Anybody bought from a pawn shop?

[buldog5151bass]

Nowadays, people with higher end gear have other options, and few pawn shop employees are knowledgeable on anything but the big names, but some shops (rarely) are known for having decent instruments.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Too many power tools stolen from work sites. The larger franchise shops are closing one-by-one.

We've had more luck with thrift stores. Tim just snagged a Peavey combo for well-under a bill.

Riis

 

[Tom Bomb]

Can be fun. If something's been there for a time, it may have issues. Be mindful. I still have one combo, from the late eighties, got from a pawn shop in Parramatta. The guitar's gone but it was an excellent guitar, for not a lot of money, traded for a nicer article.

I scored a hyper fuzz for fifty bucks once, from a pawn shop, same deal. Still have it — add a zero today to the fifty, pretty nifty Bargains are out there. Rare treasures. There are a number trading on the net now. No qualms from me, especially if you have some knowledge of who you're dealing with, but you need to be diligent always, and sometimes things do go south.

Always gonna be a gamble, to a degree. Pays to know the tricks of the trade. There's a fair whack of cynicism here, not entirely unjustified. Be wary.
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[mikewalker]

In retrospect, I only regret the instruments that I didn't buy from pawnshops...

 

[Rabidhamster]

What didn’t I buy in a pawn shop

 

[chadds]

1970. A tweed Champ for $35.00.

It was perfect with an EB2D and a Vox Clyde McCoy Wah.

A Time Machine would be really nice right now.

 

[Sharko]

In retrospect, I only regret the instruments that I didn't buy from pawnshops...

Lol, this. Circa 2010 I saw a passive USA Music Man SUB for $300 but didn’t have the cash in hand that day.

 

[GIBrat51]

Been eyeing a 5 string bass thats been sitting in this pawnshop near me for about 3 months. Anybody ever bought from a pawn shop before? Post experiences below please.

Nope; never have. And, IME with pawn shops all over the US, and in the UK? They've never had a bass - or a guitar - that I could buy. I'm left handed, and no pawn shop I've ever dealt with, would have anything to do with left handed stuff. "We just can't sell them" is the short and simple answer. There might be a pawn shop somewhere that takes in left handed basses, but... I ain't found them yet.
The only left handed bass I ever saw in a pawn shop, was in London, in 1988. A friend spotted it, and being a massive Fender fanboi, spotted it for what it was; a completely intact 1958 lefty Precision Bass. And, I think the only reason that the pawnbroker took it in, was that he didn't realize that it was a lefty. As was the common practice for Punk bands at the time, it was string upside down; had the front strap pin moved; and was covered with flat black paint, obscene graffiti, and equally obscene stickers. My friend snatched it up in a heartbeat - for cheap; I think the broker was desperate to get the thing out of his shop. To pay for the bass's restoration - by one of the best music shops in Denmark Street - my friend sold me his '78 "A" necked P-Bass. Which I still have...
So... no, I've never bought a bass - or a guitar - from a pawn shop. Mainly because, IME, they refuse to have anything for me to buy...