# Canadian pawn shops



## imbackagain2

What are you experiences with pawn shops? Name the store and city and if you reccomend it or not.


----------



## Baba Rumraisin

I bought my Traynor YBA-1 at a pawnshop for a really nice price. Good experience. I bought a 12 inch chopsaw at Brantford Pawn and got an excellent price. Also bought my Princeton Chorus there for a good price and a Peavey Express 112. Bought an 84 Squire strat for a low price at a pawn in Woodstock. Still have it.
All in all I've had good experiences with pawn shops. The guy at Brantford Pawn won't GIVE you anything but he is up for suggestions that are reasonable. He has a LOT of amps and midlevel guitars in his shop. Just ask to see the back room. His nose gets out of joint if you try to lowball him too much.
Better prices at yardsales.


----------



## NB_Terry

Over the years, I have bought a Boss CE-1, 2 mint Boss DM-2s and a couple Ibanez SD-9s for $50 to $70. 

I also bought a very nice G&L Legacy for $650. Not a steal, but a pretty good price.

All the above buys were at Cash Convertors stores in Calgary.

Mostly I buy cds at pawn shops. 

The best finds are in the local Buy & Sell newspaper. TC Electronics pedals for $60, vintage Ibanez gear for 1/4 it's going price on the internet, etc..


----------



## Xanadu

I haven't bought a guitar, but I have bought lots of stereo stuff, and video games at Howard's pawn shop in Ottawa (Carling).


----------



## david henman

...in the gta there is a chain called "the hock shop". i've picked up several state of the art single-well cassette decks (technics, sony etc) for under $20. amazing deals on older stero amps, speakers (jbl etc). lots of guitars, amps, pedals - mostly junk, but the occasional gem is worth looking for. extremely easy to negotiate the price, if you're a half-decent schmoozer!


----------



## GuitarsCanada

It all depends on where you are and what the item is. On my travels I like to stop in to the smaller towns and see whats there. I have gotten great deals over the years at Pawn Shops, mostly in the States though. There was a time that a guy would get a guitar in or amp and would price it as to what he thought it was worth. Outside of written price guides, there was nothing. So you may have come across an obscure brand now and again and got a great deal. When the cash perverters were in St Catharines I was scoring stuff out of there weekly. They had kids in there that had absolutely no idea what was going on. They also had a lot of crap on the shelves as well.... but the odd time you hit pay dirt. 

eBay has changed everything in my opinion. It's too easy to look up pricing and brands and then just stick a tag on the item close to the last selling price. Most Pawn shops specialize in one or two things, usually jewelry for one. Others I would call goodwill stores, where the place is full of all kinds of odds and ends. If you walk into a Pawn shop and there are 20 guitars on the wall, they usually know what they have. 

There is really nothing left in the Niagara Region. Gus's Pawn Shop in the Falls but he is always overpriced. We have a few others but they are the junk variety and very rarely have a quality guitar on the shelf. So now a days I stick to the States or the classifieds.


----------



## satim

I used to go down to church street in T.O. and get amazing deals, Ebay has changed all that as well as blue books.


----------



## SinCron

There's a pawn shop around here that has shitloads of guitars and they hardly know what the hell they are.

"Oh it has humbuckers. Nice.". "No those aren't humbuckers. They're some other brand". What a dumbshit.

There are some deals to be had, you just gotta shop around.


----------



## big frank

I was in Gus' pawn shop in Niagara Falls last week because a Les Paul copy was in the window and it looked good from the road.
However, it was complete crap with the strings an inch off the board and priced at 300 dollars.
Everything is either 300 dollars for an electric or 200 dollars for their pretty sad acoustics.
Anything with Fender on it is priced higher than new.
Avoid it or be sorry.
Last summer I witnessed a man buy his young son an electric guitar that wasn't worth 50 dollars let alone 300.
Plus, the guy showed him a mouldy old case and said: "We ususally get $60 dollars for these".


----------



## david henman

big frank said:


> I was in Gus' pawn shop in Niagara Falls last week because a Les Paul copy was in the window and it looked good from the road.
> However, it was complete crap with the strings an inch off the board and priced at 300 dollars.
> Everything is either 300 dollars for an electric or 200 dollars for their pretty sad acoustics.
> Anything with Fender on it is priced higher than new.
> Avoid it or be sorry.
> Last summer I witnessed a man buy his young son an electric guitar that wasn't worth 50 dollars let alone 300.
> Plus, the guy showed him a mouldy old case and said: "We ususally get $60 dollars for these".



...so true, unfortunately.

on the other hand, a bassist i used to work with walked into a seedy pawnshop in oakville (i think) looking for a case for his acoustic. he found a really beat up case and, when he looked inside there was an extremely old martin, very early 50s, somewhat the worse for wear. when asked the price, the very put upon proprietor grumbled that he had just gotten it, and told my friend to come back tomorrow. before he left, my friend "buried" the case under a pile of junk, just to be safe, and was back the next day. when asked, a grumpy prorpietor mumbled: "gimme 50 bucks". my friend, shocked, shouted "fifty bucks?" the proprietor, clearly insulted, shot back with, "hey, it comes with a strap, and some picks!"

it cost a few hundred to have the guitar restored at the 12th fret in toronto, of course, but hey, sometimes you get lucky.


----------



## SinCron

I forgot to mention I got a Peavey Raptor with the first five strings for 100 bucks.


----------



## Scottone

When the Cash Converters first opened in Toronto I got some fabulous deals, ie:

mint Boss CE-1 with the original box - $75.00 (flipped it on ebay for $350.00)
numerous Jen Crybabys for $15 - $25
original TS-9 - $15.00

Unfortunately, these days it's easy for them to check the internet and find out what things are worth, so it's rare to get a deal on anything. 

I used to go to the one's on Church St. in Toronto, but they all seem to be run by overly agressive, chain smoking Russian guys who try to push junk for higher than new prices.


----------



## asatattack

I have only ever seen one good deal in the pawn shops in Edmonton. I have also seen prices on used guitars at pawn shops that have a higher price for the same new model down the street at Long & McQuade!


----------



## SCREEM

Scottone said:


> I used to go to the one's on Church St. in Toronto, but they all seem to be run by overly agressive, chain smoking Russian guys who try to push junk for higher than new prices.


yeah, those pawnshops where pretty good in the early 90's when I used to live in that area.


----------



## zao_89

Theres a cash converters near my apartment with a yamaha guitar for $120 that Ill check out when I get money.... Its one from the RG series I think


----------



## Hinrich

*Haggle Haggle Haggle!*

There's a shop in Stouffville who has quite a few guitars, mostly crap but you'll see a les paul, strat or gibson jumbo acoustic there once in a while. He always has a long story to tell about how he got it off a friend who treats all his guitars well etc etc blah blah. If you go back the next day he'll tell you an entirely different story.

Anyway, he will always set a highter price and you have to haggle him to death. He's not aggressive but will give you teh sob story about his struggling business hanging by a thread (he's been "struggling" for the 5 years I've been there)

Either he'll bend for you or if he is confident someone else will pay more then you're out of luck. I got a Yamaha 12 string for $375, brand new it was $600 and he was actaully desparate for cash to pay his PST.

I don't have a lot of experience with other pawn shops but you have to haggle to get a good deal. If they need the cash, they'll bend no matter how difficult they are, its just a game.


----------



## rippinglickfest

*Crock Shops*

Here in Sudbury.........there are a couple of local pawn shops and the Hock SHop chain, two stores I believe.............they shoot low ball....very low ball to people who sell their stuff and then overprice it for resale///////and then have the nerve to try and tell people they are providing a great service. 

Ray


----------



## Milkman

The days of walking into a pawn shop and finding an old Tele for $200. are long gone. As others have said, the internet and its resources have created an easy guide for pricing.

Typically what I see these days is overpriced junk.


Same goes for the little old lady selling her dead husband's 59 Strat at a garage sale for $125.

These happenings are now relegated to urban legend.


