2nd Guitar Purchase

[emtsteve]

Originally Posted by Bosley

Thank you! How exactly would I go about the above?

Really appreciate all the replies everyone. I do have a nice local shop with a fairly large selection of instruments, so I'll definitely be heading over there as soon as it's safe, to test out as many different shapes, sizes, brands, etc. Be gone Corona, be gone!

The forum sponsors are listed along the right hand side of the home page. You'll need to actually call them and ask for their best price. Many will do the 40% off MSRP for Martins.

[Bosley]

Originally Posted by emtsteve

The forum sponsors are listed along the right hand side of the home page. You'll need to actually call them and ask for their best price. Many will do the 40% off MSRP for Martins.

Awesome, thanks man. If that's the case, maybe I need to put the Martin D-28 on the table...

[Boozehound]

Originally Posted by emtsteve

Well the two that come mind for me, at those price points are:
1. Gibson J-15 for about $1200. Short scale slope dread that is a joy to play and very versatile.
2. Near $2000 (actual around $1850 new) would be a Martin D-18.

Either of those guitars would be a serious step up and potential lifers. Of course many more choices out there and you should try as many as you can. But right off the bat - those are 2 I'd be sure to try.

Agree. If you can swing it, you can get a lot more for ~$2K than $1200. D18 would be my first choice in that price range.

[jschmitz54]

After scanning the responses I didn’t notice any Eastman recommendations.
Here on the forum many rave about value for the dollar and what great guitars they are.
Not sure if you’ve been following but Eastman and a few other Chinese manufacturers are making some great guitars.

[KevinH]

This is an evolutionary process that everyone goes through to figure out what they like and don't like. I found it wasn't something I could solve by going into guitar shops (before the shutdown) and playing a bunch of instruments. You really need to just take your best shot and, after playing it for weeks, think about what feels/sounds good or bad about it. In that sense, I'd suggest buying something used because, despite the good recommendations you'll get here, no one but you can know what suits you, and even you may not know that for a while. If you pick up a used guitar at a reasonable price, you can always sell it w/o much loss -- well after the return date has expired on a new guitar.

[cliff_the_stiff]

Originally Posted by Bosley

Awesome, thanks man. If that's the case, maybe I need to put the Martin D-28 on the table...

D-28 would be amazing for 2K. It’s Spruce Rosewood, significant tone departure from your Fender.
Your Fender is Spruce/Mahogany, so maybe a D18 would feel familiar, yet better.
I love Spruce Rosewood. You can’t go wrong.

[Bob from Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by jschmitz54

After scanning the responses I did notice any Eastman recommendations.
Here on the forum many rave about value for the dollar and what great guitars they are.
Not sure if you’ve Ben following but Eastman and a few other Chinese manufacturers are making some great guitars.

I am a very strong advocate for Eastman guitars. You can't go wrong with one of their sub-$500 models while you're trying to figure things out.

[Shadowfox]

So this may be an unpopular opinion on here, but I really dislike the lower series Martins (under 28).

I find them to be just bass-filled swamps with little clarity. However, some love that.

For that price range you can do quite good for yourself. You can get a few of the following:

Taylor 517 (make an offer for 2k shipped?): https://reverb.com/item/33392424-tay...cing-2019-2020

Yamaha A5R: https://reverb.com/item/30130269-yam..._8A6ggpW_Qx5Ys

Or my personal Favorite, a Furch! (They are made in the Czech Republic and are top notch. Here are a few options

Cutaway Dread: https://reverb.com/item/32766717-fur...-element-84032

Vinatage Sitka/Rosewood Dread: https://reverb.com/item/28311492-furch-vintage-2-d-sr

And a fun option: https://reverb.com/item/30208331-fur...OzdMutYcITneyM

[cliff_the_stiff]

Originally Posted by Shadowfox

So this may be an unpopular opinion on here, but I really dislike the lower series Martins (under 28).

I find them to be just bass-filled swamps with little clarity. However, some love that.

For that price range you can do quite good for yourself. You can get a few of the following:

Taylor 517 (make an offer for 2k shipped?): https://reverb.com/item/33392424-tay...cing-2019-2020

Yamaha A5R: https://reverb.com/item/30130269-yam..._8A6ggpW_Qx5Ys

Or my personal Favorite, a Furch! (They are made in the Czech Republic and are top notch. Here are a few options

Cutaway Dread: https://reverb.com/item/32766717-fur...-element-84032

Vinatage Sitka/Rosewood Dread: https://reverb.com/item/28311492-furch-vintage-2-d-sr

And a fun option: https://reverb.com/item/30208331-fur...OzdMutYcITneyM

Great suggestion ☝️- Sweet Taylor 517. Good price, feeling too good to be true?

[cliff_the_stiff]

Came across this today, Pretty great option:
https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=579474

[Bosley]

Another novice pricing question for you guys. As suggested, I called one of the forum sponsors for some price quotes to kind of establish a baseline for myself. (Really appreciate that suggestion!)

The D-28 wasn't in stock, but they were able to quote a price on a D-35 very close to the mentioned 40% off the list price. I've also been looking at the websites for local guitar shops over the last week, and it seems like the standard pricing for the D-28 and D-35 that I'm seeing everywhere is $2,899 for the D-28 and $3,099 for the D-35, i.e. about 20% off the list price for each.

