I go in the used shop to sell...

[harrisonreed]

Headed to T.C. Gakki in Shin-Ōkubō to finally sell my 88HT Lindberg on Tuesday. Great little shop, they got the keys and stringed instruments on the first few floors and then a single floor dedicated to wind instruments and ... biwa lutes, of all things. They got the AR Resonances out hard, all over the place, and a flotilla of used bones. Holtons, Bach's, Edwards, couple Conn's. Yamahas, of course. The guys are tucked in this small section, painstakingly restoring and repairing horns for customers and for sale -- my trombone will be in good hands, I think.

Anyways, I'm filling out paperwork and see a ~$7600 used Thein tenor on a stand in brand new condition.

"This is a cool shop," I say. "There is even this here for sale."
"Oh thank you"
"I wonder who sold this Thein" (my Japanese isn't the greatest)
"Who would buy this, you mean? I wonder..."
"No no," I say. "I think people will want to buy this. I want to buy it. But who sold it to you?"
"Oh." The guy goes. "I think it was some rank amateur player..."
"Oh..."
"Yeah, it's like that..."

The knowing silence that followed had us both laughing after a minute.

Anyways, great shop, if you're ever in Tokyo. I suppose you could somewhat finance a trip to Japan, like that guy was asking about last year, with used wind instruments. They pay cash on the spot, at a fair price. Just use their website to send pics and let them give you a pending assessment ahead of time.