Backwards buying process

[Br1ck]

I have long thought the only way to buy a guitar was to play it with as few preconceptions as possible and as little information as possible, so that is what I did a couple of weeks ago. I played a guitar for about five minutes and bought it, just after playing two or three comparable guitars. It was just the one. Then I took it home and looked at it. Beautiful wood, great fit and finish, very austere like a D 18. OK, let's investigate further. Went on the Santa Cruz websiite and found my guitar the bargain priced for those intimidated by $8000 guitars. LOL. But my guitar is not so much like that model, only to come to the conclusion they must be ordered any way the dealer wants them to. Why is there no mention of an adjustable truss rod? Oh, there isn't one.

Over the next week I endeavored to learn everything I possibly could about the brand, the model, who played them, internet consensus and every micro morsel of info, and every YouTube video I could find. You know, the kind of thing people do BEFORE buying a guitar.

Today, I resorted to the final step, I started shopping in the classifieds. See, you can stick to your beliefs and have all the fun too, just buy backwards, starting with finding a guitar you really like.

[JackC1]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Over the next week I endeavored to learn everything I possibly could about the brand, the model, who played them, internet consensus and every micro morsel of info, and every YouTube video I could find. You know, the kind of thing people do BEFORE buying a guitar.

I sometimes do that when a guitar is such a good deal that I just can't pass it up (Musician's Friend Stupid deal of the Day comes to mind; but many others too). Without much research, I just click the "buy" button. In every such case, so far, I ended up selling the guitar for a loss.

I've now somehow figured out how to stop myself from acting on impulse. When I really good deal comes along, I just tell myself: "There's a huge savings, but it is meaningless in the long term. Don't jump on something that I'm not looking for."

Yes, my backwards purchase is different than yours, but it's all the same too: not much research before jumping in.

[brencat]

Brick, your D/PW absolutely has an adjustable truss rod. You’ll need a thin walled long hex socket of 3/8” for 2011 and earlier SCs or a 5/16” for late 2011-present, along with a 5” extender. The truss rod is deep inside the neck heel. Stick a mirror in there and you’ll see the hole.

[donlyn]

Backwards buying process

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I have long thought the only way to buy a guitar was to play it with as few preconceptions as possible and as little information as possible, so that is what I did a couple of weeks ago. I played a guitar for about five minutes and bought it, just after playing two or three comparable guitars. It was just the one. Then I took it home and looked at it. Beautiful wood, great fit and finish, very austere like a D 18. OK, let's investigate further. Went on the Santa Cruz websiite and found my guitar the bargain priced for those intimidated by $8000 guitars. LOL. But my guitar is not so much like that model, only to come to the conclusion they must be ordered any way the dealer wants them to. Why is there no mention of an adjustable truss rod? Oh, there isn't one.

Over the next week I endeavored to learn everything I possibly could about the brand, the model, who played them, internet consensus and every micro morsel of info, and every YouTube video I could find. You know, the kind of thing people do BEFORE buying a guitar.

Today, I resorted to the final step, I started shopping in the classifieds. See, you can stick to your beliefs and have all the fun too, just buy backwards, starting with finding a guitar you really like.

Brick,

Actually, your initial process is maybe more valid than anything you did afterwards. You came, you saw, you played, you bought. I have always been a big fan of 'play before you pay'.

And I'm not sure that a guitar can't be calling out to you somehow, saying "try me!". I'll just call that the 'look' test.

And then it has to pass the 'feel' test when you pick it up and hold it. Then the 'play' and 'tone' tests.

I also think that every guitar is different, and needs to be played to feel and hear if you like it. Some guitars never make it through the process, even the initial 'look' test when seen close up. A lot of times there is the 'research' part to complete first, but sometimes it just gets negated by 'impulse' or simply 'window' shopping.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

[Mr. Jelly]

Every SC guitar that I have owned was sweet. Like a friend. Very comfortable to play and hold.

[rollypolly]

I did that on my 57 Gretsch New Yorker. Actually I picked it up and started playing it before I saw the name on the headstock, and I thought maybe I was playing an old L-48 or something. I loved the tone and it was so easy to play, I told myself I’m buying it if it’s not too expensive. Then I saw that it wasn’t expensive at all and that it was a Gretsch. Tucked it under my arm and made for the cash register. Still love it today.

