Have new guitars at big music stores had set-ups?

[Bob Womack]

There isn't a store tech in my area whom I'd let touch a good instrument. There are at least three first-rate techs who work from home. You can guess where mine go.

Bob

[Ms Stubs]

Thanks again to all who have taken the time to respond. Much appreciated!

[Ms Stubs]

By the way, I'm really enjoying your website!

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

HERE is a little treatise on new guitar setup on my site. Perhaps you'll find something useful there.

Bob

[Pitar]

Originally Posted by Ms Stubs

I was wondering if I go to one of the big name instrument places, and I play a guitar they have hanging up, and I like it, should I assume it's had a set-up done in their shop? Like for string height, action, ease of play, etc.

If I find one I like right off the wall, will they sell me That very guitar?
Am afraid they'll just order me one, get it shipped in and it might not play as nice as the demo.

Is it pretty reasonable to demand that they sell me the very guitar I tried out?
Not looking to get a "demo" discount, but just get the benefit of it having had a good set-up performed.
Thanks!

I have not experienced any store setting up their guitars, nor would I expect them to because players are all different and set-ups vary accordingly.

But, this post sets me off as a manner of principle regarding new guitars in retail stores.

First off, no guitar hanging in a store for public sampling is, technically speaking, new. I have a hard time paying full price for a guitar with the DNA of countless hands on it. That guitar is a demo and should either be discounted as such or not for sale, period. But, no store will hear that argument and that's where principles are subjugated to store policy (profiteering).

And, should the buyer return the guitar immediately after the return policy has lapsed it's considered used and refused by the store. It will buy it back or take it on a trade for a hefty discount - the same discount it won't give a buyer of it's own used/demo guitars. Double standards.

Regarding the preference for the demo guitar versus new (unplayed), I would expect the store to set up a new guitar identical to the demo guitar, gratis. You want what you played and you aren't getting it just because it's the same make/model. It has to play the same. I would make the store throw that in and detail it on the sales receipt as gratis.

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by Pitar

... no guitar hanging in a store for public sampling is, technically speaking, new. I have a hard time paying full price for a guitar with the DNA of countless hands on it. That guitar is a demo and should either be discounted as such or not for sale, period...

I think most hanging guitars could be considered new if only played in the store.
I recently traveled 80 miles to a GC store to buy a guitar that the local store did not have. GC has a 45-day return policy. I tried it for a few days, but returned it for disatisfaction with the action. I was not the first to buy and return this guitar, as the wound strings over the hole were darkened and laden with skin.
I eventually ordered the same guitar new, with a set up, from Sweetwater.

[vintage40s]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

There isn't a store tech in my area whom I'd let touch a good instrument. There are at least three first-rate techs who work from home...

I thought that, too, about the local GC. I did trust Sweetwater to set up a new guitar ordered from them. It was only $45 with lighter strings.

Speaking of set ups, in 1969 I traded a Hummingbird with a perfect action for a new D35 with a high action, and attempted a set up in the shop of the navy ship I was living on. My filings on the nut were helped with drops of epoxy. It was OK, but did not get a proper set up until I took it to a luthier ten years ago for a check up.

Holy cow, look what it needed:
Repair 3 loose back braces. Heat press neck. Shave bridge top. Install bridge plate patch. Level fretboard, fill cracks and worn areas. Do complete refit. Repair binding. Shim and recut nut. Cut and fit saddle. Buff body, restring and adjust.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Pitar

First off, no guitar hanging in a store for public sampling is, technically speaking, new. I have a hard time paying full price for a guitar with the DNA of countless hands on it. That guitar is a demo and should either be discounted as such or not for sale, period. But, no store will hear that argument and that's where principles are subjugated to store policy (profiteering).

And, should the buyer return the guitar immediately after the return policy has lapsed it's considered used and refused by the store. It will buy it back or take it on a trade for a hefty discount - the same discount it won't give a buyer of it's own used/demo guitars. Double standards.

Pitar, I understand your reasoning, but have to say that it's about the most counterproductive way to select a good-sounding acoustic guitar that I can imagine. Trying out a guitar, liking it, but then expecting one in back stock to sound as good as the one you just played is unrealistic, to say the least.

Like it or not, solid wood acoustic guitars are all individuals to an extent. They don't all sound alike, and never will.

Your approach might be a smart way to shop for, say, golf clubs, but it's counterproductive for musical instruments. In any event, with rare exceptions what you see on the floor is what the store will have in stock. Demanding a discount because other people have played the guitar is not a reasonable expectation, not with acoustic guitars, anyway.


Wade Hampton Miller