Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Hock and roll

Treasure troves of used gear

Hock-and-roll pawn broker Moris Adato at CashCo in City Heights
Hock-and-roll pawn broker Moris Adato at CashCo in City Heights

A songwriter looking for material could do worse than to work in a pawn shop.

Place

CashCo

4502 University Avenue, San Diego

Moris Adato, the general manager of CashCo pawn shop in City Heights, hears the type of stories that make for classic country or blues songs every day on the job.

“A lot of my guys will tell these hard-luck stories. Normal day-to-day stuff, where a guy gets a flat tire and all he’s got is an extra guitar he can pawn for a couple hundred bucks,” Adato told the Reader. “Or maybe the gigs haven’t been strong, so they’re getting rid of the old equipment.”

Record stores sell the hits or what’s hip, but pawn shops can shine a light on what is really going on in the music world.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Place

North Park Pawn

3104 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

Victor Gorse of North Park Pawn on El Cajon Boulevard estimates that musical equipment makes up about 25 percent of sales at his shop. Of course, guitars are the top-selling item — “Everyone wants a guitar, not everybody wants a keyboard” — but Gorse says recording equipment is really hot right now.

“Everybody wants to record their songs or rap — or whatever they call them,” Gorse says in a gruff Hungarian accent.

Although he believes he can sell anything for the right price, Gorse admits some items are harder to sell than others — like the accordion he just acquired.

“It only has buttons, not keys,” he says. “It’s something more common in Europe than here. Anyone with keyboard knowledge can play the kind with a keyboard. This one, you have to start again.”

Gorse is still trying to determine the price for the instrument, which he admits might be in his shop for a while.

“One sold on eBay for $1000, but this one has more wear-and-tear,” he says.

Royal Pawn is a treasure trove of used gear.
Place

Royal Pawn

3033 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

Matt Smith of Royal Pawn, also on El Cajon Boulevard, says finding the right price for an instrument is crucial to staying in the business because a store can hold only so much product.

“We try and put instruments at a good price from the git-go, but if it’s sitting for a while, we have to reevaluate, make sure we have a fair price,” he said. “We want things to sell.”

Adato says that pawn shops tend to be most popular with beginning musicians and the working professionals.

“New guys will pick up a used guitar for $250, rather than buying a new one for $500,” he said. “For veterans, picking up a classic guitar for half the price is always a wonderful thing.”

Smith admits selling to musicians can be a blessing and a curse at times.

“We’ve definitely had some good musicians come in here and lay down some chops,” he says. “We also get guys who just want to mess around with the guitars and you sometimes wish they wouldn’t play around as long as they do,” he adds with a laugh.

All of the pawn-shop owners believe the success of the History Channel show Pawn Stars has helped shine a positive light on the industry, but Adato admits it’s a double-edged sword.

“It’s shown that we’re not thieves — we report everything to police and we don’t rip people off,” he says. “But we don’t have the expert we can call up to check out if a Les Paul is real or not.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

OSHA rules wall falls our fault

Who, U.S.?
Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Hock-and-roll pawn broker Moris Adato at CashCo in City Heights
Hock-and-roll pawn broker Moris Adato at CashCo in City Heights

A songwriter looking for material could do worse than to work in a pawn shop.

Place

CashCo

4502 University Avenue, San Diego

Moris Adato, the general manager of CashCo pawn shop in City Heights, hears the type of stories that make for classic country or blues songs every day on the job.

“A lot of my guys will tell these hard-luck stories. Normal day-to-day stuff, where a guy gets a flat tire and all he’s got is an extra guitar he can pawn for a couple hundred bucks,” Adato told the Reader. “Or maybe the gigs haven’t been strong, so they’re getting rid of the old equipment.”

Record stores sell the hits or what’s hip, but pawn shops can shine a light on what is really going on in the music world.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Place

North Park Pawn

3104 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

Victor Gorse of North Park Pawn on El Cajon Boulevard estimates that musical equipment makes up about 25 percent of sales at his shop. Of course, guitars are the top-selling item — “Everyone wants a guitar, not everybody wants a keyboard” — but Gorse says recording equipment is really hot right now.

“Everybody wants to record their songs or rap — or whatever they call them,” Gorse says in a gruff Hungarian accent.

Although he believes he can sell anything for the right price, Gorse admits some items are harder to sell than others — like the accordion he just acquired.

“It only has buttons, not keys,” he says. “It’s something more common in Europe than here. Anyone with keyboard knowledge can play the kind with a keyboard. This one, you have to start again.”

Gorse is still trying to determine the price for the instrument, which he admits might be in his shop for a while.

“One sold on eBay for $1000, but this one has more wear-and-tear,” he says.

Royal Pawn is a treasure trove of used gear.
Place

Royal Pawn

3033 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

Matt Smith of Royal Pawn, also on El Cajon Boulevard, says finding the right price for an instrument is crucial to staying in the business because a store can hold only so much product.

“We try and put instruments at a good price from the git-go, but if it’s sitting for a while, we have to reevaluate, make sure we have a fair price,” he said. “We want things to sell.”

Adato says that pawn shops tend to be most popular with beginning musicians and the working professionals.

“New guys will pick up a used guitar for $250, rather than buying a new one for $500,” he said. “For veterans, picking up a classic guitar for half the price is always a wonderful thing.”

Smith admits selling to musicians can be a blessing and a curse at times.

“We’ve definitely had some good musicians come in here and lay down some chops,” he says. “We also get guys who just want to mess around with the guitars and you sometimes wish they wouldn’t play around as long as they do,” he adds with a laugh.

All of the pawn-shop owners believe the success of the History Channel show Pawn Stars has helped shine a positive light on the industry, but Adato admits it’s a double-edged sword.

“It’s shown that we’re not thieves — we report everything to police and we don’t rip people off,” he says. “But we don’t have the expert we can call up to check out if a Les Paul is real or not.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
Next Article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.