[CharlieBman]

Living in the boonies, it's a real task to even find a guitar I'm interested in to try. But sometimes I wish I had that "just buy" reaction. I'll put myself through months of research, YT videos, grueling self-doubt and second guessing...only to eventually say "What the hell! You only live once!" and click the "Buy" button. Despite the drama, I haven't yet been disappointed. So maybe I'm doing something right.

[rllink]

For nostalgic reasons I have wanted a Guild since the seventies. I just walked into a guitar store one day and realized they were a Guild dealer. I didn't even know what to expect. I played a couple of them for five minutes in the store, went back the next week with my wife and played one of them again for five minutes so she could hear it. You never know if you love someone until you live with them a while. That's my attitude about a lot of things. I've learned to love that guitar over time. It was like it revealed something to me every time I picked it up for the first six months and it still shows me something new once in a while. I still read reviews and watch videos on it after the fact. I play it all the time and everywhere.

[Br1ck]

Originally Posted by brencat

Brick, your D/PW absolutely has an adjustable truss rod. You’ll need a thin walled long hex socket of 3/8” for 2011 and earlier SCs or a 5/16” for late 2011-present, along with a 5” extender. The truss rod is deep inside the neck heel. Stick a mirror in there and you’ll see the hole.

It must really be high behind the brace. I think that is the maker saying, you don't know what you are doing, don't touch it. LOL. Thanks for the info.

Of four guitars I play, or will after the honeymoon, two were instant have to have this, my Santa Cruz and my 65 Epiphone Texan. The third was my 70 Guild you could not play, and I brought it back from the dead. It was a slow and steady growing appreciation thing over the eight years since I fixed it up. The forth, my D 35 Custom I bought from Brian Kimsey after asking if he knew any D 18s for sale. He told me about an outstanding D 35 instead. Agreeing with most everything he likes, after he made a detailed video, I bought it. So of guitars I now own it's a 50/50 split, but sometimes opportunity knocks.

If you are in the boonies, you have the bonus of not knowing any better. By that I mean if you buy a J 45 or a D 18, or a Collings, etc. , if you get along with the neck, you'll be happy. What you'll never know is if the next guitar on the rack you'd like better. I had no particular SCGC lust. I really thought they were beyond my pay grade and would not have picked it up had I not had $3500 worth of instruments to trade. What I have yet to know is what my relationship to all my other guitars will end up being. Time will tell. But my age and inclination tells me I'm done, with the caveat that once every five to ten years, something grabs me. My exit strategy ideally would be a 20s Martin with ultra light strings. I'm not nearly as arthritic as some I know, but there could come a day.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

It must really be high behind the brace. I think that is the maker saying, you don't know what you are doing, don't touch it. LOL. Thanks for the info.

Easier than many brands to adjust the truss rod. Go to SCGC website to Care and Feeding for much of what you already know....

[koolimy]

The way you bought your guitar shouldn't be a backwards way of buying things, it should be the CORRECT way of buying things. Unfortunately we always need to get more information of guitars, we need to learn all the specs, all the information about the woods, the bracing. Ultimately all that information is meaningless unless the guitar sounds good, and the best thing to determine if a guitar sounds good is to just play it! LOL.

Congrats on getting a great guitar.

[Br1ck]

I'm just saying the "backwards " method still provides all the obsession fun, but in the correct order.

Point is, if you get inundated in the forward shifted, scalloped bracing hoopla, you may not try the guitar with rear shifted bracing that could well be the one for you. That my guitar is forward braced and scalloped is good to know after the fact, not before. Knowing historically that I like a 1 11/16 neck does not deter me playing everything anyway. If you don't play a lot of guitars, you never will recognize the special one from the very worthy others. I still pick up a Yaylor or an MLO neck Martin, just to reaffirm what I already know, but I'm still willing to be surprised.

[zombywoof]

For as long as I can recall I have largely taken the lazy man approach to buying guitars meaning the majority of those I own just popped up for sale locally when I was not even thinking about buying anything. No "research" involved before that first encounter. No looking at specs or seeing what others have thought. As I will have the guitar in my hands shortly there is not much I need to know beforehand with the only pre-conceived notions in my head being those based on my own past frame of reference. I figure since there is no planning involved it ends up being a matter of fate, dumb luck or whatever you want to call it and those which come home with me were meant to be.

[Br1ck]

I can’t think of a time I went to a store to buy a guitar. I do, on purpose, buy strings every few months. I support a store, and I play two or three while I’m there. But I don’t ever go to try out a new model. Rarely play a new guitar. I’ve found the new Authentic shows up used soon enough. I’m also aware I’m 18 minutes from one of the better stores. I never take that for granted.