Teisco Del Rey ET-230 Guitar

Guitars on Craigslist Austin

It was Wednesday, March 12, 2008. Mid afternoon on a beautiful day in Austin, Texas, I did my daily (well, almost) search of Austin Craigslist - musical instruments section, scouring for cool guitars, bass guitars and other musical instruments and gear.

This particular Wednesday happened to fall in the middle of the amazing and intense annual music festival called "South By Southwest" or SXSW. I was feeling the incredible energy in the air and my thoughts were directed toward the vibrations created by thousands of hope-filled musicians trying to get a break into the music business. You see, I was there in my younger days, so my thoughts were also experiencing the longing for some of what my past held, captured in some indelible music-laced memories!

With all that said, and in that state of mind, I began my almost daily Craigslist search. Almost immediately, I spotted a listing that said simply, "Guitar & Amp $50 - Location Austin" So, I clicked on the link to open the ad. I saw a picture of an older-looking surf-style red guitar. It had a funky aluminum pickguard and two what-appeared-to-be single-coil pickups. The ad description was ... well ... nondescript, to say the least. It stated that there was an amp and a pedal that were included. I kind of discounted those because it was all about the guitar for me. I observed that the pictures had the headstock cut off. So, there was no way to tell from the ad what make and model the guitar was. I had a good feeling that it was a decent older guitar, so I acted quickly.

Craigslist Austin - Making Contact

My next move was to click the email address and state that I REALLY wanted that guitar and here's all my numbers where I can be reached. I browsed the ramaining ads and found some cool stuff that was for others to desire. I wanted that guitar.

Well, about 45 minutes later, a lady called, and I just knew it was about the gutar. She said I could come look at it if I wanted, and I replied with, "I don't need to look at it. I want to buy it." And that was that. I got the address, stated when I would be there and made sure I had a good number to call. I already had the fifty bucks "burning a hole in my pocket," as my mother used to say!

Craigslist Austin - Making the Guitar Purchase

It was date-night. Wednesday is date night for my precious bride and I, so I had to ask forgiveness, and offered to pick up the guitar and go on our date after that. I knew it would only take a few minutes to conclude the deal, and because it was fairly close, wouldn't take long to get there, either. Well, she was forgiving and confessed she was tired and didn't really want to go anywhere that evening, so go ahead. So, I went with my son to pick it up.

I met the husband outside in the driveway. We introduced ourselves and he took me inside to look at the guitar. The couple was real nice, and they told me a small amount of the history behind the guitar as I opened the case and looked for the first time at my "new" Teisco Del Rey ET-230 electric guitar!

Inspecting the Teisco Del Rey

To my surprise I could find little cosmetic damage as I picked it up out of the tattered case and began to play it. The general un-plugged tonality was somewhat lacking, however, I knew I could restore it to its original (well as close as possible) grandeur. Another surprise, two surprises to be exact, were the accompanying Crate 15W amp and the Ibanez PL5 Power Lead pedal. Nice bonus items for the price of $50 me thinks!

The way my brain works, I pondered for about a millisecond the fact that I could sell the amp and the pedal for a total of about $40. I did the math. $10 for the Vintage Teisco Del Rey collector guitar. Ten Bucks! I'm on a quest!