Unexpected purchases

[LesStrat]

Have you ever bought something that turned out differently, or even better, than you anticipated?

One of those experiences for me was a monitor purchase. I already had a JBL EON15 vertical wedge that I use with the band. I needed something for the (then) new man cave, and I planned to power it with my keyboard amp. 

The model I had was no longer available.:(

I went with the EON 315. It's a horizontal wedge, and has the mounts for PA use as well. Cool. 

It arrived and I began unpacking it. Man, this thing was much heavier than I expected. I finally get it out of the box and notice a bag with a power cord. 

Wait, what:?:

, it's a powered speaker. 

A couple of months later I ordered a second one and a small mixer.

What purchases have you made that had some unexpected benefits?

[Snake Aces]

My Laney Cub 12 is one of those. We do not really get to try out equipment at music stores here unless we buy it. There are a few exceptions and I have since found a store who actually does let us try out amps and guitars but I had only been here 5 months when I was shopping for an amp. The bigger problem though is even if they do let you try it, they probably do not have the one you're looking for in stock. There are plenty of solid state amps in stock but there was not a whole lot of tube amp action at the store I was shopping at.

Anyway, this translates to having to special order an amp and if you special order the amp you have to pay for part or all of it when placing the order. I had a budget and the internet at my disposal. I checked out some clips and I knew I wanted a few things like an amp with an option to play at a lower wattage for the apartment and I knew I wanted EL84 tubes. So, I decided on the Laney Cub 12 and it's been an awesome little amp. My only complaint is no footswitch option but this amp sounds so good clean or with gain that I have learned to live without it.

I know I have had other purchases like this over the years but this one stands out as it was only about 2 years ago.

[Big Flannel]

My Hovercraft.

It's an Orange/matamp, and Sunn T with a bit of Marshall tossed in. I can isolate each voice and combine the tone stacks from each.

Until it arrived, I hadn't played through anything quite like it.

[FORMULA73]

That SG Jr clone. I walked in to GC for strings and saw that thing hanging on the wall for 199. It rips.

[CTN]

That SG Jr clone. I walked in to GC for strings and saw that thing hanging on the wall for 199. It rips.

pic pls