Originally Posted by: john of MT
The implied bottom line is deals on quality guitars in a pawn shop will be rare.
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Exactly. It used to be the case pre-internet that pawn stores were sources of cheap hidden treasures. But it worked the other way just as often. :)

These days the market place & price points are much more transparent & widely known. As soon as a guitar or amp arrives at a pawn store they look it up on EBay & the local Craigslist. Everyone has access to the same info in real time. So, the field is very level.

That said, there are occasional hidden, surprise treasures & deals to be found. But I frequent a dozen or so pawn shops in my neck of the woods. And from the far boonies to the bigger cities everyone is pretty cognizant of the market value of their gear. :)

I typically find deals when the owners are glutted with gear, have duplicates & are trying to move product to make space for more profitable items. And after the holidays, too! Another good opportunity is the as is fixer-upper. See below!
[QUOTE=john of MT]
I want to believe...anybody got any good stories about good pawn shop scores?

You bet! Here are a couple recent ones.

I got an Ibanez RG hardtail for $75 because the pots were fried & they had another fully operational one.

I spied a Fender Squier behind the counter at one shop. It had an "$26 As Is" sticker on it. Someone ripped out the wires from the pots to the input jack. The owner either didn't want to fix it or didn't know how. I put $30 on the counter to account for sales tax. :)

The clerk said, "Now, ya gotta know she don't work, ya plug 'er in."

I said, that's fine. I can fix it & if not, the body & neck alone are worth $30 to me.

I rewired it, cleaned it & strung it up. Made this video. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83h7C8P734A