Buying a new guitar

[jambop]

I currently have a Sheraton and it is a lovely guitar but have a hankering for a Les Paul also. I thought about a Standard or custom model but my main problem is I live no where near a good musical instrument shop so I beg the question... is it possible or indeed advisable to buy a guitar over the internet and be truly happy about what you are going to get delivered??? Dead easy to but on the internet but I could take a day out to shop for one but it is about a three hundred mile round trip. What is the best advice on this?

[sparquelito]

I'm not an internet guy when it comes to guitars.

 

I personally need to hold a guitar, play it, and hear its voice before I pay money for it.

 

I know others who have had great experiences with buying online, but I also know people who ended up disappointed and had to go through a big hassle trying to return the thing.

 

It's worth the drive, in my opinion.

[Pinch]

Make sure the shop has the model you want and preferably more than one. Then, if you can afford the round trip, make a day of it.

 

I agree with Sparq. Sure, you could get a good one right away over the internet - but would I, personally, chance it? No.

[kidblast]

I would agree that it's best to have it in your own hands, but if it's not possible, (and you live in the US) you could give sweetwater a call.

 

I have been working with Stuart Niven for years now, and I've bought 5 guitars from him.

 

he's been excellent at making things right.

 

contact Stuart here:

(800) 222-4700 ext 1337

 

(if you do, please tell him Ray Pelkey - that's me - referred you)

 

the other guys there are probably all as good as Stuart is, but he's a guy I would trust with any purchase.

[Cougar]

I'm not an internet guy when it comes to guitars.

I personally need to hold a guitar, play it, and hear its voice before I pay money for it.

 

I'm pretty much the opposite, and I've had good luck with numerous buys online, but mostly used guits < $1K.

 

Including an Epi LP Standard....

 

[Pinch]

Good advice from kidblast - I understand Sweetwater are excellent to deal with, not least when it comes to returns.

 

And if you're looking for an Epi LP, I highly recommend you check out the Standard PlusTop Pro with ProBuckers - nope, the honeymoon is nowhere near over yet, guys :)

[merciful-evans]

I have bought on the internet reluctantly. It’s a risk.

 

You have to be prepared to accept disappointment.

In advance, You need to find INDEPENDENT reviews of the shop you are considering dealing with. If the customer reviews are not 98%+ in favour I don’t deal with them. Seek out the negative reviews. If they are silly (and a lot are very silly) then you can ignore them.

 

Also check the returns policy. Be sure that the vendor will accept the guitar back without quibbling.

You need to price up what it’s going to cost you to send it back, and that it’s in accordance with the vendor’s policy.

 

In other words, prepare for failure.

 

I will relate my last online guitar buy. It was for a Rickenbacker 650C in January of this year.

The vendor was ‘Steven James – Northeast guitars’. The shop is 306 miles away. I considered visiting and having a hotel overnight stay. They didn’t have enough stock (only 2 or 3) of the model to warrant this so I checked out mail order instead.

 

Shop reviews: One (among others) review was from TRUSTPILOT who held over 500 customer reviews on the shop. Their rating was 9.9/10 in favour with only one wholly negative review. I read the review & the shops response to it. I read also a couple of lukewarm reviews.

I was satisfied that the shop was good and cared about their customers.

 

Then the returns policy. I could return the guitar if I didn’t like it, no questions asked.

To return, I could handle it myself or get the shop to collect it for a fixed price £30 fee. That was a good deal to me. I would happily pay £30 in order to try out one of these guitars.

 

I was lucky. I got the guitar, I liked the guitar, I kept the guitar . I have also been lucky before.

Right now, I realise that I am due for some bad luck. I will always try a guitar in person as the 1st best option, that way you don’t need any luck.

 

The point is, I have tried out a bunch of guitars in shops and been very disappointed with them. This happened in Andertons last year when I was looking over Gibson ES-339s. If I was buying over the internet, I probably would have got one of those. Only one out of the several I tried was good. That’s why it’s best to try them out first.

[DCUGooner]

As a lefty, I've learned that if you want a guitar, you'll get it online and you'll like it. I've ordered from Guitar Center and from Sweetwater and I'm happy with what I got, although I'll be the first to admit that as a newbie, I could have purchased a total dog and not been smart enough to tell the difference.

[bluesman0007]

I'm lucky to have a guitar store in my city but they don't carry new Epiphones. I have purchased a Les Paul Standard Plus Top Pro from Zzounds, and an SG from Sweetwater. I was happy with both purchases. The nice thing about Sweetwater is you can look at pics of the actual guitar you buy. But I had played both before so I knew it would be close. Unless it's damaged in some way a quick set-up is usually all that's needed, that would include strings of your choice. I've been lucky with on-line purchases and if there is something wrong you can send it back. Go for it.