----------



## Mahogany Martin

Milkman said:


> Same goes for the little old lady selling her dead husband's 59 Strat at a garage sale for $125.


Blame either the internet or portable cordless recip saws. "he loved that guitar more than he loved me. Let me get my Black & Decker and I'll hack the damn guitar to pieces in the backyard. Then I'll get myself a sherry and I'll watch it burn"


----------



## Chito

There is a Howard's pawnshop here in Ottawa, on Carling Ave. to be more specific where I have managed to get some good stuff over the years. Although I have not made any purchase in there for a couple of years or so now, this is the pawnshop where I got my Fender The Twin for $350, 10 years ago. Until last year, I have only replaced the tubes once since I've had it and still works like a charm. 

Honestly I think it's not just the store owners fault that most used guitars and amps are being sold at ridiculous prices. It's also the people that sell them. Kinda like "check out the internet and ebay, they sell them for such and such amount". I know some pawnshops most times would sell you anything as long as they get the margin they are expecting. So if they got it for something cheap, you should be able to get it cheap too. Doesn't happen all the time tho.


----------



## david henman

Milkman said:


> The days of walking into a pawn shop and finding an old Tele for $200. are long gone. As others have said, the internet and its resources have created an easy guide for pricing.
> Typically what I see these days is overpriced junk.
> Same goes for the little old lady selling her dead husband's 59 Strat at a garage sale for $125.
> These happenings are now relegated to urban legend.


...still, it happens. my ex-wife found a stunning late 90s american-made strat, black, in mint condition, with a hard shell case, for $150. it belonged to the woman's son, who died in a motorbike crash, and she wanted it out of her sight.

sadly for me, this happened AFTER we separated. damn!

but i agree, the internet is to blame. its not more then a few years ago that i used to see a mint condition deluxe reverb at the 12th fret in toronto for under $600, or a princeton reverb for $400.


----------



## GuitarsCanada

Yes, it happens now and again. I have picked up many deals over the years. But more and more it's from private sales. Someone cleaning house or just has to get some quick cash. The shops have basically gone eBay and they overprice everything.


----------



## Hinrich

*the best pawn shop*

I think the best Pawn Shops are http://www.craigslist.com, http://toronto.kijiji.ca/f-buy-and-sell-musical-instruments-W0QQCatIdZ17QQPageZ1

You sell your gear for more, and buy for less.


----------



## StankFloyd

SinCron said:


> There's a pawn shop around here that has shitloads of guitars and they hardly know what the hell they are.
> 
> "Oh it has humbuckers. Nice.". "No those aren't humbuckers. They're some other brand". What a dumbshit.
> 
> There are some deals to be had, you just gotta shop around.



Sin: You must tell me where this shop is. I checked out some pawn shop over in Dartmouth by the old bridge, but they had nothin. Gigstreet has some nice gear, but it's all pricey and MusicStop is just well.. Musicstop. I'm not lookin for another guitar, but it would be nice to check out this shop you speak of.


----------



## Rumble_b

Hinrich said:


> There's a shop in Stouffville who has quite a few guitars, mostly crap but you'll see a les paul, strat or gibson jumbo acoustic there once in a while. He always has a long story to tell about how he got it off a friend who treats all his guitars well etc etc blah blah. If you go back the next day he'll tell you an entirely different story.
> 
> Anyway, he will always set a highter price and you have to haggle him to death. He's not aggressive but will give you teh sob story about his struggling business hanging by a thread (he's been "struggling" for the 5 years I've been there)
> 
> Either he'll bend for you or if he is confident someone else will pay more then you're out of luck. I got a Yamaha 12 string for $375, brand new it was $600 and he was actaully desparate for cash to pay his PST.
> 
> I don't have a lot of experience with other pawn shops but you have to haggle to get a good deal. If they need the cash, they'll bend no matter how difficult they are, its just a game.


HA HA HA!!! So I guess you know Steve!!! That guy is wierd. But you can get some pretty good deals from him. The better you get to know him(it can take a while, he can forget who you are in 5 min) the better deals you can get. Me and my friends get pretty good scores there pretty often. He'll call us when he's broke sometimes and just about give stuff away. 

P.S. Nice to see someone else from the area. You live in Stouffville or near by??


----------



## SinCron

StankFloyd said:


> Sin: You must tell me where this shop is. I checked out some pawn shop over in Dartmouth by the old bridge, but they had nothin. Gigstreet has some nice gear, but it's all pricey and MusicStop is just well.. Musicstop. I'm not lookin for another guitar, but it would be nice to check out this shop you speak of.


I dont want them to have any bussiness. The guy and his dad that run it are as$ h0les and you better dress nice when you go in because if you dont, they'll throw you out thinking you have no money. Cash only place and you have to ask them the price on everything since they dont mark it. Too bad they're as$ h0les. There's a 7-string Dean there that was made in Korea.


----------



## radio8myguitar

Got my Marshall Valvestate S80 with the pedal, works like a charm-200$, and most recently bought a black Godin Radiator,sweet guitar with it's own caracter, great sound, couple of little nicks but that's all-280$ with gig bag. All pound shop buys.


----------



## StankFloyd

Sin: could you PM me the name of the shop? They won't get any business from me, no monies. I just want to window shop for used gear. You gotta tell me.. there is nothing at the flee markets and the shops I know of have shite.


----------



## Xanadu

Chito said:


> There is a Howard's pawnshop here in Ottawa, on Carling Ave. to be more specific where I have managed to get some good stuff over the years. Although I have not made any purchase in there for a couple of years or so now, this is the pawnshop where I got my Fender The Twin for $350, 10 years ago. Until last year, I have only replaced the tubes once since I've had it and still works like a charm.
> 
> Honestly I think it's not just the store owners fault that most used guitars and amps are being sold at ridiculous prices. It's also the people that sell them. Kinda like "check out the internet and ebay, they sell them for such and such amount". I know some pawnshops most times would sell you anything as long as they get the margin they are expecting. So if they got it for something cheap, you should be able to get it cheap too. Doesn't happen all the time tho.



yep the one on carling is a good one. But there's also one on robertson and the owner's a real *******, just stay away from that one


----------



## Chito

Xanadu said:


> yep the one on carling is a good one. But there's also one on robertson and the owner's a real *******, just stay away from that one


When was the last time you were there? The original owner got killed last August. Could be the guy you are talking about since you say he is an a-hole. This is something I got from the Ottawa Citizen:

_"According to witnesses and police, Mr. Armstrong had been drinking at the Brig Pub on Hazeldean Road on Aug. 26. He was leaving the bar at about 2:30 a.m. and had just gotten into a minor altercation with a man when another patron and complete stranger suddenly sucker-punched him.

The owner of Howard's Pawn Shop in Bells Corners and father of two hit his head on the concrete and never regained consciousness.

Scott Jones, 24, has been charged with manslaughter. He was remanded in custody when he appeared in court in August."_


----------



## Xanadu

yeah i heard about that chito, i was in there a couple of weeks ago, and their stuff is way overpriced and they dont bargain at all, they also pay way to little for stuff, my friend was selling his psp and they were going to give him $150 and $50 for the psp, 4 games, and 2 movies.

its some russian guy running the place now


----------



## Zeegler

I don't bother to go in pawn shops anymore. There was a time when there were deals to be had, and I got a few nice ones, but not anymore. I think Ebay killed that. All I find in pawn shops anymore is completely overpriced junk. I can buy a brand new guitar off Ebay for less than these morons are asking for shit that's barely playable.


----------



## Element

Pawnshop : "Pawnshop SuperStore"
Calgary, Alberta.
17th Ave.


Amp: Peavey Transtube Bandit 112
Man oh man, ths amp was basically brand new, not even a scratch! Awesome sound and nothing wrong with it, I paid $250 for this beauty.
I definitly recommend this pawnshop for guitars/amps/gear.


----------



## Stratocaster

nothing good here in the pawn shops of mississauga. They sell these crappy no name guitars like "Slammer" and "New York" for like $200.


