Chapter 9: A Step in the Right Direction

Juan did indeed come into the store, bringing with him two of his band mates. Dave Ritter was their rhythm guitarist while Tony “Far Out” Farquharson played tenor sax, alto sax, and recorder. He loved to wail when he had the chance and he was very good by my reckoning. The other members of the group not present were the drummer and the bass player.

“So, what are you looking for, guys,” I asked as the introductions were made.

“I want to move up my keyboard into something more versatile,” Juan said. “I’m pretty limited with what I can produce with my Roland.”

“Okay, I can see that. I’m sure you want something with memory?” I suggested.

“Yeah ... for sure. I can really add some background with that,” Juan said immediately.

“How about you, Dave? What are you looking for.”

“I’m hoping to find a used Fender Telecaster, or something equivalent. My old Gretsch is really limited too.”

“Uh huh. And you, Tony?” I asked turning to him.

“Not sure, Nick. I’d just like to look around and see what’s what. I would like to find another instrument to add to the group, broaden our sound.”

“Okay. Well, I guess the big question revolves around budget. Have you given any thought to how much you want to spend?”

Juan laughed. “How much I want to spend is a hell of a lot more than I can afford to spend. Why don’t you show us what’s available and maybe we can come to a decision?”

“Okay, let’s start with Dave’s need for a Telecaster. A new one retails for anywhere up from $800. There are some copies of course that are a lot cheaper, but the real deal is in that range.”

“Yeah,” Dave said with a sigh. “That’s what I thought. My wife would kill me if I spent that kind of money.”

“I do have a trade in that might interest you,” I said, leading him where I wanted to go. “I do have a used Stratocaster American Special in black that I could let go for about $550. That’s less than half what a new one costs. I got it from the parent’s of a guy who owned it. The guy was crippled in a car accident and can’t play any more. That’s roughly what I gave him for it ... or at least, his mother. You won’t find a better deal than that.”

“Can I see it ... try it?” Dave asked immediately.

“Sure. I’ve got it on display over here,” I said, leading him toward the back of the store. I took it down off the wall and handed it to him. The look in his eyes told me this was exactly what he was looking for. Happily, it was in excellent condition and nicely polished. He looked at the price tag, showing $799. He looked up at me with a questioning expression.

“You said you wanted a deal. This is it,” I explained.

“Hell, yeah! Sold! Thanks, Nick. This is amazing. I didn’t think I’d ever own a “Strat.”

“Well, now you can,” I grinned. In truth, I would recover what I gave the young guys mother for it and it would be out of our dead inventory. That was a prime objective of mine. Solomon was fully in agreement with my strategy. He had far too much of this kind of inventory, being the soft touch he was.

I showed Juan a variety of keyboards that might fit his needs and he took some notes and a couple of brochures I had available to consider what he might want. I had no used inventory that fit what he wanted, but I promised I would keep a sharp lookout for any that came along. Tony was happy just to peruse the inventory on hand and see if anything struck a responsive chord. He left with the other two with nothing, but I considered the morning a success anyway. I was sure both Juan and Dave would let their friends know about the store and they would probably speak well of us.

It was a Wednesday afternoon and the store was quiet with the exception of my picking away on a trade-in round top guitar, just killing time. I heard the soft electric chime as the front door opened and a very attractive woman entered. She looked to be a little older than me, but she was drop dead gorgeous as far as I could tell. The tight jeans and the snug blouse emphasized a perfect body and she had my complete attention.

“Good afternoon, Ma’am. How can I help you?” I began with a smile, putting the guitar down.

“Are you the ukulele man?” she asked in a voice that was huskier than I expected.

I laughed gently. “I guess that’s me, Nicholas Minter. I do give the kids ukulele lessons and we have jam sessions here on Saturday, so I must be the guy.”

“I just wanted to drop in and tell you how much I’m impressed with what you are doing. My son is so taken with the instrument and he wouldn’t miss a Saturday morning if his life depended on it,” she enthused. “I had to stop him from taking it to bed with him.”

“That’s very nice to hear. Who is your son? I know most of the kids now.”

His name is Randy Carter, and I’m his mother, Rhonda,” she said with a smile.

“I haven’t seen you here on Saturday. Does your husband bring Randy?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m a single parent. But what you’ve done for Randy is wonderful. I wanted him to learn the piano, but he wasn’t interested. I used to play, so I thought he would want to as well. But he surprised me and now he wants to do duets with me,” she laughed.

“Hey, that’s great. It’s so good to get positive feedback like that. He must be practicing because he is getting better than many of the other kids in the class.”

“Oh, he practices all the time. Whatever switch you turned on in him is really working,” she smiled.

“Well with you playing piano, it must have been the stimulus,” I noted.

“Actually, we don’t have a piano. I don’t have the room for one and I can’t afford to buy a decent one,” she explained.

“Have you ever thought about a keyboard? They are very compact, quite low cost, and provide a large repertoire of sounds that you can duplicate. It’s a cross between a piano, and an organ. It’s how I started after I took some piano lesson on my grandparents’ upright. In fact, Solomon let me take the keyboard and a little amplifier before I was able to finish paying for it.”

“I use my neighbor’s piano when I want to play. I didn’t think those little things were real musical instruments. Can you show me how they work?”

“Of course. I’ve got a Yamaha 61 key over here with an older Roland Amp that were trade-ins on a more complex unit. This would be more than ample for most people.” I plugged both units in and briefly allowed the amp to warm up. I pulled a steno chair over to the unit and had her sit. “I don’t know what the settings are on this unit, so I’ve turned the volume down and we’ll see just what kind of sound you get when you begin.”

Rhonda smiled at me before placing her fingers on the keys. Intuitively, she understood the positions of the keys were centered just as on an 88 key piano. She began to play and as she did, I turned the volume up a little so that she could hear the quality and nature of the notes. There was no need for me to hover over her. She had the grasp of the instrument and now it was a case of whether it would meet her needs. The keyboard itself was very economical. Even a new one was $250, but the amp and the stand were even more costly when grouped together.

Once again, this was used product in inventory and as the old retailer saying goes, the first loss is the best loss. If I could recover what we offered on trade in, we would have reduced another item in our dead inventory with cash in hand. While Rhonda played and experimented with the various sounds available, I looked up Solomon’s old records to see what he had offered on the trade. It was $400, and I thought that was generous. Now the question was, what should I sell it for if Rhonda wanted to buy it? Again, off the books was better than gathering dust, but I couldn’t afford to be too generous. Solomon had been systematically writing down the dormant inventory each year, these items having been here for over two years.