How Are You Buying Your Guitars These Days?

[Dru Edwards]

My last two guitars I bought in Nov and Dec. I drove the 240 miles return trip to the guitar shop to buy both of them. One was used that showed up online for a Boxing Day sale (I was the first person in line that day) and the other was a guitar I was looking for that suddenly appeared in stock - I drove down the next day.

I would buy online without worry if the store had a great return policy.

[rllink]

I've bought four guitars in the last three years. One was used and came from a local shop that I bought last summer, and I traded one for it that I bought new at a different local shop. The other two I bought new online. One came from a shop in Alabama but I bought it on Reverb. The other came from Sweetwater. My wife also bought one from Sweetwater just recently.

I'm in a dilemma right now. I want a particular guitar and I've found four of them at two guitar shops in the big city just south of me. I was down there a few weeks ago and played two of them in one of the stores, both being sold as new. One of the two had a blemish in the finish that I didn't particularly care for. The other one had a big mark down the front of it that took a careful look to see, but it was there. The sales guy said that they could probably get it out. So I walked away from both of them. They both sounded good though.

I've found two more at a different shop in the same town and next week I'm going to look at them. It is my birthday and my wife wants to give it to me as a present. We're going down looking for a new one and if I find a new one, I hope it doesn't look well played. I'll take a used one that is discounted accordingly. We will have to see.

Now I hear all the time, "if it sounds good, that's all that counts." No, that isn't all that counts. I'm sure there are ones that sound good out there that don't have blemishes and marks on the face of them. I have no problem with buying a guitar that someone else has played a bit to see if they like it, but I'm not paying full price for a guitar that had been played hard over the last six months by people and the only thing that makes it new is that it hasn't left the showroom. I can get a brand new, in the box, unplayed one from Sweetwater or Musician's friend. I would like to play it first before I buy it and I would really like to buy it from a local shop, but perhaps that isn't going to happen.

Okay, that turned into a bit of a rant, didn't it? Sorry about that. I'm just hoping I find what I want for my birthday. Something about going to the store with my wife on my birthday and bringing it home, sitting on the patio playing it with her is just a little more fun than getting a box on the front porch four days later. But if that is the case, I'll be happy to wait a few days to get what I want rather than take what I can get.

[TBman]

I bought my last 3 guitars online. A Pellerin this year, a Furch last year and then a couple of years before that my Avalon. I also purchased my Cordoba C5, Alvarez 00 and Seagull folk online as well over the years.

[jmjohnson]

All bought in shop. Big part of the fun is trying them out.

[foxo]

I bought my last guitar (a 00028 Custom 12 fret) from Guitar Guitar. It was in the Newcastle shop but they transferred it to Edinburgh for me for a £100 refundable deposit, I phoned them at two in the afternoon and they had it in the Edinburgh shop the next day. All went very smoothly, I don’t like buying guitars I haven’t had a chance to play first.

Since 2019, I have bought 7 new guitars. The following were purchased in store from stock: The Gibson L-00 (L&M Orleans), Gibson SG (Lauzon Music) and Fender Strat (L&M Orleans). The following guitars were purchased online because they were not available locally: National Triolian and Style 1 (both from 12th Fret in Toronto) and Gibson J-185 (CME). My Fender Tele was a hybrid purchase. I tried it at L&M Pickering when I was travelling through the area but could not transport it home so I bought online direct from the store when I got home.

I also purchased a Marshall in store (L&M Ottawa) and a bunch of pedals and pedalboard stuff mostly from L&M Online.

[joeappel]

Three different ways: 1 from Reverb, 1 from Acoustic Music Works, 1 from Craig's List

Acoustic Music Works is 15 minutes from my house so I picked the Collings out from a bunch of different guitars I tried out. The CL guitar is the J-45, and I was able to play that one at the seller's house for a bit.

The Waterloo was bought on faith from a seller in Colorado -- I wasn't able to play that one first. But he had a solid rating on Reverb and was extremely honest and answered all of my questions.

I'd be reluctant to buy another guitar from Reverb for a number of reasons, but if it was something uncommon (like a 1996 Taylor 512-NG, for instance ) that isn't readily available I might consider it.

Good luck!

[ssstewart]

over last 12 months bought 5 gits & 2 amps all used
private sale
pawn shop
private sale
git store
private sale
private sale
pawn shop

[nuchdig]

My preference has always been in person, and I usually buy new. The past couple of years, I went the internet route from a few of the big boys. Mixed results, however the return policies helped me shop with confidence. The "mixed" part of the equation had nothing to do with the shops and everything to do with me simply not bonding with an instrument. All in all, I prefer in person shopping. There is something to be said for having a working relationship with a dealer

[Jeremy]

Mostly in person at my local independent shop. Online, I usually find what I want at Heartbreaker Guitars, The Music Emporium, and Willcutt Guitars.

[mischultz]

Originally Posted by plaidbeer

I'm looking for Yamaha (CSF Series and TransAcoustic Parlor), Epiphone (L-00 Studio), etc. and some other smaller bodied guitars between $400-$800. I'm a short dude with an arthritic right shoulder, so smaller bodied acoustic-electrics are what I'm looking for right now. The only other requirements are a solid top and sounds balanced while strumming as I'm a beginner and am mainly just playing open chords right now. My other main guitars are a Jaguar and a Tele Thinline.

Guitar Center locations here in the Atlanta area have typically had a pretty decent selection of Yamahas including the smaller bodies. I might be inclined to ping a few models on their website and see if they’re available for pickup. That’ll hopefully guide you toward a productive visit or several.

[TDavis]

My most recent came from Sweetwater. They have a tremendous reputation for customer service & no hassle returns…so I felt comfortable not playing before I paid for the guitar.

[Roksbug]

I called Guitar Center yesterday to ask about several guitars and a couple amps. It sounded like they had low-to-no inventory on a lot of items. The guy recommended that I call Sweetwater.

[Sasquatchian]

My last guitar was purchased late summer of 2020 at the height of the pre vaccinated pandemic. Another endorsement for Sweetwater. Excellent service and an excellent guitar. I was somewhat skeptical about buying a guitar online without actually playing it but any fears turned out be unfounded. I've bought one guitar and a ton of recording gear from them in the last three years and the very few times I had a problem they were immediately accommodating. What I didn't know at the time is that Sweetwater sells over 600 guitars a day. Six hundred. Let that sink in. And it seems like you also get a complete set of photos of the actual instrument you bought, and of course, free shipping. Not to mention that I have pro musician friends here in L.A. - people who you'd recognize their names, will go back to Sweetwater and record their records there.

[Mikecraig1]

Consider an all. Solid wood Recording King OM for less than $800, or a smaller body, solid top guitar from Orangewood for under $400. Both outstanding values for nice instruments.