you want it. I have guitars I haven't played in years, but its still nice to get them out sometimes to look at and think back on the good times I had and good people I met. To me that's worth a good deal more than money.

I enjoyed the Cox set at the convention.

------------------

Doug Earnest
The only Zum Keyless U12, Fender Cyber Twin

Rick Collins · From: Claremont , CA USA

I once traded a 3-neck Fender Stringmaster with a 26 inch scale (blonde), for a large tapedeck. The guitar and case were showroom perfect.

I'm bending over.

Rick

Jim Cohen · From: Philadelphia, PA

I regret selling my first Fessenden, the black mica one I played on my solo CD. I still have visiting rights, but it ain't the same thing.

Joe Smith · From: Charlotte, NC, USA

Well, There was one steel guitar that I wish I never sold. It was a D-8 Sho-Bud permament with 6 pedals. I got rid of it so I could get a D-10. Back then I couldn't afford two steel guitars.

I guess it would have more sentimental value than monetary.

bob drawbaugh · From: scottsboro, al. usa

Johnny, only one guitar I would never sell, and it's not a steel. My wife bought me a Les Paul many years ago. Not that I like Les Pauls that much, just the fact she cared enough to but it for me. Now If I could just get her to buy my next steel! Any ideal, since you are getting a NEW ONE?

Kenny Foy · From: Lynnville, KY, USA

Wayne,Being in Nashville a couple of weeks ago, I went ino Ernest Tubbs record shop and in there was a gold plated,everything, SHO-BUD that the placard with it that said Pete Drake owned. Would this be the one you speak of?

Wayne Cox · From: Chatham, Louisiana, USA * R.I.P.

Re:Kenny Foy,
No, Kenny, I don't think so. Bobbe Seymore would know more about this than I, but I think the one you saw was pete's last guitar. If my memory serves me correctly, the one I'm referring to was first owned by Buddy E. and later by Pete. Still,that one is a piece of history also. The older one only had six or seven pedals on it. Bobbe or Buddy might be able to clear this up, if either of them are monitoring this thread.
Matter of fact, Johnny might know! We might have to shift this subject to another thread.
Thanks,
W.C.

Kevin Hatton · From: Buffalo, N.Y.

Kenny, that is indeed "Goldie". It was restored by Jeff Surratt and Duanne Marrs at Duanne's shop in Madison a few months ago. Pete's wife insisted that it be displayed in The Ernest Tubb Record Shop and there it sits for all to see. Pete's Sho_bud amp also still survives.

Kenny Foy · From: Lynnville, KY, USA

Thanks GENTLEMEN for the replies. I believe if I owned that one it would be a KEEPER.

Bobbe Seymour · From: Hendersonville TN USA, R.I.P.

Wayne Cox is correct, Petes first Sho-Bud (D-8)is in the "Country Music Hall of Fame" it was first owned by Buddy E. and was # 3 produced by Shot under the Sho-Bud name. Shot had built other guitars under another name before the "Sho-Bud name was coined. The Last one Pete owned and used was the gold Baldwin (D-10) crossover , now in the Ernest Tubb Record Shop. I personaly thank Rose Drake for sharing this guitar for of us all to see and enjoy. This is a wonderful woman.

Bobbe Seymour

Dan Tyack · From: Olympia, WA USA

There are plenty of guitars I don't regret selling, but there are plenty I wish I still had. My first ZB, and the mahogany-maple veneer Emmons that Bobby sold earlier this year. Also my first dobro, a killer 30s Regal that was stolen years ago. These days I don't sell anything that I love to play. I play a lot of different styles of music and like a lot of different sounds, so I need a lot of guitars on hand.

Bob Schaedler · From: Southbury, CT, USA

If I kept them all I wouldn't have room for them. Seriously, though, nothing wrong with keeping as many as you find useful to continue your musical experience.
But if you keep the too many (even as investments) off the market, you prevent others from enjoying that experience. Really irks me when I hear a collector has some 400 guitars. A kind of a false market force, IMO. (Remember the Hunt brothers' silver fiasco?).
An instrument should be used to some degree, I keep it if it serves a purpose.
No sense in dwelling on past sales (I shoulda, coulda), you sold for a good reason and the next owner enjoyed it.

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