The "Guitar that got away" thread

[62hofner]

Over the course of the past 25 years, many guitars have come and gone. Most of the ones I no longer own I parted with happily.

However, there was one guitar (that I was too young and stupid to have owned in the first place!) that I let it go so that I could buy a (gulp!) Chinese-made Fender Stratocaster (not even an American-made!). That guitar was this:

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/regular/3/4/4/537344.jpg

A Gibson Les Paul Custom cream w/ gold hardware. Just add a black pickguard to the above guitar, and that was it! I bought it for around $540.00 back in 1984(?). The guitar now sells for over $2,500.00. :spank:

Young and foolish! :dunce1:

So, anybody else out there have a story about a "guitar that got away"?

[PepperlandFrog]

My 1960's Yamaha acoustic, played like a dream, it sounded so good too, that i got for almost nothing. And of course the Fender Telecaster/Stratocaster that i never had. To be honest: i'm basically a "go into the guitar store" and ooh and ahh kind of a guy anyway.

[jtal909]

In the mid 70's I got hold of the most awesome Les Paul creme colored anniversary model that played looked and felt like a dream.
I was using a Telecaster up until then.
Well, Jerry Garcia had to go and start playing Travis Bean, the aluminum neck guitar, and that intrigued me so I traded the Paul for one.
I couldn't get used to tne aluminum feel and traded that back for a Les Paul Black Beauty which I stil have and it's way cool but not like that anniversary model.
I was really bummed over that move for a long time.

[62hofner]

In the mid 70's I got hold of the most awesome Les Paul creme colored anniversary model that played looked and felt like a dream.
I was using a Telecaster up until then.
Well, Jerry Garcia had to go and start playing Travis Bean, the aluminum neck guitar, and that intrigued me so I traded the Paul for one.
I couldn't get used to tne aluminum feel and traded that back for a Les Paul Black Beauty which I stil have and it's way cool but not like that anniversary model.
I was really bummed over that move for a long time.

I feel your pain. I went for the Strat because I was into U2 and Pink Floyd in the late 80's... and I noticed that The Edge and Dave Gilmour both played black Strats. So, like you, I was influenced by my guitar heros of the day. Unfortunatley, I was guitar-ignorant at that age, and I didn't even know enough to demand an American-made Strat for the "trade" of my Les Paul Custom.

Live and learn, right?