Lets us know how that turns out!

"My shoes don't cost $400 dollars a piece!" put an end to me using that line.

I do use, "I don't smoke, drink, or play golf. And I'm not into cars. So this little hobby isn't all that much after all."

10 pairs of shoes = 1 guitar. I have 9 guitars.

And she has 90 pairs of shoes? Does she have a separate Shoe room to put them in?

some in storage, some strewn about the house.. much like my guitars
We are in a band together so if anything she can say she needs new shoes or boots for a gig and I say I need an new guitar!! The later happens less often though

Where I live this used clothing store with really expensive shoes used to be next to this little used guitar store. Kind of convenient if you ask me and one stop shopping for wife and her man.

http://ritzyragz.com/store/

http://www.rumbleseatmusiccbs.com/

But the used clothing store moved back to its old location just up on the same street where it used to be across from this other used guitar store.

http://www.carmelmusic.com/stocklist/index.html

I did a new guitar day a couple of times from this one and hope one day to get to the current used music store. The only problem with the price of some of these guitars is that they literally cost more than the biggest jemsite guitar collections (and the houses they are in). They even have a million dollar guitar which is a nearly mint Korina that Eric Clapton once owned. Below that is Dickey Bett's one of kind Alembic guitar custom made for him. They do have one really nice vintage Ibanez I have been eying which is a lot more affordable.

oh, didn't you do a thread on this place when it 1st opened?? just some crazy vintage stuff?

The thing about girls' shoes got me going. The vintage/expensive shoe joint is right next to (or used to be recently) the used guitar store. Crazy vintage stuff is good for both playing and investing but really much more for latter.

A new Ibby of almost any model seriously plays better than these 40s, 50s, and 60s guitars which have usually seen their best days years ago. Just like there's a point where your used comfortable jeans become too tattered, vintage guitars go south, too. Given enough time neck will become unplayable (like Clapton's Blackie with frets jutting beyond edges) and all metals parts will be corroded beyond use. My '68 Telecaster had neck bolts barely held together by rust. I didn't dare replace them and just sold the guitar. The poor case was held together by the inner cloth lining and unfortunately the frets flattened out and owner before me had to refret and thus damage value.

Had I acquired that '68 tele with flattened out frets, I would retain maximum value of investment, raise action, and use it as my go to slide guitar. The darn thing with true vintage stuff is that you can't do anything other than change strings without pissing off most potential buyers. Some collectors won't touch instrument if it doesn't have case, tags, and original receipt. To this day I even save tags and receipts for cheap instruments because given enough time, you just never know.

I've never really understood the attraction to vintage/player instruments. If the guitar is no longer a good player and fixing it would ruin the value, then what good is it? I guess if you were simply buying it to collect or as an investment, that would be OK.

The thing I like about collectible Ibanez guitars is that most are not really true players. My GMC has been played and I do play it, but not enough where it would ever be a worn out guitar. I've seen comments on here from people who are used to really old guitars and they always find it odd that Ibanez collectors only want mint condition stuff.

In the upper end, it's about investing in a rare item. Just like a case of original Coke would be rancid to drink, people are willing to pay handsomely for it because it's increasingly rarer. A vintage airplane may be hopeless to every fly again, and never be safe even if made airborne, but if it's rare there are plenty of people willing to bid on it.

There are plenty of new guitars and slightly used guitars available for those who want excellent playing instruments and there's that market. A vintage collector like I used to be looks for specifics that make a guitar rare, and don't need the fastest frets, loudest pickups, or shiniest flawless finish. In the collector's world, fading and/or finish cracking is a good thing and helps identify the guitar as being old and not likely a new fake. After looking at many vintage guitars, most collectors will be able to easily spot a real worn piece of gear versus a merely relic'd one from a custom shop. The collector in me salivates over a 70s three bolt tilt neck with awful frets and overly heavy body and prefer it over a brand new, fat fretted, Fender Custom Shop guitar that plays perfectly that is as light as a feather made from the most exotic wood available. The new guitar will play better than anything in that design but the 70s Fender represents a small window of certain design flaws in Fender's history, albeit a once disparaged one when Leo sold Fender to CBS. Today, it's seen with a certain amount of sentimentality and the bad designs like three bolt neck and bad fret work are quaint.