I’ve bought guitars online with mixed results, to say the least. The Les Paul was awesome. The Baldwin-era Gretsch and Chapman Ghost Fret, not so much.
Never bought a bass that way.
Never bought a bass that way.
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Buying Used Without Trying - Your Experiences
- Thread starter LowEZ
- Start date
I've only had two problems with two guitars I bought on eBay. I bought an Ibanez RG7620 that arrived scratched up with what looked like blue pen. ***? This was not shown in the pictures nor was it mentioned in the description. The guitar was black and it would've been very difficult to make out the pen damage.
The other guitar arrived with the bottom smashed. It was an acoustic guitar that came with a hardshell case. There was no damage to the box or the case. Weird.
The other guitar arrived with the bottom smashed. It was an acoustic guitar that came with a hardshell case. There was no damage to the box or the case. Weird.
I got a Godin for a stupidly low price. It already had flats on it and came with lead, strap, stand, gig bag. It really was the steal of the decade. It was a mid-life crisis purchase and had only been played a handful of times and sat in a cupboard for a couple of years.
When i got it there was more relief than I've ever seen, most likely due to him putting on the flats and never adjusting the truss rod. It needed more than a full turn and actually took a couple of days to settle in. At one stage i thought i may have bought a dud as it was really quite bad.
When first playing with the intonation I tuned the E at the 12th harmonic and when I played the 12th fret it rang out as a nearly in tune F. Wow!!!! After tweaking for a half hour or so each night for three nights it was nearly spot on. After that it turned out to be an absolutely fantastic bass. When I sold it three years later i got double what i paid for it.
When i got it there was more relief than I've ever seen, most likely due to him putting on the flats and never adjusting the truss rod. It needed more than a full turn and actually took a couple of days to settle in. At one stage i thought i may have bought a dud as it was really quite bad.
When first playing with the intonation I tuned the E at the 12th harmonic and when I played the 12th fret it rang out as a nearly in tune F. Wow!!!! After tweaking for a half hour or so each night for three nights it was nearly spot on. After that it turned out to be an absolutely fantastic bass. When I sold it three years later i got double what i paid for it.
all instruments need a set up for a particular player. every single one of them! always.
if you get one that doesn't need your setup = you're lucky! you're a step ahead. cool beans!
Only bass I’ve ever been burned on was from the classifieds here.
Fender jazz with dead fret, tried to get it fixed and it just got worse. Sold it at a loss....
Done well with local craigslist type purchases, and had great success with GC online with the return policy.
Fender jazz with dead fret, tried to get it fixed and it just got worse. Sold it at a loss....
Done well with local craigslist type purchases, and had great success with GC online with the return policy.
I've probably bought 50 guitars and basses on line over the last 10 years. I assume that anything I buy will need to be set up to my specifications. I do a lot of my own set up work so it's not really a problem. If you mean by unplayable that you don't like the setup, that's one thing. If you mean you literally cannot play the instrument, that's another. I've only had two instruments that I literally could not play without a setup. One bass where the strings were literally on the fretboard. It took a few turns of the truss rod and I had to raise the bridge a little, but no big deal. The other was an old Gretsch guitar that is still at the shop. That's a long story.
If 10 out of 11 instruments you bought on line showed up needing major work, you're just not screening right. That's waaaaaay to high a percentage. I don't know anyone that has that much bad luck.
If 10 out of 11 instruments you bought on line showed up needing major work, you're just not screening right. That's waaaaaay to high a percentage. I don't know anyone that has that much bad luck.
I love buying online, I've bought TONS and I've never had a bigtime loser transaction
I only have interest late 70s, early 80s Japanese basses, I only buy under valued ones and I enjoy doing setups myself.
For me rolling the dice for a <$200 killer "as-is" or "non functioning" bass is a thrill that's almost always a winner.
I have a large collection of parts so I can do something interesting with whatever I have on hand.
If I buy a bass that's trashed beyond hope then 'I'll part it out', sell some pieces, maybe keep some of it for my hobby pit.
I only have interest late 70s, early 80s Japanese basses, I only buy under valued ones and I enjoy doing setups myself.
For me rolling the dice for a <$200 killer "as-is" or "non functioning" bass is a thrill that's almost always a winner.
I have a large collection of parts so I can do something interesting with whatever I have on hand.
If I buy a bass that's trashed beyond hope then 'I'll part it out', sell some pieces, maybe keep some of it for my hobby pit.
I've never had a terrible online bass/guitar buying experience... yet. I think I count 3 basses and 6 guitars. Most usually needed new strings and some minor adjustments, but nothing bad.
I read this at first as "buying used without any effort" and I was super excited, but now I see that it's going to take some effort if I want a success rate over 60 percnt
6 sight unseen in the last five years; none needed more than minor setup. Not a one had major issues of any kind.
Bought six from here and two from eBay.
Zero problems with any of them.
All arrived in good condition, were exactly as described, and set up acceptably. I did change strings on most of them because I have my own ideas about what strings to use with what. And I redid some of the setups. But my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive.
Zero problems with any of them.
All arrived in good condition, were exactly as described, and set up acceptably. I did change strings on most of them because I have my own ideas about what strings to use with what. And I redid some of the setups. But my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive.
