The One that Got Away: Benny Yurco refin JM

[mavsbball]

Just thinking about a guitar I missed out on, a refinished Sherwood green Jazzmaster that belonged to Benny Yurco from Grace Potters band. Ahh the one that got away. Curious if anyone on here snagged it?

Anyone else have a guitar that got away?

[graceless]

Played a 1960 JM at Norm's about a year ago, I think he wanted $7500 for it. Amazing condition. Never paid anywhere close to that for a guitar before, so passed on it. Whoops. A burgundy mist 1963 refin at a shop in New York for like ~4k a few years ago, that I also should have bought, but again, as someone used to just buying Am Pros and whatnot, passed on that too.

[Rob]

Just thinking about a guitar I missed out on, a refinished Sherwood green Jazzmaster that belonged to Benny Yurco from Grace Potters band. Ahh the one that got away. Curious if anyone on here snagged it?

Anyone else have a guitar that got away?

Wasn't me -- but I actually saw Benny on Saturday and he told me about that Sherwood green Jazzmaster over lunch. My heart ached for him selling it -- but now my heart also aches for your missing that opportunity!

As for "one that got away": The first guitar I ever bought was a Lake Placid blue Mustang Bass w/ matching headstock. It loved it and it was my main bass for years. Unfortunately, I hit a rough patch in my early 20s and needed cash more than I needed another bass. I sold it to a local pawn shop for a mere $200, and regretted it ever since.

20+ years later, I'd been keeping my eyes open for one, but they're pretty rare -- at least in that color with the matching head. Benny was considering selling his to help expand his amazing new studio. We talked about it last week, and he very graciously agreed to part with it.

So, thanks to Benny, I'm finally reunited with an dear old friend. It's slightly more green than blue these days, but I caught the mythic One That Got Away!

[mavsbball]

Man that is sick! Glad you were able to get another one back.

Yeah, someone on a YouTube video of the guitar Benny got from Norms commented that they got it and I’m forever jealous!

[fuzzjunkie]

I had a 1960 Jazzmaster sold out from under me years ago but ended up with a nice 1962 Jaguar. I had made an offer for the JM at a shop and while I was getting the cash together one of the shop’s employees sold it to a friend for less than I offered. The shop owner and I were both pissed about that.

I was offered a 1953 Gold top Les Paul with P-90s and a trapeze tailpiece for a very good price. It was player grade but the price was well under market. Unfortunately I already had a Gibson and wasn’t interested in another at the time since I was fully into offsets and had just dropped money on a ‘64 AC-30. I would have had to trade or sell gear I valued more to get it. Similar guitars go for $20k these days.

I was offered a 1954 Gretsch Duo Jet in very good condition for half what the market price was. It was one of the best sounding guitars I’ve ever played, and I had the money. I had just bought a house a couple of months prior and needed that cash for renovations. Another time and I would have had it!

[Mechanical Birds]

Oh my god so many. Until maybe ~2013/14 I was embarrassingly ignorant to pretty much every aspect of guitar in general, but especially the history surrounding Fender, or honestly any company, so I had no idea CBS owned them for a while or that there was a difference between an American standard Strat and an original one, just ridiculous compared to now. Anyway, this has bitten me in the ass so so SOOOO many times. I’ll list the ones that hurt the most.

- White Starcaster at a local pawn shop priced at like $550 or something insane. I knew nothing about them at the time and simply thought “oh this is a new visual for me, weird Fender guitar”

- Red Yamaha SG3 on Guitar Center Used for like $500 or something - I was planning to buy a classic vibe Starcaster and had always been curious about the original SG models, but I was wishy washy about what I should have done (INSANE I KNOW) and sat and watched it simply sit there for like 2 weeks until literally at the exact moment I decided to buy it the listing disappeared

- Aluminum neck Kramer for $275 at a pawn shop outside of Knoxville, TN. I’d just been in a fucked up life altering car wreck and ended up in a random guitar store to try and find something to smile about and saw this thing (for the first time ever, at least from what I can remember, any kind of aluminum neck

- A 65 Mustang some dickhead posted on an obsolete (but for some dumb as fuck reason not closed)Craigslist page for $250. I sent him about 40 emails and never heard back after finding it like 2 months after he originally posted it and literally saying a prayer that it wasn’t gone. Sucks!

- White AV65 Jazzmaster my grandma bought me before she passed away that I traded to what was supposed to be my band mate for a 1966 Sunburst Jaguar, including a right of first refusal agreement in the thing, that he flaked on in order to sell it to a pawn shop for $200. I bought it back eventually for $1,000 and felt really good about that but ended up selling it again because me hoarding two AV65 Jazzmasters and an AV65 Jaguar and the 66 Jaguar just seemed ridiculous. Honestly all the guitars listed in this one are gone now save for the Thin Skin AV65 JM. Sucks!

- That 66 Jaguar especially - that was gonna be my forever guitar but I needed a car so had to move it along for $3,000, which I only remotely came close to because the buyer had insurance money to buy it as a replacement for this family heirloom Jaguar his shitty ex girlfriend stole. That thing was so cool

- Most recent one is an Ovation Magnum that was on FB Marketplace out of Columbus for like $400. I tried to talk my friend into picking it up for me but he was a dickhead and refused. Sucks.

- Magnatone Typhoon in green for $600 on GC Used a year or two ago. Always wanted to get one just to try but again, I hesitated just long enough for someone who isn’t so dumb to pounce on it. I look every day and like everything else people’s expectations and list pricing is horrifying as a buyer. Maybe one day

[Rob]

- White Starcaster at a local pawn shop priced at like $550 or something insane. I knew nothing about them at the time and simply thought “oh this is a new visual for me, weird Fender guitar”

Oof, I feel that one. It wasn't white, but there was a sunburst Starcaster at a local pawn shop for the same price, back in maybe 2001 or 2002? I ended up spending the money on an (at the time new) AVRI Jazzmaster. I still have that one (and I love it!) but I regret passing on that Starcaster.

- White AV65 Jazzmaster my grandma bought me before she passed away that I traded to what was supposed to be my band mate for a 1966 Sunburst Jaguar, including a right of first refusal agreement in the thing, that he flaked on in order to sell it to a pawn shop for $200. I bought it back eventually for $1,000 and felt really good about that but ended up selling it again because me hoarding two AV65 Jazzmasters and an AV65 Jaguar and the 66 Jaguar just seemed ridiculous. Honestly all the guitars listed in this one are gone now save for the Thin Skin AV65 JM. Sucks!

Related to the Mustang Bass bass story posted previously, I sold it and a '97 American Standard Jazz Bass to the same shop. After selling the rest of my gear, I had just enough money left over to buy one guitar back. I passed on the Jazzmaster and the Mustang Bass, and ended up taking back the Jazz Bass because it was a Christmas gift from my grandma (who died a couple years later). So while I'll always kick myself for letting those vintage Fenders get away, I'm glad I still have the Grandma Jazz Bass.