Where to buy broken guitars?

Search E-bay, electric guitar, project

kink56 said:

Do you mean ones with REPAIRED headstock breaks, or ones you can fix yourself to resell, or to offer this service? Because there are lots of LPs that have headstock breaks, already repaired on Ebay. I have no idea how they sell them, but they do!

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Well, let me say, I find brand new Epi 339-Pro's, Riviera's, LP-Customs, Standards etc., that were broken in shipping to the dealer. Mostly cracked necks or broken off headstocks, and they're an easy repair most of the time. I match the paint, re-lacquer paint & clear. If completely broken apart I will spline the neck or headstock with similar wood or carbon fiber strips. When I do the neck is stronger at the break point than it was before,.. why it broke or cracked in the 1st place. I put them up on eBay with notice they've been repaired, providing photos of the work if asked. Many of the guitars come to me in new retail packaging with all paperwork, so people who cannot afford a brand new axe can generally get one at a great price. And no, I'm not in this for the profiit, simply learning luthiering and at best getting my money back to be able to buy more when I see them...:bluesgtr its a fun hobby.

I think Gibson Custom makes the effort to insure said product meets all of there quality control standards and if said product fails then it goes into the wood chipper .Gibson Custom does not sell inferior instruments at a bargain price point and if I am wrong I challenge anyone to show me otherwise .

Sgt Roy said:

Well, let me say, I find brand new Epi 339-Pro's, Riviera's, LP-Customs, Standards etc., that were broken in shipping to the dealer. Mostly cracked necks or broken off headstocks, and they're an easy repair most of the time. I match the paint, re-lacquer paint & clear. If completely broken apart I will spline the neck or headstock with similar wood or carbon fiber strips. When I do the neck is stronger at the break point than it was before,.. why it broke or cracked in the 1st place. I put them up on eBay with notice they've been repaired, providing photos of the work if asked. Many of the guitars come to me in new retail packaging with all paperwork, so people who cannot afford a brand new axe can generally get one at a great price. And no, I'm not in this for the profiit, simply learning luthiering and at best getting my money back to be able to buy more when I see them...:bluesgtr its a fun hobby.

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Another 10 year old thread brought back from the dead!

If I was Gibson, I would make doubly sure that brand new broken-in-transit instruments are destroyed, rather than let them be sold.

If you go round to your local Chevy dealership, will they sell you a new-but-crashed car?

:rolleyes

I'm sure Gibson has a policy to destroy damaged guitars that they own, such as one replaced under warranty. I had an R8 replaced under warranty, and Gibson would not let me keep or purchase it for reasons I totally understand.

However, if Gibson's policy is anything like that of other industries, it's likely a guitar damaged in shipment from Gibson to the retailer is property of the retailer the instant it leaves Gibson's dock, and any damage claim, etc would be handled between the retailer and shipping company. I could totally see damaged guitars being sold to the public, unless Gibson has some policy in place to repurchase the instrument from the retailer or shipment company, which it may.

majorminor said:

Another 10 year old thread brought back from the dead!

If I was Gibson, I would make doubly sure that brand new broken-in-transit instruments are destroyed, rather than let them be sold.

If you go round to your local Chevy dealership, will they sell you a new-but-crashed car?

:rolleyes

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Absolutely, cars damaged in transit are sold - given disclosure of damage. Laws govern what must be disclosed and how cars must be sold (new, used, salvage, etc) given severity of damage.

amorrow said:

I'm sure Gibson has a policy to destroy damaged guitars that they own, such as one replaced under warranty. I had an R8 replaced under warranty, and Gibson would not let me keep or purchase it for reasons I totally understand.

However, if Gibson's policy is anything like that of other industries, it's likely a guitar damaged in shipment from Gibson to the retailer is property of the retailer the instant it leaves Gibson's dock, and any damage claim, etc would be handled between the retailer and shipping company. I could totally see damaged guitars being sold to the public, unless Gibson has some policy in place to repurchase the instrument from the retailer or shipment company, which it may.

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You may well be right, my friend.

However. I spent many years in manufacturer/wholesale/retail management, and, in the UK at least, shipments to a retailer remain the property of the manufacturer/wholesaler until paid for (usually anywhere between 30-90 days after invoice date). This enables the Manufacturer/Wholesaler to have rights to reclaim in the event of failure to pay.

Also, any shipment would not be deemed to be have delivered until the receiving business has signed to say the shipment has no shortages and is undamaged. If the goods are of the type that cannot be examined in detail immediately (i.e. boxed stock, such as guitars), then the trade agreement will include the retailer being able to claim credit for damaged stock within a given deadline (say 48 hours) after accepting delivery.

So I really can't see how the "retailer stuck with damaged stock" scenario can ever occur.

If Gibson's retailer agreements DO NOT include such clauses, then all they have to do is package up all their factory f***ups, and send them to any unsuspecting dealer.

All seems like a non-issue to me - which may be why this has laid dormant for 10 years! :laugh2:

amorrow said:

Absolutely, cars damaged in transit are sold - given disclosure of damage. Laws govern what must be disclosed and how cars must be sold (new, used, salvage, etc) given severity of damage.

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Yes - but not by the retail dealership. Delivery damage (if it can be repaired) will be paid for by the Manufacturer. Crash damage, as part of delivery from the manufacturer, is the manufacturer's (or delivery company's)responsiblity.

Again, I can't speak for outside the UK - but New Car motor dealerships do not sell cat C or cat D write offs or damaged/repairable vehicles.

majorminor said:

Yes - but not by the retail dealership. Delivery damage (if it can be repaired) will be paid for by the Manufacturer. Crash damage, as part of delivery from the manufacturer, is the manufacturer's (or delivery company's)responsiblity.

Again, I can't speak for outside the UK - but New Car motor dealerships do not sell cat C or cat D write offs or damaged/repairable vehicles.

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Not that this side track matters much given this is a guitar forum, but none of the above comments are true for the US (foreign or domestic sold in the US). I've worked for automakers, and we absolutely would not pay for delivery damage from the plant, port, etc to the retailer. Basically any damage beyond that of a manufacturing defect is the responsibility of the retailer to work with the transport company. And it is entirely common for new car retailers/dealerships to sell transport damaged vehicles as long as they're appropriately disclosed and titled - just like storm damaged vehicles that've been retained after working with the retailer's own insurance, etc. There are cases where the retailer doesn't want the vehicle that's been damaged in transport, but the manufacturer has to agree to buy it back from the retailer...before a given car is loaded off the truck, it's owned by the retailer.

Unlike automotive I don't have any experience whatsoever with the guitar retail business aside from buying my own, but a couple scenarios I've been in have led me to believe that business may not be much different. For one, I ordered a new '63 335 reissue a few years ago that arrived with a cracked headstock, and the dealer specifically mentioned he'd order me a new one right away and wanted me to send a pic so he could file a claim with the transport company.

That's just my 2 cents. :salude