----------



## GuitarsCanada

I must admit, even though I have had a fair amount of success in pawn shops that I have also seen a ton of god awful junk that should just be thrown on some scrap heap. But I can't stay out of the places. It's like playing the lottery.... you never know when you might "strike it rich"


----------



## brybi

Rumble_b said:


> HA HA HA!!! So I guess you know Steve!!! That guy is wierd. But you can get some pretty good deals from him. The better you get to know him(it can take a while, he can forget who you are in 5 min) the better deals you can get. Me and my friends get pretty good scores there pretty often. He'll call us when he's broke sometimes and just about give stuff away.
> 
> P.S. Nice to see someone else from the area. You live in Stouffville or near by??


lol, I purchased a Dillion Dove copy from him and it was really nice for the price

The guy is really nuts though.. kinda hard to strike up a conversation with too cause he's a really slow talker.


----------



## NB_Terry

Element said:


> Pawnshop : "Pawnshop SuperStore"
> Calgary, Alberta.
> 17th Ave.
> 
> 
> Amp: Peavey Transtube Bandit 112
> Man oh man, ths amp was basically brand new, not even a scratch! Awesome sound and nothing wrong with it, I paid $250 for this beauty.
> I definitly recommend this pawnshop for guitars/amps/gear.


Across the street from that place, is a music store that also has good deals. 

I can't think of it's name, but it's in the basement, directly across from Pawnshop Superstore.


----------



## lenbone

*pawnshops*

There are a number of shops here in thunder bay that have the occasional (good find) but like someone said ever since e-bay the stores look up the guitars and tag it accordingly.But sometimes thay really don't know what they have.i found an early 80's squier and grabbed it up for $225 which was an awsome deal !


----------



## david henman

...the trick is knowing how to haggle. unfortunately, i don't.

a friend in the know tells me that they get the stuff dirt cheap, so that mim strat that is priced at, say, $300 was probably acquired for about $50 or less.

-dh


----------



## SinCron

Man Dave, you and I are in the same boat. Piece of sh!t actually raised the price 100 bucks on me. I cant haggle. At all. Im going to try to work a new angle and be all technical (because Im very techical) and basicly make it sound like its a piece of crap and Im doing him a favour.


----------



## david henman

SinCron said:


> Man Dave, you and I are in the same boat. Piece of sh!t actually raised the price 100 bucks on me. I cant haggle. At all. Im going to try to work a new angle and be all technical (because Im very techical) and basicly make it sound like its a piece of crap and Im doing him a favour.


...with a lot of these guys, sweet talk is more effective, like "man, i really want that guitar, but all i can afford is.....$."


----------



## SinCron

These wank jobs will wonder why the hell you want it so much and jack the price.


----------



## Dirty_Frank

Strathroy Ontario has this little shit shop with a drugged out owner. The store has no sign, the blinds are always closed and the hours sign says 'When I'm here'.

Anyways, this kid who was a few years younger than me, and friends with the drummer in my highschool band showed up at one of our band practices with a guitar he wanted me to try out. The owner of the shop let him take it to try for a few days before deciding to buy it. Left a cellphone or something as collateral. 

Anyways, the guitar was an early 80's B.C Rich Mockingbird. The kid paid $45.00 dollars for it.  

This was in 2004. :rockon2:


----------



## GuitarsCanada

I wonder if that dump is still in business. I get into Strathroy all the time.


----------



## Dirty_Frank

GuitarsCanada said:


> I wonder if that dump is still in business. I get into Strathroy all the time.


It's downtown by the Derby. Had a white sign with some weird squiggles on it. Not really a sign, more like a piece of particle board being used to cover up the sign to the previous business. 

I think the dump only really has old rotary dial tvs and mid 80's Sanyo stereos. That's the only guitar I've ever seen come out of there.


----------



## Blue Apple

I just picked this up for $180...










Good deals don't come by often around here but sometimes, you just get lucky.


----------



## Blue Apple

In Cornwall Ontario...


----------



## silverkw

I have not seen many things worth noting in Vancouver's pawn shops...


----------



## Pacem

I've been working in pawn shops off and on for going on 9 years now. Altho I can't play a lick, I have an advid interest in guitars.

I always, check out the competition...the competition in my area (Vancouver area) are horrible. I see affinity series squire strats going for close to $300 when they list out at about 250. I was able to offload mine for $150 (taxes in), it was mint.

The business has changed so much, alot of the older folks who own these pawn shops (i'm 26) have not adapted to the changes. We've had a many good deals in the 2+ years that i've worked at this current shop. As hard as it is to get good deals, its just as hard for us to get a fair value for our music equipment. Ebay has been very good to us. Asking $500 (good deal IMO) for a 76 fender twin reverb gets people mad at us, but on ebay $700US no problem. I had a real nice high end yamaha electric/accoustic, that listed out at long and mcquade at $1995, we put a price of $795 on it, as it was near mint, not so much as a nick on it. The guy baby'd it, he just happened to develop a drug problem. We gave him $400 on a loan for it, which is really reasonable, well more then any other shop would give him. We ended up selling it for $650 taxes in. Great deal IMO, saving $1300 + all the taxes, if thats not a good deal then y'all are too picky 

Some shops will not negotiate it just sucks, I generally put a fair price on something maybe add a lil bit just to dicker around with, but i'll always deal.

Just thought i'd give you a slice of what its like on the other side of the counter.


----------



## Lowtones

I spend a lot of time nosing around pawnshops when I travel and I always travel. I have yet to see what I consider to be a good deal on guitars in a pawn shop.
In fact I believe that most prices are so close to retail list that most people would probably just buy retail instead. I think that since the advent of Ebay
good deals are much harder to find. I know that if I owned a pawn shop and someone brought me a musical instrument I would be looking on ebay to see what they typically go for. My next observation is that I haven't seen many really good guitars in pawn shops. Lots of Squires, Epiphone Ibenez, yamahas etc. Don't get me wrong these are good guitars but just look in the classified section of any newspaper or online and you can find the same thing for less. What you don't see much of is made in USA Fenders, Gibsons, Martins etc. But I continue my search for that good deal in a pawn shop.


----------



## Lowtones

GuitarsCanada said:


> I wonder if that dump is still in business. I get into Strathroy all the time.


So do I. Care to hook up for a coffee or a beer sometime?:food-smiley-004:


----------



## elindso

*Pawn Shop*

Not only are the pawn shops finished so is the local papers classified.

People that don't know see Fender or gibson and think it's gold.

It is still worth the look. I saw a Collings go for $650 7 or 8 years ago.

They didn't know what they had I did but didn't have the cash. When I came back it was gone.

Keep looking. My brother got a 1936 Gibson Super 400 for $800 in the late 
80's. They thought they were taking him for a ride. Grandpa's old guitar

He also bought a grand piano for $1200. You have to watch and look. Stuff is out there. Cleaned it up it is worth a bundle.


----------



## axpro

Personally, I too blame the internet for the decline of good available used gear. but not necesarily how you think.... 

A few MIAC shows back, i was walking around with a co-worker when we came across a booth with a LOT of strat/tele/gibson copies... no name on the headstock though. THe guy noticed we were with L&M and started into the spiel.

TOld us he could make us TONNES of these guitars, for next to nothing per unit (just gotta do a big order of course) and they'll put any name we want on the headstock! He raved about the quality and finish (the guitars didn't LOOK bad, from 7 feet away, but up close, fish eyes in the paint, sloppy inlay work, bad fretwork, etc etc etc... He mentioned how you could "Street something like this around $100-$120 (for a strat copy) and make a KILLING!

I smiled, mentioned politely that i worked in the store level,a nd he needed head office personnel and walked away.

