In-Store Instruments & May In-Store "Flea Market" Finds

The above consigned accordion is only for sale in-shop. I no longer ship older accordions because they have a tendency to get their innards knocked-about. This one was gone-over in recent memory by some repairman or other and appears to have been re-bellowed, tuned-up a bit, and refinished. To my eyes it looks like a 20s/30s Hohner 3-row and it's C/F/G in keys.

It has a lush sound and plays well but is offered as-is due to a few sticky keys and one or two of the bass (left hand) reeds rattle just slightly. This is simple stuff but, honestly, I'm flat-out these days with fretted repairs and I simply can't be distracted by opening this up for 3-4 hours trying to get it perfect. As a side-note -- our kids adore this instrument and ask me to play it every other day or so -- so that they can dance like wildcats.

The owner wants $400 for this'n.

The veneer used on the box is quite nice, isn't it?

Next-up! This is a consigned, recent, Fender bouzouki. I worked on this previously to address loose braces and setup needs after a shipping incident when bought-new. Like most of these Fender zouks, the top is sunken a bit behind the main x-braces (right under the bridge) but it has been that way for a couple years, now, and hasn't moved. It plays right-on, has a mellow and jangly tone, and will suffice for "extra flavor" in a recording situation or for band use, though it won't cut the mustard if you're looking to use this as a main, Celtic session instrument.

It also has a K&K pickup installed and is setup/adjusted for GDAE tuning in octave-strung courses.

I think at $150 you've got a very sweet price for this instrument. I have no financial interest as the owners have previously paid me for any random work needing to be done on it. The price reflects the fact that these seem to always get a sunken top near the bridge as they age.

This is where the original, dull-sounding pickup's controls were installed.

Missing tailpiece cover... and jack location for the K&K.

No bracing is loose, yet this seems to be what occurs on these. It's quite strange.

Somehow I always seem to wind-up with painfully-cheap Strats (I could part them out for more dough) hanging around. The Hamer Slammer in black has its whammy (working) but no case. The Jay Turser comes with a hard case (and shoddy amp-in-case unit) but no bar. Both are setup on-the-dot and play well with sets of 10s on them. Unfortunately, the factory-original ceramic-magnet pickups on these tend to be icy so you need to warm them up at the amp.

The Jay is $95 w/hard case+amp and the Hamer is $65. Sorry, these cheapo-mobiles are not going to be shipped. It's not worth my time.

My baritone resonator uke is still hanging around -- and now tuned-up to regular uke pitch with some heavier strings. It has fierce projection and cut and I often take it out to the garden with me while working outside. I need $150 (this one just "got grabbed") in-shop for this -- just for a bit of my time and parts into it.

Zithermania! The "phonoharp" is cute and functional in a very odd way (fingers stop the strings). The 70s Oscar Schmidt autoharp is perfectly useful but needs a string. The earlier Oscar Schmidt-make (1890s) autoharp needs to have its back entirely reglued (it's coming-apart all-over) but has the advantage of a basically brand-new (now aged, but all there) set of strings.

$50 for the consigned "Phonoharp," $150 for the consigned 21-chord Schmidt autoharp, and $40 for the as-is 1890s Schmidt-make autoharp. These are un-shipped prices, mind you.

On to drums!

I think everyone has a strange set of drums of all sorts hanging around, right...? Right...?

I'm moving in the direction of having a single, small, wood-shelled snare for recording use, these days. So -- this (all except the stand that the tom is on) is all available for cheap-cheap. Hilariously enough, this only scratches the surface of random percussion items around our house.

This 60s/70s Japanese-made Stewart 14" rattlebox-snare and stand are available for the price of the heads I put on them a while ago -- $30  (this is gone).

There's a tiny break on the snare-side head from one of our jam-group members manhandling it. The rest is just scratching. It's still good-in-service, however.

The made-up double-cymbal-tower (I know these guys are not meant to be used this way) can be had for the same $30  (this is gone). The bottom Zildjian (hi-hat? cymbal) is older and has a great, wide sound.

Who knows what this is -- ? -- but the flavor is a nice contrast to the Z below it.

This Igniter (Taiwan) 13" tom is actually a great-sounding piece of kit, but it's as funky as the rest. As someone constantly running-out of space, however, I need to find it a new buddy. It's also available for the price of its heads at $30  (this is gone) but without the stand. One head has the overtone-ring mute bit on it and the other doesn't. This gives you a couple different tones depending on which way you flip this on your stand or rack.

This assemblage of old cymbals in deteriorating states is free -- take them before I use them as decoration outdoors!

I still have this old 4" Bell cab. I need $30 on it. It's darn-cute. It's one of these things that someone asked-on, I put it on hold, and then nothing happened...

I always have tons of cheaper guitar/mandolin/etc. hardware bits on hand in the red "free" box -- as well as dated electronic tuners, vintage capos, and stuff like that. If someone would also rid me off my free sheet music box I would also be tremendously happy.

My inlaws always have cool washboards around, too!

Don't forget, too, that if you're an artsy person and need guitarcasses (guitar+carcass) for artwork or who-knows-what, I tend to have random stuff hanging around. I'm sure you'll put it to better use than our summer bonfires do.