Buying Guitars Online: Would You?

Only problem i have with buying online is that you never get to try it. I prefer to buy guitars ive tried. Apart from that buying off big companies online is pretty safe. They usually post by courier, and in the unlikely event of damage most the time they just send you a new guitar out ffree of charge.

I have bought a few guitars online..........

...new, used, acoustic and electric.

If there is no case, they are double boxed.

I would never buy an acoustic without a hard case.

An electric double boxed is fine.

I never ship anything uninsured.

When you are buying used, be sure to know the shipping charges, properly insured and factor that into the price to make sure you are getting a good deal.

Being able to try out guitars locally though is a very good point! I never had that luxury so I do not miss it, every local shop around me, big or small has only a token 2 lefty guitars per 100 right handed hanging on the walls.

I generally would. I also think that the biggest problem is that you don't get to try the guitar before you buy it. If I would ever order online, I would order from a well known site like music123.com or musiciansfriend.com

I think I agree that I would want to go to my local Guitar Center and try out what I want to buy...

For me living in NY they soak us on sales tax (8% !) so buying online is usually cheaper even with shipping. Now If I was only going to save $5 then I'll buy locally. But If I am saving $20+ then I would like to consider buying online.

Mike its 8 1/2% in NY these days. :cry:

Actually it depends on which county you live in because there is also county tax. NYS tax is actually 4% then the counties tack on what they want. Ours was 8.25% but the county just lowered their half to 4%

I just saw this guitar at Music123...grwat price but I never heard of the brand before: http://www.music123.com/Dean-EVO-XM-i236846.music

dean is a good brand, used by people like dimebag darrel. thats the only person i can think of right now that used dean.

i also think michael angelo batio uses them too. and zakk wylde started endorsing the,

I've bought 3 guitars online.....an Ibanez acoustic/electric, a cheap Oscar Schmidt hollow-body 335 copy, (both of those from Musicians Friend), and a cheap SX strat copy from Rondo Music. The only problem I had was with the Oscar Schmidt. The first one I got was defective. It had a flaky PUP selector switch. But MF took it back, no questions asked, and they paid all the shipping charges. I'm completely comfortable buying online.

hmm, that Dean looks like a nice guitar....very cheap as well....the hard case costs more than the guitar!!!! I may be wrong, but I think Arjen is a big fan of Dean guitars....maybe he'll know if it's a good buy or not?

I've only bought one guitar on-line....the "mystery guitar" I bought off Nick...asked him to get a hard case as well, he did....and packed it with some sort of small inflated plastic bags....maybe he'll tell us where he got them from if we ask him nicely? I was happy with the deal anyway....

:D :D :D

Vic

I have played identical model number acoustic guitars that sounded and played differently. I would really have to trust the brand name to buy one untried.

Yes Dean is a good brand. I have a Dean acoustic that cost quite a bit more and it is a work of art but one thing worth mentioning is I don't think brand matters too much. Better to work a price range and see all guitars in the price range.

I wouldn't put much faith into reviews on harmony central for low budget guitars written by folks (yes with good intentions) who have nothing to compare them to or maybe one other guitar for lack of time/experience.

It is a safe bet to say that a budget guitar will have crappy pickups and cheap tuners no matter what the brand. BUT I do have a budget Jay Turser Telecaster that I like and is not out of the question to change pickups and tuners to higher quality for an upgrade. I did have some problems with my budget guitar and I wrote an accurate/detailed review of this guitar on harmony central. Would I buy another Jay Turser??? I don't think so even though the problems are all straightened out and it took 4 long months to accomplish!

I am still a believer in budget guitars if that is what we can afford and mostly with me it is figuring out what TYPE of guitar I will eventually settle in with as my favorite, so I buy many types of guitars. Some new, some used, some I take apart and change things around. A budget guitar can be made better with some upgrades down the road.

I went off on a typing tangent here, I know. 8)

JosephLefty, I agree with you about budget guitars. In my case, my experience/ability level just doesn't warrant me spending 500, 600, 700, or more on a guitar. I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these guitar "types", without having to spend an arm and a leg. Are these Chinese knock-offs as good as their American-made counterparts? Almost certainly not. Would I sound/play any better on an expensive American-made Gibson or Fender? Again, almost certainly not. So, for me, they fit the bill. When/if I get to the point where I feel like I can really play, I will probably spend the appropriate amount of money on a "good" guitar. Until then, I'm content with my budget models.

Buying online isn't risky as long as you get the shipment insured, and the person/store you're buying from allows returns within the first week or month or something like that.