How can I spend $5k on a guitar that I can't even try

[groove311]

Hey guys,

I own 2 high-end Taylors. 814ce and 714ce. I prefer to spend $5k on a used guitar. I look for acoustic-electric guitars with nut width 1 7/8".
I want to try froggy bottoms, Collings, Goodalls, Santa Cruz, Ryan and other very high-end guitars. However, I can't find a shop where they have all those in my area to try them out.

How can I make sure I don't waste $5000 on a used guitar without being able to try them?

Should I keep my high-end Taylors and not buy any guitar if there isn't a big difference?

[Trillian]

I prefer not to spend any $$$ on an acoustic that I can't try, be it $500 or $5000. The one caveat would be a luthier whose work I was familiar with and liked - IF I had the money, which I don't, and aren't, so won't. IMO the more patient you can be to travel around and try things that become available the better.

[crikey]

Originally Posted by groove311

Hey guys,

I own 2 high-end Taylors. 814ce and 714ce. I prefer to spend $5k on a used guitar. I look for acoustic-electric guitars with nut width 1 7/8".
I want to try froggy bottoms, Collings, Goodalls, Santa Cruz, Ryan and other very high-end guitars. However, I can't find a shop where they have all those in my area to try them out.

How can I make sure I don't waste $5000 on a used guitar without being able to try them?

Should I keep my high-end Taylors and not buy any guitar if there isn't a big difference?

Travel is cheap. Travel to play them.

[Wardo]

Removed for inappropriate content.

[Long Jon]

I think if you spend that kind of money on a quality used guitar, especially in a private sale, it should still be worth that when you sell it.

After the initial showroom hit, brand new with tax etc is done, then they don't keep depreciating like eg. cars do.

I worked my way thru' about 4 used D28s in as many months, a couple of years ago ,'til I found what I wanted to keep was a HD28V

Cost me a bit in eBay fees but worked out OK really.

Originally Posted by groove311

Hey guys,

I own 2 high-end Taylors. 814ce and 714ce. I prefer to spend $5k on a used guitar. I look for acoustic-electric guitars with nut width 1 7/8".
I want to try froggy bottoms, Collings, Goodalls, Santa Cruz, Ryan and other very high-end guitars. However, I can't find a shop where they have all those in my area to try them out.

How can I make sure I don't waste $5000 on a used guitar without being able to try them?

Should I keep my high-end Taylors and not buy any guitar if there isn't a big difference?

Have patience. Just because you can't find a shop that sells the level of guitar you're after now doesn't mean you won't find one some day. So be patient, and when you finally do find the shop you're after, make your decision then.

[Trillian]

Originally Posted by Wardo

I wouldn't drop 5 on a guitar w/out playing it first even if it was built by Saint Luthier himself.

Played too many that I thought I was gonna love only to move on and leave them on the shelf.

I'm sure there's 50k rigs out there that id pass on even if money was nuthin to me.

How about Lex Luthier? Har har... Honest question because I don't know anything about it, but do luthiers usually have instruments on hand for people to try and buy? I always figured you had to tell them what you want and they'd build it for you. It kind of makes sense though that they would have some floor space dedicated to this.

[SFCRetired]

I can't imagine them being any better than what you have, but as always, I could be wrong.

I'll spend 500 bucks on a guitar I'm familiar with even if I haven't played the guitar I'm buying. But 5K is undoable.

[kevets]

Originally Posted by crikey

Travel is cheap. Travel to play them.

Yep. A guitar hunt makes a marvelous vacation.

[groove311]

Originally Posted by Trillian

How about Lex Luthier? Har har... Honest question because I don't know anything about it, but do luthiers usually have instruments on hand for people to try and buy? I always figured you had to tell them what you want and they'd build it for you. It kind of makes sense though that they would have some floor space dedicated to this.

I prefer to buy used. They keep their value. When I spent $3k on my Taylor I wished I would have been more patient to get Goodall or Collings.

I am positive I might end up disappointed if I spend $5k on a used guitar and I don't like the sound.

There are a lot of guitars that I want to try.

[Matt_Adamas]

Originally Posted by Long Jon

I think if you spend that kind of money on a quality used guitar, especially in a private sale, it should still be worth that when you sell it.

...but then you have to sell which can take a lot of time.

[Gasworker]

Save yourself and keep the Taylor's. I personally have no issues buying guitars I havnt played. I research the builder/brand. I look for comments and opinions on places like the AGF. I talk to people like Builders and store owners and I lay my money down with confidence.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by crikey

Travel is cheap. Travel to play them.

Travel may cheap, but time, usually, is not. Unless a guitar shop happens to be in a place that we would like to visit for touristic reasons, I think most of us would be loath to spend an entire weekend traveling to some place simply because it has a guitar store that may have a guitar we want. We'd be even less likely to make such a trip if we have a family.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by groove311

Hey guys,

I own 2 high-end Taylors. 814ce and 714ce. I prefer to spend $5k on a used guitar. I look for acoustic-electric guitars with nut width 1 7/8".
I want to try froggy bottoms, Collings, Goodalls, Santa Cruz, Ryan and other very high-end guitars. However, I can't find a shop where they have all those in my area to try them out.

How can I make sure I don't waste $5000 on a used guitar without being able to try them?

Should I keep my high-end Taylors and not buy any guitar if there isn't a big difference?

You have a couple of very nice guitars. If you never bought another guitar in your whole life, those two guitars are not going to limit you by very much, if at all.

I think you have to be a bit of a gambler to buy something from a distance and try it out. But I have done that a half dozen times after doing my homework, and I was very glad I did. I have never sent any of these guitars back even though all of them were purchased with a return agreement if I was not happy.

Crikey in post #3 above note that travel is cheap. And I agree, that is another option. I have traveled 250 miles round trip to try out guitars in Seattle or Portland. I have even seriously considered getting on an airplane and making a trip down to California to some shops where I could play a bunch of guitars I was interested in. However, I realized that the cost of round trip shipping and even adding in credit card fees would be less than the cost of the airfare, so I bought stuff over the phone with a return agreement.

So buying long distance has worked out for me, but it has not worked out for everyone. You have to be willing to gamble a little bit; the more you do your homework, the lower your risks are.

- Glenn

[brencat]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Travel may cheap, but time, usually, is not. Unless a guitar shop happens to be in a place that we would like to visit for touristic reasons, I think most of us would be loath to spend an entire weekend traveling to some place simply because it has a guitar store that may have a guitar we want. We'd be even less likely to make such a trip if we have a family.

This exactly.

Tell your wife you're getting on a plane for the weekend to go guitar shopping after working 14 hr days and leaving her stuck with the kids M-F and see what happens...

Interestingly, the couple guitars I have tried in person have been sold, while the ones I currently own were all ordered sight unseen (but with good sound clips and excellent due diligence).