bfuser191509248

I'm a (non-professional) musician, and for the majority of my life the focus was collecting jazz (78's, LP's, tapes, CD's). I had about 5,000 jazz LP's at one time (1990's), which was a modest collection compared to some of the people I used to network with. The Jim Flora artwork in your avatar caught my eye weeks ago. I have a group of David Stone Martin covers here above my desk.

Anyway, I was never really an audiophile, and I definitely never repaired any audio equipment. I don't repair bikes, either (a shocking revelation in a place like this, so hopefully I don't get banned!). But I've always had a passion for vintage stuff, and I used to be a dealer in 20th Century decorative arts (Art Deco, machine age industrial design, Mid-Century Modern, etc). I collected that stuff as I was also in the process of selling it, and I kept the best stuff rather than selling it. I also love vintage guitars, and I don't repair those either. I'm fine with the idea of paying someone with the experience and the right tools. I guess my motto is... "If you want something done right, do it yourself... unless you know you'd be likely to f*** it up".

thinktubes 

@JimR56 I've been hitting thrifts, garage an rummage sale for almost 4 decades.

All the furniture and gear in this photo (current LR setup) was had for less than $100. Need to sharpen my wood refinishing skills...

texaspandj

Well lately it's been guitars. About 8 to 10 years ago I stopped being a full time musician. Besides driving and booking I was the guitar/instrument maintenance man. So for the past few years my son who still plays has been neglecting or letting others work on his guitars and it finally got him down to his bottom of the barrel. So in spite of his " I can make it on my own" attitude he brought his number one guitar to me so I could work on it. He hadn't played it in years because of playability issues. After a week with me (mostly playing it) I gave it back to him and as sound as it ever was. He told me "It was awesome. I thought I had lost my touch. Nope. Just didn't have a guitar that could hang. It felt like home and what I was missing". So he dropped off another one. I just finished it today. I did at least 15 repairs/tweaks to it, tune up stuff like, straightening neck, setting intonation, string radius etc to repairing tuning key, and raising nut slot. BTW, this particular guitar was presented to him by Stevie Ray Vaughans former stage manager. When he presented to him he said take a look at it because the next time you see it it'll be completely different. He Was Right. Different neck, different pickups, pots, etc... same Mojo.
Weirdly a lot of people have given him guitars over the years. That's why he has about 20 or more of them.
I enjoy working on them but it's not always easy. Hunched over for hours hurts my back.

bfuser191509248

The thrill of the hunt! Back in the 80's and early 90's, we did a lot of that (including going to flea markets and antiques fairs before dawn, with flashlights). We also hit a lot of auctions.

Tastefully done, sir. It was pretty amazing, some of the finds we made back in the days prior to everyone being educated about values via shows like Antiques Roadshow, and later Pawn Stars and American Pickers. Here's just one example. We went to an outdoor Summer antiques show up in Folsom, CA back in the late 1980's. Before we even got to the streets where the show vendors were set up, we passed a house where a family was having their own garage sale to take advantage of all the incoming buyers (smart). I don't think we were even going to bother to stop, but as dawn was breaking, we spotted one of these (lying on the ground!) on the front lawn:



We got it for $40. All we knew at the time about this lamp was that it was very stylish and unusual. It screamed 1930's / machine age / streamlined moderne /advanced industrial design, and we knew we had something good. It still had an original foil label on the bottom, but this was pre-internet, and it wasn't until a few weeks later that we learned what it was. I was out holiday shopping, and was in a favorite bookstore. Picked up a large new coffee table book called "American Art Deco", and one of the few full-page color photos in the book was our lamp. Within the next year, we saw one for sale at a show in SF for $4,000; and I also saw one featured as part of a museum exhibit when Antiques Roadshow visited Minneapolis. They're currently bringing around $4,500.

We had some similar finds back in the day, whether it was designer lamps, radios, clocks, etc. It's still fun to go to sales these days, but it's much harder to score like that now.

bfuser191509248

This is a perfectly good thread topic. Sorry if I derailed it! Let's hear more stories...