So my question is whether it's typical to just pay this higher price at a local store, or is it normal to negotiate these down a bit as well? For example, if I was set on buying the D-35, I'd much rather purchase it locally, and would be willing to pay several hundred dollars more, that way I can avoid shipping a guitar across the country, can take home the exact guitar I test in the shop, possibly have the shop do a setup, support local, establish that local connection, etc. But it's easier to swallow the idea of maybe paying about $300 more or so, but $650 more is really pushing it. That's a huge discount.

Thoughts on this? Would it be normal to try to negotiate the $3,099 D-35 down to about $2,750 at a local shop? Or would that be setting yourself up for the equivalent of the fast food employee spitting in your drink when it comes to getting the guitar set up there?

[emtsteve]

Originally Posted by Bosley

...So my question is whether it's typical to just pay this higher price at a local store, or is it normal to negotiate these down a bit as well? For example, if I was set on buying the D-35, I'd much rather purchase it locally, and would be willing to pay several hundred dollars more, that way I can avoid shipping a guitar across the country, can take home the exact guitar I test in the shop, possibly have the shop do a setup, support local, establish that local connection, etc. But it's easier to swallow the idea of maybe paying about $300 more or so, but $650 more is really pushing it. That's a huge discount.

Thoughts on this? Would it be normal to try to negotiate the $3,099 D-35 down to about $2,750 at a local shop? Or would that be setting yourself up for the equivalent of the fast food employee spitting in your drink when it comes to getting the guitar set up there?

Certainly wouldn't hurt to ask. If I found a guitar I was really serious about buying locally (and I mean like "I'll take it - here's my money" serious) I wouldn't hesitate to let the shop owner know I can buy the same model for $XXXX online (they already know that, but may not know that you do) but that I would rather buy this guitar from you, and that I would be willing to pay a bit more for that. Ask for his best price, today, and if it's in your ballpark, buy it. The relationship and the ability to test firsthand is certainly worth something.

BTW, the D-35 is an awesome guitar. Good luck!

[DukeX]

Originally Posted by emtsteve

New Martin guitars can generally be had at 60% of (or 40% off) MSRP by calling one of the forum sponsor dealers.

Most likely on the Standard series and up. 16 series and down most likely 35% off MSRP. But these days, you never know.

[jschmitz54]

Originally Posted by Bosley

Another novice pricing question for you guys. As suggested, I called one of the forum sponsors for some price quotes to kind of establish a baseline for myself. (Really appreciate that suggestion!)

The D-28 wasn't in stock, but they were able to quote a price on a D-35 very close to the mentioned 40% off the list price. I've also been looking at the websites for local guitar shops over the last week, and it seems like the standard pricing for the D-28 and D-35 that I'm seeing everywhere is $2,899 for the D-28 and $3,099 for the D-35, i.e. about 20% off the list price for each.

So my question is whether it's typical to just pay this higher price at a local store, or is it normal to negotiate these down a bit as well? For example, if I was set on buying the D-35, I'd much rather purchase it locally, and would be willing to pay several hundred dollars more, that way I can avoid shipping a guitar across the country, can take home the exact guitar I test in the shop, possibly have the shop do a setup, support local, establish that local connection, etc. But it's easier to swallow the idea of maybe paying about $300 more or so, but $650 more is really pushing it. That's a huge discount.

Thoughts on this? Would it be normal to try to negotiate the $3,099 D-35 down to about $2,750 at a local shop? Or would that be setting yourself up for the equivalent of the fast food employee spitting in your drink when it comes to getting the guitar set up there?

I’ve done many negotiations, buying things but mostly in a business ownership role. Everyone’s skill level and comfort level can be very different when it comes to negotiating. Some large companies have become so good at negotiating that they realized they had to dial it back a bit because they were putting their suppliers out of business.

Assuming your retailer knows his business and you’re not concerned that you have to watch out for his financial well being, I’d suggest a few basics.
Include a few things in your proposal that offer you value but you may be willing to give up. Things like a set up, strings, picks, humidifier or anything that may be of some value to you. Not so many things maybe 2 or three.
Send or give him a copy of the price you can get. Tell him what your offer is and if it’s more than the quote include some of the other items mentioned above.
It’s best to me to make the offer via text or email. It takes the emotion out of the process to some extent.
Certainly let him know why you prefer to do business with them and give them the out, that is, I understand if you can’t do this and I’ve appreciated meeting you and hope we can reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Also state that you are ready to buy now if we can agree and spell out the terms of payment, financing, cash, trade in etc.
If you get a counter offer don’t be hesitant to go back and ask for a little more. Include some of those other items perhaps or negotiate price if you feel it’s to high.
One thing is when you offer a price you can always go up in price but you cannot negotiate a lower price so think about where you want to start negotiating and don’t start too high. People can feel uncomfortable offering a lower price but as long as it’s a fairly reasonable price there’s no harm done and sometimes it’s surprising what a good deal you get.
Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

[Bosley]

Very helpful indeed. You guys are awesome. What a great resource. Feel very lucky that I stumbled across this site in my research. I had a feeling that I was going to find purchasing a guitar to be pretty complicated... and I think I was right. But having this background info is critical.

Thanks!