That winter the Deluge of guitars from strange off-normal names on ebay was STAGGERING!!!! thinks like GK guitars, "Santeria" ( i think) Crescent, M guitars... just wierd crappy gear. I am sure it is the same sort of company... buy a shipping container full and pay $40 a guitar.... with all this complete crap everywhere you look (wall mart, Radio Shak, Sam's Club, Costco) instead of a parent buying a "good" guitar for their child (as a one and only christmas gift) they are buying a crappy guitar pack for $150 and a PSP, then the kids have trouble with the guitars and they sit in a closet... a year or 2 later they try to sell it... and realize stores DON'T WANT IT!!!! At ANY PRICE! so the cool old pawn shops that got cool guitars and things, get filled with this total refuse.... to make matters worse, the guitars play bad and are built terribly, so the kids who start with them end up giving up more often, because of instrument failure!

Couple that with anything even deemed half-decent being sold on ebay (or FORUMS!!!!:tongue: ) and you have a recipe for no good gear in pawn shops for a LONG FRICKEN TIME!!!! Heck, the store i work at used to get occasional cool stuff (only 5 or 6 years ago) and now we get mostly crap. :frown: 

Of course, thats just my opinion.....:redface:


----------



## GuitarsCanada

Clearly the in-flux of the Chinese manufactured, and to a certain extent Korean made guitars has had a tremendous affect on the market. There will always be a certain amount of people that will shop by price only. So given that, there will always be a big market for these guitars. But for the pawn shop junkie, it's tough because as you say, once these buyers realize that they now have to go out and get a high end guitar, the original ends up in the pawn shop.


----------



## elindso

I saw a Christmas guitar at Costco that was smacked, under the finish which was cracked off was a very thick paper product. It was once wood but isn't now.

Same with an electric piano at the same store. Black laquer covers cardboard.

That said cheap guitars play alot better than the stuff I had when I was a kid.

The frets could and did cut your fingers if you didn't file the ends down your self. They cost about the same also.


----------



## powrshftr

Hey Lowtones,

Next time you're in Sarnia,DO NOT go to "The Pawn Shop" (how original!) on Christina street,they are insanely over priced arrogand knuckleheads.

Instead,take Front street down to Point Edward.There's a guy down there named Adrian at a place called Casino Pawn,and he seems to get some real gems from time to time.He doesn't give the stuff away,but if you are genuinely interested in something,just talk to him,and he's pretty flexible on price.

I've seen an American Tele,some Dobros,Gibsons,etc go through there,but you have to ask to see most of the good stuff;I think he might be afraid of keeping the real eye candy out on display because the Meth-heads might get tempted to do a smash-and-grab type deal!LOL!

Give it a try,just don't try to strong arm bargain with him,or he shuts right down.

Scott


----------



## Lowtones

powrshftr said:


> Hey Lowtones,
> 
> Next time you're in Sarnia,DO NOT go to "The Pawn Shop" (how original!) on Christina street,they are insanely over priced arrogand knuckleheads.
> 
> Instead,take Front street down to Point Edward.There's a guy down there named Adrian at a place called Casino Pawn,and he seems to get some real gems from time to time.He doesn't give the stuff away,but if you are genuinely interested in something,just talk to him,and he's pretty flexible on price.
> 
> I've seen an American Tele,some Dobros,Gibsons,etc go through there,but you have to ask to see most of the good stuff;I think he might be afraid of keeping the real eye candy out on display because the Meth-heads might get tempted to do a smash-and-grab type deal!LOL!
> 
> Give it a try,just don't try to strong arm bargain with him,or he shuts right down.
> 
> Scott


Thanks for the info. I will check it out. I got a decent deal on a Roland monitor in a pawn shop last weekend. it sounds pretty good.


----------



## Deef

rippinglickfest said:


> Here in Sudbury.........there are a couple of local pawn shops and the Hock SHop chain, two stores I believe.............they shoot low ball....very low ball to people who sell their stuff and then overprice it for resale///////and then have the nerve to try and tell people they are providing a great service.
> 
> Ray


That's exactly right, they'll try to sell you no name strats as "Real Fender" guitars for like $700, and if you tell them they're wrong, they get insulted. But sometimes you get some ok stuff.


----------



## XIII

Baba Rumraisin said:


> I bought my Traynor YBA-1 at a pawnshop for a really nice price. Good experience. I bought a 12 inch chopsaw at Brantford Pawn and got an excellent price. Also bought my Princeton Chorus there for a good price and a Peavey Express 112. Bought an 84 Squire strat for a low price at a pawn in Woodstock. Still have it.
> All in all I've had good experiences with pawn shops. The guy at Brantford Pawn won't GIVE you anything but he is up for suggestions that are reasonable. He has a LOT of amps and midlevel guitars in his shop. Just ask to see the back room. His nose gets out of joint if you try to lowball him too much.
> Better prices at yardsales.


 I think you mean "Downtown Pawn" next to Northway Mercury, not "Brantford Pawn" by your description of the stuff out back.I must admit my experience there has not been as favourable as yours. Kevin is WAY overpriced, and has a crappy attitude when it comes to bargaining. He's got drumsets back there in questionable shape that he wants full retail for, and would not budge even when I offered to buy several kits at once.

In general pawn shops seem to be coming less and less of a deal. They are all on line now, and think they know the value of everything. Sometimes they are correct, but frequently their expectations are overblown.I have seen Squier Strats where the asking price is more than a new one. More and more, anything they have of value is being ebayed.


----------



## elindso

Signed although you can see some good stuff if you watch.

Certain brands will go cheap at a hock shop because they don't know what they have.

Parker, Hamer, Ibanez, Larivee, Godin,


----------



## kat_

My best friend's dad is the king of the pawn shop deals, partly because he's in a small town in central alberta, and partly because he likes to get somewhat broken stuff then get it fixed up well.

He found a Traphagen guitar in a pawn shop for $1000. It was completely dried out, with a couple of severe cracks in the back. He paid less than the 1000 for it, and has been quoted around $2500 to repair it. I don't know if he's had the repairs done yet. Awesome deal though.


----------



## mrdylan

I have found the odd deal in pawnshops generally when I have no cash:confused-smiley-010. I one time scored what looked to be a brand new dunlop Wah for 45 bucks there was no dirt or hair in the grease on the pot what so ever and it sounded perfect.

I one time got ripped badly from my local hawk shop though. I put a purple Jackson DK-1 reverse headstock in there on consignment and it didn't sell for a while I went in one weekend and told them if it didn't sell by the end of that week I would just pull it out. I went back to get it and it was gone I had thought it sold when I asked they said that I had to talk to the manager as something had happened. Talked to him and he said it was stolen (only thing in the store) I had no proper insurance at the time so the police wouldn't do anything and the store said their insurance didn't cover consignment items yeah right police told me it should have been covered and that this wasn't the first time they had troubles with hawk shop period. I will never deal with them again and I have had insurance ever since.


----------



## Hamm Guitars

This one is from a local newspaper - (The Hamilton Spectator or Mountain News 1999)

Guitar & Amp - good physical condition.$400.00 obo

The guitar was a 1976 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop with original case. It looked like an 'under the bed special' and the gibson tag was still in the case, but it was missing about seven pounds of wood and their was a Gold early model Floyd Rose where the tune-o-matic should have been. It was a nice installation job, but still destroyed the guitar. I parted with this guitar just recently.

The amp was a Roland Jazz Chorus 120 - I can't tell you how much I hate these amps, allthough I know guys who swear by them. I have been doing live sound since the late '80's and I have never heard one sound good, so I assume that it must be a good amp for Jazz or something. I think they sound simply horrid with any kind of distortion, but that's just my opinion.

At any rate, I sold the amp for $300.00 so my hacked up Goldtop only cost me $100.00.


----------



## mandocaster

Element said:


> Pawnshop : "Pawnshop SuperStore"
> Calgary, Alberta.
> 17th Ave.
> 
> 
> Amp: Peavey Transtube Bandit 112
> Man oh man, ths amp was basically brand new, not even a scratch! Awesome sound and nothing wrong with it, I paid $250 for this beauty.
> I definitly recommend this pawnshop for guitars/amps/gear.


