jibberish Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Does anyone have experience buying vintage acoustics from Chicago Music Exchange, either from within their brick and mortar shop, or from their Reverb shop? If so, please share your experience, along with anything you can share regarding sticker price vs sale price, and any other details about the sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 I've bought a few from them. Always open to offers, they even have a Make an Offer button. I used to deal with George Coutretsis be he's now with S S Vintage. My last dealings was with Brian Westfall who was very good to deal with but that's almost 4 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucebubs Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 I tried so hard to buy a new Gibson SJ-200 Historic 1957 last year - but Gibson has a policy preventing US dealers selling new guitars to customers outside the USA in countries with dealers! Martin and Guild have adopted the same policy. Karl at CME reached out to me and really went out of his way to help but we just couldn't pull it off and I had to order the guitar from a Gibson dealer here in Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 I’m from Chicagoland.. They have a great reputation in Chicagoland as a seller of vintage, used, and new instruments. They know their stuff and they have a large stock of instruments. I don’t think you’ll get a steal of a price from them, but you’ll get a good instrument, good service, and a decent purchase price for the satisfaction you’ll get. I purchased one new instrument from them and they were great to buy from. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cunningham26 Posted December 21, 2021 Share Posted December 21, 2021 Yea prior to the sale to the Etsy brand of companies, Reverb was owned and kind of operated as an extension of CME. great shop, great reputation, all around there are probably only a handful of shops i'd recommend as similar options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbpicker Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 I’ve had excellent experiences buying from CME. Good folk, they are. rb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gossmanster Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 One caution: you still need to inspect what you buy and verify the condition. I know someone who bought a used guitar from CME and when it arrived it had a long series of undisclosed problems: belly bulge, immediate neck reset required. The saddle had been shaved to avoid the neck reset, but was now the break angle was so low the guitar had very low volume and poor tone. I don’t know if this is common, and still buy from CME, but with caution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silversurfer Posted December 22, 2021 Share Posted December 22, 2021 CME is one of the better guitar shops in the country IMO. I wouldn’t expect a great deal from them, but their selection and service is top notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flatlander Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Great shop. Awesome place to visit in person. And solid website for online sales. Huge selection of new , used, and vintage in nearly all styles and vendors. Some truly mind blowing stuff (rare late 50’s blond ES 335 on a stand next to couch accessible to everyone to play). Great comfortable layout with both open floor and closed room areas to try gear. And staff are knowledgeable and friendly. Very comfortable vibe that is player friendly. Have purchased one custom SG, Vox AC15 - great service , fair (not bargain price ) , other times visited or inquired on other items with no purchase - felt welcomed each time. Can’t say that for some other well known past and current git shops— really enjoy the midwestern hospitality. But mostly the selection is impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Used to go in there often when I lived in Chicago area. As others mentioned a great selection of gear and friendly staff but also as other mentioned don't expect to get a big discount. Fair prices with a little wiggle room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 32 minutes ago, Twang Gang said: ..... as other mentioned don't expect to get a big discount. Fair prices with a little wiggle room. I don't know if they still do, but the last two new guitars I purchased from them was a Martin 000-28EC Sunburst and a Gibson 12 fret Nick Lucas Rosewood. I negotiated and bought both guitars at 40% off list price. This was a few years ago and I doubt if they would deal like that in today's market, but my experience with them is great prices and great followup service. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Tim Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 On 12/20/2021 at 9:42 PM, QuestionMark said: I’m from Chicagoland.. They have a great reputation in Chicagoland as a seller of vintage, used, and new instruments. They know their stuff and they have a large stock of instruments. I don’t think you’ll get a steal of a price from them, but you’ll get a good instrument, good service, and a decent purchase price for the satisfaction you’ll get. I purchased one new instrument from them and they were great to buy from. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff I think this is right on. OP is asking about vintage guitars at CME, and most folks are reporting about modern guitar experiences. I've only bought one guitar from them (2010 Martin, used), but the experience was excellent. I can't commend on their vintage acumen, but they do have a strong reputation. I wouldn't hesitate to buy vintage from them, but I also think the basic rule of thumb for buying vintage from ANYONE is have it checked out by someone legit once it arrives. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grOOved Posted January 10, 2022 Share Posted January 10, 2022 I’ve bought 2 vintage guitars from there. Not the cheapest but I don’t believe as high as like Norms either. Their vintage inventory is great quality (which you have to really be careful of). The last time I do recall they honored holiday pricing for me after it expired (13% off). Walked out with a killer 1955 LP Junior and I got to actually compare 3 of them from the same era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jalex Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 Got my J-185 from them a few years back via Reverb. Good dealing with them and I remember the guitar was packed extremely well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted January 11, 2022 Share Posted January 11, 2022 I have dealt with them a few times. Pre pandemic they negotiated generously. Today, not so much. I recently bought a barely used D28 (2695 asking) and they came down about $150 bucks before tax. But keep in mind they cant even get new D28s in. There was a time I would have bought a new $2999 Martin from them for $2400. Regardless, the experiences have been pleasant. Nice folks. Friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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