My Dumpster Diving Neighbor

Bozozoid said:
In my life I've never even had anyone show me so much as a drum key they found and I'm reading all of these dumpster finds. It's like a music store got robbed and the stuff was dumped by the guys that were being chased by the cops. Damn..id just like to find a pair of 5Bs that someone tossed.
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I have never been a dumpster diver, but I do pick when I see junk lying by the side of the road. You never know what you'll find.

My Aunt Tess was a notorious "thrower outer." My father sent home a Nazi flag he found during WWII, and Aunt Tess threw it out. She also threw out my grandparent's old wind up Victrola that was in near perfect shape, as well as who knows what else. I can imagine some antique dealer's joy when he found that.

My father had the greatest overseas assignment in the US Army. He was a First Sergeant in Quartermaster, a desk job. His assignment was to inventory and disperse captured German and Italian war materiel. He had piles of souvenirs staring him in the face every day!
 
BobC said:
I have never been a dumpster diver, but I do pick when I see junk lying by the side of the road. You never know what you'll find.

My Aunt Tess was a notorious "thrower outer." My father sent home a Nazi flag he found during WWII, and Aunt Tess threw it out. She also threw out my grandparent's old wind up Victrola that was in near perfect shape, as well as who knows what else. I can imagine some antique dealer's joy when he found that.
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that is my mom. We always had to monitor what was goign in the trash, or if there was al lof the sudden a lot of empty space in some room

BobC said:
My father had the greatest overseas assignment in the US Army. He was a First Sergeant in Quartermaster, a desk job. His assignment was to inventory and disperse captured German and Italian war materiel. He had piles of souvenirs staring him in the face every day!
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that could have been a HUGE retirement nest for you, and your dad if he could have kept any of that stuff
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
I feel the same way when I read about all of these people who find stashes of old sports cards in mint condition, and worth millions....why has that never happened to me?
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I once brokered the sale of a 3-ply silver sparkle Gretsch Round Badge drumset two teenagers found in the garbage, complete with all hardware and A. Zildjians. They wanted $1200. I sold the drums for $2000 and made a tidy $800 profit.

I have decided to find out when local towns have "cleanout week," and then drive up and down streets looking for treasures. I'm sure there are more people like my late aunt out there.
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
that is my mom. We always had to monitor what was goign in the trash, or if there was al lof the sudden a lot of empty space in some room



that could have been a HUGE retirement nest for you, and your dad if he could have kept any of that stuff
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He eventually got rid of all his war souvenirs. He traded away SEVEN pistols for a quick flight home after the war was over. He said they were Lugers, a P-38, Italian Barettas, his .45, etc. The only one he kept was a little Mauser pistol that he had for years. He knew I wanted it after he was gone.

After he died, I called my aunt and asked what happened to the Mauser pistol.

"Oh, he sold it to a local gun shop." I was furious. 🤬😖😠😤
 
Prob 8 years ago someone basically gave me a WWII paratrooper stock. I bought a bunch of his stuff in bulk including that. Free 1000 bucks. I watched my rearview mirror all the way home to see if anyone was following me to come steal it all back, lol.

I'm always looking. Sometimes opportunity knocks. There was a little gig bag resembling a violin case behind the counter at a thrift store I asked to see. The girl laid it down and the bag said STEINBERGER. Ok, this is gonna be good. Because the price tag said $129.99. It's a 1986-87 GP3 with S tremolo similar to the ones in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Think they sell for around 1200. Doesn't matter, though. I'm not selling.
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
I feel the same way when I read about all of these people who find stashes of old sports cards in mint condition, and worth millions....why has that never happened to me?
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Good people usually have to work really hard to get what they want while bad people seem to get what they want much easier. The difference is good people don't have to constantly look over their shoulder and can actually sleep at night.
 
BobC said:
I have never been a dumpster diver, but I do pick when I see junk lying by the side of the road. You never know what you'll find.

My Aunt Tess was a notorious "thrower outer." My father sent home a Nazi flag he found during WWII, and Aunt Tess threw it out. She also threw out my grandparent's old wind up Victrola that was in near perfect shape, as well as who knows what else. I can imagine some antique dealer's joy when he found that.