Probably Hot. I recovered from that place a toolbox full of cords and microphones stolen from me. Low prices can mean stolen goods.


----------



## mandocaster

CalgaryTerry said:


> Across the street from that place, is a music store that also has good deals.
> 
> I can't think of it's name, but it's in the basement, directly across from Pawnshop Superstore.



That's Total Music.


----------



## torndownunit

I have found plenty of deals at garage sales, but never any at Pawn Shops. I can't think of any near me that carry anything decent either though. They are all the chain types.

Any decent pawn shops in Guelph or Newmarket?


----------



## Luke98

The Pawnshop where I mainly just buy strings is really half music store half pawnshop...

But anyways I don't think there is even a name, it's just across from the Irving Mainway in Rexton New brunswick.

I recommend it and wouldn't have a problem buying from there, the owner is friendly and will negotiate on prices.

Check it out if your ever in the region... (hah)


----------



## harley mcjagger

*pawn shops edmonton*

years ago i did a lot of instrument shopping at pawn shops. a cheaper guitar such as raven or kay or stewart could be had for as little as 20 bucks. my first accoustic guitar was bought at a pawn shop for 5 bucks when i was a kid. i dont even know what brand it was. 
today, things are quite different. you better know what you are wanting and the retail prices of the item.
i just recently purchased a marshall amp at a pawn shop here for 550. this is a valvestate, but retails at 1100 down the street at a music store. this amp is also covered with white tolex which acccording to marshall makes it more collectable. i recently talked to the owner who said the original owner paid 1400 for it. it is in perfect condition, and not a scratch on it.
i also bought a yorkville sound cube amp- 60 watts. i used this for years and only payed a coupl hun for it. another good deal.
the deals are there, you just have to know what you want and the worth of it.
just about any pawn shop will at the very least give you the tax off. if you are a good negotiator, you can probably do lots better.
i figure the rule is that you just have to be at the right place at the right time.


----------



## esp_dsp

i dont know maybe it was just with me but i found that the guys in the hock shop in orangeville where complete dicks to me :frown: they hardly have anything good and a little while back they had a cry baby in there that was in alright shape or so it looked and i asked the guy if i could try it out and he said no?!?!? i was just like umm ok... so i opened it up and there was like no guts! it was empty in side...


----------



## oldcountry310

SinCron said:


> There's a pawn shop around here that has shitloads of guitars and they hardly know what the hell they are.
> 
> "Oh it has humbuckers. Nice.". "No those aren't humbuckers. They're some other brand". What a dumbshit.
> 
> There are some deals to be had, you just gotta shop around.


could you get me the name of the shop and/or the address.Also: do they carry accoustics?


----------



## Element

mandocaster said:


> Probably Hot. I recovered from that place a toolbox full of cords and microphones stolen from me. Low prices can mean stolen goods.


Ouch, I am sorry to hear that man.


----------



## aC2rs

Not to fond of the idea of buying from a pawn shop myself.

I would rather check out the used department in a reputable guitar store. You can often find a selection of quality used guitars available and they are usually willing to make a deal so you can get a good guitar and at a fair price.

Well, maybe not Lakeshore Music (L&M) in Burlington. I find that their asking price on used gear is often too high to begin with so either you need to have good negotiating skills to get the price down to where it should be ... or just buy new. Oh, and I also know first hand that their trade in values are too low.


----------



## Maxer

My rule of thumb is that most stores are going to try and spin down your guitar's value in any trade-in deal. They want to maximize their own leverage and keep the profit margin as fat as possible. Unless you've developed a personal relationship with someone at the store and you've nurtured a good business history in dealings with them, you can expect to have to dicker for the most bucks for your guitar.


----------



## zinga

*i like pawn shopping*

i found an old morley echoplex big big big pedal lol but the thing works great picked it up in whitehorse for $30.00. always go to the pawns frist.:wave:


----------



## aC2rs

Maxer said:


> My rule of thumb is that most stores are going to try and spin down your guitar's value in any trade-in deal. They want to maximize their own leverage and keep the profit margin as fat as possible. Unless you've developed a personal relationship with someone at the store and you've nurtured a good business history in dealings with them, you can expect to have to dicker for the most bucks for your guitar.


Yes, of course they want to do the best they can for themselves. I have found some stores to be a bit more reasonable than others in their valuations. And you can always not accept what they are offering for the item, which I have done.

Probably the best way to sell your gear through a store, if you are not in a hurry, is to put it on consignment. That way they will work with you to get the money you want for your item. 

I sold a guitar on consignment and I got good money for it, the store made a good commission on it and it didn't cost them money to have the guitar in their stock so all involved were happy.


----------



## aC2rs

I should also add that the person who bought my guitar got a nice sounding and playing guitar that was well taken care of.

So everybody was happy.


----------



## Geek

Woah, are the only expensive pawn shops in BC?

I've been to most every one from Surrey to Kelowna, BC and many, if not most, charge more than NEW! 

The one in Chilliwack was trying to sell a pretty beatup Valve Jr. for $300. He actually sold it while I was there for $270!


----------



## Maxer

Certainly, they're all in for the business of selling gear; that said, some are definitely going to more fair than others. In all cases, the cardinal rule applies: buyer beware. The onus remains on the seller to research the book value of what they're trying to sell; that way, you ensure that you enter into the bargaining with a good solid foundation of what to expect in terms of haggling.

In the end, if you aren't armed with that knowledge, chances are your ignorance is going to be exploited.


----------



## bluezombie

Instant Comptant pawn shops in Quebec are excellent. They have lots of great stuff at reasonable prices. I saw a JCM 2000 marshall stack for 1,500, and i bought a DOD Death metal pedal for 35$


----------



## YJMUJRSRV

I bought a frankenstrat with a '59 neck on it for $500 in Vancouver. The neck has been refined and redecaled but .. $500.

The pawn guys said a few people were in humming and hawing over it and wanted to take it apart. This is one of those goodwill type pawn stores. They do not know guitars.

It looked pretty darn real to me so I glady paid $500. Came on a one peice Ash body that looks like an 80's Shecter to me (their routing was unique) The middle pickup is a Fender grey bottom late 60's the other two - unknown. 80's electronics and unoriginal bridge.

Can still find deals especially when I find the "sharks" today wait forever to pull the trigger. At $500 c'mon. According to these guys a few guys kept coming in wanting to take the neck off as they wanted to be sure. I have to thank those guys. Their hesitation allowed me to pull into town and grab that deal. They were asking $800. I even bargained. I told them straight out - thats a real early 60's neck but the rest is likely not. I mean you could see the slab board at both ends clear as day.


----------



## bcmatt

zinga said:


> i found an old morley echoplex big big big pedal lol but the thing works great picked it up in whitehorse for $30.00. always go to the pawns frist.:wave:


You were in Whitehorse? I am from there (grew up there but barely been back the last 10 years) and went back this summer. I think up there, pawn shops might be your best bet because there is only one music store there right now and it is pretty small. There are a lot of musicians up there, so you know that there must be a lot of swapping gear outside of the one little guitar shop.


----------



## Drazden

It seems to me that a good pawnshop has gone the way of the dodo in southern Ontario. I'm in Keswick, and the closest place that I know of that has pawned instruments is in Bradford or Newmarket. Then, it's a dead zone until I hit Toronto, where everything's overpriced anyway.

It's not so bad, though. A few years ago, I picked up a near-mint Platinum BC Rich Warlock for $150.


----------



## Maxer

Much depends on where you are, of course - but in the cities Craigslist, Kijiji and last but not least the rise of the ubiquitous personal computer (where researching the relative value of a used instrument is a pretty simple and quick thing to do) are the driving factors behind the obsolescence of such bricks and mortar stores. The new reality enables you to eliminate the middleman, pay next to nothing to advertise your wares (OK, so you need a 'puter and a net connection but after that CL is absolutely free) and even screen your potential customers. On the other hand, tt enables guys like me to see cool deals and pounce on them - I needn't waste shoe leather traipsing around from pawn shop to pawn shop in search of that one amazing treasure... though I will say I will miss them purely for nostalgia's sake.


