Am I writing a Country song?

No. It's something I actually did.

I quit playing guitar over a year ago and I have two guitars, two amps and a multi-fx pedal. I've played since I was 10 years ago and still no rock god.

So seeing that the stuff is collecting dust in the closet I had an idea that maybe I'd get a good 9mm pistol for my Carvin DC127 guitar. I'm keeping my handmade Harper guitar so there.

I placed an ad for trade on CL and less than an hour later I got a hit. A guy said he'll trade me his HK USP V1 9mm full size for it but only if I have a CHL and I do. So does he too. I told him bring it over and I'll have the amp hooked up outside for him to try the guitar.

We met and checked out the stuff. Upon inspection I found it's a 2003 model and in excellent shape. He told me he didn't shoot it much and that he carried it on his security job and got a 686 later so the HK sat in his safe.

He liked the guitar and I liked the pistol so he asked is this going to be an even trade? I said yeah and he opened his backpack and pulled out three holsters and added to the gun. Cool, we shook and that was it.

__________________
_It was love at first shot_

Seems like you did ok.

I'd bet I've traded guns, guitars, amps, basically everything in a music store over a hundred times.

The chase was half the fun.

Congrats.

__________________
Music/Sports/Beer fan

Years ago, I traded a Taurus Model 689 .357 for an Epiphone Les Paul. That was the best kind of trade, we both thought we got the better end of the deal!

The funny thing about it was that he was in trouble with his girlfriend for "getting a gun", and I was in trouble with my wife for getting another loud musical instrument!

Sweet..

Bet you can play some nice music with that one to

That was coolest trade that I read.

you can still create lyrics with that 9 mm congrats on a good deal

Don't know guitars well, but that's a nice gun, std. issue in the German Army, among other forces.

If I was willing to own a polymer-framed pistol, that'd be the one.

Great guns. I have the LEM version. Mags are not expensive at $25 - $30 ea.

Thanks guys. It's a great shooter, really soft. Needs more trigger time though.

__________________
_It was love at first shot_

I don't know much about guitars so I don't know the value of the ones you had but I hope you were smarter and more careful that my dad was with his guitar, he took a severe skinnin' on his deal.

When he was a youngster his dad gave him a new in the case Gibson acoustic guitar. He picked at it all his life until his hands were so arthritic he just couldn't make the chords any more. The guitar was made in the mid to late '30s and he sold it to some crook for 500 bux in 2005.

He learned his mistake about a year later. turns out it was a collectors item. Had every feature those in the know like to see in old guitars. And it was Gibson and just the right model.

It didn't have a mark or a grain of dust on it and even the velvet that lined the case was in new condition. As near as he cold find out it would easily have been worth 30 to 40 grand.

But I think you got a good deal. HK makes a fine pistol and that one looks brand new. Happy shootin'!

__________________
Real men love cats!

Oh hell, that hurts. That's a vintage guitar alright.

My Carvin is well made like the Gibson and Fender but it's a no name so the resale value is pretty poor.

I think the values of both items are matched.

__________________
_It was love at first shot_

Bad trade. Your guitar was electric. Your HK, not so much.

I like those USP's.

__________________
That's just somebody talkin.

I've accumulated instruments, PA equipment, recording gear, the whole schmeer. Maybe I ought to start trading stuff in and just stick to my piano to increase my gun hobby. I do love electronic stuff, though.

__________________
"He was kinda funny lookin'"

You done good.

Guilty of the same

__________________
it just needs more voltage

That soooo sucks it made me cry!!

That's a good trade in my book

Yeah, that was a decent trade.

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

Thanks guys. Some said I got the raw deal and I said really?

Some folks just place too much value on things. If someone wants to trade a car for a bicycle who am I to say someone needs his head examined?

__________________
_It was love at first shot_

Everything depends on condition of the items and perceived value by both parties.

A USP 9mm V1 (the most common variant) typically sells for $700-$900 around here. A Carvin DC127 will have much more price variation. A regular model without any really special upgrades will be lucky to bring $650. However, with the right finish, pickups, machine heads and bridge, it can bring over $800. To get that price it would have to be perfect cosmetically.