[Dennis G]

Here's my 2 cents, based on my experience(s). Most, if not all, of the big online retailers have a very liberal return policy. I've bought both electric and acoustic guitars from Sweetwater, MF and GC, and one from Carvin, although I was able to visit one of their stores and talk directly to their sales guys. Sweetwater is my personal favorite, for several reasons, but one is that you can see photo's of the actual guitar you're getting, serial # included to verify, and they actually do a going over of the instrument, not just take a box off of the shelf and ship it. As an example, I ordered my Elitist Casino through them. During their going over, they discovered a ding on the back. I got a phone call from my rep, he emailed pix of the ding, and gave me a choice of a discount or wait for the next one. I waited and a week or so later another one came in (the one I have now).

 

I've always taken my new guitars to a local luthier for an initial setup and to look for any "ruh row" down the road warranty type issues that could be of concern. To date, and probably 7-8 guitars bought online, I've had no issues yet.

 

Obvious first choice is to play it first, but if that's not possible or convenient, I wouldn't have any qualms about ordering online after doing some homework on what you want.

[Pesh]

Research will only get you so far, but make sure you do it. If you can't buy in person, buy from a big and trusted name like Sweetwater and the like so you've got some guarantees; chances are you will be OK :)

[Campbell]

I buy online from reputable dealers like zZounds, AMS, Sweetwater, etc. I took a chance on a little independent dealer (who shall remain nameless, though I think it was a Farm someplace...) and was sorely disappointed. It was a major hassle returning the guitar, too (she was to be a new limited edition model, unused, untouched...she arrived with more smudges, fingerprints, dents and scratches on her than Courtney Love!).

 

With zZounds, AMS and the lot, they have easy returns and I've never had any BS from them. Even when I see a good deal on a model at some independent dealer, I just pass on it. That said, if it's an authorized dealer, I'll show zZounds the deal and they have ALWAYS beat them, not just matched the price. That's how I got my brand new Tommy Thayer "White Lightning" for such a crazy good price.

[jambop]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Opinion seems to be divided but on balance I think that I would chance it if I saw the right guitar /price combo.

[Leone]

I'm with KidBlast on this one. Last month I purchased my Sheraton II-PRO from Sweetwater. I hesitated about making that Internet purchase. I first went to a GC in a nearby city to play one. Then I decided to buy my Vox AC15c1x and Sheraton II-PRO through Sweetwater. Both amp and guitar arrived flawless, not one single blemish, in tune with intonation set spot on with nice action. The box was 7 feet tall, padded with the guitar in two more boxes inside the big one. It was shipped and packaged securely and it arrived in perfect condition. It includes free shipping and 2 year warranty.

My Sweetwater sales rep assured me that it would arrive in perfect condition. If not, or if I simply didn't like it I could return it no questions asked. And you know what.... Everything that should come with this guitar, including a users manual, info on that tuners and nut as well as poster and epiphone sticker all came with the guitar. You could tell that this guitar has not seen a showroom. It arrived at Sweetwater, then it was inspected, repackaged then sent to me. I couldn't be happier. I suggest you call them and ask them questions you may have. Im definitely buying from them again and again.

[kidblast]

You can trust the guys @Sweetwater completely. I just this week had an order with a j200 get resolved

in less than 48 hours from when we decided it needed to be returned to when I got the replacement. Just got the first defective one last Saturday, figured it all out (problem with the anthemm pickip) Tuesday night, showed them a utube video i made on Wednesday morning. Thursday morning I had another j200 which was perfect.

 

Stuart and Adam Vaughn were incredibly responsive and professional. I emailed the CEO, Chuck Surack to call out the fantastic support I reciveved and got a response from him within 30 minutes.

 

You can trust them, if there is a problem, they will make it right, definitely call Stuart if you're looking that way.

[Dennis G]

Not only am I a happy Sweetwater online customer for new guitars, here's just another reason to use them.

 

I bought a Line 6 G30 wireless system from the FOUR YEARS ago. The outer plastic cover on the base unit became, well, "sticky", so I emailed my rep. He said send it back to us. I did. They handled a repair/replacement through Line 6, I paid shipping and repair costs. Mind you, this was a FOUR YEAR OLD purchase that they just helped me out on. I'm sold, they are the "bar" as far as online customer service goes, at least with me.

 

Edit: stupid spelling errors I should have caught the first time

[357bullfrog]

Try musicians friend if there's one close by cause I agree I'd want to see it in hand and see if the electronics work and all that plus they give great deals on used but not abused guitars. There's one about 60 miles from me

[lazarusvt84]

Good advice, ya'll.

 

As a lefty my options are limited. I do my homework. Watch lots of reviews. Look for Greg Koch and other great online reviewers. I buy used. I buy low so that if there's no return, I can resell at minimal loss. In fact, I have an EPI LP Custom Pro in the mail due to arrive in a few days. Justified it to self and wife with the price paid...for a 2014 I only paid $235 plus shipping. If it doesn't measure up...I can always sell locally or online and at least recoup my investment.

 

Sweetwater is my favorite online. I have a great "sales engineer". They even entertain "offers" on new equipment...got a deal on my new Fender BassBreaker combo a few weeks ago.

 

I've had good success buying and selling with both eBay and Reverb. Just have to be smart, understand the risk, think strategically, and don't be afraid to pick up the phone to chat with the seller.