Buying Used Guitars

[Offshore Angler]

Looks like the Used Gear Apocalyse is upon us so thought I'd share some of my thoughts and I'd like to know what you think.

I had an acquaintance tell me his story of how he acquired his latest guitar. He told me a story of how he bought it from a gigging musician who was "thinning the herd". My friend's logic was that if a pro player was selling it, it must be a good one!

Well, we all know how that usually works out. In this case, the buyer isn't at a level where he could discern the difference anyway so I certainly wasn't going to be the one to burst his bubble. It was bringing him joy and that's what really matters.

So a few things to keep in mind:

First, if it's an expensive vintage collector's piece - always, and I mean always, dig into the seller's story of how they came to own it. Ask probing questions and listen to the answers. Use the "5 W's", Who, What, When, Where and Why? If there's something not right it will come out and you can pass.

If it's a pro player selling it, BEWARE. When we have a really good one, it's usually the "My cold, dead hands" scenario. Yep, money will get tight sometimes and we need to part with one, but it' generally won't be our best. Just think and use your judgement. I will generally offer to be the caretaker for it until the player can buy it back. If they say that's not necessary then pass, but if they light up and thank you profusely, you're probably good. Just be aware you're stuck with it for a while and if you ever want to let it go you should let the original owner know and offer it to them first. I would never buy one in that circumstance just to flip it.

If the seller has a BMW, seven PRS 10-tops, a SoCal Speed Shop Strat, and an R8 and an R9 - play it. Might be a really good one in like-new condition and never been on a stage, probably never had the volume and tone controls twisted.

If the seller say's "It's been professionally setup" chances are they aren't enough of a player to know if they have a keeper. You'll need to try before you buy.

Ok, now for the elephant in the room- "it's been PLEK'ed!" This is a really tricky one. PLEK'ing does provide a near-perfect set of levelled frets - but- and this is a big but- it can sometime remove way too much of the precious fret material. Unfortunately, some manufacturers (who shall, ahem, remain nameless here ) use the PLEK machine to eliminate the step of leveling the fretboard before installing the frets most likely to reduce cost. The result is that unevenness of the fretboard is compensated by removing more fret material than would otherwise be required. It will also not ball-end the frets unless improvements have been made since the last time I watched a PLEK machine in action.

In my experience PLEK'ed necks generally play well but sorry, they don't compare with professionally beam leveled, crowned and polished frets on a perfectly levelled board. Additionally, as far as I know they don't account for the nut height whereas on a good fret job the nut is replaced and re-cut.

A good fret job is expensive, so don't buy a used guitar that doesn't have enough fret material left for a level-recrown unless you can get at least $500 off the asking price.

What do you guys look for?

Chuck

 

[EPI_LP_SPC_I_P90]

I've found too many guitars are more "white flags of surrender", guitars waiting for the right player to break the ice of silence for a perfectly great & solid playing instrument. I look for fret wear, damages for anything preowned. The preowned one's that I find are usually something that was played for the first set of strings & then sat in the corner. Even the worst one had rarely to never played frets on it. The rest of the guitar had dents & body damages for the rarer accident or someone that was more into modding & hot-rodding a guitar for more expensive brand part upgrades than they were for playing it and eventually getting to the next level of parts. I think some of the dents were from unstable home life, where the guitar suffered minor hits from multiple moves or the occasional fumble for a fall over or mishandling crisis. Outside of that, the guitars needed a set up for my personal preferences, maybe a neck pocket shim (Squier/Fender style bolt on neck guitars), maybe the stripped screw hole(s) for toothpick(s) & glue. My worst guitar was that Squier, a Saturday AM & a set up and it's waiting on me to play it to it's potential. And handed over to another, have heard some amazing sounds out of a $ 25 parking lot special that cleaned up & repaired well. I suspect it'll outlast me. The modern equivalent of a Department store guitar from the 1960's. Great music is in there, one just has to unlock the potential that even the worst guitar has in it's DNA.

 

[Greywolf]

I've been a luthier for 40+ years and have a large collection that grows a bit each year. My advice >
Buy instruments based on Sonic need. Does it fit a niche you don't have covered?
Stay away from "Relics" while popular , they are also a sign of neglected care .
If at all possible , PLAY IT.
Do all the parts work correctly , is it intonated correctly , are the frets in good shape, are the pots free from scratchy nasties?
Are any flaws easily repairable?

Personally , I only aquire instruments that are examples of fine lutherie , are visually stunning , and rare.
I like to see what my fellow craftsmen are producing and try to support my luthier friends.

They don't ALWAYS come at a premium, they do require a LOT of hunting.