Never got on with it - feels like plywood, ridiculously thin neck. Anyway so a mate of mine who's poor as a church mouse and has commitment issues said he wanted to buy it. So I said..."OK.... how will you afford it?"
I gave him a complete run down on what I thought it was worth based on previous sales, and asked him to make me an offer. And he low-balled me! The nerve. Nice try pal. I've known this guy for 25 years...
So I asked for $25 more than I had in mind because of that. Strangely, he agreed... 
It's still a reasonable deal.I offered reasonable payment of $475 in part payments, over time, knowing he'd never get that amount of money together in one hit without some disaster or another consuming it.
This was last year. Now from what I can glean, he persuaded his wife to buy him the guitar for a Christmas present. But he told her it was $300, not $475 - and so, over a few months, tortuously, 3 x $100 payments appeared in my account.
He lives in a small town hours away but visits occasionally, so I said "Your wife thinks she's paid for the guitar, but you still owe $175 - how are you going to manage that when you come to town and I don't give it to you and she asks about it?" - their relationship is a bit "fraught" at the best of times.
He thought about that and said he'd sort it. A week ago, another $50 appear in my account - I hadn't talked to him for ages as he'd lost his mobile and I didn't have a new number (he would be buying a new "burner" with money he could be giving me instead!
), but I thought I'd better ring him and see what was up, and encourage some more $ out of him, so I rang the landline and we had a chat, sort of in code, seeing wifey was within earshot.He tells me that he's coming to town in 4 or 5 weeks time and he'll settle up then and pick up the guitar. I'll believe it when I sees it! $125 still owing...
Think we made the deal in November last year. Why do I get the feeling he won't be able to pony up the $125?
There are times when I think "Just give him the damn thing!" - $125 makes no difference to me - but he's been a bit of a leech on the arse of society in many ways for most of his life and my taxes pay for his various continuing, multiple, largely-self-inflicted-damage medical treatments, and the dole, and the dental etc. etc. and when I talk to him about some of this stuff, he doesn't seem to understand that it's not "free" - we taxpayers are paying for it.... so I've decided there's a principal as stake and for his own good, he'll give me every last penny.
Stay tuned!
