Why so many brand new guitars for sale?

[dustint]

I'm starting to look into getting another guitar. I've never actually purchased a new guitar. No real reason why. I enjoy keeping up with the used market, its fun and interesting to me and I've stumbled upon some pretty nice guitars in my time. We also have so many avenues now to hunt for used gear.

What's weird to me is the amount of 2018/2019 guitars in the used forum. Expensive guitars that are 6 months old being sold by whoever purchased them brand new. I have to get an opinion on this. Is it that everyone is infected with GAS, which I totally understand. Or is it having to do with guitars "breaking in" a little and turning out to be something the original owner doesn't want.

I am not knocking at all the guitars for sale or the owners selling them for that matter. How a guitar plays and sound is totally subjective (to a point). Its totally personal why someone decides to part with an instrument. I had been playing around with buying a new one, but just cant help thinking why bother with so many good deals and interesting options in the used market...

But I still cant figure out why so many available are basically brand new???

[Tnfiddler]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that one reason may be that they weren't tried out before being bought. When I bought my D-41 I spent
SEVERAL hours in the shop playing a few guitars over and over and over until I was sure that I had the one I wanted. I had the owners play them and a regular customer to the store who's there quite a bit play them and got their opinions and they even stayed after their regular business hours letting me make the final decision since I'd drove 153 miles one way to get there. That playing time let me get a pretty good feel for my guitar.

The internet.

[brencat]

Yep, a lot of guitars are being bought long distance, often to save on taxes and to get the deep discounts offered by select dealers throughout the country. Then the tone turns out not to be as expected or the neck profile doesn’t work or something else. It could be GAS too.

[vindibona1]

Originally Posted by dustint

I'm starting to look into getting another guitar. I've never actually purchased a new guitar. No real reason why. I enjoy keeping up with the used market, its fun and interesting to me and I've stumbled upon some pretty nice guitars in my time. We also have so many avenues now to hunt for used gear.

What's weird to me is the amount of 2018/2019 guitars in the used forum. Expensive guitars that are 6 months old being sold by whoever purchased them brand new. I have to get an opinion on this. Is it that everyone is infected with GAS, which I totally understand. Or is it having to do with guitars "breaking in" a little and turning out to be something the original owner doesn't want.

I am not knocking at all the guitars for sale or the owners selling them for that matter. How a guitar plays and sound is totally subjective (to a point). Its totally personal why someone decides to part with an instrument. I had been playing around with buying a new one, but just cant help thinking why bother with so many good deals and interesting options in the used market...

But I still cant figure out why so many available are basically brand new???

They haven't discovered bridge pins yet

[RP]

Originally Posted by brencat

Yep, a lot of guitars are being bought long distance, often to save on taxes and to get the deep discounts offered by select dealers throughout the country. Then the tone turns out not to be as expected or the neck profile doesn’t work or something else. It could be GAS too.

Sounds right to me......

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

The internet.

That's it. Things like AGF and forums with Reverb and eBay. And evidently more disposable income or maybe more credit. Add to that the many options today as opposed to what I was aware of back in the day.

A note about availability here. I live smack dab in the middle of the mainland. I don't know for sure if I could find a dozen Martin guitars between Sioux Fall and Omaha combined. The guitar business has changed immensely and I don't know that we have realized it yet.

[12barBill]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

They haven't discovered bridge pins yet

Priceless Vin!!

[Dryfly]

Originally Posted by brencat

Yep, a lot of guitars are being bought long distance, often to save on taxes and to get the deep discounts offered by select dealers throughout the country. Then the tone turns out not to be as expected or the neck profile doesn’t work or something else. It could be GAS too.

Speaking of which...
Aren't sales taxes now being collected in most states on internet sales?
I know I'm now being charged on all my Amazon orders.
Seems like in the long run local B&M small shops will start to benefit.

[RustyAxe]

The quest for the "holy grail" ... and as has been said, "the internet". And, going out on limb, people buying them don't really know what the heck they really want, but keep trying to find it.

[rmp]

A sign of the times.

the only option for many of is us a long distance purchase. I'm not driving 2 hours to play a guitar that's been hanging on some stores wall for 9/12 months. Not humidiied right, dings and dents from hamfisted customers.. and pay "new prices" NNNNNNNNNNNOPE!!!!!!!

The "certified dealer" crap has just killed any hope of that a local store will stock a USA made guitar.

so many of us have no choice but to buy online, and hope for the best.

At least there's a liberal return policy if you shop the right places. but if after that, we fall "out" with the purchase, out it goes, at least the higher end ones will hold their value,, you're still taking a bath...

On the other hand, it does open the door for people who are looking to buy preowned..

[tbeltrans]

This may or may not have anything to do with why so many new guitars available on the used market, but I find it an interesting possibility anyway...

There is a documented psychological phenomenon regarding dissatisfaction due to too many choices. With so many choices available to us as consumers, we will always wonder if something else would have been a better fit.

When I was growing up, there simply wasn't the ready availability of guitars the way there is today. Anyway, we just got what we got and made it work. Today, there are three Guitar Centers in my area, not to mention several specialty guitar stores such as Willie's American Guitars and Fret Central, and several others that I have yet to visit, as well as general music stores that also sell guitars. We also have a number of guitar builders in the area, not the least of which, of course, are Jim Olson, Terry Kennedy, and Charlie Hoffman, and this isn't on either coast but instead way out in the upper midwest.

Even with "try before you buy", I have still gone through a number of guitars, certainly far more than I would have back in the 60s and 70s. We can be much more critical and much less forgiving about even the smallest detail about whatever guitar we take home, and it can be gone in no time and replaced by something else, and the cycle can continue as long as we care to do so.

Another possible consideration is that there is a real rush to hunting down and getting another guitar, whether new or used. When that rush is gone, we are left with … practicing. So, time to get that fix again. We call it GAS and laugh about it with our buddies while our wives fume.

Tony

[Rosewood99]

2018/2019 (especially 2018) aren't necessarily "brand new."

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

2018/2019 (especially 2018) aren't necessarily "brand new."

He's right, you know.

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

2018/2019 (especially 2018) aren't necessarily "brand new."

Good point. I just bought a 2018 J-15 off Reverb for a very good price. GREAT guitar! But new it’s not. Seller had been playing it for over a year...and it showed. It was dried out and had plenty of small wear marks. Fortunately I was able to polish out about 90% of those small scratches. And I LOVE this guitar.

But “new.” Nope...