Good pawn shops for guitar players? Yes, they do exist.

As you've noticed by now, I have a gear addiction. So, where do I go to fuel this addiction? Pawn shops, Lidgett Music (local store), Guitar Center, eBay, Musician's Friend, Sweetwater, Gelvin Guitars, or local Facebook groups. But when I mention pawn shops on some of the guitar player groups I participate in, they generally act like all you'll see is a few pieces of beat up junk and not much selection. Well, I disagree.


First off, this is the wall you see when you first walk in. Plenty of strats, LP's and LP wanna-be's, and some Ibanez guitars. There are also some band instruments available there on the shelves below.


Here's another wall. SG's, semi-hollws (some beauties in there), and a few others.


Next is what the guy working there likes to call "Pointy, stabby things". Mostly explorer and BC Rich styles. I realized just now that I totally missed the selection of even pointier V's that they have, which is usually about 20 or so guitars.


Here are some of the acoustic guitars. A few had sold that day, so there were some holes in the display, but there are still quite a few to check out.


Finally, here are some bass guitars.

As you can see, there are also amps, cabinets, effects... pretty much everything you could need. They usually have a few keyboards (they had a Fantom F8 I was eyeing at one point) and a small selection of drum kits.

But what makes them even better is the fact that the guy working there is a guitar and amp tech. This means when a guitar comes in, he checks it out and can make most repairs that they're going to need as well as give them a decent setup. To me, that's what makes it a great pawn shop... the knowledgeable employees that run the place. If you're in the Omaha area, Sol's Jewelry and Loan on 120th Street is the place to check out.

Oh, and the employees like to give the "Nice Guy" discount if you're someone that they can tell actually plays. That's because they all play and know you're not going to be making a fortune on stage, so they like to pass along deals to fellow musicians.

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