----------



## millenium_03

Pawn shop in my place is very crappy for guitar.... NEVER seen an big deal outthere... They surevaluate their stock... Don't want to offense anyone, but most of the time all he have is: Yamaha, Cort, Barracuda, GH etc....

Only once I saw an nice Takamine 12 string accoustic / electric...

The price are too much high for used guitars that most of the times, need an good tune up... Don't go there anymore...


----------



## Mogwaii

mrdylan said:


> I have found the odd deal in pawnshops generally when I have no cash:confused-smiley-010. I one time scored what looked to be a brand new dunlop Wah for 45 bucks there was no dirt or hair in the grease on the pot what so ever and it sounded perfect.
> 
> I one time got ripped badly from my local hawk shop though. I put a purple Jackson DK-1 reverse headstock in there on consignment and it didn't sell for a while I went in one weekend and told them if it didn't sell by the end of that week I would just pull it out. I went back to get it and it was gone I had thought it sold when I asked they said that I had to talk to the manager as something had happened. Talked to him and he said it was stolen (only thing in the store) I had no proper insurance at the time so the police wouldn't do anything and the store said their insurance didn't cover consignment items yeah right police told me it should have been covered and that this wasn't the first time they had troubles with hawk shop period. I will never deal with them again and I have had insurance ever since.



it was the hawk shop? wow, i never heard of anything like that
they are f-in theifs though!!!!!!!!!


----------



## LJM61

*Lado Hunter Scores one better that his dream machine!*

Toronto used to be a great place to score deals in pawn shops, but that all stopped being the case around 1998. at that time there was an explosion of new pawn shops on Church & Queen Streets and that was around the time they really started to use blue books or walked down to Steve's Music to see what brands and models were worth. At least that's what they were telling me as I had a 10 year trusted relationship with a few of the old guard.

The only one at that time who wasn't actively seeking values for guitars was McTamney's who's focus really is jewelry and gold but has a few alternate items they tend to scoop in Estate sales. 

That year I was on the hunt for a Lado Falcon bass which I had wanted for years. I noticed that they had a low end model Lado bass but not what I was really hoping for. I got a clerks attention to ask what they were asking for it and he said $300. I hmmm'ed at that and asked if it was possible if he might have any other Lado's in the back that was nearing it's public release date.

He raised his eyebrows and held a finger up and said "wait a sec" and trotted back to the back room. He came back to the counter carrying a seriously beaten hardshell road case and put it down for me with a smile on his face.
I popped it open and instantly felt lightheaded and snapped the lid shut hoping that my eye brows didn't rise or that a smile hadn't sprawled across a gaping maw!~ As dead pan as I could manage I tried to fain passive disinterest and asked "How much"? and he said *$375!!! * I seriously felt my legs wabble and not wanting to act like I was at all excited I said, "How much without the case"?

He said hang on and went back to talk with a manager. Meanwhile I was fishing threw my pockets for my cash and something to dry the sweat that was starting to stream off my head. I felt like I was dreaming!
The clerk skipped back to the counter and said: "The manager says $325 and you keep the case"! Ok!.... Sold! I can at least take it in the case to another shop for a new case... a put down the cash and walked out with the receipt and guitar in the tattered case and immediately headed to Lado's shop in Ajax. I wanted to have him recondition it and give me an appraisal.

I walked into the shop and spoke with old Joe Kovichek himself.
I told him I came straight from a pawn shop and wanted him to check it over and set it up and to give me an appraisal. He opened the case and instantly recognized it as a one off custom ordered Zebra bass. His first words with raised brows was, I know who I made this for! When I asked him who, he refused to tell me. He said it was is great shape and needed very little along with new strings and asked me what type of strings I'd want on her? He then told me that he had a customer who was wanting one and said he would give me $750 cash on the spot for it. 

I told him that it was not interested in selling it and that I had waited for years to own a nice one since I played one of his first units sold threw Steve's Music while I worked there when I was 19 and they were selling for $1300 new in 1979. I then told him that from that time he was my favorite luthier ever. He smiled and asked me what I just paid for it. I said, "Joe, you tell me what she was sold for new and what she's worth now and I'll tell you"! When he said it was custom made for a Canadian client for $4000.00
and that it was now worth around $3400.00 due to the minor wear(a small strap rash on the top lobe of the body and some minor indents on the rear.)
but no doubt adorned by live performance by the previous owner.

I handed him my receipt from McTamney's and just stared at it shaking his head. "Well today was your day"! His guy returned from the back shop with the guitar gleaming like she was just polished. He had had it restrung and setup while we were talking as well as cleaned and polished and handed me a bill for $45.00. He basically threw in the flat wound RotoSound strings I wanted and said Merry Christmas! 

What a class guy! 

I still have her and use her in my humble home studio!
Every time I pick her up I feel 18 again! 

Today I hope of making such a score on ebay for her twin or a PRS to upgrade from my Epiphone Custom '57 Gold Top Reissue. 
But all the best deals are stateside!


----------



## kenehdn

*Pawn Shops*

All I can say about a pawn shop is to know your gear thoroughly. Unless you like feeling like the Quint character from Jaws - that is, you will be swallowed whole. Be prepared so that your negotiating is able to kick a tooth or two back, so to speak.


----------



## Guest

Good advice *kenehdn*.









I'd also like to add that if you feel unsure about your
knowledge, invite a buddy who can help. In the meantime,
take advantage of the combined knowledge this site has
to offer.


----------



## Guest

I just noticed.
Welcome to the forum dude.








Dundas is a lovely town. We have friends there.
Don't ask where. I use landmarks. lol


----------



## Imij

*Thanks for advice about Pawn Shops*

Thanks for the advice about pawn shops. I've often wondered when passing by if I should go in and try out one of their guitars. The one time I did go in (Ottawa- Howard's) they were either overpriced or broken. I guess you really do need to know your gear before you try to get a deal.


----------



## Gitpik

*Pawn shops deals*

In the last 15 years I have prowled the pawn shops in the Vancouver and outlying area many times never seen
a Martin or Gibson guitar. I ask them why and they all BS me and say, oh they come in ocassionally. I tell them to tell that to the Padre as it's a load of bull. They sell them on e-bay and the only thing that hits the floor is nip scrap or ultra heavy not wanted amps to sell to the unwary.
Auctions have also gone the way of the DoDo bird. They want 20% finders fee here on the coast plus you then have to pay GST & PST tax.
So now I say the pawn shops and their crooked dealing policies can go plumb to h as far as I'm concerned. I'll bite the bullet and buy new or off Craigs list or private from the buy & sell.


----------



## tribi9

Pawnshops overprice their crappy guitars most of the time!


----------



## mod13

My first post...Hi everyone!!

I have to agree that the picking are not a good as they once were...I remember my Brother picking up a Gibson Flying V in the early 80's for $150, which he traded off on a Charvel...we needed pointy 80's guitars back then...but recently I picked up a '86 Jackson Soloist for $300!!!

It didn't work when plugged in at the shop, and had 3 strings on it, and I though the Ebony fret board was rosewood, it was soooo dirty...and it had the crappyest paint job...it was behind the counter, and I asked to see it...when the guy picked it up and I saw that it was neck thru...my heart jumped...then I plugged it in to some crappy Peavey amp, and it had nothing the guy dropped the price by $300 from 600...I checked the serial #, and asked if it came with a case...I probably could have got him down to $250, but I think I stole it for $300.

I got it home...a quick solder job on the ground...a quick clean up, new strings and BANG!!! BEAUTIFUL to play, and wonderful sound...I have it in getting some custom paint right now...can't wait to get it back!!!


