Why Do You Sell: Custom $5+K Beauties?

[CarolD]

Okay, there’s something I don’t quite understand...

You plunk down your money for a slot with a fantastic luthier who builds out of this world guitars. You wait maybe years for your build, and end up watching the build with bated breath and growing excitement when your turn finally arrives.

You take delivery of this unbelievably drop dead gorgeous looking and sounding instrument (and omg...the beauties I’ve seen on this forum are enough to provoke heart palpitations and tears of joy!).

And then you sell it????

Help a newbie to understand

[Scotso]

Not every new guitar from a boutique mfg is awesome. So perhaps there is some buyer's remorse.

Then there is that GAS thing that tells you the grass will be greener with the next purchase.

My guess is the latter reason is responsible for more sales than the first one.

[zoopeda]

I think a lot of people had to sell guitars in 2020. When that $5k guitar arrives two years later, but you don’t have a job when it arrives, you have to reevaluate.

On the other hand, pre 2020, generally I see your point. Lots of newer expensive guitars on the classifieds. I think a lot of people don’t end up with what they expected and “hear in their head.” And a lot of people spend lots of money just to play, experiment with, and try out different guitars. An expensive hobby that way.

[Rosewood99]

Because some of us have a sickness.

[llew]

I've bought guitars I thought I'd never sell and ended up selling them. (well below the $5k mark) Some should have maybe been sent back for a refund. Part of the problem is the same thing that made you buy "that" particular guitar makes you want buy a different particular guitar as you think it's going to be better. (GAS) We joke about it a lot here but it's a sickness of sorts. The grass always "seeming" greener?
I wish I had a definitive answer for you Carol but I can only speak for myself. I wish I had some of the ones I've sold back again (especially early on when I really didn't know any better) but the majority were the right call I believe. I'm pretty much set with what I have now and periodically will consign something if I'm not playing it.

[ruger9]

Originally Posted by paulzoom

Because some of us have a sickness.

Best answer ever! LOL

[raysachs]

I'd have to buy a guitar like that before I could have any idea why I'd sell it. I've bought and sold a few $1200-$2000 guitars trying to nail down the right guitar for me. I don't like having a lot of stuff, so an all-rounder that handles everything I do (which isn't that much, so not that tough a task) is always my goal. I had a D-28 that was my only acoustic for 25 years. Now I have a CEO-7 that feels like a similar long term keeper. I don't know if I have 25 years left in my deteriorating old self, but I'm pretty sure that guitar will take me on out of here and hopefully will then go to someone who will enjoy it as much as I do... Outside chance I'll try something else someday, but I seriously doubt I'll sell this one unless I just can't play anymore at some point.

-Ray

[The Bard Rocks]

I have 3 such instruments now. I have never sold one that was made for me before, so why am I selling ones now? First, I have more than I need and they are spilling over in a way I once said I'd never let happen (sound familiar?). And it never hurts to have some money. My heirs will prefer that to guitars - I am of an age where you think about such things.

On one (listed on the classifieds), I played it for 14 years, happily. And slowly discovered that I don't like 12 fret models as much, so I was playing it less - over time. And, over time, arthritis started bending one finger in an unnatural way. Now I have trouble playing it. I am not sure why as the measurements I have taken show it not really different than others I can still play. But I am having more difficulty on this one. (I am having one made to address these issues and hopefully take me on out.)

Another never gave me all the sound I'd hoped for and is too quiet. I bought with my eyes instead of my ears. I had it made to use a wood I was interested in. It is a specialty instrument, made for specific needs (which I don't encounter often), but would work for daily use just fine as well - if I was as taken by the sound as I am with my others.

The third is a spectacular instrument. I had tremendous difficulty getting communication from the builder - he was apparently going through a difficult time in his personal life - which frustrated me to no end. And even after he completed it and was paid, he didn't send it for several months. As a result of these events, I have never been able to bond with it. And it is a specialty instrument that I wouldn't play regularly anyhow. I know I will never get one as good, but I also know I can do without it.

[J Patrick]

...some folks have more money than most of us...so there’s that...sometimes people no longer appreciate their expensive instrument.....oftentimes I see such instruments for sale because the owner is gathering funds to put towards another custom guitar purchase....and then some folks that own such guitars are “thinning the herd”....I’m sure there are other logical reasons as well....pretty much the same reasons that people sell less expensive guitars I guess...

[musicman1951]

I sold a very nice 000EC model to go up to a dread - D-28 Authentic.

I sold that magnificent dread when my shoulder would no longer tolerate that size.

When shopping I've played a lot of really fine guitars that simply did not match what my ear wanted. I don't have any problem imagining a custom guitar arriving as one of these - a really fine instrument that simply doesn't match the ear's greatest desires.

I've purchased many used instruments, and I never assume they are "less than" instruments. Like myself, many people tend to look to the greener grass. If I were younger I'd probably still be shopping.

[brencat]

Originally Posted by CarolD

Okay, there’s something I don’t quite understand...

You plunk down your money for a slot with a fantastic luthier who builds out of this world guitars. You wait maybe years for your build, and end up watching the build with bated breath and growing excitement when your turn finally arrives.

You take delivery of this unbelievably drop dead gorgeous looking and sounding instrument (and omg...the beauties I’ve seen on this forum are enough to provoke heart palpitations and tears of joy!).

And then you sell it????

Help a newbie to understand

I would suggest that most of the enthusiasts on this board do not have financial issues necessitating a sale. It’s more often the desire to try new things. Personally, I’ve found that I can’t deal with owning more than 5 guitars at a time. So now it’s a strict 1 in 1 out policy. If a potential purchase can kick out one of my existing 5 in an emotionless A/B shootout, factoring in all the critical criteria such as tone, playability, comfort, and ease of resale, the new guitar moves into that slot and the loser gets sold. It’s that simple.

I’ve been through 30 guitars in 9+ years of playing and have never once regretted a sale.

[Silly Moustache]

Hi Carol, I've had a number of guitars built for me but I still own only the one that was ordered for me by my wife in 1998. It was my 50th birthday present :



The most expensive guitar failure was ordered from a well known American maker and was merely a customised version of one of their standard models but very poorly finished and virtually unplayable due to poor bracing and a soft top. (I was told). My error was in not "knowing" the maker or their quality standards.

In the past I've ordered two guitars from a friend (a starving luthier, just to give him work and to get guitars that I was at that point too ignorant to define exactly what I wanted, and his lack of experience - we remain friends.

Now I am older (much older) and wiser, I tend to be able to know exactly what I want in a guitar, and make less errors.

[jgottsman11]

As Brencat said, the desire to try new things.

[zombywoof]

I only own one what you would call "custom" made guitar with the others all being old factory built instruments. But for me it is pretty much a numbers game. So about six month back I let a bunch go. It was not because I did not like them but over the decades I had simply acquired too many. Not one of them was even in the ballpark of a $5K guitar. For me though deciding which ones to part with is always a tough decision and is often followed by a good dose of remorse.

[rllink]

I think that often times, especially when one has to get in line and wait their turn, we build this mental image in our mind how beautiful it will be, how magical it will sound and how easy it will be to play. By the time it finally arrived the reality will never come close to the image. It is nothing more than a guitar. We set ourselves up for disappointment. I've done that with more than guitars.