Play before you pay

[conacher]

Originally Posted by flaggerphil

Not only can I not imagine a store doing this, it would never have occurred to me to ask such a thing!

Whats the difference between taking a guitar home for 10 days to "test it out" and taking a 70" LED TV home from Best Buy for 10 days to "test it out". Theres no reason it cant be done from inside the store.

[zombywoof]

I guess because I tend to stick with the small Mom & Pop stores who know me and who also know the only chance they have of selling me something is to let me give it a good test drive, I have been able to take home pretty much any used instument they have in. I just had a 1947 Gibson LG-2 come for a visit.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by flaggerphil

Not only can I not imagine a store doing this, it would never have occurred to me to ask such a thing!

Originally Posted by conacher

Whats the difference between taking a guitar home for 10 days to "test it out" and taking a 70" LED TV home from Best Buy for 10 days to "test it out". Theres no reason it cant be done from inside the store.

FYI the above comment from Phil, the one you quoted, had to do with taking a guitar home without paying for it.

BTW, I just bought a 70" and I was in fact able to decide if I liked it at the store, looks just as good in my living room.

[MikeBmusic]

Hey, I'm going to try that at the local Porsche dealer! "I just want to try it for 3 days to make sure its what I want... I'll pay for it on Tuesday." (yeah right!)

[jseth]

I certainly think that playing an instrument before you buy it is the way to go, however, that's impossible to do when you commission a guitar from a builder...

Both my 6 string acoustics are hand builds.

The one I have had longest, my Mark Angus #35, was made for me in 1979; truth be told, I got incredibly lucky with this guitar, mostly because I was still fairly young and really didn't have a clue about "auditioning" a builder or picking the woods that I wanted... in fact, I was "running away" from things I knew I DID NOT WANT; like the "dark boomy horror" that was the '72 Martin D-35 I owned for a while; I KNEW I did not want another rosewood guitar! So I gave in to a knee-jerk response and ordered one with maple and spruce. I also was tired of the overly bass-y, weak mid-range tone from that same Martin, so I went for a more "Auditorium" shaped guitar... My Angus was built from the template of a Guild F-40, a fraction bigger than what James Goodall sells as his Concert Jumbo size... I did play several of Mark's guitars before I ordered mine, but he had only made 34 before mine, and I only played 2 of his previous builds, which were both stellar in finish, playability and tone... I still think I got really lucky!

My second 6 string acoustic is a Goodall Grand Concert, redwood over mahogany. I sought James out when I heard he had moved to Fort Bragg, Ca. (Nearly to the exact day that I moved there!)

We became friends, I played a bunch of his guitars that he had brought from Hawaii, and then played another 50 or so that came out of the newly built Fort Bragg shop. Only then, after I KNEW that this man builds extraordinary guitars and he had a strong sense of my playing style, did I order my Goodall...

If you can't play it before it's built for you, I suggest doing whatever you can to ascertain that the builder is the right one for you. For me, that means playing as many of their guitars as possible, and talking with people who own them...

From a store? Do whatever you have to do to KNOW that guitar is the one for you! Minimum, have it strung with the strings you play... if possible, take it away from the store, into an environment with which you are familiar, sonically... A-B it with another guitar whose tone you know...

A great acoustic guitar can be a joy for a lifetime of music! It makes sense, to me, to put in your "due diligence" before the purchase!

[flaggerphil]

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."
J. Wellington Wimpy

It didn't work then, it doesn't work today.

[rmyAddison]

I totally disagree with the OP's premise.......

Unless I'm misunderstanding, but taking a guitar home without paying is unreasonable, if you're that interested in an instrument pay for it, and buy where the return policy is livable.

Paying for something, online or local, with a return policy, is totally different than just saying let me try it for a week, I'll either bring it back or buy it, completely unfair to the store, takes the instrument out of stock, and creates all kinds of issues for new instrument and warranties.

Sorry, no sale.............

[zaskar1]

when i buy guitars, i usually play them a few times before i decide to buy it.
the only exception was a new Taylor that i got from Guitar Rodeo, but he has a liberal return policy, so i did not feel that i was exposing my resources
to something unknown, but it would be a hassle to return as i would have to pay for shipping

i went to the LGS, GC and Guitar Showcase, and played their 814s over and over again, and i almost bought one from them, but the cost difference between GR and the LGS was too big
Fortunately for me the Taylor that i bought sounded better than i had played


z

[BEADGCF]

Nice to read so many opinions. To each his own and I respect your viewpoints. I can’t argue with some of you considering the businesses and experience you have.

However, I would never buy a guitar unless I tried it out away from the store. Never. No store owner ever refused me taking a guitar home.

A few years back with permission from a local store I took a new Fender Precision bass to Memphis from OKC for a week before I decided to buy.
I also tried a Gibson Tennessean for over a week before ordering a different one.

