problem with ordering new guitar

Good luck finding the guitar you're looking for. Looked at it on the Epiphone site, it is a beauty. Might be a special order no matter where you go. Have you tried

Rudys Music Stop, Inc 723 7th Avenue New York (212) 391-1699
Norms Music 922 Kings Highway Brooklyn (718) 376-0910

they were listed on the Epiphone site.

As for buying a floor model from GC, I didn't. I played a few floor models, made sure of the one I wanted, then told the salesman to get me a NIB. He was pretty perturbed. Asked me what was wrong with the one in my hands. I said it had 1 million finger prints and dozens of belt buckle scratches. He said it might be a different color. As long as it wasn't pink, green and orange I really didn't care. Took the new one out of the box played it for 5 minutes to satisfy myself that all was good and bought it.

Months later I was in the store again looking at amps. There was the same salesman who remembered me and then there was a 7 year old kid who had a LP plugged into a nice sized Marshall just banging away bringing tears to my eyes and almost blood to my ears. Turned to the salesman and said.. This is why I don't buy floor models.

Two morals to this story.
1. You are the customer and spending a fair amount of cash, get what you want.
2. If that kid could make that kind of obscene racket, no one should be afraid to play in front of people they don't know.

Michael

The problem with getting a used one is that if you are new to guitar you might not notice the bent neck and wonky action. It might be worthwhile to get a friend who knows guitars or a luthier to take a look at it. (assuming you aren't buying it from the guitarstore but from ebay or a friend or something).

Believe me you are more likely to get a guitar with bent neck and wonky action straight from the box.

Belt buckle rash on a new instrument, I'd want a new one too. Fingerprints wipe off though. It's rock and roll man, not origami.

Music123 has a generous return policy. Instruments are new in box and you get 45 days methinks to return it. That's the way I'd go if I were you.

i see that mikey understands my point of view.

wouldnt it be reasonable to call the stores and see if they are carrying it? seems like the best solution.

and nick, the problem with music123 is that, its not like i dont trust their return policy, its that if you order a guitar and its not so great quality, it recieved some damage in shipping, or built in correctly, youd be forced to pay shipping and return a couple times until you would get a good guitar.
Thats what happened wiht mine, my dad ordered a guitar from musiciansfriend, it came with 1/2 the pickguard popping off, and it couldnt be screwed back down, the second one we tried also had a problem, so he got annoyed and we went to a GC to sit down and try a bunch of guitars

I wanted to add that, I dont care what dings or scratches it gets with me, i dont think insturments are supposed to stay perfct for years. Thats what makes guitars unique, look at steveie ray's #1. It looks like its been beaten for weeks. Its jsut the concept of buying something new, when its not, i dont know, but to me i feel like when GC says a new guitar, it should be coming from the box. Thats my opinion

edit: i wanted to thank mikey for those two adresses of the shops

for those of you who are wondering

Stevie's Number One (look at the top cutaway, you can see bare wood)

The guitar Im trying to purchase

I've never had to pay return shipping to Music123. I don't know about Musician's friend.

Cost of return shipping is why I stick with Music123 not Musiciansfriend. They provide a return shipping authorization so you don't have to pay.

I have also had great luck with them on other things. For example I ordered an "open box" from them for $300 less than the "closed box" and it turned out the "open box" had been sold so they sent me a "closed box" guitar instead. I got a "bad news, good news" note from them saying

Bad news = Open box sold already.
Good news = Will send you a closed box instead for same price.

One more thing about that GC story. The one you played and liked isn't the one you got once you asked for a NIB.

All guitars are different. The one in the box is unused, but it isn't the same guitar. If you are going to do that, you might as well order online.

I've played two exact same model guitars and couldn't stand one and loved the other. Like I said, it's the mojo.

I agree 100% with you Nick. I typically hunt around for the guitar I want then if it is a significant savings online then I order it online. Twice now I have not liked the one I got as much as the one I played and sent it back. Hence the reason I know about the return policy.

according to that, I guess ordering from music123 would be the better solution. I assume that there's a small chance that the guitar from music123 would have such a defect or problem that it would have to be replaced, and if it did, I could simply return it, minus the extra shipping fee.

interesting discussion, comments? questions? feel free to ask

I've bought two guitars from a catlogue....an Encore acoustic and a Squier Strat. The Encore, I had to play around with a little, lower the action till I got the sound I liked...the Squier, I ordered Black and got Sunburst...but the action was perfect...I had the choice of sending it back, but once I'd played it I decided I liked it and kept it.

Since then, I've bought four more guitars (including a bass), all from shops....A squier Tele I bought after trying two Fender Teles...liked the feel of the Squier better, a 12-string which sounded nice in the shop but which I'm still fiddling around with, an Freshman Bass (I know very little about Bass Guitars, but it seemed OK to me...and still does) and a Yamaha acoustic which felt great even with heavier strings than I'm used to....

One of the guys I jam with in the local pub is selling an Epi Les Paul (£80) and he's bringing it in next week for me to look at....I've never bought a second-hand guitar before, but if his acoustic is anything to go by, it'll be nicely set up and beautifully maintained....

So I guess I've been lucky buying unseen and tried and tested....luck of the draw? I'd rather buy something I've tried, but both catalogue-bought guitars have worked out pretty well....and when it comes to cosmetic damage, I really don't care - as long as the sound isn't affected!!!!

A question - if the price was right, would you buy a fairly well-used second hand guitar from (insert guitar deity of your choice here) ?

:D :D :D

Vic

I just ordered and recieved a Fender Strat from Music123 myself. I was very leary, but I can honestly say it arrived with not a single nick or scratch. It was inside a deluxe extremely padded gig bag, which was inside an outer box, filled with styrofome filling between the gig bag and the outer box. I was shocked how well it took the trip. As a bonus, the factory setup is pretty darn good.

A question - if the price was right, would you buy a fairly well-used second hand guitar from (insert guitar deity of your choice here) ?

Vic
Yes, have before and will again. I am not an eBay kind of guy for used stuff but when I can see it and get my hands on it and try it, Sure.

Say BZ, I grew up in Brooklyn, they do have a rather extensive subway system there. In all the 5 boroughs you can't find one shop that has the guitar you want? You've got Rudy's Music, Sam Ash right in Brooklyn 2600 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, you have Manny's music- This is where Hendrix, Beck, Clapton and Page have all shopped. Worth going just to soak up the history dude.