Deal4Fuji

I've made quite a few "speaker chimes" combining a love of old stereo & specifically speakers into use after their regular life has ended....a couple of blown 8" Allison woofers become chimes with the screw holes perfectly spacing out the copper tubes and speaker magnet holding the washer "striker" in the center





cool - Jay have you heard of interest in "8 Bit" music ? : https://www.bikeforums.net/20542170-post1315.html

I've got a lot of those same collections of old stereo, cameras, computers, TV's and one interest not yet seen here....vintage weight lifting plates & bars.

Cl904

Before I was into bikes I was into vintage clothing. Specifically mid century denim and workwear, and military also. I wear wwii khakis all the time. My winter coat for the past 10 years has been a 10 button wwii pea coat. I’m a total denim snob too... levis jackets have to be pre 1969. Jeans have to be selvedge and start life dark and stiff and shrink when they get wet. If not vintage, the Japanese make great copies. Also, I’ve always loved the sound of vinyl... and I grew up on tapes and cds.

Im drawn to old ways, where human involvement is apparent. Something a person made, as opposed to a robot. Something that isn’t made to be thrown away next season. Also, i never have money to spend on things, so I’ve learned how to find what I need at thrift stores, eBay, and online marketplaces. It’s amazing how little people value nice things.

merziac

I have always applied my C+V mechanic skills to bikes, cars and motorcycles, been fixing things and wrenching most of my life. Earliest memories are of Dad working on an old Willy's window panel swapping in a different motor, I was 2 or 3. He was a pretty good wrench, good thing for me it got passed on, when he and Mom got divorced, I was around 10 and fixing my bike was all on me, figured it out pretty quick and kept right on going.

noglider 

Fun thread!

I wish I were handier in household projects. I'm kinda sorta competent in small matters. My wife is now surpassing me, having been the general contractor on several renovations.

So let's see. Well, I sing in an ensemble called Cerddorion, which is Welsh for musicians. We sing mostly a cappella stuff, a lot of C&V music, plus we do new compositions.

But do the skills transfer? Well, no.

Kent T

A Dynakit Stereo 70, PAS-3X, Dynaco A 25 loudspeakers (All for $120 on closeout in 1973 at an electrical wholesaler where stepdad bought his supplies) and a closeout $59 AR XA with Shure M 75 EJ (other audio store/record store) was my first HiFi system in 1973 which I kit built when I was 9 years old (my first paycheck as a young announcer/assistant engineer at the local AM/FM station bought these kits). I still own the kits. Still use them. Recapped twice, weak tubes as needed. Had a loaner Kenwood receiver from where I bought the AR XA while I built my kits (bought it at cost from them to replace Dad's Fisher 400 with bum output transformers).

scarlson 

+1, fun thread

C&V skills are arguably the first mechanical skills I learned, working with my dad to to overhaul the Bendix brake hub of my childhood Schwinn Speedster. They help with everything from motorcycles to machining metal to electron microscopy. The number one C&V mechanical skill in my mind is knowing when you're jamming or forcing something and then having the good sense to stop and have a think about it before you ruin some piece of unobtainium. Being trusted to use a big/dangerous/expensive machine on a daily basis, this skill is highly underrated! I know this applies to all the vintage audio and car and boat stuff mentioned above, as well.

But one C&V skill I haven't seen mentioned here is scam-detection. I know my bike habit has me browsing Ebay almost every day, and I think that trained me to know when something doesn't look legit. Being on the lookout for C&V gear of any kind is a great way to train your nose to smell a rat, or your eyes to see those few telltale subtle features that give away a deal as too good to be true. For every so many listings for "NOS NIB HERSE SINGER" there's one screaming good deal and one outright misrepresented object (intentional or unintentional). I've been lightly burned, I've learned the hard way, I've figured it out. Learning is low-risk because C&V cycling remains cheap, and knowing the difference has helped me stay away from all manner of scams and cons, online and off.