Won't Get Fooled Again.


I was once indirectly involved in a scam over a Gibson SG copy.

One of them.

I was fourteen and still at school. While I didn’t initiate the racket (noise pun) I certainly benefited from it. I was a criminal by association. My hands were dirty. This wasn’t due to a scuffed fretboard. 

The culprit was Rich, my band’s lead guitarist. He’d heard that another student, Colin, was throwing away his electric. Colin evidently wasn’t familiar with its rudimentary mechanics. Why? Because he thought breaking a string rendered it worthless.

The fact he believed this clears my conscience. I mean, come on. If that were the case, every guitarist would be constantly on edge. They’d never take a solo, for fear they’d come out the other side needing to shell out another six hundred quid (assuming they went for a low-end model). Guitar breaks would become strictly pedestrian. String-bending would be a thing of the past.

Colin’s ignorance enabled Rich to secure his guitar for a fiver. Colin presumably thought he was up on the deal and that Rich was the one who was the idiot. I wonder how many instruments he got through before realising his mistake. For all I know, he's still disposing of them now.

But where do I come in? I bought the tainted goods from Rich. I knew about the scam and of its real value. As a result, I paid a competitive £25. I eventually sold it on to my friend Steve for £60. Everyone was up on the deal, except for Colin. Some might say it served him right. Rich, Steve and I would be amongst them.

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