On the vagaries of Capitalizzz...er, the 'Monetary System'

[wayang]

Well, I am trying to be careful about using terms that end with the dreaded 'ism' suffix...

Okay, here's my (seemingly ongoing) quandry...some of you might recall that, as a young nerd in the '70s, I was in a 'prog' cover band. We played all kinds of weird King Crimson, Gentle Giant, PFM, Yes, ELP, etc., but we specialized in 'Gabriel-era' Genesis, largely on the strength of our vocalist, who could cop Peter's voice enough to fool even Ma & Pa Gabriel. Playing those tunes was made even more difficult by the fact that we didn't have the right 'gear'. At the time, I was working on the pipeline in Alaska, so I had the biggest income of the band members. (I bankrolled the move of everyone and their equipment up to Anchorage). One of the things I was lacking, for the purpose of trying to cop Mike Rutherford's parts, was a Rick bass/twelve string. I went to Santa Ana to see if they could build me one, and it turns out they had one already made, so I bought it...and I picked up a Moog Taurus, so that I could keep the bass sounds going when I switched to the twelve (also ala M.R.) Likewise, we didn't have anything to reproduce Tony Banks' mellotron stuff. I found out about the Vako Orchestron from seeing Moraz with Yes on the Relayer tour, and bought one of those, too. To make a long story short, the band steadily drove me nuts until '79, when I quit and headed to Antarctica...and thank gawd for that, or I might still be the obnoxious music snob I was back then...

Fast forward to the twenty-first century...I've settled into a different (pared way down) life-and-musical-style, and I don't have the need for all this dinosaur-hunting weaponry, so I'm slowly selling these things off (down to one Rick from a career-high six, for example). As I've never been 'good with money', I've had to call upon valuation help from any and all quarters. I initially joined this Forum to try to get some kind of idea on price for the 4080/12. I had taken it to a local guitar store run by an extremely suspicious sort of shark-like character who advertised his 'appraisal' skills (charged $50 per). He told me, "Bah, they made lots of these...I'll give you $1500 for it right now." Well, I may be a bit 'monetarily' naive at times, but I'm not a moron. Anywaze...the good folks here who know about these things offered the opinion that it might be worth $3000, maybe $3500 tops. This I know to be an honest and knowledgeable offering, but in the back of my mind (or wherever the olfactory center lies) it still didn't pass the 'smell' test...that thing was the first or second one Rick made, and the very guitar pictured in their late '70s catalog...a year before Geddy Lee had his made. I wound up advertising it and waddya know...I got 6K for it from a guy playing in a Rush 'tribute' band. What a fool I nearly was! As I've stated numerous times, I'm not 'into money' (having been born with a plastic spoon in my mouth), but that guitar represented a fair chunk of the hardest work I've ever done, and I was most gratified to get some of that energy back in the form of Dead President Trading Stamps. Looky here: I wouldn't be parting with this stuff if I didn't need the bread...employment, though I'm quite good at what I do, has been a 'sticky wicket' for me, between my inability to suffer jerks (read: bosses) very well, and my career .500 batting average with drug testing...

Fast forward again to today...I was recently contacted by a member of this Forum who had read about my Orchestron in a 2005 thread, and wanted to know if I was still interested in selling it. (Now this guy is a stellar person...no names, but if you're reading this: nuthin' but love fo' ya, brother.) I told him yes, I am, but I have no idea what its worth is now. (I paid $2200 for it in '77; retail was $2500, but I got a discount from the Anchorage music store because of all the business I had done with them at that point.) He said he would talk to someone he knows who is informed about this kind of thing, and reported back to me that his guy said $1000 to $1500. We began talking about a price of $1250, and I set about getting it out of the garage, cleaning it up, and digging up all the original documents, operating manual, schematics, optical discs, bill-of-sale, etc. Coincidentally this week, PW3 went into the studio and recorded tracks for our upcoming third CD. This put me back in touch with my good friend Eric, the bass player in The Apples in Stereo, who also plays guitar with us. I mentioned these recent developments, and he became alarmed. He extracted a promise from me that I would not sell the 'O' until he had a chance to talk to some of his many friends and aquaintances in the 'vintage electronic instrument' world. Sure as Shinola, today he calls me...he contacted a friend of his, who owns around $150K worth of vintage gear, and the guy just about went nuts. He said he had always wondered if these things actually existed, apart from Moraz's 'prototype'. His quick research provided the information that Vako made something in the neighborhood of fifty of these before going under. His opinion is that there's no way it could be worth less than the '77 retail price, and it could quite possibly be worth more. He wants to buy it for that himself, but can't swing it right at the moment. As I also have a 'chassis' and guts from a similar Model D (given to me by a 'prog' keyboard player here in town who knew I had a working one), it turns out I'm holding almost 5% of all the units ever produced.