My father had the greatest overseas assignment in the US Army. He was a First Sergeant in Quartermaster, a desk job. His assignment was to inventory and disperse captured German and Italian war materiel. He had piles of souvenirs staring him in the face every day!
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Oh, I'm all about that... I go to a local thrift shop almost every single week sometimes a couple times a week for the last 5 years and I have found some pretty awesome musical instruments for cheap and flipped them... that's how I make my extra money.

I have found guitars, bongos, keyboards, cymbals, ukuleles, a brass trumpet, a music stand and a Ludwig drum pad. I kept the keyboard, 1 cymbal and the Ludwig drum pad for myself.

Sometimes it's hard to believe the things that people drop off for donation and I have the privilege of buying it for a reasonable price. I sell on Facebook Marketplace and when I sell it I triple my money almost every time. I do buy other stuff but my favorite stuff to find is musical instruments.

I've been a treasure hunter for over 50 years but I took it up a notch when my husband died. Anyways you would be very surprised at the things that I see that people throw out.

Below is a picture of the Ludwig practice pad that I found.
 
BobC said:
For decades, we have lived next door to a couple, Kevin and Sue, who we have always gotten along with. We're lucky to have good neighbors on both sides. Kevin tends our garden and we share the vegetables.

Kevin is a picker, a dumpster diver. Tonight, he showed up at the door holding a nearly perfect Yamaha double bass pedal. He had the back of his pickup truck almost loaded with more drum gear he had fished out of a dumpster down the street. It's pretty much all low end stuff; a student model Ludwig snare, light duty hi-hat stands, cymbal stands, a throne, two snare stands, a single bass pedal, tom arms, floor tom legs, Zildjian ZBT and other low end cymbals, a Dr. Beat, drum books, an instruction CD, a 16" reso tom head and assorted other pieces of hardware, like a hi-hat clutch and drum keys, plus slightly mildewed carrying bags for the pedals and snare.

I've already decided to donate most of it to a local school for the music department, but I can flip the cymbals and snare drum locally. I'll keep the Dr. Beat and the Yamaha double pedal.

Kevin couldn't understand why anyone would just throw away all this stuff. Neither can I. Apparently, the husband walked out on the wife and two little kids, the house went up for sale, and whoever is buying the house came in and started tossing stuff out.

Check out the photo. This isn't the first time Kevin has found drum gear for me. Years ago, he showed up with a white marine pearl MIJ 60's snare that I still have. He found it in a trash pile. I have yet to restore it.

I keep hoping he'll show up one day with a Gladstone or old Leedy snare. Maybe a set of Rogers in Mardi Gras Pearl!
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Oh, I'm all about that... I go to a local thrift shop almost every single week sometimes a couple times a week for the last 5 years and I have found some pretty awesome musical instruments for cheap and flipped them... that's how I make my extra money.

I have found guitars, bongos, keyboards, cymbals, ukuleles, a brass trumpet, a music stand and a Ludwig drum pad. I kept the keyboard, 1 cymbal and the Ludwig drum pad for myself.

Sometimes it's hard to believe the things that people drop off for donation and I have the privilege of buying it for a reasonable price. I sell on Facebook Marketplace and when I sell it I triple my money almost every time. I do buy other stuff but my favorite stuff to find is musical instruments.

I've been a treasure hunter for over 50 years but I took it up a notch after my husband died. Anyways you would be very surprised at the things that I see that people throw out.

Below is a picture of the Ludwig practice pad that I found.20231008_161001.jpg
 
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Not always, but usually I sell so someone else gets a good deal. But I cant sell things like the beautiful Dyna Sonic with new heads, bought for $15. The 6 practice pads that came with it get sold, Iincluding the vintage Ludwig one shaped like a keystone. Can't sell the $20 bongos, $10 stand, stuff like that, or the Paiste Fast Crash.
 
Mendozart said:
For the record, they were actually sitting on the curb.;)
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"No...Greg......no....I remember. They were set on fire in a dumpster that was rolling down the street with a boom-box inside playing Earth Wind & Fire songs.....right?".........ok.......they were just sitting on the curb.
 
My Ludwig Standards were rescued from a dumpster by a friend and given to me. Total score.
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Around me you have to get to it early. Dumpster diving is a thriving business the thrift store has fancy self checkout lines. Though I did find a sweet log drum in the butcher block section.

Most of the nicer drum equipment ends up down the street at the pawn shop or on ebay reseller's pages.
 
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