What is the best deal you've stumbled upon?

[Stradbrother]

Not as much of a steal as some others on here of course, but I was able to get my mint first run Wild Thing for $1000
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Getzen 3051 Custom
Kanstul California 101
XO 1624 C
Bach 183 Flugelhorn
Bach LB 229 Eb/D Long Bell
Bach 184 Cornet
Kanstul 920

[spitvalve]

In 1984 I found an LA Olds Ambassador cornet in a pawn shop in Provo, Utah. I got it for fifteen bucks. I paid $6 to have a dent removed from the leadpipe, stripped the lacquer and polished the brass, and sold it to my trumpet teacher for $100. In 2022 bucks that's equivalent to buying and repairing it for $58 and selling it for $280, so a nice tidy profit for a starving college student at the time.

More recently I picked up a beautiful 50+ year old Getzen Capri cornet for $250 from TheMoosehorns on eBay. The nickel silver slides are in mint condition and the lacquer is 95%. Most of the ones from this vintage I see on eBay are more beat up and/or going for twice as much. It has a beautiful sound and is very fun to play.

The best deal I ever got on a horn was a new Holton Superbone I bought at Ward Music in Vancouver, BC in 1985. The original price they quoted me was $800, a discount because their tax year was ending and they had to pay tax on unsold inventory. I thought it was $800 USD so I told them I'd be back in two weeks with the cash (I was doing a cruise gig). Two weeks later I walked in and it turned out to be $800 Canadian, or $600 USD. That's equivalent to about $1600 today--and you can't find a used Superbone for less than $3500 now.
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Bryan Fields
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1991 Bach LR180 ML 37S
1999 Getzen Eterna 700S
1977 Getzen Eterna 895S Flugelhorn
1969 Getzen Capri cornet
1995 UMI Benge 4PSP piccolo trumpet
Warburton and Stomvi Flex mouthpieces

[Rogerrr]

Does FREE count?

A few years ago a buddy made a sculpture that included an old cornet dangling from something and getting banged around by a couple electric motors

After he was done with his art project the horn was just sitting around his house waiting to be thrown out ( it's a 60's-70's vintage Besson 2-20 cornet ).

Soooo he gave it to me. It was a little beat up, dirty, and missing a part or two, but it wasn't too bad. On a whim I got it repaired........and now I'm taking cornet lessons and loving it ( I'm actually a sax player )
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Sax player learning cornet & trumpet...and occasionally a little bit of trombone.
( so don't confuse me with an experienced player )