What is the WORST deal you ever made on gear?

[Robert]

I've made so many bad deals it's not even funny.... I have tried to forget them all!

I remember "fondly" my Roland GP-8, the hottest new thing way back. A guitar effects processor, quite expensive at that time. I kept it on the floor in our rehearsal basement, and then the basement flooded... :( It got went and would work randomly. I paid money to have it cleaned up/repaired to no avail. It never worked properly again. I sold it for a couple of peanuts and a handshake. I've got many more bad deal stories to tell if anyone is interested... :messedup:

[sunvalleylaw]

Paying full Ketchum retail (which is higher than normal city retail) for my Boss DS-1. I like the pedal just fine for what it is, but the price was not good. It was more a local retailer loyalty thing.

[tunghaichuan]

I just had to have a Fender Champ 12 back in the late 80s. I missed the sale price so I swapped a mint Roland JC-120 for it. Ouch. The Champ 12 turned out to be one of worst sounding amps I've ever owned. :thwap: That one still hurts and I wish I had my JC-120 back.

Here's another one: swapped a Yamaha T-50 head (designed by Soldano) for an ADA MP-2. I just had to have a rackmount pre to complete my rackmount setup. The MP-2 came damaged and I couldn't get ahold of the guy I swapped. ADA went out of business a couple of months later so I couldn't get it fixed :cry:

tung

[duhvoodooman]

"Bad deal" meaning that too much was paid for an item vs. what it was really worth, or meaning "thought I'd like it, but it sucked"?

I haven't really been monetarily screwed on a deal, but I've definitely bought a couple of things that I turned out not liking at all. The Digitech RP200A multi-effects pedal comes immediately to mind, along with the Boss OD-20 Drive Zone. Hated 'em both....so processed/synthetic sounding. :puke:

[marnold]

Worst deal ever: my first bass--what a piece of crap
Second worst: getting my Peavey Blazer 158. Once again, I had to have an amp RIGHT NOW so instead of waiting until a store that had a bigger selection was open, I grabbed that one. Now, I really didn't get ripped off on either one. The price was fair for what they were. It's just that in both cases my impatience cost me. That's probably why I posted three quarters of a billion threads on pups before I finally bought some.

[Glacies]

I guess I would say my First Act Guitar and Amp from Wal-mart for $150 considering musiciansfriend sells a squire strat with amp kit for $200.

I can barely play barre chords on my First Act, but if I pick up just about any other guitar, they're like second nature.

[Katastrophe]

Glacies, you may have to take your First Act in for a set up. A tech may be able to help you with some minor tweaking. Have the tech show you what he did, and then you could do it yourself later.

I've made so many bad gear decisions, it's not even funny. I had a "Lotus" brand guitar that weighed a ton, and no amount of pro setups could get it to play right. Believe I paid full retail price, too, because I was young and didn't know better. I gave the guitar to a friend of mine who wanted to keep it as a beater.

[sumitomo]

I guess I would say my First Act Guitar and Amp from Wal-mart for $150 considering musiciansfriend sells a squire strat with amp kit for $200.

I can barely play barre chords on my First Act, but if I pick up just about any other guitar, they're like second nature.

Sounds to me like you should keep that First Act,Learn to play it on that First Act and on every other guitar its second nature,you might be on to some thing there.Sumi:D

[Rocket]

What is the WORST deal you ever made on gear?
I'm sure I haven't made it yet!

[evenkeel]

Back in the 80's I came into posession of a 1961 Candy Apple Red Telecaster. Not a museum piece, pretty beat up in fact, but a great sounding tele. I'm just not an electric guy so she never the got played much. It just seemed silly for me to own such a great old guitar. Eventually sold it and now have a perfectly nice MIM strat that also never gets played. But.... I still feel I gave up a real gem. :thwap:

[just strum]

Nothing really comes to mind when I consider purchases. My worse deal was selling and that was the ARC300 - took my only loss on a guitar with the sale of that one, plus I really miss it:cry:

[mark wein]

I sold my 100 Silver Anniversary Marshall head (I still have the 4x12 cab) to buy a stereo rack system that included a Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp and a Mosvalve poweramp...:thwap:

I also sold my 1974 Super Reverb for $500 to a student about 7-8 years ago and I should have never sold it... :thwap::thwap:

[Algonquin]

Hmmm... A Fostex 4 track recorder that was never used like it should have been. I still have it, but really... what's the use.

[AdamM]

selling my Marshall JCM2000 TSL stack.
Best amp I ever owned.
I retired from trying to get signed, had a family to support and £1000 worth of second hand amp.

now, a few years later I'm setting up / joining covers bands without that amp and I'm having to invest in entry level equipment again.

I miss my Marshall :(

[Glacies]

Sounds to me like you should keep that First Act,Learn to play it on that First Act and on every other guitar its second nature,you might be on to some thing there.Sumi:D

I was thinking about that, but am being an ultra-cheapskate lately and am having trouble even spending $50 on a guitar I most likely will never look at again after I replace it. I might still do it, if anything for education.

[hubberjub]

I almost got caught up in buying a fake Gibson Les Paul. Some of those copies look pretty good. Luckily I figured it out before I picked it up and the seller let me have my money back.

[hagarfreak33]

I bought an Esteban guitar-It sure was pretty!

[Andy]

I traded a vintage ampeg cabinet for a half working reel to reel recorder(that was older than the cabinet !)

ofcourse the cabinet is worth a small fortune now.and the reel to reel is totally useless to me

[Tone2TheBone]

I go with Mark's take on making a worse deal and say that is has to be me selling my late 60s Marshall basketweave 4x12 cabinet. I regret it to this day. Sure miss that look, sound and steel handles.