Have you purchased a guitar without playing it first and then regretted it?

[aeisen93]

Have you purchased a guitar without playing it first and then wished you hadn't purchased it?

If so, which guitar was it and what was the outcome? Did you sell it? Keep it? What didn't you like about it?

Just curious to hear your stories and experiences.

[Andromeda]

There isn't a local music store that sells guitars for many many miles so I always buy online. Only had one experince where I didn't care for the guitar. It was a Breedlove Discovery Dreadnaught. I actually only recently sold it after keeping it for about 4 years. The guitar looked great but had a slightly muffled sound to it.

[EllenGtrGrl]

Several as a matter of fact, because some of the guitars I've been interested in, just plain were not available locally to try out. The three that stood out were, were bought in 2020 (which along with Covid, was a frustrating year, due to some expensive, failed guitar experiments):

Martin DSS-17 - I like slope shoulder 'dreads, and having never owned a Martin, I thought it would be nice to have one. I know Martins typically have thin necks (and I don't like thin necks), but having never had a guitar with a 1 3/4" wide nut, and doing a couple of quick tryouts of Martins with 1 3/4" wide nuts, I thought I would be able to live with the thin, modified low oval neck profile the DSS-17 has. I was wrong. After several months of fighting the guitar's thin neck (the wider nut helped, but nowhere near enough), I got rid of it.

Eastman E2OM-CD - I like Eastmans. I find their necks very comfortable, and while I like the sound of my current PCH1-OM, due to its Sitka Spruce top, I was reminded after buying the E2OM-CD, why I quit playing cedar topped guitars several years ago - I'm a flatpicker, and drive cedar tops too hard, making them sound overly compressed and washed out. But, at the time I bought the E2OM-CD, I wanted to get rid of my Martin DSS-17 in the worst way possible, and the price for the E2OM-CD was good. It didn't help things though, that the local shop I traded the DSS-17 at even up for the E2OM-CD at in April 2020, was closed for trying out guitars, due to Covid, so I lost the gamble I took, by buying the guitar unplayed.

Waterloo WL-12MH - a wonderful, 12-fret 00-sized mahogany guitar, that wasn't available locally, that I bought off of Reverb. Unfortunately, as I realized over a period of a couple of months of ownership - wonderful if you play fingerstyle (which I don't), not so wonderful if you flatpick, which drove the top too hard, and gave it a blurred, over compressed sound. It went bye-bye as trading material for my Taylor AD27, a great guitar, that I've had for twice as long as the Waterloo, and that isn't going anywhere.

All in all, I've gotten in little gun shy of about buying guitars, due to some flops within the past 1 year period, that were very expensive for me, due to the lack of opportunity to try them out beforehand, since they weren't the garden variety, Martins, Fender Strats, or Gibson Les Pauls, that are so common around here. As of now, I'm sitting pat on what I have. I'd still like to have a 12-fret 00 or 000, and another electric to complement my Fender Britt Daniel Tele Thinline would be nice. But, the prices would have to be good, and like I did, when I bought my Taylor AD27, I'd have to spend some serious time playing the guitars (I spent over 2 hours playing my AD27, before I bought it), to make sure I like how they are playing-wise and sound-wise.

[DanR]

So far, no. I have purchased 3 acoustic guitars remotely and none of them were a disappointment. Of the 3 acoustic I now own, the J-45 '68 Reissue and the 00-18 were purchased online.

[Rev Roy]

Nope. Not so far anyway. I have, however, been happily surprised to find several of them to be even better than expected. Including the two currently in my tiny herd. (see sig).

[Andromeda]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

Nope. Not so far anyway. I have, however, been happily surprised to find several of them to be even better than expected. Including the two currently in my tiny herd. (see sig).

I have experienced that too. The top two Alvarez Guitars in my signature have blown me away and exceeded all expectations.

