# Fun (or not) Experiences Buying Used Guitars



## Tom Haynes (May 16, 2018)

I have bought a lot of used guitars over the years. I enjoy playing the different makes and models and since I'm buying used the price is fairly low and I can just resell them a few months later (occasionally I fall in love with one and keep it).

I do the cleanup and minor work on these guitars so they play the way that I like them. I've only come across two over the years that had truss rod issues, but it's a major concern of mine as it's such an expensive fix and not one I can do at home.

Anyway, I don't have a ton of cash but recently I shelled out for a used Martin D-15 Mahogany. Aside from a backpacker, I've never owned a Martin before. The guy selling it assured me that the truss rod worked. We met at a Tim Horton's and after inspecting it everything looked good and I took it home. The action was really high as the guitar didn't look like it had been played in a decade or so. I put it up on the bench, got out my trusted hex wrench to adjust the truss rod and...there was just a long empty space where the truss rod usually is! Gah! I almost had a heart attack. What a dreadful feeling when you think something is critically wrong with a guitar.

Fortunately, I did a little googling before making an angry phone call to the seller and Martin places the truss rod further up the neck. After a quick trip to Canadian Tire for an extra long hex key I'm happy to report the guitar is playing wonderfully. 

Anyone have a similar story?


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Maybe not too similar. I bought a brand new guitar from Wildwood guitars. It came with a defective truss rod. I sent it back and chose another guitar costing twice as much. Where I got screwed is on the taxes and brokerage fees when I sent the defective guitar back When Wildwood sent the second guitar costing twice as much they deducted the money I already paid on the first guitar and I paid the difference. I expected to pay the brokerage and taxes on the difference. Instead Wildwood claimed the full price of the second guitar on shipping so I paid taxes and brokerage on half of this transaction twice. Its just one of those unavoidable things I guess but I will no longer "EVER" buy a guitar online from Wildwood or any other online retailer outside the country. It was a lot of money.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

guitarman2 said:


> Maybe not too similar. I bought a brand new guitar from Wildwood guitars. It came with a defective truss rod. I sent it back and chose another guitar costing twice as much. Where I got screwed is on the taxes and brokerage fees when I sent the defective guitar back When Wildwood sent the second guitar costing twice as much they deducted the money I already paid on the first guitar and I paid the difference. I expected to pay the brokerage and taxes on the difference. Instead Wildwood claimed the full price of the second guitar on shipping so I paid taxes and brokerage on half of this transaction twice. Its just one of those unavoidable things I guess but I will no longer "EVER" buy a guitar online from Wildwood or any other online retailer outside the country. It was a lot of money.


If they did that what you were expecting it would be a federal crime. They did the right thing and every other reputable retailer would do the same. If someone offers to do what you say, it is a sign to steer clear.

Next time go to the post office (maybe it's on their website) and get a CRA refund form and submit it along with the customs fee form you received in that little plastic pouch on the package. All taxes and duties on a returned item are refundable only from CRA. Brokerage fees are never refundable because it is payment for services rendered and even if you return it they still did the work. Ask for USPS vs a private carrier to avoid that.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Granny Gremlin said:


> If they did that what you were expecting it would be a federal crime. They did the right thing and every other reputable retailer would do the same. If someone offers to do what you say, it is a sign to steer clear.
> 
> Next time go to the post office (maybe it's on their website) and get a CRA refund form and submit it along with the customs fee form you received in that little plastic pouch on the package. All taxes and duties on a returned item are refundable only from CRA. Brokerage fees are never refundable because it is payment for services rendered and even if you return it they still did the work. Ask for USPS vs a private carrier to avoid that.


I'm not sure how its legal to pay double the taxes on what I actually paid in cash. I did go in to the refund form. It was requested I get this and get that from the retailer which they supplied me but in the end the refund process was made so complicated I gave up.
But as I said I actually paid said amount of dollars for product and somehow got screwed in to paying far more. When I returned the first guitar that was already paid for in taxes and brokerage Wildwood charged me for the second guitar minus the amount I previously paid and paid taxes on. So for the second guitar I only paid the discounted amount and was charged the brokerage and taxes on the full amount of the guitar which I didn't pay the full amount. If I'd been charged the amount of taxes and brokerage on the amount of cash I paid out on the second guitar I would have paid the full taxes and brokerage on all the money that I had spent. How in the fuck is Paying more the right thing to do?
Any way I'm over it and will never buy from an online retailer out of country again. It works fine when the product is ok but you run the risk of getting screwed if you have to return.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Only used guitar I ever bought was a 2015 LPJ off reverb last November. Someone had replaced the brass nut and removed the solonoid robots. It’s a good guitar and it arrived from somewhere in the USA w/out any problems. 2015s have small frets and a wider neck both of which I like although the neck on the 2018 LPJ is nice too and it has a hotter pickup than the 2015.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I've bought lots of used guitars over the years, kept a few, moved the others quickly. My current used list is short, a Mexican Tele Thinline, Cervantes nylon, Godin Progression, Godin LG, Godin Freeway bass, Musicman/OLP bass, can't think of others. Used guitars I've bought and resold...various Fender guitars and basses including several Teles and Strats, a Beneteau acoustic, several Godin electrics and acoustics, Yamaha, Ibanez, Warwick, Gretsch, Gibson, Takamine, lots of others probably. Sometimes a guitar fills a need and the need goes away, usually either bands or recording opportunities. Sometimes it's curiousity or gear lust.

