onewilyfool Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Thought I'd post this as a new thread so we can get some good advice added to my list: Here's a few things I do, when GAS attacks happens and I'm thinking of buying a new guitar: 1. Bring along your favorite guitar to compare to all potential purchases. If the potential guitar is not as good as the one you own, why get it. 2. Bring along a friend to play the guitar TOWARDS you....so you can hear it's projection. Then you play it towards your friend, and get an unbiased (non-saleman) opinion on the sound of the guitar. 3. If the guitar is not a 10 out of 10, don't buy it. (my personal GAS rev limiter) 4. Try several models of the guitar you want (at other stores, or from the same store, they often have some in back, although they don't want to bring them out until the previous floor model sells.) All D-28's or J-45's are NOT created equal. 5. If you find a guitar that you like, play it for at least 1/2 hour. This lets it 'warm up' and you can hear the full potential of the guitar before buying. 6. Do not let your mind play these tricks on you with 'futuring' about what the guitar WILL sound like..... a. This guitar will sound MUCH better with new strings, or Phosphor Bronze strings, or anything like, new nut, new bone saddle. The guitar should sound GOOD period. If not, hoping for improvement is NOT a good reason to get a guitar. b. When this guitar ages 15 years, it will really sound GOOD!!! While guitars do tend to improve over time (marginally) hoping a guitar will be good in the future is just the mind playing tricks on you. IF a guitar sounds like crap now, it will sound like aged crap in 15 years. 7. If you can, bring an electronic tuner so you can easily tune up the guitar (and see if it STAYS in tune) AND check intonation. A guitar with bad intonation is HARD to fix (you can only do so much with compensated nuts and saddles) I have personally seen a new $2.5K guitar at GC with an incorrect scale length!!! I pointed this out to the sales man, and it was still on the wall when I went back 3 weeks later!!!) . 8. Do a quick check on setup. Hold down the E string on the first fret and the 14th fret. About halfway between those two points the space between the bottom of the string and the top of the 7th fret should be enough for a playing card to slip in. If it is greater, you will probably need a setup (adding cost to the guitar) and if it is less or touching, you will probably get some buzzing on some of the frets. Maximum action should be 3/32" from bottom of E strings to top of 12th fret. You should have at LEAST 1/8" of saddle showing above the bridge. High action and low saddle almost always mean neck reset. I have seen name brand new guitars at Guitar Center, that need neck resets already, so it is not that uncommon. 9. Play each string, from fret 1 to the sounhole and see if there is any buzzing on any of the frets. Buzzing can mean as little as a tweak of the truss rod, to major planing of frets to make the guitar sound good. So this adds to your purchase price. 10.Site down the neck. If the neck is bowed up or down, usually this can be adjusted with the neck rod. HOWEVER, if it is over 1 /16" beware. Make sure the store tech adjusts the neck AND that there is more room for adjustment. Beware of this situation. IF the saddle is high on one side and narrow on the other, this is often done to fudge for a twisted neck. Siting down the neck you can see this but if the action is correct and the saddle is lopsided, this could be a problem. I have seen this on one and two year old guitars. A twisted neck is VERY hard to fix. You might get someone to try to STEAM the neck straight (minimal success) or plane the fretboard to compensate (not ideal) or remove the fretboard and try to straighten the neck by regluing, or finally, a new neck. All very expensive alternatives. Best to pass on this type of guitar. I hope this helps. Please add to this list with your own words of advice and words of wisdom..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slinky1 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Very interesting OWF, thank you! Good info. Now I must check my guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Yes, all very good points, but item number 4 is a personal biggie. When A-Bing three or more of the same model, one will almost always stand out significantly, and it's sure nice to know you're taking home a stellar example! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Well............... That list is pretty rational. I am irrational/emotional/reckless/mad... The last 3 guitar purchases went like this...... No 1: I went to a music shop to try out X, but spotted an old National Trojan on the wall, played a few notes and had to have it before someone else got it! No 2: I saw an OM18v at Elderly's and hit the "Buy Now" button - so we couldn't do any of the list. Had to get it before someone else got it - they are pretty hard to find and I have not seen any since I bought mine. No 3: I was reading about certain new Martin models, sorry Mr Gibson, and went to try an OM21, 28v, 42 and a CEO7 and the guy handed me a used HD28V and I was disturbed for a few weeks until I went back and got it. I was told on the phone that I could probably get a few hundred off the asking price, but when I got to the shop, he said the owner couldn't budge and he could tell by the drool running down my face that I was getting it. He was right. Again, I had to have it before someone else got it - while they are not rare, they are in this age/condition. I bought these guitars because I had read a lot about them, a real lot, and hoped they would be what I wanted - and they were. I really love them. Calculated luck, I call it. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phelonious Ponk Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 11. Buy from a retailer with a good return policy and do all of the above at home. P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 All of that would require some kind of forethought and planning. There is not one guitar in the house that I intended to buy. I either stumble across them or they show up at the door. Looks all and all to be sound advice though. But you left out one of the biggies (at least for me). I give the guitar a good whack on the side with my thumb and then listen and feel. I want to see how well I can hear and feel the strings vibrate. If I hear nothing or do not feel the vibration running down my legs chances are the guitar ain't gonna have a whole lotta pop. But no matter how much time I might spend in making a choice (I am not only a terrible procrastinator but a cheapskate), it still takes me quite a while to figure out how to pull music out of a guitar and make peace wth them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 On the side ? Where on the side do you whack it ? If youll pardon the wording. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 On the side ? Where on the side do you whack it ? If youll pardon the wording. You can just whack it anywhere. I expect more vibration when I whack it in the butt area than higher up though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Yeah , but when you say 'side' you mean side and not the top ?. I'm gonna try it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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