Upgraded Lefty Agile Harm - $199 at GC

[slowhand84]

What kind of sad is that the original owner probably got no more than half the listing price in cash or credit from GC. Those most likely GFS pickups in it probably cost him around $90 shipped so in effect, he sold that Harm for $10...

The really sad thing is when people lose HUGE money in these types of situations...the previous owner of this Harm may have lost $150 or so in trading this to GC but I have a few $2,000 to $3,000 guitars that cost me $400 to $600 courtesy of GC Used...meaning the original owner accepted $300 or less for something they may have paid $3K for.

I also have a wild custom Suhr that I got for $1700 from another store, it's a $5,000 guitar new...so whoever had it before me took $850 or so. No clue what circumstances dictated these decisions, but it sometimes does make me feel a little bad for the previous owner. Not enough to let the deal get away though

[tobijohn]

The really sad thing is when people lose HUGE money in these types of situations...the previous owner of this Harm may have lost $150 or so in trading this to GC but I have a few $2,000 to $3,000 guitars that cost me $400 to $600 courtesy of GC Used...meaning the original owner accepted $300 or less for something they may have paid $3K for.

I also have a wild custom Suhr that I got for $1700 from another store, it's a $5,000 guitar new...so whoever had it before me took $850 or so. No clue what circumstances dictated these decisions, but it sometimes does make me feel a little bad for the previous owner. Not enough to let the deal get away though

I suspect in these kinds of situations, that unless the original owner had a serious drug problem and was desperate, it was most likely the next of kin or an ex who had no idea of its value or just didn't care that traded it in.

I guess it really doesn't matter what happens to my stuff once I'm gone but the thought of my siblings just giving it away like that through ignorance of its value and/or just being overwhelmed by the sheer quantity concerned me enough that I've talked with a couple reputable online dealers who have exoperience disposing of collections and passed on their contact info to the sister and brother who are my co-executors.

[andrewsrea]

I don't know how the toaster pickups are made, but something (maybe voodoo logic) kept me from taking a look.

I hope the deal with GC works out. I found that big companies are geting glitchy lately, like Amazon offering next day Prime delivery for a Strat nut and it being shipped two weeks later.

As far as Toaster type pickups, they are a cousin to the Fender Jazz master pickup. Basically, a P-90'ish bobbin with rod magnets covered by a thin black plastic on top, with a radiator like cover that diverts the magnetism a little. Pre-1967 were various Alnico rod magnets and after that, ceramic rod magnets. Which is why Roger McGuinn's 1964 12string does not sound like the production models.

@Buddha Pickups, @mozz or I could make a set of Toasters in a P-90 footprint. I've personally not done it for myself, because vintage Firebird pickups sounds extremely close to vintage toasters and I have a 2016 Firebird, a 2008 SX SJM62 (both with my AMI FB pickups and a 2010 Agile AD2300 (Duncan SM pickups) which all cover that ground very well.

[BatUtilityBelt]

As far as Toaster type pickups, they are a cousin to the Fender Jazz master pickup. Basically, a P-90'ish bobbin with rod magnets covered by a thin black plastic on top, with a radiator like cover that diverts the magnetism a little. Pre-1967 were various Alnico rod magnets and after that, ceramic rod magnets. Which is why Roger McGuinn's 1964 12string does not sound like the production models.

Thanks for taking the time to describe that! It always helps me to have some understanding of the physical component differences creating the behavior in that magnetic field.

[Brendan]

Damn. I would have snagged that in a heartbeat. Good score!

[slowhand84]

The really sad thing is when people lose HUGE money in these types of situations...the previous owner of this Harm may have lost $150 or so in trading this to GC but I have a few $2,000 to $3,000 guitars that cost me $400 to $600 courtesy of GC Used...meaning the original owner accepted $300 or less for something they may have paid $3K for.

I also have a wild custom Suhr that I got for $1700 from another store, it's a $5,000 guitar new...so whoever had it before me took $850 or so. No clue what circumstances dictated these decisions, but it sometimes does make me feel a little bad for the previous owner. Not enough to let the deal get away though

I suspect in these kinds of situations, that unless the original owner had a serious drug problem and was desperate, it was most likely the next of kin or an ex who had no idea of its value or just didn't care that traded it in.

I guess it really doesn't matter what happens to my stuff once I'm gone but the thought of my siblings just giving it away like that through ignorance of its value and/or just being overwhelmed by the sheer quantity concerned me enough that I've talked with a couple reputable online dealers who have exoperience disposing of collections and passed on their contact info to the sister and brother who are my co-executors.

I hear ya, I just have a hard time imagining someone with a crippling drug addiction or an incredibly rough financial situation buying/owning a $5,000 guitar. I know a lot of my local GC Managers and sometimes the person trading something in is known to them from multiple trade ins so it's not a desperate situation or a family member who doesn't know what they have, but I'm sure the things you mentioned happen a lot also.

My wife knows the value of everything I have in terms of guitars, it's always good to keep a spreadsheet with that info around.

[BatUtilityBelt]

Harm came to my door today.

When the 10 lb box arrived, I saw it was kicked in, and my heart sunk a little. I carried it in and pulled the guitar out, but leaving it in the bubble wrap to aclimate. I just wanted to make sure it didn't have a broken neck, and happily it did not.

