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Best websites to order guitar from


ddsax422

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I have ordered from Zzounds and American Musical Supply, and had no problems at all. 

But as Brad and Mr. Natural stated earlier, Sweetwater really is the best. 
The follow-thru (communications and support after the sale) are splendid. 

And the ability to see, in beautifully-clear photos, the very guitar that you will be receiving if you order from them, is just fabulous. 
And, if they have more than one in stock of a particular model and finish, you can view them all and compare details and even the weight of each guitar. 

The weight thing hooks me every time. 
I like to order the very lightest one, as a rule. 

😃

 

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Personally, I'm dubious about purchasing anything as expensive as a guitar can get  online, especially since there's so many "porch pirates" these days and FedEX along with UPS no longer knock on your door when they deliver stuff.  Lord knows how long it may sit out there before I head out the door to go somewhere and THEN notice the delivery on my porch.  IF it's still there, that is.

My wife used to have her liquid food delivered to the house from the infusion company via UPS.  In the warmer weather it was OK, but if too cool to leave the front door open  I wouldn't discover the delivery until I went out the door to go to the store for something.  [huh]  Besides......

I don't own a lot of guitars and see no intelligent reason why I should own more than what I need,  so I'd likely prefer to find what I like at a "brick and mortar" store where I could give it a "test drive" before purchasing it.  If you live in some kind of rural area where the nearest "brick and mortar" store might be miles and miles away, I could get the online buying thing.  And over the years on iNet forums(such as this) I've often read good things about Sweetwater and Musician's Friend.  [wink]

Whitefang

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15 hours ago, ddsax422 said:

Which website(s) is preferable to order a guitar from?

Yes, Sweetwater is quite good.  I've ordered a used guitar from GuitarCenter.  It had a flaw, but returning it for a full refund was simple.  Reverb is a website.  I've bought numerous guitars off reverb's site.  I've generally been super happy with the result.

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3 hours ago, Whitefang said:

Personally, I'm dubious about purchasing anything as expensive as a guitar can get  online, especially since there's so many "porch pirates" these days and FedEX along with UPS no longer knock on your door when they deliver stuff.  Lord knows how long it may sit out there before I head out the door to go somewhere and THEN notice the delivery on my porch.  IF it's still there, that is.

Never order a guitar online and not insist that you have to sign for it, or have it delivered to the nearest UPS/Fed Ex store.

Edited by Sgt. Pepper
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37 minutes ago, ddsax422 said:

So I guess Sweetwater is the best option lol. So why not order straight off the Gibson website?

Didn’t you just read all the reasons everyone posted???

That’s why. 

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I like sweetwater too. But I believe musicians friend has up their game as well.  I have ordered 3 from sweetwater and my last purchase was musicians friend. 

 

However I have ordered from music go round, reverb and eBay. I have not had a bad experience yet. 

 

I sell on eBay too and have shipped guitars to France and Australia along with plenty of states here in the USA.

 

 

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The "best" is relative. The best store for lowest price? overall service? fastest shipping? best return policy? widest selection? best assortment of mid-tier?

As most have stated if you want a thoughtful buying experience and solid after-purchase care go to Sweetwater. If you want a wide selection in terms of inventory and price then maybe GC. If you want something high end then maybe one of the other sites if Sweetwater doesn't have what you want. 

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On 5/19/2021 at 12:25 PM, Sgt. Pepper said:

Never order a guitar online and not insist that you have to sign for it, or have it delivered to the nearest UPS/Fed Ex store.

Thanks for the tip. I have never ordered one on line to our house but if I ever do, it will be sweetwater as well because I hear so many positives about them. 

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23 hours ago, brad1 said:

Didn’t you just read all the reasons everyone posted???

That’s why. 

Well I did read all of the comments up till this point, brad1, and not one of them mentioned the Gibson website. 

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13 minutes ago, ddsax422 said:

Well I did read all of the comments up till this point, brad1, and not one of them mentioned the Gibson website. 

There’s a reason for that. 
All the advantages members have listed about Sweetwater aren’t available elsewhere.  So why would they?

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When I bough my last 3 late 2020 model Epiphones, each a couple of weeks apart, the Music Zoo was the only store that had the models I wanted in stock. All shipped free, 2 to Hawaii and 1 to Az.

Edited by mihcmac
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I have only bought a guitar online from Wildwood and their customer service is outstanding. After purchasing, their luthier asked me some questions about my preferences and gave my new guitar a custom setup and new strings. I have to say their luthier really knows his stuff and I couldn’t possibly imagine a better setup job 


I was most impressed by the setup job but they are consummate professionals the whole way through. I had initially asked a question about the guitar I ended up buying and I received a reply within about two or three minutes when I figured the shop was probably closed. The guy I talked to was named Steve but I don’t remember a last name. Anyway he couldn’t have been more helpful

 

Wildwood post detailed individual photos of each guitar including the weight etc. Someone from Wildwood actually went to the Gibson factory and selected the maple top that would be used on my Les Paul (if you look through their gallery the wood selection tends to be above average). They also have custom spec pickups made by Gibson just for them which sound phenomenal. 
 

I plan on buying one more Gibson custom shop guitar some day and it’s gonna be from Wildwood. Because of their relationship with Gibson and their amazing transparency and customer service I feel like I can get a better guitar from them sight unseen vs walking into a store and seeing what’s in stock

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One more point I just remembered... Wildwood include precise measurements of each neck in the description.. so if you have a precise understanding of inches and guitar necks then their description basically tells you exactly what neck you’re getting 

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