I waited to write about my experience with my Guitar Center used guitar purchase. I wanted to make sure I wasn't over reacting to so here goes.
I love eBay. There are lots of great sellers and having Paypal as a backup is comforting but there is something to be said for purchasing locally, well sort of locally.
I have been secretly searching for my guitar for some time. I'm sure you have a dream guitar or I should say a guitar you would like to add to your collection. I'm not talking about that vintage Les Paul or one of those prewar Martins. I'm talking about something you want but maybe can't afford at the moment or an usual guitar that rarely comes up for sale.
In my case it's the Ibanez R-400 aka Ragtime. They stopped making them in the 80's. Back then I had no idea they existed. A few years ago I saw one and knew I had to add it to my collection. The most striking thing for me was the cutaway and the fact thast you had access a two octave register. The other thing I liked was the D-sound hold, kind of reminiscent of those Maccaferri guitars the Django thing. The headstock looked great and the binding just added to it's beauty. These features are totally subjective. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say. Playability is another thing and that too is subjective. I play mostly finger style but I can pick a little. In my opinion this guitar works for me on both levels. Now the reason I'm telling you this is because I finally found one and bought it.
Here's what happened. Like I said this guitar is sort of an odd ball. You don't see many of them around. When they come up at auction the people who want them are willing to pay top dollar. Supply and demand. Guitars as with other commodities are worth as much as what ever the seller has the nerve to ask.
I went to the Guitar Center's used gear site. I found the guitar for a mere $349!!! To me that was a bargain. The guitar was at one of their stores in North Dallas Texas. I live in suburban Philadelphia so I talked to the guitar guys at the closest store which is in Wilmington Delaware. They told me if I purchase the guitar with a very small shipping fee I could check it out and if I didn't like it for any reason they would refund my money including shipping. Now maybe I shouldn't be saying this and maybe it isn’t company policy but how could I go wrong. If I didn't want the guitar they would simply put it up on their used guitar rack. I called the Texas store and asked about the condition of the guitar. The guy in Texas put me on hold went in the back got the guitar. He answered all of my detailed questions right down to the location of the scratches. It arrived in Delaware in about a week and it was exactly as described.
The point is that I found a great guitar, at a good price. They have stores in over 40 states so chances are there's one near you. The use gear department is somewhat overlooked by many because they don't think about having it sent to their local store and don't want to deal with sending it back if they don't like it. People are always trading in gear. Face it most of us want to upgrade, get bored with our equipment or just have, I cant believe I'm saying this, too many guitars.
I had a great experience and I wanted to pass along this tip. Search online, call the store and talk to a sales rep about the condition, go to your local Guitar Center, make your purchase there and have it shipped there. If you don't like it get your money back. If you're happy with the purchase congratulate yourself on a great deal.
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