[Manothemtns]

Originally Posted by Texsunburst59

I stopped buying new guitars year ago, and I refuse to sell or purchase online, whether it's E-bay, Reverb, GC, Sam Ash, G-base, TGP, AGF, etc.........

I want to buy and sell my gear in person.

I want to be able to play, hear, and assess if the instruments checks all the boxes.

These day I only buy used, and I buy primarily form CL and pawnshops.

I live in an area where people live WAY beyond their means, and usually bit off more than they can chew.

A lot of musicians in my area make high dollar purchases on gear, and realize they've over extended themselves financially.

A LOT of very nice good quality gear ends up at pawnshops and on CL for pennies on the dollar.

I usually buy 5-10 electric guitars, acoustics, basses every year at AMAZING prices.

There's NO online store or B&M that can touch the prices I'm getting on these instruments.

In a way I'm supporting local business,I'm just not supporting guitar shops.

It is what it is , I guess.

I, too, use Craigslist for amazing deals. I'm a player and collector and the collecting part dictates that some of my guitars have to be purchased at deeply discounted prices. Otherwise, I'd be broke. Some guitars I cleanup, mend, and turnover...other finds are real keepers! But, when it comes to special order or most of my new guitars I frequent my FLGS an hour's drive from where I live in the country. I do this because I know they'll deftly handle any warranty issues I might have and any work on the guitar that I'm not comfortable doing myself. They have a fine luthier on their staff.