[Wellington]

Yes, I ordered my Simon & Patrick Woodland Pro Folk without playing it, ordered it through the Long & McQuade I usually deal with. It's a fun, comfortable guitar, like you would expect from a 00 sized guitar, but small body guitars just aren't my thing, it was my first acoustic that wasn't a dread and it showed me even more that I'm a dreadnought guy. The poor thing doesn't get much play, so I decided to sell it but right now with covid selling a guitar is very difficult, especially with where I live. I would trade it in but I would take more of a hit on it, so I don't know. I'm going to replace it with either another Simon & Patrick Woodland Cedar or it's non identical twin sister, the Seagull S6 Cedar.

[GTRGUY005]

I bought a Recording King parlor when MF was having a stupid deal on them. I figured there wasn't much risk involved if I didn't like it...it was only $125.

I kept it for a while but never really liked it so I donated it to Guitars for Vets.

[Wild Bill Jones]

Yes. Enough times that I will not do it anymore. I am a slow learn

[Brucebubs]

Beautiful maple 1996 Taylor 422 Grand Concert in superb condition.



Just could not bond with it, OK for finger-style playing but it sounded terrible with even the lightest strum, it felt and sounded like a toy guitar, the lack of versatility was frustrating.
I kept it for 'Nashville' tuning for a while then traded it.
Pity, it was a real pretty guitar in lovely condition.

[TBman]

Years ago I wanted a smaller guitar to take on vacations, play in my SUV during lunchtime, etc., so I ordered a Seagull Coastline folk online. I was really disappointed. Over time I got used to it, lowered my expectations from it and put a soundport in it which gave it a bit more volume. I'll use it occasionally to work something out as the 1.8" nut is helpful in a lot of ways.

If I take it for what it is, I guess its fine, but......

[Benjo]

Regret is too strong a word, but the Breedlove Oregon Concert 12-string I bought on Reverb won't be with me forever because I'm not a fan of how the neck feels.

[buddyhu]

Just two or three times, despite buying a number of guitars online.

One was an older Harmony 165: loved the tone, but it needed a neck reset when I received it. Should have kept it and done the reset, but was disenchanted and sold it for a loss.

Another was an old Martin 12-20. Nice guitar, but the narrow nut didn’t work for me. Sold it back to the seller for $200 less than I bought it for.

I’m not counting guitars that I received from dealers with a 72 hour approval period, and which I returned (and was responsible for return shipping). I consider those as being more like going to a store and playing guitars to see if one is irresistible...except instead of paying for gas and spending hours in the car, I pay for shipping).

But I’ve also had some really nice experiences buying online.

[Methos1979]

Originally Posted by aeisen93

Have you purchased a guitar without playing it first and then wished you hadn't purchased it?

If so, which guitar was it and what was the outcome? Did you sell it? Keep it? What didn't you like about it?

Just curious to hear your stories and experiences.

I've purchased dozens of guitars without playing them first. Probably 35 over a 10-year period. I didn't regret any of them. There were guitars I didn't like that much and didn't bond with but since I bought them used for a good price I was always able to sell or trade them off and not lose money. It was a great way to 'audition' guitars I otherwise had no access to.

As for specific models that I just did not like, two stand out:

Martin 000-28VS - I didn't like the long scale and V neck plus the wide nut.

Bourgeois all mahogany Slope Shoulder dread - Sound was okay but it had some issues and we didn't bond.

Then there were others that were acquired in trades that ended up really surprising me as awesome guitars. Two stand out:

Huss & Dalton MJC cedar over EIR - a sublime tone machine!

Breedlove Master Revival Series NAMM presentation model in Adirondack over cocobolo - great tone with an incredible build with fit & finish rivaling some of the best guitars I've played.

[Mike McLenison]

Purchased a few high-end guitars online knowing I could be disappointed. Variax and Martin come to mind. Not disappointed. Even bought a Rogue violin bass and it sounds great, still have it (I had 2 of the German counterparts). I wouldn't hesitate again for new gear. Used? I'm more inclined to examine in-person.