So, I think it was a good and fair even trade. At least that's how I see it.


I once traded a Westone guitar and Fender amp for a Beretta 303 Special Trap shotgun. I paid about $400 total for the guitar and amp so, I felt like I got the better end. Ironically, we are both still decent friends and both still have the gun and guitars. It is one of my most prized possessions and will be the last gun I sell should I need to sell any.

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

My Carvin had a few upgrades that brings it to $1200. Stainless steel frets, 10" radius fretboard (yes, this is an upcharge), Steinberger Gearless tuners (put in by me), Holdsworth 4+2 headstock, diamond inlays and book matched plain Maple top.

Also I put in the retro 80s Carvin M22 pickups.

Probably worth $600-$800 used.

It's the red guitar on the left.

__________________
_It was love at first shot_

As it should be! Congratulations.

Ain't that the truth? I sometimes think I enjoy looking for, buying and selling, more than I enjoy actually owning and shooting.

__________________
John 3:16 .

Having sold guitars in a music store .....you did well! Especially when both parties are happy...Story would change were to have been a Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster
50's vintage, Fender Stratocaster, Martin etc.

Randy

You did just fine.There also something good about downsizing,even if it's just considered replacing a big thing that's taking up space,with a small thing that can be stashed anywhere.

In early 2013 I traded factory ammo 38, 308 and 22lr that cost me $225 for a 686-6 Plus 4"..

I grinned for days..

And gets used.

__________________
_It was love at first shot_

I tried impressing girls by playing a 9m/m so I traded all my guns for guitars.

OK, I'm officially jealous. Dude, is that a PRS, two Rickenbackers, a double SG, a Jazz Master and I'm not sure, but a BB King Lucile? And, any room with more than a couple Martin's in it is a winner in my book. Man, I'm a bass player, but that is amazing.

__________________
Freedom isn't free.

Naw, they're all Agiles.

__________________
_It was love at first shot_

I traded a no dash 3" mod 36 for an SG, ebony fretboard. It sees a lot of use.

I've traded both ways. I swapped a modified Gibson Les Paul Vintage Mahogany (paid $700 new I think) for a Browning Hi-Power Mk. III. He threw in a Mosin 91/30 for free, too.


Going the other way, I swapped a Colt SP1 and a Glock 19 for a 1966 Gibson Melody Maker SG plus cash on his end. Now, I know those guitars aren't desirable at all to most due to the nonstandard headstock and small / short scale necks, but student model and short scale guitars appeal to me greatly (I've owned a slew of Mustangs and Jaguars) and I dig the small necks, so I was thrilled to get another vintage Gibson.

Yes! I would trade your guitar for a handgun for me.
Just hope I wouldn't trade a $5000 Martin for a $500 J Frame.

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

My grandfather in the 40's was a teenager. He traded a pocket knife for a mandolin that needed strings. Re-stringed the mandolin and traded it for a shotgun. He then traded the shotgun for a non-running beater Pontiac. He got the Pontiac running and driving and traded it for a non-running 1930 Harley-Davidson. Worked on the Harley and rode it for 2 years I think until the breakout of WWII and sold it to give the money to his parents before he left the farm to join the Army. So he went from a pocket knife to a Harley in about 3 months. He was so proud of that story i must have heard it 20 times growing up. Somewhere in the family there are 2 or 3 pictures of him with it. One of them he has sacks of potatoes from the farm on the back.

I think you made a fine trade. I love horse trading different things for other crazy things. I usually don't worry that much about value, especially if cash was never involved anywhere in the process.

__________________
Ash

Reminds me of a joke I heard long ago:

A woman is driving toward home in Northern Arizona when she sees a Navajo woman hitchhiking. Because the trip had been long and quiet, she stops the car and the Navajo woman climbs in.
During their small talk, the Navajo woman glances surreptitiously at a brown bag on the front seat between them. "If you're wondering what's in the bag," offers the woman, "it's a bottle of wine. I got it for my husband."
The Navajo woman is silent for a while, nods several times and says, "Good trade."