Trade Train #5: Who the F$%^ is Jonny Greenwood?


Good, but we can do better.
Quick recap of the stops we've made so far. Try to keep up:
  • A Gibson Les Paul Studio (Sold for $900) + $900 turns into...
  • A Dr. Z Maz 38 with a Leyland Sound 2x12 Cabinet, turns into...
  • A Gibson Les Paul DC Faded, a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue, and $300, turns into...
  • Wait! The Fender DRRI and $300 get off the train! They didn't have tickets. Sneaky Bastards.
  • So the LPDC becomes...
  • A Gibson SG Standard (with original hard shell case)
Everyone caught up?  Good, because while the Gibson SG Standard was a fantastic trade, the best was still to come.

Choo choo! Next station!




How could you hate a train?
Like all Gibsons in my life, the SG Standard was destined to leave.  Thankfully, guitars can't write "Dear John" letters, and abscond with your best friend in the middle of the night, leaving you a crippled and broken man. They can't, right?
I've met someone.  His name is Marshall. He's British.
A few pictures here, a nice description there, and I was getting offers.  Unfortunately, the offers were mostly low-end stuff.  After two weeks, I was feeling a bit dejected - With the SG being synonymous with Angus Young, maybe "kids these days" associated the SG with old people music.

Patience though, right?

After 3 weeks I deleted the ad and re-posted, with new pictures, in hopes of capturing the attention and imagination of some well heeled chap. Not always the best move - it can be understood as an act of desperation for those that lurk on Kijiji, hunters of those desperate to sell (the Cthulhi of Kijiji?).

Pseudo-patience paid off again in the form of a trade offer: A 1991 Fender Telecaster Plus. I responded in the only way I know how.  All together now:

  

Digression: Kijiji really needs to allow users to include attachments in the reply box - this would save us all the trouble of having to ask for pics.

The seller, as if he foresaw my request in an opiate induced vision involving a coyote, responded immediately with this:

The coyote told me you'd be here.
He explained that it came with the original case and "case candy", and would be willing to do a straight swap. I did a search on the guitar, and came up with a value of around $1200 without digging too deeply.  I wasn't ready to say no - after all, this was a guitar out of production and that alone kept it interesting - but the value wasn't an immediate and obvious win.  I responded that I needed a day, and set forth to research in greater detail.

It didn't take long for me to start coming across a name, over and over again, associated with this guitar - Jonny Greenwood.  Unfortunately, he was always mentioned without explanation, as if the reader SHOULD know who he is.  "Who is this guy, Ronnie James Dio?" I asked myself.

Equally obscure. Also magic apparently.
It would turn out that Jonny Greenwood is a guitar player in Radiohead, and he happens to favor this exact model, in this exact finish, with this exact fret board.  Thanks Google. Don't judge me for not knowing.

Look, I know who Thom F$%^ing Yorke is, so I'm not totally out of touch.  I didn't even have to check the spelling of "Thom".  I know "Thom" spells it with an "h". I also know that he looks like an effeminate elf strung out on heroin.  OK Computer was cool I guess.  Don't expect me to know the name of the other guitar player in Radiohead.  I only have so much room in my brain, and that space was used up by James Iha and Kim Thayil.

Totally as important as Corgan, right? Chamberlain? D'arcy?
Back to the guitar.  Having difficulty finding much more info, or any similar postings, I turned to a friend for some help.  He doesn't know a thing about guitars, but he is a bit of an ebay guru, and with his help we quickly identified past auctions in which the guitar sold for $1800 or more.





I decided to pull the trigger.  I responded to the offer and the trade was made the following day.  The guitar was in fantastic condition, and was very cool besides.  A "Dual-y" Lace Sensor in the bridge and a single in the neck.  The Lace pickups sounded very "hi-fi" to my ears, but not in a sterile way.   Just different.  If I had one complaint, it would be that the split bridge pickup didn't at all sound like a Tele bridge pickup.

I might have kept it, but the promise of a good return was calling, and for the first time ever, I left the warmth of Kijiji for the cold embrace of its evil big brother - eBay.

Next station:  The one that has the cold sweats and night terrors only eBay can give you.

Choo choo!

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