I had an awesome 5 string Warwick bass that the good folks at L&M apparently didn't want to fix. It had come in on trade just before I walked in the door. Ski hill action, ridiculous pickup heights, intonated with a framing square rather than a tuner, etc. I don't think the store made squat on the deal, but I grabbed a case and a set of flatwounds so at least it wasn't a loss for them. 30 minutes on my bench and it was fast and smooth and in tune. Nice necks on those things and the truss rod worked great. Gigged it for a few years before selling, though maybe I should have kept it. Still have 2 other 5 strings.

I recently resold a Gretsch Electromatic. Nice guitar but it simply wasn't getting played. The guy I bought it from hated it because it wouldn't play in tune and sounded dull. I offered to fix it for free but he refused saying he was done trying to make it work. I got it home, removed the packing foam from under the bridge, tweaked the truss rod, intonated it with decent D'Addraio Chromes, and it came alive. Again, 30 minutes on my bench.

There are so many great guitars out there that just need a tweak.


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

Could find interesting deals for used acoustics only on eBay while living in Rimouski. Most were actually great/wonderful deals I never happened to regret. Oh Gee ! The adrenalin of unpacking these awaited treasures !!!

A brand new Martin D-35 smelt glue instead of wood... sounded great anyway... The Martin as well as Guild F-30 1973 and Gibson Lg-0 1965 made me realize I actually need 1,75 in. nut width but they sounded great !

I once received a Martin OOO-15 only in her cardboard case : Fortunately safe and sound !!!

I received my Guild F-30 with lacqer finish totally checked ! She sounds great anyway.
I am thinking of getting her refinished... sunburst stained ?

The worst I bought were in person ! :-( These were my first deals...
My Aria AC-80, less than half the normal price, had a bowed neck : Had to have major surgery but was still a good deal.
The Sheraton I bought to get her upgraded anyway needed a fret replacement ! Lost some money with her.

Did I regret anything ?
Not really ! I learned much out of these quests...


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## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

I've bought used instruments most of my life. I've had a blast doing so... lots of time got to sit with the previous owners and got the history of the guitar, the history of that musician, the pleasure the instrument brought him...Lots of closet treasures that saw little or no use whatsoever also over the years. 

Some of my experiences are similar to Mooh `s... a good set up and tweak and the instrument sings sweet melodies... some were amazing from the get go.

Ive seen it all... one time, I bought an old 1966 ES style bass that the original owner bought to try an electric bass. He played a stand up bass . He set up the new electric bass just like his stand up... The bridge at the highest setting... The strings were almost a full inch of the fret board !!! 

He didn't like it so packed the bass guitar in its case and in the closet it went... He passed away and I got the opportunity to get this gem brand spanking new after spending 42 years in a closet...  A quick set up and this baby plays like butter !!!HNG^%$

I like finding little treasures like that...

I did sell off a few gem a couple of years ago since the wife was pestering me to do so... Still regret it … I have a hard time selling stuff off...

I did over the years get 3 bad deals … 2 bad guitars that eventually became parts donners and one bad tube amp … 

so... 3 bad deals in 35 years of buying... but all 3 were little amounts... when I look at it in a different way, 3 out of let say 300... we are talking 1% of the people I've dealt with tried and did screw me... so life goes on...

