I'm Very Angry

[FourT6and2]

There is a mint 1978 Gibson Les Paul Silverburst on eBay right now. I've been searching for one in good condition for years and years, now. I finally find one and the seller is acting strange.

I emailed him to ask if I could bid on the guitar, since I'm currently out of the country for a few months and he said it was no problem. Then, he goes and blocks me from bidding. I also asked him to verify the serial number by showing a picture of the back of the headstock and he basically says, "I can try and get a photo, but I'm telling the truth...the serial number I listed is what it is...what more can I say." There's an hour left in the auction and still no photo and no response from the seller about why he blocked me.

And, I was willing to pay a hell of a lot more than what it is currently selling at.

Plus, he keeps making reference to Adam Jones wanting to buy it. I think he's just doing that to hike up the price.

I'm quite angry right now because I've wanted this guitar for about 10 years and when I finally find one this crap happens.

 

[FourT6and2]

Hehehe.

He just took me off the block list and sent me a photo of the headstock with 50 min. left in the auction...

I'm just freakin' out because I want this thing. But, somebody's going to snipe it anyway.

 

[Maxer]

Careful your eagerness doesn't trip you up... but I hope you land the sucker. Post pix if you do!

 

[v-verb]

sign up with esnipe.com right away

 

[FourT6and2]

Careful your eagerness doesn't trip you up... but I hope you land the sucker. Post pix if you do!

What do you mean? I'm not about to start a bidding war and wind up bidding like 10 grand on this. I do have SOME self control.

I just hope it's not a scam or a misrepresented guitar.

 

[jeffwith1f]

35 mins remaining.
I simply must know how this turns out.

 

[DaveF]

For the curious:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250202725946

 

[TwoTubMan]

$4K for a Norlin.

Amazing. Simply amazing.

 

[Tonefish]

I couldn't find it. Did they switch it to a BIN?

 

[Tonefish]

nevermind....found it once I took Gibson out of the title.

 

[Maxer]

I just hope it's not a scam or a misrepresented guitar.

That's just what I meant - no more, no less. Like I said, good luck!

 

[Tonefish]

Good Luck, dude...I'm pullin' for yah! Look's like a primo guitar!

 

[52ftbuddha]

Wow 4k+ Norlin. To the buyer what were you looking for? Is it the finish?

 

[David Collins]

Holy $%^&!

A '78 Gibson?? Over 4k????

Who's smokin what? Okay, maybe I try to judge a bit to much based on quality, but I would put that thing as worth $1200-$1500, maybe $1800 if it still had the tags and the box it was originally shipped in. It's a 1978 Gibson!

What's this world coming to???

A 1978 Gibson....

 

[FourT6and2]

What's a Norlin?

Looks like I won. We'll see how it pans out.

Generally, all the good condition silverbursts I've seen go for around $3,500 or so. And, they usually have some finish checking or non-original hardware; either the tuners, bridge, pickups, etc..

This one, if not a scam, has all original hardware and not a scratch on it, save for the small mark on the neck.

Two things concern me though. It does not say "made in the USA" below the serial number and the tuners don't have the fold-out winders that some other silverbursts have.

But, I'm not a gibson expert, so I don't know if this things are normal or not.

 

[frankthomson]

it's a crappy 70's guitar

I love em...but not $4k worth of love

 

[frankthomson]

so did u win?

 

[David Collins]

Norlin is the company that drove Gibson's quality and reputation in to the ground through the 70's in to the early 80's. The "Norlin era" is known as a time of bad business choices and low to no quality control. Some good ones still do appear out of there though, but I wouldn't buy one without inspecting it in hand.

I may have gone overboard above, but it's still an incredible price to me. It just seems not long ago that a 59 strat would have a hard time getting 4k. I guess in the condition it's in I could see $2500-$3000 as believable, though I wouldn'y personally pay it. $4k+ just blows my mind though.

 

[Tonefish]

...well?....just ended......is it yours?

 

[frankthomson]

and after reading the replies to the ebay questions, there may have been more than 1 shill bidder....
IMO, i wouldn't be surprised if the owner was part of the sham b/c of the insanely high selling price.

u might just see this re-listed as the *winning bidder never paid*.