So "WTF?", sez I...now I'm a bit conflicted. I will be contacting the aforementioned Forum member directly to offer my apologies and tell him that I really need to wait and see how this one's going to pan out. It may turn out there are no takers at 2.5K, but I owe it to myself and the wife-n-cats to find out. I'm not seeking to gouge out a spot for myself in 'the marketplace', nor am I looking to get into the ebay biz for 'obscure objects of desire'. I just want to clear my house of stuff I'm no longer using, and get enough of my original investment back that I can keep our humble little scene rolling for a few months without being foreclosed on. As my Capitali...er, 'Monetary System' acquaintances point out: 'the value of a thing is what that thing will bring'. While I would like to practically give this thing away to a good home, I would not feel well enduring the sidelong, pitying glances of my friends, or the justifiable wrath of the woman I've been living with for sixteen years, if I were to do so. After all, having to resort to standing up nightly at a mic in a local dive singing "What Kind Of Fool Am I?" for free PBRs and tips is no kind of life for a man about to qualify for the Senior Citizen's Discount at Denny's...

My take-home lesson? If you decide one day to break open your piggy bank, don't do it right over the return air register where you'll lose half the pennies into the duct work. I may be no Alan Greenspan, but at least I've got that much figured out...

(ps: my Taurus pedals, Moog Sonic 6 and Simmons drums are not for sale...yet)

[winston]

You should write a book Dane............I'll be your first customer. Great story and one that hopefully has a very happy ending.

[johnallg]

Dane, you would not be gouging getting what the instrument is worth. While it is noble to want to give it to someone who will appreciate and use it (for free or a low price), that won't "pay the rent". Your karma will not suffer if you get the going rate for this fine instrument and it is acquired by an appreciative recipient who is comfortable with the price. Call it the big C or just bartering.

Besides, do you want to have to listen to your bonehead move being rehashed through those impending Golden Years?

[wayang]

John...thanks for understanding this well enough to explain it to me...and you're right, the rehashing of a bonehead move is not what I want to hear, any more than the phrase "Don't forget to order the Senior Discount!" shouted into my ear trumpet loud enough to bring a hush to the normal din at the local Denny's...

Brian...I am going to write a book, and it's going to be called "America On Ice; True Adventures of the World's Last Superpower at the World's Last Frontier"...

My imaginary agent assures me that my 'product's in turnaround', whatever that means...

[paologregorio]

If the forumite's as good as you say, which I don't dougbt in the least, and you explain it as honestly and as genially as you have here, I don't see how it should cause friction.

[sloop_john_b]

Okay, so perhaps not the crux of the biscuit, but inquiring minds need to know: how did the Orchestron fare in taking the place of a Mellotron?

[wayang]

Pretty well, John, all things considered...a sturdy flight case versus a wooden box that looks like something your grandmother kept her knitting in has to be viewed as something of an improvement, especially if you're throwing it in and out of the back of a van. The discs, while not indestructable, are an improvement over 30-some lengths of tape that want to break if you even look at them sideways...

The Mellotron's incessant tape hiss was nicely supplanted by the Orchestron's endearing variety of random pops and clicks...

"Ladies and Gentlemen...on keyboards...Mr. Orville Redenbacher!"

[whojamfan]

I would think in this online information age, that a more "realistic" value could have been found before putting it out for sale. I understand the "appraisers" that want to jilt you out of your rare find, but like you said, a respectable forum gave you at least a better idea of what your Rick was worth. I am not at all implying anything shady on anyones part, but I find that it's always a good thing to have a ballpark idea of what your gear is worth, whether you would ever sell it or not. This can aid you greatly in deciding who goes in an emergency, what you could expect in a swap, and hopefully, not as a replacement value in a fire of theft.

However it works out-good luck

[atomic_punk]

Slightly off topic, but relevant, I feel...
A guy was selling a Hiroshigi Kids 12 string bass on Ebay for a price of $15,000. Not that he expected to get it, but he really just wanted to find out where they are. Allegedly they made only 30 or so, and his auction drew emails from 3 other owners of these rare beasts. (although I think that number of 30 is way low, since Tom Petersson owned at least 5 of them and Nikki Sixx owned at least 3).
ANYWAY....if you were to list it on Ebay with some exorbitant number and request that people who knew of these things email you, you might be surprised at the interest / information you receive.

[ajish4]

Slightly off topic, but relevant, I feel...
A guy was selling a Hiroshigi Kids 12 string bass on Ebay for a price of $15,000. Not that he expected to get it, but he really just wanted to find out where they are. Allegedly they made only 30 or so, and his auction drew emails from 3 other owners of these rare beasts. (although I think that number of 30 is way low, since Tom Petersson owned at least 5 of them and Nikki Sixx owned at least 3).
ANYWAY....if you were to list it on Ebay with some exorbitant number and request that people who knew of these things email you, you might be surprised at the interest / information you receive.

That is SO SNEAKY STEVE..........................................I LOVE IT!