It keeps getting shipped overseas STILL!

[mdove]

My daughter used to work for Goddwill here in the states. She moved to Tanzania, Africa. She was telling us she say some of her Goodwill rejects when she was in Tanzania.

 

[scottyrocks]

Old stuff that's 'in' is vintage. Old stuff that's not 'in' is just old.

 

[Gene]

Gene, the Goodwill shops in my in of town never have anything worth looking at when I swing thru. An I live in the high end side of town.

Since I'm actually in southern Indiana, there are a couple of great areas I go to often. The Goodwill about 30 minutes away always has at least one 40's or 50's tie. When I was in a DAV, I found 4 gab shirts on the racks. Around here relatively few have any idea on how to date things or what's worth what, so these big sorting areas I hear of are nil...no one really cares, it's just old crap someone's grandma donated.

 

[DNO]

Found a mint condition Dunn & Co bowler yesterday at a Goodwill store. My first bowler and it's a nice one...even the right size! I have found, however, that Goodwills are really hit or miss for clothing.

 

[Eyechild]

I disagree that charity shops aren't worth bothering with. Whilst most of the larger chains of charity shops have very little worth looking at, some of the smaller charities can be very good. Those are the ones I prefer to check out. I recently picked up a 1950 tailor-made double-breasted dinner jacket for just £3. A week later I found a perfect condition 1960s overcoat for £4 in the same shop.
I think it is still possible to find good stuff (although I never expect to find anything pre-1950 - except maybe ties) if one is dedicated and keep looking on a regular basis. But I would agree that if you just drop into charity shops irregularly, there isn't much hope of finding anything worthwhile.

A fair point... if you can locate the small shops – off the beaten track and for fringe charities – and are willing to patrol them regularly, you will turn up the odd gem; there's one near me I pop into most weekends, and sometimes have a quick chat with the old lad who runs it. I've found stuff in there (records, furniture and some paintings).

That said there's a lot of competition in London...

 

[Eyechild]

Now, if only we could get the best of their repro stuff over here at a price that was in any way affordable..... sigh.....

Ha ha, indeed!

 

[Mario]

I agree, there's something quite sad about instruments not being played and enjoyed. Specific individual items, maybe, I can see the point of keeping them very carefully stored (Elvis' Martin, for instance), but otherwise, such a shame. To be honest, though, I personally don't believe vintage electric guitars are even all that either. Both Fender and Gibson, to name but two, are perfectly capable of turning out just as good an instrument now as back when - and with much greater consistency, too.

I have to confess that I don't know too much about electric guitars. Me, I've been a strictly acoustic man for almost twenty years now. I've had the chance to (very carefully) play a pre-war Martin D-28 herringbone a number of years ago and it was a truly amazing experience. A world apart from newer Martin models. Wartime Martins are, of course a different matter altogether. Due to wartime restrictions no steel rods were used for the necks. Today most of those guitars sport some sort of banana fretboard...

 

[MikeBravo]

I think I would rather see a classic guitar in a climatised cabinet that smashed up on stage by some know-nothing punk-ass garage band who are only out to get chicks

 

[Edward]

I have to confess that I don't know too much about electric guitars. Me, I've been a strictly acoustic man for almost twenty years now. I've had the chance to (very carefully) play a pre-war Martin D-28 herringbone a number of years ago and it was a truly amazing experience. A world apart from newer Martin models. Wartime Martins are, of course a different matter altogether. Due to wartime restrictions no steel rods were used for the necks. Today most of those guitars sport some sort of banana fretboard...

There is nothing in a vintage electric guitar that can't be reproduced today. An acoustic instrument will breathe and develop with age, but really with an electric guitar the amplifier has far more influence over tone than the instrument itself for the most part.

I think I would rather see a classic guitar in a climatised cabinet that smashed up on stage by some know-nothing punk-ass garage band who are only out to get chicks

Both strike me as an equally dreadful waste.... though I suppose the former at least has the chance it might one day be owned by someone who will actually play it. I would pay good money to watch a 59 Les Paul splintered, though: the absurd reverence with which those are treated has reached obscene levels of stupidity.

 

[WideBrimm]

Amazing! The past two or three years decent fedoras, and even cowboy hats, have all but disappeared from Denver area thrift stores. Good hats at decent prices can still be found around here, but you really have to work at finding them!