Me with a Ltd. edition LP Classic in Fireburst, 2009

Hi there. My name is Ron Pippin and I was born in South Alabama in the early 50s, so do the math. I love everything about the guitar - the sound it makes, the way it feels in my hands when I play it, and the fact that it is a self-accompanying instrument. My father had (still has) this old '42 Gibson flat top that I started noodlin' around on when I was about 5 years old. My Dad came to the sad conclusion at some point that I was, to put it mildly, somewhat guitarded. You see, every day when he came home from work  he got the guitar out to play and I was right there with it. I had to strum it for him; I absolutely loved the sound of that old sunburst guitar. Actually, I wasn't just somewhat guitarded, I was full blown. There, I've said it.

My hands were too small for the neck until I turned about 8. From that point on I was simply hooked on guitars and got serious about learning to play some lead when I was about 12 years old. I'll never forget the first rock song I learned lead on - "Beg, Borrow, or Steal". I thought I was pretty hot, but the lead work was really very simple. I guess I was thrilled that I picked it out by ear.

I bought my first electric guitar and amp, an old Kalamazoo with a single pickup and a Silvertone tube amp, when I was 14. I sold it to a school mate when I was 17 and got a Yamaha es335 copy. From there, I got a Fender Jazz Master, a '71 Tele Thinline Tele with dual humbuckers, a Gibson Black beauty Les Paul Custom, a Music Man 'strat', etc., etc., and they started piling up over the years. I moved to Memphis in 1971 and brought my Fender Thinline and a few other nice instruments with me, including my old bf Fender Bassman. I bought more stuff when I got here, but what would I do with ones I had accumulated? Back in those days, one or two guitars is about all anyone ever owned, so I somehow felt I had the duty to sell a few of them. I know, it made no sense and with hind-sight I wish I had kept them, especially my Thinline Tele that I kept for 20 years and sold for some unknow reason. Oh wait, it was because I had too many guitars! Isn't that rediculous . . . too many guitars?

Deluxe Tele w/Hinson Tweed Pro Amp

Enter eBay. Finally, HERE was a way for me to have my cake and eat it too. I used to hate selling a guitar because I liked them for one thing, and it was such a pain to list them in the local want-ads because you had to be home for people to call and be there there for people to come by and look at them and haggle with the price, so they just accumulated. It wasn't worth the trouble, even when I was short on cash which was pretty often. So, I collected quite a few nice guitars and didn't really start selling, or trading, until I discovered eBay.

I sold my first item on eBay, an old Traynor tube amp, about 8 years ago. I bought a Fender Princeton BF, sold a Princeton SF Reverb with drip rail (wish I had kept that one too), bought an old '68 Fender Pro Reverb SF, a '71 Twin Reverb SF, a Gibson ES335 Custom, ES135, 98 Tele Custom with 3 pickups, etc. . . . I got hooked on the idea of buying and selling. It was really more of a trading situation because for every guitar I've sold, I bought one or two more. Even if I lost a little money it didn't seem to matter because at least I got to play and collect some very nice instruments over the years.

Look, I'm probably too old to be jacking around with this buying and trading business, but I can't convince my heart that I'm old. I've always loved guitars and tube amps and have only bought the ones I wouldn't mind playing some gigs with. I do still gig, as does my father (every once in a while - he doesn't know he's old either). Therefore, I buy and sell only quality items that I wouldn't mind keeping for myself. I don't buy simply to re-sell, but just to have the instrument on hand for a while to see if its really a keeper.

In conclusion, if I run a listing I'll be up front about what you're getting. I take good pics and disclose stuff that I would personally want to know if I were buying the instrument / amp. I don't like surprizes anymore than the next guy. I won't be selling anything rediculously cheap since I don't sell because I'm strapped for cash. In other words, I had rather keep a nice guitar or amp than sell it dirt cheap. On the other hand, I'll be as fair as I can and I haven't had any complaints so far.