If in real life, only 1% of people were bad... it be a wonderful world


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Too long ago to still have regrets I suppose, I picked up a nice Gibson B-25 with the nasty plastic bridge with adjustable saddle. There was something about this guitar that was just screaming to get out but couldn't, and naturally I was suspicious that it was all about the bridge. It had been well played, and was going to need frets and machine heads as well, besides the usual truss rod tweak and general set-up. My old friend, now long and dearly departed, Ernie King, used the job as an instructional opportunity while I attended his shop to observe some of the work, his Sheltie wandering about. I miss that guy a lot. Anyway, the original tone sucking bridge and saddle were replaced with ebony and bone, the frets replaced and dressed, nut replaced with bone, and machine heads updated. In the end it found its voice and seemed to love slightly lowered tunings like dadgad and open G, though that might have been more about my bias that its. A more needy friend (I thought) pestered me about the guitar and so I eventually sold it to him with the agreement that if he were to resell he was to offer it back to me. He resold to someone else. Some friend, but I more or less forgave him for it. If were to reappear on the market, I'd still be interested, though I bet the price has risen.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

guitarman2 said:


> I'm not sure how its legal to pay double the taxes on what I actually paid in cash. I did go in to the refund form. It was requested I get this and get that from the retailer which they supplied me but in the end the refund process was made so complicated I gave up.
> But as I said I actually paid said amount of dollars for product and somehow got screwed in to paying far more. When I returned the first guitar that was already paid for in taxes and brokerage Wildwood charged me for the second guitar minus the amount I previously paid and paid taxes on. So for the second guitar I only paid the discounted amount and was charged the brokerage and taxes on the full amount of the guitar which I didn't pay the full amount. If I'd been charged the amount of taxes and brokerage on the amount of cash I paid out on the second guitar I would have paid the full taxes and brokerage on all the money that I had spent. How in the fuck is Paying more the right thing to do?
> Any way I'm over it and will never buy from an online retailer out of country again. It works fine when the product is ok but you run the risk of getting screwed if you have to return.


The same way it is perfectly acceptable that the gov take income tax off your cheque and if you overpay you get a return without interest and if you owe and pay late you have to pay interest.

The laws and regs err on the side of over collection and the CRA staff love to reject refunds if you don't have all the paperwork. I have had successful refunds and also 1 where, like you I gave up because the retailer just didn't have the paperwork. In my case this was because they bulk-ship to Canada for multiple customers and then reshipped locally so the actual duty paperwork was never given to me and they likely do not have it except in aggregate. That was frustrating as hell and the CRA lady was a bitch about it - like I proved I paid and proved I returned but sorry the regs say you need to submit this stupid form. All other times (direct ship) it was easy as pie because all the paperwork is there on the box when it arrives. Best is to not prepay (estimated) duty/tax but COD it because then you _know_ you have the paperwork. I dunno if this would be a problem with ebay global shipping program (does the same bulk ship thing) because I've never bought anything that way that I needed to return or that was above the duty-free limit that way - I recommend avoiding the GSP anyway for other reasons so I refuse to use it now anyway.

The point was that you can't expect the retailer to commit postal fraud (like a non pro ebayer might, not that I recommend that either; it can bite you in the ass, as well as them), or refund money that they never received.


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## capnjim (Aug 19, 2011)

I bought my 1960 000-18 for 800$. the seller was initially asking 2000$. We met, and he was the nicest guy. He told me all about his grandpa who bought the guitar new. I pointed out to him the action was really high and it would need a neck reset. Plus it had a big hole in the side!
We settled on 800$ and were both very happy. I spent 500$ on the neck re-set and refret and its the best 1300$ I have ever spent on a guitar.
I did ask him why he was selling if it was in the family for so long. He told me that this was the "beater" guitar and his dad will soon be passing on the real family heirloom...a pre war Martin D-28.


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## Tom Haynes (May 16, 2018)

Mooh said:


> I've bought lots of used guitars over the years, kept a few, moved the others quickly. My current used list is short, a Mexican Tele Thinline, Cervantes nylon, Godin Progression, Godin LG, Godin Freeway bass, Musicman/OLP bass, can't think of others. Used guitars I've bought and resold...various Fender guitars and basses including several Teles and Strats, a Beneteau acoustic, several Godin electrics and acoustics, Yamaha, Ibanez, Warwick, Gretsch, Gibson, Takamine, lots of others probably. Sometimes a guitar fills a need and the need goes away, usually either bands or recording opportunities. Sometimes it's curiousity or gear lust.
> 
> I had an awesome 5 string Warwick bass that the good folks at L&M apparently didn't want to fix. It had come in on trade just before I walked in the door. Ski hill action, ridiculous pickup heights, intonated with a framing square rather than a tuner, etc. I don't think the store made squat on the deal, but I grabbed a case and a set of flatwounds so at least it wasn't a loss for them. 30 minutes on my bench and it was fast and smooth and in tune. Nice necks on those things and the truss rod worked great. Gigged it for a few years before selling, though maybe I should have kept it. Still have 2 other 5 strings.
> 
> ...


You are so right - a lot of people can't be bothered to take their older guitar in to get it set up and they aren't comfortable doing it themselves so they just get rid of it. I bought an s&p showcase flame maple off of a nice guy who was convinced the frame was broken causing the high action. I asked if he had adjusted the truss rod and he looked at me in horror saying he was told never to touch that. When I was leaving he handed me something and said "here's the truss rod adjustment tool that came with the guitar" - it was an Alan key. I got a good laugh out of that.