----------



## Freeze1962

*Pawn shop*

Not sure what is good these days but as a young guitar player i used to love richmonds in toronto


----------



## dobsont

Walked in to one of the shops here in Winnipeg a year back or so and found a late 50s early 60s old Harmony Broadway. Bottom of the line, painted binding, missing the top 5 or so frets, spray-painted black to boot. He wanted $275 or some fool thing. Seriously, what the hell? I MIGHT have paid $50. Maybe. 

I went in to another shop a couple of weeks ago. The guy's got one guitar. I say "I though you had a bunch of guitars." He says, "I do, they're all like that one in there. What colour do you want?"

errr, no thanks...

Said he didn't carry used guitars anymore because he was sick of guys refusing to pay more than $50... Ha!


As far as the pawn-shops-asking-ebay prices thing goes, I look at it this way.

I see guitars I'd buy on ebay go for prices I'd be willing to pay.
If I can find something I want locally at the same price as I'd be willing to pay online, then hell, that's a good deal. I get it today and I don't have to pay the damn shipping and handling!


----------



## zontar

Way back when David Lindley hit it big with Mercury Blues, pawn shops around town boosted their prices on all the oddball stuff. I once saw a guitar of undeterminable brand in a pawn shop window I had to check out. It had a silver glitter finish, 3 single coils, a Bigsby copy, and better looking hardware than you'd expect. It played quite nicely. He wanted more for it than I'd paid for my Iceman! If he'd been asking $100 or less, I'd probably have bought it. That guitar sat there a long time. I don't know if he ever sold it. It was cool though.

On the other hand another pawn shop had some cool Herdim picks and some with humourous sayings on them for cheap.


----------



## GUInessTARS

On Friday on the way home from work I stopped at a pawn shop where they had a white MIM strat for $449. I then stopped at a Renaissance Music in Kingston and saw a candy apple red MIM strat new for $450. It had a few scratches on it but it was still NEW.


----------



## torndownunit

You can still get lucky. In my town there is a "Hock Shop" which is a chain. It's only one guy who owns it and works there though unlike the larger stores in the chain. If he can't find info on stuff online, he tends to price it cheap. 

EG. when I was in there a few weeks ago there was an 80's El Degas bass that wasn't a common model. It came with a hardshell case for $150. There was also another oddball MIJ bass for $100. I wanted to get them both, but went with the really oddball once because it looked cool (there is a thread about it in the bass section).

If they can't find info on something on eBay or online, and they don't have much guitar knowledge you can still find some deals every now and then.


----------



## Supro

I found my 1987 62 reissue in a pawnshop, paid $500!, that was 15 years ago, now the thing is it came with a fender hardshell case, but I did not know at the time that they probably switched the tweed case for the one I have.
It was probably in the store when i bought the guitar, I wish I had known at that point about the tweed cases.


----------



## jv100k

I'm a certified pawnshop whor*&^%master.My best score last year was this 68 plexi 50 watt.499.99 =tax!They didn't want to sell it to me because it hummed(tubes)i grabbed the handle in my sweaty hand and told them i was not leaving without it.


----------



## Guest

Oh man! That's a score fer sure!lofu
I had the opportunity to play through
a few of those model yrs. I've owned
a pair of marsh's and currently own
a HiWatt Custom 100, but I do remember
the experience of that Plexi.


----------



## biggreen

Sometime around 1997 I scoured the pawnshops of Vancouver looking for a cheap telecaster. I found a couple but the last one I went to, which was one of the old "Captians" that I went to had the perfect one. I didn't know much about them at the time, but this was a pretty decent looking squire in perfect shape and I got it for $250. 

Fast forward to 3 years ago and enter Ebay and I finally realized the pedigree of the guitar I had bought way back when. Turns out it was a JV series 52 reissue made in Japan in 1983. I couldn't belive the excitement it generated at auction, I had a 1000 views in about 4 days. I must have had a dozen offers to sell it outside of auction and or to let them know if somenone else made me a buy it now offer so they could best it. That was back in the days before Ebay really cracked down on that sort of thing. Anyway, I picked out the only 2 offers that came from Canadians and let them know my price. 2 hours later I had settled the deal for $1000 plus $60 to ship it out to Newfoundland. :smilie_flagge17:










Nowadays I think you would be pretty hard pressed to find a guitar at pawn for 25% of market value.


----------



## steve60ca

*Pawnshops*

Here in the hamilton area, I avoid the pawnshops. Instead, I go to Mountain Music or L&Mc in Burlington and buy their used stuff. They don't want it.They're selling new stuff, but I guess if they get it out of their customers hands, they'll sell 'em something else. I used to get all my pedals @ Mountain.
Got a Digitech RP3 for $90.00 and 2 months later got the GnX1 for $125.00 at Long & McQuade. Also, everybody who knows me, will give me stuff if they don't want it. Like a small 15W Yamaha amp, a Kent guitar (I hang it on the wall)and an old Traynor for $50.00 which is a near match for my other Traynor. 
Get your parents to talk to their friends and next time there is a garage sale...hey...who knows. Maybe they will call you about "that big black box that my son left behind" first.


----------



## Axeman16

cool stuff guys.


----------



## rbwi

here in the Montreal area of Quebec,

the pawn shops that were everywhere a couple of years ago have
almost all dissapeared. the only ones still open often set their prices
higher than what you would pay new at the store.

what they do is go to the manufacturer website, take the list price and
deduct 10-20% depending on the condition.

but since nobody in their right mind would pay list price at a guitar store,
you end up paying more for a used instrument than you would for a 
brand new at the store.

in the good years of the pawn shops ( 1998-2004, or so) however, i 
found unbelievable deals in pawn shops.

ex: 

a brand new Epiphone Les Paul Custom for 50$, the guy at the 
pawn shop didn't know that Epiphone were made by Gibson, he tought
it was a cheap imitation, i bought it and sold it a week later for 450$.

another time i found a Jackson Kelly USA for 100$. the guy tought that
without an imput jack, an electric guitar was worthless, 10$ later and 5
minutes with my soldering iron, i had a killer mint condition Jackson USA
worth 10 times what i paid for it. i sold it a couple years later for 800$

i miss those days where the combinaison of incompetant pawn shops clercks
and drug addicts in need of cash used to get you great deals on gear.


----------



## Mogwaii

The Hock Shop in Oshawa is selling used garbage for more than MSRP


----------



## Robert1950

Places like the Hock Shop will keep going.

Why? I've said it before,... P.T.Barnum.


----------



## Crossroads

Just last Monday picked up a Norman B18 acoustic at a pawn shop in Belleville ON. Got it for $160.00

Unfortunately the owner there knew guitars... couldn't "dicker" with him anymore than rounding the tax off.

Seen it several times where the pawnshop wants more for a guitar than what the local music stores sell for new...


----------



## mahavinash

Crossroads said:


> Just last Monday picked up a Norman B18 acoustic at a pawn shop in Belleville ON. Got it for $160.00
> 
> Unfortunately the owner there knew guitars... couldn't "dicker" with him anymore than rounding the tax off.
> 
> Seen it several times where the pawnshop wants more for a guitar than what the local music stores sell for new...



Whats the address of this pawnshop ? Do they keep electric guitars as well?


----------



## Crossroads

mahavinash said:


> Whats the address of this pawnshop ? Do they keep electric guitars as well?


They do sell some electrics as well... it is on Dundas Street East, in a little strip mall beside KFC.. ( by the Bayview Mall area )


----------



## Phatchrisrules

I recently went to Toronto to lurk amongst Church street looking to find a cheap Mosrite knock-off, to no avail (big surprise!). Every shop I went into had horrible, horrible stuff, stuff called "Rose" something for $150, "Silvertones" for like $280...which are a Sears brand. There were a couple Univox's one was a metal-esque guitar that was beat, and the other was a LP copy for $250. It was in the window, I would have bought it but I don't know too much about guitars, so I would have probably been ripped off, plus I hate the looks of that body-style. They had a Stratocaster for $600, which was nothing big, plus I'm custom building one now so I don't need one. 

