Deal Killer? - Page 2

brencat · #16 12-07-2017, 08:10 AM

A guitar with electronics that are removable with zero impact to the body or wood (like the K&K mini or Baggs Element) are fine, but my view is don’t expect to be compensated AT ALL for those on a resale.

Martin PA guitars or similar with built in electronics are more heavily built stage guitars, so less versatile and don’t sound as good for pure acoustic work.

Guitars with barn door electronics are really the only deal breaker for me.

Twilkins · #17 12-07-2017, 08:10 AM

Deal Killer. Too many other guitars available without electronics.

washburned · #18 12-07-2017, 08:12 AM

I have passed on many a guitar that I might have other wise purchased for having a pickup of some sort.

stephenT · #19 12-07-2017, 08:15 AM

I can always remove a K&K but a barndoor control panel kills it for me. Luckily I have no desire for any model that has built in electronics.

fazool · #20 12-07-2017, 08:16 AM

Deal killer for me.

I always remove a UST when I get a guitar, and then replace the saddle with one sized correctly without a UST (a teeny bit taller).

I abhor barndoor electronics.

Wade Hampton · #21 12-07-2017, 08:21 AM

As others have written, whether it's a deal-killer depends on the person who might buy the guitar, and what purpose they plan on putting it to.

I gig out, and to me it's important that most of my instruments be stage-ready. But that doesn't mean I'll necessarily want the factory original electronics that might be in it (rarely,) or aftermarket electronics that the current owner might have installed (it depends.)

My most recent major guitar purchase was a used Martin Custom Shop D-18 that had a high end pickup system factory-installed. It's a pickup system that a lot of players happen to like, particularly people who gig out a LOT. But while I do gig out, I'd had this same system in a previous guitar, and had disliked it enough to have my guitar repairman yank it out and replace it with a K&K Pure Mini bridgeplate pickup.

Which is what I ended up doing again. I didn't let the fact that the guitar had a pickup system I dislike kill the deal for me.

Preferences for guitar pickups, like automobile brand preferences, can be very personal. I've been through enough of both to realize that all of them are temporary, really. I liked the guitar, so I bought it, knowing it would be no big deal to replace it. I didn't pay any extra for it with that pickup in it: I paid a fair price for the guitar alone. The electronics were lagniappe. (Pronounced "lanny-app.")

"Lagniappe" is a word I learned the first time I ever gigged in New Orleans. It's a Cajun French term that means "a little bit extra to seal the deal" or "a little sugar on top," so to speak. It's the extra doughnut in a baker's dozen, that kind of thing.

When I've sold or traded off stage guitars of mine, I leave the pickups in place. They don't add or subtract from the market value of the guitar; they're lagniappe for potential buyers.

In some player's minds, they definitely detract from the value of the guitar, at least for a significant percentage of folks on guitar forums like this one. Some of the posts in this thread reflect that attitude, and any time the subject arises there'll be at least as many electronics-haters insisting that installed electronics detract from the market value of used guitars as there will be people like me saying:

"Uh....not really."

However vociferously the anti-electronics sentiments get expressed online, though, in real life I've never encountered this. Not once. On the contrary, whenever I've put one of my stage instruments on sale, having electronics onboard has tended to speed the sale considerably. It's been the deciding factor many times - I've had lots of folks play the guitar, think about it, then say: "I've been needing a good guitar with a pickup in it," then pull out their wallets and pay me my price.

It's happened repeatedly.

So take any and all of the positions expressed in threads like this one with a grain of salt, including what I'm telling you. It just depends on the guitar itself, its condition, its price point when new, and the needs and wishes of the folks out shopping for a new used guitar that day.

Hope that makes sense.

Wade Hampton Miller

fazool · #22 12-07-2017, 08:44 AM

So I will agree with Wade, but then take the opposite position.

In reality, I agree that on-board electronics do not detract from the resale value of a guitar. They don't lower the price I could sell them for and, in fact more people want them than not (which is why more come with them).

So, I agree they do not, in reality, reduce the "value" of a guitar.

Now, for me personally, I dislike on-board electronics and for me only, a guitar is worth less if it has on-board electronics, especially barndoor-type. But, I know I am in the minority.

hotroad · #23 12-07-2017, 10:12 AM

Seems we can take some direction from Taylor. If they removed the guitars that did not have pickups installed they would be out of business in a day. I think of on onboard pickup as a live gig ready option. If I just played at home or wanted to use an external mic for amplification then I would never buy a guitar with a pickup installed. But I gig full time so do like having some basic tone shaping and volume at my fingertips.

KevWind · #24 12-07-2017, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HHP

My only deal killers are bullet holes or bloodstains.

So I guess you might buy Willie's Trigger ? it's not a bullet hole and blood has been washed off

Wade Hampton · #25 12-07-2017, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fazool

So I will agree with Wade, but then take the opposite position.

In reality, I agree that on-board electronics do not detract from the resale value of a guitar. They don't lower the price I could sell them for and, in fact more people want them than not (which is why more come with them).

So, I agree they do not, in reality, reduce the "value" of a guitar.

Now, for me personally, I dislike on-board electronics and for me only, a guitar is worth less if it has on-board electronics, especially barndoor-type. But, I know I am in the minority.

You're NOT in the minority in your house. But you would be in mine. That was more or less my point. The main reason I posted, though, is that there's a perfectly human tendency on most our parts to assume our own positions are universal (or at least should be universal,) and to jump in with both feet to answer emphatically when asked simple yes or no questions like this:

"YES, onboard electronics are a deal-killer!"

or

"NO, onboard electronics are NOT a deal-killer!"

Online, anyway, there aren't that many goyish Talmudic scholars like me who'll say:

"Oy, it depends..."

Hope that makes more sense.

whm

HHP · #26 12-07-2017, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevWind

So I guess you might buy Willie's Trigger ? it's not a bullet hole and blood has been washed off

Baldwin pick ups ARE a deal breaker.

KevWind · #27 12-07-2017, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HHP

Baldwin pick ups ARE a deal breaker.

Good point, pianos are such a pain to get in the gig bag

Steadfastly · #28 12-07-2017, 10:35 AM

On board electrics doesn't bother me or drilling a hole in the end-pin. All my guitars are bought to play and perform to their maximum.

Athens · #29 12-07-2017, 10:40 AM

IMHO holes in guitars or loads of crap inside( a la Taylor) are deal killers. If I were a gigging musician it MIGHT be a compromise I would consider.

But I'm not, so they are deal killers.

And no, I'm not going to special order. I'm not paying for a guitar until I've had a chance to play it.

Napman41 · #30 12-07-2017, 10:41 AM

I have no need for aftermarket electronics in my acoustic guitars nor would I buy a new guitar with electronics. I have bought numerous pre-owned guitars with aftermarket pickups installed and I’ve used the potential resale of the pickups as another factor affecting my purchase. I recently bought a pre-owned Collings D2HT-traditional that had a K&K pickup. I removed it and sold it for $200.