Some practical advice for purchasing guitars on Craigslist.

Guitars. I love guitars and think everyone should own and play one. But before you buy one, I'd like to offer you some practical information.
Many manufacturers have 3 levels in their product line. Domestic, Import and Budget. Example; The Fender American series is it's top of the line pro series. Imports would be guitars from Mexico Japan and Korea bearing the Fender brand. Budgets would be the Squire line. This means the very best Squire has less resale value than the most basic Mexican Fender. The grim reality is that import Fenders lose about 50% of their value the minute you pay for them. Sounds harsh, but if your Mexican Strat was 400 dollars and you try to sell it for $300, many buyers are willing to pay the extra hundred dollars to have a new, in box guitar. Budget guitars lose about 60% of their value. And this is only the higher end Squires. Affinity Series Squires are almost not resalable. The New-in-box price is so low, very few people would be willing to settle for a used instrument.

Buyers, do not be fooled! Squires do not bear the Fender logo for a reason. If a guitar is listed as a Fender, it should say Fender on the Headstock. Insist on a clear picture of the headstock. Many sellers try to deceive buyers by using the Fender name to describe a Squire. Steer clear of these sellers.

Another brand frequently lied about is Takamine. A domestic Takamine is a fine, pro level guitar made in Japan. It is instantly recognizable by It's slim head stock. Fatter head stocks indicate a G Series import. They should sell for much less. A Jasmine is the least expensive of the line, and again, the new-in-box price is so low, these should be VERY cheap.

So, here are a few hierarchies to remember.

• Fender Custom Shop > Fender American > Fender Import > Squire > Affinity Squire
• Takamine > Takamine G Series > Jasmine
• Adamas > Ovation Custom > Ovation > Ovation Celebrity > Applause
• Gibson > Epiphone
• Hamer USA > Hamer XT > Slammer
• ESP > LTD
• Warwick > Rockbass
  

And one more thing. If the guitar is strat copy made in China, in my opinion, these are pretty much the same guitar, whether they say Squire, Slammer, Dean, Peavey, Epiphone, Jay Turser, Arbor, Piece Of Crap or any of a hundreds of names. Don't pay a lot for a used Chinese strat, as these can usually be had new for less than 100 dollars.

And this whole post assumes the guitar is in like new condition. Demand discounts for scratches, dings, discolorations and missing accessories. If the strat doesn't have a whammy bar (it came with one) a replacement is about 10 bucks, plus your time and travel. Demand a discount. Same with pick guards on Gibson style instruments.

I also suggest Cash only transactions and meeting in a public place. I bought a small battery powered amp for testing guitars in the Starbucks parking lot.

Hope this helps. I'll add to this post as things occur to me.
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online: The Platypus Portal

Massively Multi-Tasking Offline Real Playing Game

Well, it's indeed been a while. I can't apologize for that, as our band has been very busy the last couple months and I'm pretty happy about it. Adding a Beach Boys tribute to our repertoire, while not being the most exciting idea to me at first, has opened us up to a whole new group of paying customers. Throw in a little Jan & Dean, Ventures, Surfaris and Jimmy Buffet and we are THE band for your beach themed party.
It's payed well enough, that I got GAS (that's Gear Acquisition Syndrome, a serious medical disorder). I acquired a red Fender American Deluxe Strat with a flamed maple top. It has single coils in all positions and sound more "era appropriate" and "surfy" than my hot rodded, humbucker equipped MIM Black Strat (which may still be the more "fun" of the two guitars).
Then after weeks of agonizing and calling or talking to almost every guitarist I knew and playing through at least 20 All Tube and Hybrid amps, I went for the All Tube, 50 Watt Peavy Valve King 112. Now, I know. I've cracked many a Peavy joke over the years, mostly about their (still) ugly logo and their Bomb Shelter like construction. But I've also owned a Peavey or two, and I was comfortable with the brand (unlike the 3 or 4 Crate amps I looked at).
It was a process. I decided fairly quickly a Hybrid wasn't going to get it for me. I was looking to replace a Fender Twin Reverb I'd been borrowing. And with the new Strat being much quieter than the older one, I decided I probably needed 50 watts over the 30 watt amps I'd been looking at. At that point, it came down to bang for the buck. And the Peavey was channel switching, had reverb, and had a control to dial out one of the power tubes for a pseudo Class A circuit (which is quieter for smaller gigs). That and I turned it pretty much all the way up at Sam Ash and the clean channel stayed clean. Pretty impressive.
So, as I write this, I have another gig tonight in Diamond Bar. So, i better get going. Hope you are all doing well.
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And that's enough for now.

Brian Norwood

Platypi Online: The Platypus Portal