The best deal (IMO) was at Mountain Music here in Hamilton. I traded in a year and half old 15watt Crate amp and got $90 trade-in for it (it only cost me $165 or something brand new) and got a Roland Gc-408 amp and speaker with the stomp box for volume/overdrive for like $240, and I understand they were brand new for $700 back in the late 90's. I also got an Epiphone AJ-10 acoustic with upgraded tuners for $150...not a huge deal, but its hard to find lefty equipment that is decent for a good price. So mountain is my go-to place for finding gems now.


----------



## mcgriff420

Got a great 83' JCM800 4104 (212 combo) from a Pawn Shop in Vernon BC. It used to be the store's demo amp for their 250$ guitars. It had kitchen chair casters on it (circa 1982) and mismatched power tubes -one old RCA6CA7 and the other unknown. I don't think they really knew what they had as only recently have the early JCM's been going up in price.

Since I spotted it on vacation I had them ship it to me. They actually crated it up! I disremember the name right now.. Raven Pawn?

In my little backwater burg there ain't much in the way of cool gear -mostly Marshall MG's and Squire strats..


----------



## valriver40

after a visit to about half a dozen pawn shops here in winnipeg recentley, only found overpriced guitars and amps that were junk. any decent stuff was over priced and needed lots of work to bring them up to playing form.


----------



## Chris Browne

*Digital World, Fredericton NB*

Most pawn shops frankly give me the creeps, but this place in my home town isn't bad. Years ago they used to get lots of really interesting guitars in on a regular basis, then they started carrying new low-end products with names like "New York Pro" and "Vintage". But hope remains - the other week they had a 1976 Les Paul in great shape for just under $2000. It didn't last long!

It's really the only place in town that carries used guitars, and I try to check it out once a week. I've been going there so long, I've seen the staff turn over at least four times. I've bought a few things there; a Danelectro 59DC, a Fender Duosonic reissue, Jay Turser tele copy, an Art and Lutherie Ami, although I've always chosen to sell guitars privately to elliminate the middle man. 

Just the other day my casual search for a Humbucker/Gibson scale guitar ended there: I bought a Yamaha AES620HB for what I consider to be a very fair price ($400 taxes in with HSC)


----------



## worn

I picked up a modded Squier Strat in a Cash Converters that had a 50th Anniversary Fender neck. They were asking $200 but after sitting there for a few weeks, I offered and got it for $100. The guitar was worn out junk, the neck is great.
Spotted a Gibson LP in a pawn shop out along Eglinton. They were asking $800. It was in really rough shape and just collecting dust. They eventually came down to $300, I got it for $250 including tax. 
Same shop as the LP I bought a Northern EBO style bass copy made in Japan early/mid '70s for $200 including original fitted case. 
There really isn't much out there, usually lots of beat up sticker covered Chinese Strats for the same price as new Chinese Strats.


----------



## Schenkerguy

*Pawnshop ripoffs*

Pawnshops in Calgary;

Went to this Cash Converters in Forest Lawn, they had one of those (illegal?) Gretsch copies, like that say Gretsch on them but are made in some foreign country, and sell for like $150.. They're trying to tell me it's a real Gretsch White Falcon, and they're selling for about $2000...

Cash Converters in the south.. Looking at this Mexi-Tele they had. I'm looking at it and it's like "hmm, the neck pocket is cracked.. two of the tuners have been replaced with something from an acoustic guitar and they don't work.. the neck pickup has been replaced with a piece of tinfoil.. hmm two bridge saddles are missing.. and the Made in Mexico has been gouged out with a chisel.. etc etc..." And oh, it's only $100 more than a brand new one! What a deal!

Pawn shop around where Mainly Music used to be in the Southwest.. Guy has this Epiphone Casino, just a regular $450 type one, but he prints out this page from the internet of like an "Elitist - signature - made in USA handcrafted" whatever model that sells for like $3000.. "Oh yes, this is that model allright!" Just waiting for a sucker who'll think he's getting a deal for $1500.

I have personally never seen a good deal in a pawnshop, except maybe on breadmakers or socket sets. Try one of their 3-packs of crappy picks.. only four dollars!


----------



## wair138

Being a starting guitarist in Markham area, i was wondering if anyone can refer/direct me to any pawn shops, i've just read the whole forum and now my heart jumps at the thought that i might just find a hidden treasure in a pawn shop. So all directions will be greatly thanked for. =D

PS, I'm not at the legal driving age yet so bus routes eg would be even more appreciated.

Have a good day. =]


----------



## Boyko

Most of the pawn shops I've been in haven't had anything good. My Dad has told me stories of pawn shops he'd see when he drove truck across Canada with vintage Teles for $200 and 80's Gibsons for $500. 

I've only bought one guitar (Fender Strat) from a pawn shop, and it turned out to be a fake. I don't know the name of the store, but its a pawn shop in Toronto in Kensington Market. Oh well, I didn't spend too much on it and it was a nice player. 

Theres a guitar store in Ottawa called Spaceman Music which is basically a pawn shop for guitars. Almost all of their stuff is used, except for some Danelectros or pedals. It used to be Songbird Music until the owner sold the location to his employees. Not bad if your looking to see something interesting, but usually a bit high in price.


----------



## nicmat42

got a boss ce-2 made in japan, black label, black screw for 40$ in montreal at gi comptable on st-laurent. was a steal!


----------



## LastRide

There are a couple Pawnshops in the Sault here but their kind of crappy. I did manage to get a Fender Strat Paisley Japan for $500 one time. They also had a Gibson acoustic for $500. I should have bought it but had a brain lapse.


----------



## arloskay

The Swap Shop in Toronto at Victoria Terrace (Victoria Park and Lawrence) has the occasional gem, although mostly it is junk.

Today I dropped by to take a look, they have a Epi Sheraton 2, vintage sunburst, with case, in what looks to be pristine condition, asking $395. 2005 model, made in Korea from what I recall. Also saw a Tokai Love Rock, orange, made in Korea, 2007 model, also in mint condition, asking $495.

Another day I went in there and they had a Roland Cube for $75. I should have bought it... I've seen an Epi Dot in there before as well that was priced below what folks are normally asking for them on the local Kijiji/CraigsList.


----------



## NorthernII

*Northern II*

If anyone happens to see a Northern II Les Paul copy in a natural finish in any pawn shop in the Toronto area...please drop me a line!


----------



## rgbehro

Hello,

I currently own a Northern II Les Paul copy that I have been considering selling off.
I am not in Toronto. I live in Sarnia, ON.

Ron


----------



## loudtubeamps

Cash Converters and the like before the sales people got savvy and started looking up everything on line before they put it out on the floor.
10 years ago or so:some finds like.
Vega 4 string ,long neck banjo with case-$100.00. "The Ace" Ludwig Banjo $100.00 Les Paul Artisan with case-$1000.00. Hoffman Audio Pre-amp-$80.00 .
Traynor Bassmasters , Custom Specials, etc. usually $150.00..............all/taxes in.
Ahh.......those were the days.
I used to live in London in the early eighties and found Maestro Music in St. Thomas. 
Some amazing deals and wheeling and dealing/trades etc. back then!

I see they are still in business. Any cool stuff going on there these days?
Cheers Doug.


----------



## Milkman

Baba Rumraisin said:


> I bought my Traynor YBA-1 at a pawnshop for a really nice price. Good experience. I bought a 12 inch chopsaw at Brantford Pawn and got an excellent price. Also bought my Princeton Chorus there for a good price and a Peavey Express 112. Bought an 84 Squire strat for a low price at a pawn in Woodstock. Still have it.
> All in all I've had good experiences with pawn shops. The guy at Brantford Pawn won't GIVE you anything but he is up for suggestions that are reasonable. He has a LOT of amps and midlevel guitars in his shop. Just ask to see the back room. His nose gets out of joint if you try to lowball him too much.
> Better prices at yardsales.


Where exactly is Brantford Pawn? Most of the pawnshops are on Colborne I thnk.


----------



## sneakypete

So things haven`t changed much since 2006 when this thread was started?


----------

