this is an almost unbelievable story. it's a good read

MLC2006

this story goes to show that you never know what's waiting around the corner.


I have an acquaintance (wouldn't really even classify him as a friend) that owed me a SMALL favor (when I say small favor, I really mean it's pretty insignificant, not really even worth mentioning). He doesn't play any kind of musical instrument but for some reason, he has this old crappy Peavey Rock Axe which is a stratocaster ripoff and weighs all of about 2 pounds. I tell him to just give me the guitar and we'll call it all even.

so he says to me, "you like guitar stuff huh?". I tell him that yeah, I like guitar stuff. he then says, "well let me make a phonecall and see if I can hook you up."

so he then calls HIS friend who owes HIM a SMALL favor (and again, it's a really small favor). now this friend, who I've never met before, happens himself to be into guitar stuff and also happens to be VERY wealthy.

this friend calls me and says, "hey, come by my office and I'll repay our friend's debt to you." I tell him that really, he could just give me the crappy Peavey guitar if he wanted and that really, I wasn't looking for anything because it wasn't much of a favor to be re-paid to begin with. he says, "just come by my office and it'll be worth your while."

so I go to the guy's office and have to wait for about an hour for him to get there, to the point that I thought I was being punked or something. the guy finally shows up and takes me to his office. he says, "here's an amp that I've never really played and you can have it". I turn around and see a Peavey Eddie Van Halen 5150 half-stack (the head and 4 speaker cabinet). I was like, "holy crap, you're GIVING this to me?". he says, "yeah, I really like Marshalls better."

so I happened to be saving for a small model amp (like a 30watt vox or line 6) and I meet up with this acquaintance and think I might get a cheap $15 knock-off guitar for some almost forgotten favor, and tonight I come home with a half stack tube amp.

I guess they don't make this amp anymore, but I looked on ebay to get an idea, and ones like this one are going for about $1000. damn.

so here I am, a half-assed guitar player who's never stepped foot on a stage and I have this monster to play around with. I'd almost trade down for something smaller or get what I could out of it because it'll probably blow my windows out.

pretty cool huh?

MLC2006

oh yeah, I got the crappy strat knock-off too.

seanw1010

fucking awsome story man!

harrisonmerwin

yeah i like marshalls better too.

xtremehardy388

Damn dude, congrats on that!!! Proof that there STILL are good people out there. Have fun with it, lemme know how it works out!

keeponrockin

xtremehardy388 wrote:

Damn dude, congrats on that!!! Proof that there STILL are good people out there. Have fun with it, lemme know how it works out!

Haha, ya! That is an awesome story dude!

Pacomc79

That's a great amp too. Especially with your guitar. One of my favorite local bands when I was in high school had a SSH strat with a Floyd Rose and that same 5150 stack. You can go a long way with that, although the neighbors will hate you because it's ridiculously loud I mean insanely ridiculously loud but a solid amp nonetheless. I think you fixed your Strat needs balls problem. String it up with 10's or 11's and crank that bad boy.

comical_imbalance

coolest thing i've heard for some time now...
good work, enjoy!

Buru

This is a very cool story.

Dirty_Frank

The 5150 is fairly well received by most metalheads. It gets most of the tones that metalheads look for without shelling out the huge bucks of Bogner, Uberschall, Mesa, Diezel or ENGL.

Back when I was into Metallica and metal more than Pearl Jam, I really wanted one. They're not bad amps at all - and actually better than their newer versions, the 5150 II and the 6105 (the post EVH endorsed version).

Great for the money, and if you don't like the amp, you've got something you can sell and a fairly decent 412 cab.

If it were me, which it is NOT - I would keep the cab and try to sell the amp, but that's just because I'm more of a vintage Fender, early Marshall kinda guy.

MLC2006

well I hooked it up finally and I like it. but I may be forced to trade down to something smaller because like some of you said, it is EXTREMELY loud. when I first turned it on, I made the mistake of having the main gain knob at 4 and my guitar volume at 9 and it literally almost knocked me over. neigbors aren't a problem, I don't have any. but the wife and 8 month old are probably going to be a problem with this amp. but hey, even if I trade down, I should be able to go something really good for it, huh?

thanks for the compliments and all. I thought it was a really good story to share. yeah, that guy just up and giving me such a nice rig was above and beyond the call of being generous.

DOSW

Hah, awesome! It's funny how things like that happen when you least expect it. And it's funny you mentioned the Rok Axe... my friend has one of those, and it's pretty much a kid's toy.

(and since you were talking about a Vox or Line 6, I just got a Vox 30W Valvetronix modelling amp... it's pretty awesome so far, and the best part is it's ability to lower the wattage using the knob on the back so you can crank the master and saturate the tubes while still having a nice low volume. It's perfect for getting the best sound without annoying the family members.)

mike squires

Great story~Nothing beats stuff like that. I am by no means trying to top your story and I think I've probably mentioned it on this board before, but about 12 years ago my best friends brother sold me a Fender Duel Showman along with a Gibson GA 300 RVT cabinet for 20 bucks!!! I see the Showmen in magazines from old shows (THe Who and the current issue of Guitar World, The Doors) I've seen the head anywhere between 500-800 bucks but i can't seem to find much info on the cab. My rig was in Vintage guitar a few summers ago.

Let this deal of a lifetime motivate you and step up your playing!!! Maybe you'll be the next Eddie Van Halen!!!

Great story!

Pearl Jam and toast

sweet. :cool:

DOSW

mike squires wrote:

Maybe you'll be the next Eddie Van Halen!!!

We're all expecting to hear you play Eruption in a couple days, so get to it!

who's_pearljam?

That's awesome!! Congratulations.

Look what just happened,,, you've saved money on pickups by adjusting them, and someone gives you a good amp so you saved money on that, too!! You got a better one than the ones you were looking at, too.
Nice week!

haha,,, things happen in threes, you know! What's next!

MLC2006

who's_pearljam? wrote:

haha,,, things happen in threes, you know! What's next!

hmm. all the money I've saved from the amp and pickups is going towards a Les Paul (Gibson, probably a Studio) so maybe that counts as number 3.

MLC2006

DOSW wrote:

We're all expecting to hear you play Eruption in a couple days, so get to it!

funny part is that I don't even like Van Halen, never have. but he's definitely one of the greats.

keeponrockin

MLC2006 wrote:

hmm. all the money I've saved from the amp and pickups is going towards a Les Paul (Gibson, probably a Studio) so maybe that counts as number 3.

Go with the standard:p

DOSW

MLC2006 wrote:

funny part is that I don't even like Van Halen, never have. but he's definitely one of the greats.

Yeah, I know what you mean. The best part of Van Halen (the group) was EVH's tone and playing. But the music is very shallow stuff.

TheLuckyOnes

was this guy's last name Hagar??

i mean, he was giving it away for free, and you said he was wealthy, in which case we know his last name wasn't Lee Roth



great story tho. if you trade down, be aggressive, and come out ahead in your deal. potential to get a very good value guitar and amp for that. don't feel like just because you got a great gift dropped on you that you have to give a retail store one too.

congrats.