I just bought another Martin but took, not one, but several models home over the previous week before I chose the one I liked most. It wasn’t the one I liked in the store.

I wasn’t about to buy six guitars and bring back five. I could compare them side by side at home.



First time buyer …. line up an experienced local musician before you search to go with you. Decide what type of guitar you like and what style you will play.

At the very least give yourself a day for cooling off before you spend big bucks on something you may not really want. That is a benefit of taking a guitar home.

Or go check out EBAY and buy one of the hundreds of guitars bought on impulse.

[flaggerphil]

Originally Posted by BEADGCF

Nice to read so many opinions. To each his own and I respect your viewpoints. I can’t argue with some of you considering the businesses and experience you have.

However, I would never buy a guitar unless I tried it out away from the store. Never. No store owner ever refused me taking a guitar home.

A few years back with permission from a local store I took a new Fender Precision bass to Memphis from OKC for a week before I decided to buy.
I also tried a Gibson Tennessean for over a week before ordering a different one.

I just bought another Martin but took, not one, but several models home over the previous week before I chose the one I liked most. It wasn’t the one I liked in the store.

I wasn’t about to buy six guitars and bring back five. I could compare them side by side at home.



First time buyer …. line up an experienced local musician before you search to go with you. Decide what type of guitar you like and what style you will play.

At the very least give yourself a day for cooling off before you spend big bucks on something you may not really want. That is a benefit of taking a guitar home.

Or go check out EBAY and buy one of the hundreds of guitars bought on impulse.

You obviously have an in in your area. I cannot imagine that happening to any "regular" customer at any guitar store I've been to in the last 50 years. I've been a very good customer to a number of (non-chain) stores in a number of cities over the years...good enough to get really good prices and to be able to play any guitar they have over and over in the store while I decide, good enough that they'd bend over backwards to help me custom order a guitar and get me some perks with some high end guitar manufacturers...but I doubt any of them would let me take numerous guitars home just to "test" them without me at least putting a deposit down on them. Of course, I'd really never have thought to ask such a thing, either.

Kinda like my Lexus dealer. I own a Lexus, but I really don't think they'd go along with me taking an LS home for a week or so, gratis, just to see if I liked it while I'm driving around putting miles on the car...

But that's just me.

[BEADGCF]

Originally Posted by flaggerphil

You obviously have an in in your area. I cannot imagine that happening to any "regular" customer at any guitar store I've been to in the last 50 years. I've been a very good customer to a number of (non-chain) stores in a number of cities over the years...good enough to get really good prices and to be able to play any guitar they have over and over in the store while I decide, good enough that they'd bend over backwards to help me custom order a guitar and get me some perks with some high end guitar manufacturers...but I doubt any of them would let me take numerous guitars home just to "test" them without me at least putting a deposit down on them. Of course, I'd really never have thought to ask such a thing, either.

Kinda like my Lexus dealer. I own a Lexus, but I really don't think they'd go along with me taking an LS home for a week or so, gratis, just to see if I liked it while I'm driving around putting miles on the car...

But that's just me.

Hi Phil. I just ask to take things home before I buy. No store owner ever said no. I also know many of the folks that work in the local stores and played with some.

My post was to lament the situation new buyers are in not having the experience many of us have.



Some of these guys are honest. You don't always applaud your choice later on.

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=309979


Wow! An LS, huh!

Funny you mentioned it. Were poor. We bought a puny LEXUS IS early this year. I didn’t like the car but my wife did.

The salesman suggested we take the car home for the weekend. My wife bought it on Monday.

[EllaMom]

In my situation, it's pretty near impossible to play before buying. I'm a lefty who plays lefty. I live in a pretty good-sized metro community; we have a GC and several other local shops. No one carries much in the way of lefties. I lucked out; one local shop had a lefty Seagull S6 that I snapped up and continue to enjoy.

Yes, I could play righty guitars upside down, but it's just not the same.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by BEADGCF

... I just ask to take things home before I buy. No store owner ever said no...

Ok, your new here and have not posted your location so I have to know, what city do you live in?

[Shark Diver]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

Thanks guys. Truth is store owners like myself who deal with serious customers have realized that three days seems to be the magic number, enough time to evaluate the guitar but not enough time to make it less desirable for the next customer.

As to taking guitars home before paying for them, I'm sorry but I see no reason for this at all. Can someone explain the need for this?

lol. Unless it was someone who had been a regular customer for years, and even then, I doubt it. I own Luxxtone Guitars, and use to be an owner in Tone Merchants - 24 hour inspection period is a pretty standard policy for most dealers.

[El Diablo]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

Ok, your new here and have not posted your location so I have to know, what city do you live in?

I would be more interested in learning what stores have told him "yes".