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## Tom Haynes (May 16, 2018)

mawmow said:


> Could find interesting deals for used acoustics only on eBay while living in Rimouski. Most were actually great/wonderful deals I never happened to regret. Oh Gee ! The adrenalin of unpacking these awaited treasures !!!
> 
> A brand new Martin D-35 smelt glue instead of wood... sounded great anyway... The Martin as well as Guild F-30 1973 and Gibson Lg-0 1965 made me realize I actually need 1,75 in. nut width but they sounded great !
> 
> ...


The adventure is half the fun isn't it? Whenever I buy a guitar that is significantly less than it should be I have to remind myself that there will be something horribly wrong with it that will need to be fixed. I usually buy them anyway!


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

Yes, the quest/hunting brings a thrill.  
Nope, I did not buy them all... ;-)


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

guitarman2 said:


> Maybe not too similar. I bought a brand new guitar from Wildwood guitars. It came with a defective truss rod. I sent it back and chose another guitar costing twice as much. Where I got screwed is on the taxes and brokerage fees when I sent the defective guitar back When Wildwood sent the second guitar costing twice as much they deducted the money I already paid on the first guitar and I paid the difference. I expected to pay the brokerage and taxes on the difference. Instead Wildwood claimed the full price of the second guitar on shipping so I paid taxes and brokerage on half of this transaction twice. Its just one of those unavoidable things I guess but I will no longer "EVER" buy a guitar online from Wildwood or any other online retailer outside the country. It was a lot of money.



I have posted this many times but will do it again. You could have had it shipped to UPS or FedEx depot in N. Falls, NY and saved the extra costs. You only would have had to pay HST. You're only an hour away so it's not a long drive and you could have filled up on cheap USA gas while you were there.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Steadfastly said:


> I have posted this many times but will do it again. You could have had it shipped to UPS or FedEx depot in N. Falls, NY and saved the extra costs. You only would have had to pay HST. You're only an hour away so it's not a long drive and you could have filled up on cheap USA gas while you were there.


Do you have the above saved and just need to copy and paste it? Just curious.
Couldn't resist.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

greco said:


> Do you have the above saved and just need to copy and paste it? Just curious.
> Couldn't resist.


No, but I should. I feel bad for others when they get ripped off by these shipping companies. They just take advantage of people who don't know the way around things.


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

See if you have a company that will pick it up at the border and bring it to your town. I pay $18 to have my packages picked up at a depot in Washington State then flown to the Victoria airport. Shipping is usually free or very cheap this way. I walk the Customs docs to the Customs guys in the airport, pay any tax (rare) then go get my package. Shipping direct to Canada has become an expensive boondoggle. Oh, an added benefit is the seller thinks you’re American. So no hassle about shipping to “foreign”countries.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Most of my experiences have been neutral to quite pleasant.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I buy a lot of guitars on Craig’s List. Only two bad experiences where there was a problem with the neck/ truss rod. One I moved on at a slight loss. I’m too honest not to tell the buyer when I know of a problem. The other is my number one that I’ll never sell.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

BSTheTech said:


> See if you have a company that will pick it up at the border and bring it to your town. I pay $18 to have my packages picked up at a depot in Washington State then flown to the Victoria airport. Shipping is usually free or very cheap this way. I walk the Customs docs to the Customs guys in the airport, pay any tax (rare) then go get my package. Shipping direct to Canada has become an expensive boondoggle. Oh, an added benefit is the seller thinks you’re American. So no hassle about shipping to “foreign”countries.


You have a great deal going on there! How did you go about finding a company to do this for you?


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## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Steadfastly said:


> You have a great deal going on there! How did you go about finding a company to do this for you?


I was using a mailbox on the other side and someone mentioned this new company. Check the web for cross border shippers and re-mailers. The place I use is SeaWings (www.seawings.ca). That may get you started. They bring shipments up 5 days a week.

The website mentions this. Maybe good search terms to use; 

"Canada Customs Bonded Carrier"
"Canada Customs Sufferance Warehouse"


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

BSTheTech said:


> I was using a mailbox on the other side and someone mentioned this new company. Check the web for cross border shippers and re-mailers. The place I use is SeaWings (www.seawings.ca). That may get you started. They bring shipments up 5 days a week.
> 
> The website mentions this. Maybe good search terms to use;
> 
> ...


That's good to know. I cross the border myself from time to time and have friends that live on the border that will pick stuff up for me for free but I don't like to take advantage of them. This may be of help to others as well that don't live close enough to take advantage of sales or items that don't ship to Canada. Thanks for your post!


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