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Vintage Gibsons


Hairy Dave

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Other than eBay or Craigslist, where would you recommend to buy a used/vintage Gibson online? I know of Gruhns, Elderly Music and Dave's Guitars.

 

Any UK sites I visit seem to charge quite a premium, especially on vintage guitars.

 

I would prefer to buy from a reputable dealer than take a chance on dealing with someone on eBay.

 

I know buying unseen has it's drawbacks but it does open up more options for me. I'm not planning on buying anytime soon - just some wishful thinking on my part :-)

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Personally I would pony up the bucks and stick with a real reputable dealer like Gruhn or Mandolin Bros.

 

Buying an old guitar sight unseen can be real scary. Last time I went on the hunt I tried three of the same model Gibson all built the same year. I had the chance to take all three home for a week or so to give them a good test drive. If I had bought one of the first two I would have been kicking myself when I got to play the third. While they all sounded and played nice that third guitar was louder with big dry low end and just a real crackling edge to it.

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Don't forget though, there are more than a few 'reputable' dealers and music shops using Ebay. I found my old J45 by contacting Greg Mayo of Greg's Guitars in Atlanta after watching his Ebay auction run it's course. In fact, my 'perfect' trio of flat tops were all the result of post-auction communication AND trust in the seller. I don't feel the retail markup and negotiation inflexibility is worth more than personal bartering where you may be able to catch a guy feeling a little more motivated to get the cash in hand. I feel like I say this too much, but knowing what you want in a vintage acoustic and asking the right questions gives you plenty of security through Ebay. Craigslist doesn't offer any backup for users, so you shouldn't go there. You won't be able to physically get to the kind of window shopping Ebay gives you. Find your guitar, then start working the list of questions.

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Fellow UK collector here. I've bought from Elderly (http://www.elderly.com/), Intermountain (http://guitarandbanjo.com/) and Lark Street (http://larkstreetmusic.com/). All three were extremely helpful, gave good, informative advice prior to purchase and shipping was quick and painless. I also bought a guitar from Emerald City in Seattle whilst over there on holiday, again nice guys and a great store.

 

In all case the amount I paid, including shipping, VAT and duty, was less than the guitar would have sold for in the UK, and selection was far better. Not knocking the UK stores, and I've had good experiences in the UK as well, but from a economics point of view and given the rarity of good vintage guitars in the UK, buying from the US remains a better proposition. If it's a real high end purchase flying out there shouldn't be ruled out either - that way you get to try first, and you subsidise a holiday to the US with the money you save.

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He has some beautiful guitars, but many of his prices are way over the top.

 

 

That's why I like looking. They're very pricey. He does put one on EBay every now and then.

There's been a few I probably would have traded my entire lot for.

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