A few hours later I cut it out of the plastic and started checking it over. Plenty of signs of wear, but it looked whole, except for a missing tone knob that was there in the store pictures, hmm. It's pretty dirty, and some of it doesn't rub off. Buckle rash and a few dings tell me it has had a much harder life than my other Harm. The nut has a portion broken off near outside the low E, but it plays fine, so I can replace that over time, no hurry.

I wiped clean what I could in a short while while looking it all over, and aside from a lot of wear, it looks fine. It's apparently early enough to not have a serial number. I had to plug in and tune up to see what was what. All the controls function, but the switch tip has been broken and poorly glued with some sort of rubber cement that probably has no purpose beyond keeping it from slipping off.

The pickups were too close, so they both got lowered a bit. After that, I loved the tones coming out of it. These are very good sounding P90s, probably from GFS. The action is excellent, and the neck feels great, so there isn't much to do beyond taking care of some minor part swaps and cleaning it up as much as I can. Having no case, this is another candidate for an add-on trem so that may happen.

Someone played this guitar a lot. It plays and sounds great, so I don't understand why they could have let it go so cheap. It pretty much sounds like I expected a P90 based Harm to, so these pickups stay in it. Being semi-hollow, it's just a bit more resonant than most of my other P90 guitars, and I love that. For both size and sound, it is similar to the B&G, which is amazing in this price range. It stays here and gets little fixes. Thanks again to @slowhand84 for the PSA! It was a great deal.

[slowhand84]

Harm came to my door today.
0224231731_resized.jpg
When the 10 lb box arrived, I saw it was kicked in, and my heart sunk a little. I carried it in and pulled the guitar out, but leaving it in the bubble wrap to aclimate. I just wanted to make sure it didn't have a broken neck, and happily it did not.

A few hours later I cut it out of the plastic and started checking it over. Plenty of signs of wear, but it looked whole, except for a missing tone knob that was there in the store pictures, hmm. It's pretty dirty, and some of it doesn't rub off. Buckle rash and a few dings tell me it has had a much harder life than my other Harm. The nut has a portion broken off near outside the low E, but it plays fine, so I can replace that over time, no hurry.

I wiped clean what I could in a short while while looking it all over, and aside from a lot of wear, it looks fine. It's apparently early enough to not have a serial number. I had to plug in and tune up to see what was what. All the controls function, but the switch tip has been broken and poorly glued with some sort of rubber cement that probably has no purpose beyond keeping it from slipping off.

The pickups were too close, so they both got lowered a bit. After that, I loved the tones coming out of it. These are very good sounding P90s, probably from GFS. The action is excellent, and the neck feels great, so there isn't much to do beyond taking care of some minor part swaps and cleaning it up as much as I can. Having no case, this is another candidate for an add-on trem so that may happen.

Someone played this guitar a lot. It plays and sounds great, so I don't understand why they could have let it go so cheap. It pretty much sounds like I expected a P90 based Harm to, so these pickups stay in it. Being semi-hollow, it's just a bit more resonant than most of my other P90 guitars, and I love that. For both size and sound, it is similar to the B&G, which is amazing in this price range. It stays here and gets little fixes. Thanks again to @slowhand84 for the PSA! It was a great deal.

Awesome, glad it worked out for you! Typically wear like that is a sign the guitar's been played a lot, which is also usually a sign that it's a good one. Enjoy it!

[BatUtilityBelt]

Update. Because he swapped the pickups, I had to see what else he changed. Let me preface this by saying I don't plan to change a thing inside the control cavity because the guitar works great and sounds amazing. But I just have to share this unique wiring the previous owner did. I've finally found someone more insane than myself when it comes to mod implementations. I'm guessing the guy debugged it by tracing each discrete signal path, he hated soldering, and he learned how easily shorts occur, and he made it work well. I'm just not going to try to reverse-engineer it. If I have to make an electronic change later, I'll probably have to start all over.

[tobijohn]

...Also of interest - I had already looked through GC used this morning for lefties but didn't find this one because they didn't use any left-hand oriented keyword in the description. I know that happens often, so once a week or so I search for keywords based on models I'm particularly interested in and once in a blue moon find a hidden lefty gem like you did today!

I've experienced the same, so I also do a search for all Agiles . Usually there are only a couple pages of lefties, and it takes just a few moments to scan through them.

Lately though, regarding gear, I've really been "off the boil" as the English say. I bought a b-stock "Inspired by Gibson" Epi single cut Junior from Sweetwater a couple of weeks ago just because I'd never seen one before, but my heart really wasn't in it. I'm hoping I regain some enthusiasm otherwise I'm really in trouble...

[BatUtilityBelt]

Lately though, regarding gear, I've really been "off the boil" as the English say. I bought a b-stock "Inspired by Gibson" Epi single cut Junior from Sweetwater a couple of weeks ago just because I'd never seen one before, but my heart really wasn't in it. I'm hoping I regain some enthusiasm otherwise I'm really in trouble...

I'm definitely not going to count you out just yet. I also had a huge slow-down and wondered if I was done and had all I need. But curiosity keeps me looking despite a sparse market, and once in a while it turns out very well. I had an atypically great week with the Ibby and the Harm just days apart and both being gems. I actually passed on that Reville Q90 at GC even though I know it's a great mod platform and the price is fine. I think you'll find more hidden treasures. BTW, I did notice those Juniors for more than a moment, but my love of dual P90s talked me out of it. I'm not good enough to get everything I want out of a single bridge pickup.