Eminent 310U, a true story by Jiggery-Pokery...
Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:21 pm
So there I was, Wednesday afternoon, working away on some secret stuff at JP Towers, when my daily eBay notifications arrive... An Emmy 310U? It's been on my notify list for years, never seriously thought I'd see one. So I clicked the link. There were a few pictures. "Well, that looks like a 310U." I read the description. "Fully working".
OK, I thinks to myself, I'll add this auction to my watch list and—
—hang on! "Buy it now"?! For how much?!
So I pressed "Buy it now", and I knew I had at least that much in my PP account, so I had this thing bought within around a minute of receiving the original email notification.
This has to be too good to be true. Spoke to the seller on the phone yesterday. Seemed like a nice chap. We arranged to meet lunchtime today.
This morning I drove from London to Nuneaton, nr Birmingham, in my '03 Micra... (it's amazing how much that car will hold, it would have no problem should this all turn out to be kosher).
Traffic wasn't too bad, and got there bang on 12.42pm. "Drive over there," he says, greeting me at the gate. I did as instructed, backed the car up to the garage with the huge, blue steel roller door.
He goes in through the normal door, presses a button somewhere, and the roller door rises. I peer in. My face, for a moment drops... But not because it wasn't an Eminent 310U.
No, but because it was an Eminent 310U. I couldn't believe it. It had apparantly been sitting in this trading estate lockup for donkeys years apparantly.
We fired it up and it was working. Not without some issues, but man alive, the first time I pressed that Strings Ensemble... I probably shouldn't say more... oh, ok, I will. I had the biggest grin in the West Midlands.
And it's now in my studio
Oh, and you're probably wondering, just how much did I pay for it?
In total, £130, inclusive of half a tank of petrol and £8.68 for a spot of lunch on the trip back at the Watford Gap.
I almost feel sorry for him, he was a really nice guy and even though he Google'd it, just hadn't made the connections.
It will need some restoring though, but I suspect 80% of that is just contact cleaning. I don't think the percussion section is working at all.
Bloody hell, though, I nearly passed out trying to lift the thing in my first floor flat with the help of a well-built neighbour. Handy hint for the next time one comes up on eBay and you manage to get it: use three people!!
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OK, I thinks to myself, I'll add this auction to my watch list and—
—hang on! "Buy it now"?! For how much?!
So I pressed "Buy it now", and I knew I had at least that much in my PP account, so I had this thing bought within around a minute of receiving the original email notification.
This has to be too good to be true. Spoke to the seller on the phone yesterday. Seemed like a nice chap. We arranged to meet lunchtime today.
This morning I drove from London to Nuneaton, nr Birmingham, in my '03 Micra... (it's amazing how much that car will hold, it would have no problem should this all turn out to be kosher).
Traffic wasn't too bad, and got there bang on 12.42pm. "Drive over there," he says, greeting me at the gate. I did as instructed, backed the car up to the garage with the huge, blue steel roller door.
He goes in through the normal door, presses a button somewhere, and the roller door rises. I peer in. My face, for a moment drops... But not because it wasn't an Eminent 310U.
No, but because it was an Eminent 310U. I couldn't believe it. It had apparantly been sitting in this trading estate lockup for donkeys years apparantly.
We fired it up and it was working. Not without some issues, but man alive, the first time I pressed that Strings Ensemble... I probably shouldn't say more... oh, ok, I will. I had the biggest grin in the West Midlands.
And it's now in my studio
Oh, and you're probably wondering, just how much did I pay for it?
In total, £130, inclusive of half a tank of petrol and £8.68 for a spot of lunch on the trip back at the Watford Gap.
I almost feel sorry for him, he was a really nice guy and even though he Google'd it, just hadn't made the connections.
It will need some restoring though, but I suspect 80% of that is just contact cleaning. I don't think the percussion section is working at all.
Bloody hell, though, I nearly passed out trying to lift the thing in my first floor flat with the help of a well-built neighbour. Handy hint for the next time one comes up on eBay and you manage to get it: use three people!!
[/i]