Bought my first and only bass Jackson JS3 used without trying it. Seller said it was like brand new, for about one third the price of new one, but lived in town 150 miles away. He was in some serious need for cash. It had 2 small dents on the back, so it was not a big deal. It also still had plastic covers on tuning machines. There was also very bad soldering job on output jack, but it took me 3 minutes to fix that. Bass plays amazing and I am very happy with it. Everyone thinks it is brand new instrument even now.
Bought 47 over past year.
Three new, from dealers.
44 used, from private party sellers
Issues:
One TB bass had an over-filed nut slot on the E string which a luthier had to fix. Seller gave a $90 credit.
One TB bass had a non-working pickup due to bad blend pot. Seller paid for luthier repair.
Three TB basses had undisclosed cosmetic damage. Sellers gave a fair refund amount for 2 of those. I didn't request a refund on the third.
Two TB basses had very dead strings.
About three had perfect intonation, all others required at least some degree of intonation work. (5 to 10 minutes max.)
About 10 had "perfect" action, requiring no adjustments to my taste.
Several had the truss rod set significantly far from ideal (took 1 turn or more. One took 4 or 5 turns (!) to render the action playable.)
Almost all required at least some degree of adjustment (truss rod and/or saddles) to set up for proper action, even those from dealers.
ALL 47 ended up being absolutely PERFECT, fantastic, awesome, wonderful
basses after I set them up.
For MANY of them, I ended up feeling very sorry for the seller. I feel certain that if they played the bass after I set it up, they would have never considered selling it.
Bought a few guitars as well, on ebay and Reverb. One Reverb guitar REEKED of smoke. I asked about smoke in advance, and the seller said "There is smoking in the house, but the guitar was in a room that nobody smoked in, and it was in a closet, and it never came out of the case, and I'm sure you would have to be a bloodhound to smell smoke on it." He lied. He refused a return so I traded it with a local guy for a similar one of a different color and we were both happy.
Three new, from dealers.
44 used, from private party sellers
Issues:
One TB bass had an over-filed nut slot on the E string which a luthier had to fix. Seller gave a $90 credit.
One TB bass had a non-working pickup due to bad blend pot. Seller paid for luthier repair.
Three TB basses had undisclosed cosmetic damage. Sellers gave a fair refund amount for 2 of those. I didn't request a refund on the third.
Two TB basses had very dead strings.
About three had perfect intonation, all others required at least some degree of intonation work. (5 to 10 minutes max.)
About 10 had "perfect" action, requiring no adjustments to my taste.
Several had the truss rod set significantly far from ideal (took 1 turn or more. One took 4 or 5 turns (!) to render the action playable.)
Almost all required at least some degree of adjustment (truss rod and/or saddles) to set up for proper action, even those from dealers.
ALL 47 ended up being absolutely PERFECT, fantastic, awesome, wonderful
basses after I set them up.
For MANY of them, I ended up feeling very sorry for the seller. I feel certain that if they played the bass after I set it up, they would have never considered selling it.
Bought a few guitars as well, on ebay and Reverb. One Reverb guitar REEKED of smoke. I asked about smoke in advance, and the seller said "There is smoking in the house, but the guitar was in a room that nobody smoked in, and it was in a closet, and it never came out of the case, and I'm sure you would have to be a bloodhound to smell smoke on it." He lied. He refused a return so I traded it with a local guy for a similar one of a different color and we were both happy.
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I’ve only bought one bass unseen, however, it came with a money back guarantee, my Warwick Corvette STD. The bass came with pick up covers not screwed down (meaning the pickups were loose), the bridge was not screwed down tight, the saddles needed the string spacing adjusted, and the neck was bowed and had a significant twist.
Anchoring the pickups and the bridge, took all of about 30 seconds. The string spacing took a little bit more fanegling to get that right. The neck took a truss rod adjustment and a lighter gauge set of strings and a week to settle in.
Turned out to be a great instrument that came cheap. Not a bass for those adverse to any and all physical activity, or dealing with chronic back/shoulder ailments ( it’s about as heavy as they come), but man, what a sound.
I've bought two basses site/unseen/unplayed and lucked out on both. The first was a new Washburn XB125. It was on ebay and across the country in Vancouver, I'm on the East Coast. I didn't have the cash for it so I asked if I could buy it outright if the auction didn't go. The seller was a music store and agreed to keep it off of ebay but couldn't refuse an in store sale if someone showed interest. Long story short, I came up with the cash and had a bass. Turned out to have good tone and was very comfortable to play. I sold it this spring after about ten years.
The second bass I bought is my baby - 2011 Music Man Stingray HS in black cherryburst that I bought, sight unseen again and having never even gotten close to one before, from a seller in Quebec on Kijiji in 2016. We communicated by email and telephone (at HIS insistence) before any money changed hands. It arrived in absolutely pristine condition in the original hard case - still had bits of plastic film under the pick guard screws! I checked-out the sin number before purchase and it all looked good.
So yeah, you can say I've had very good experiences buying basses without playing them. Still, it is nice to try things out first and check the finish, balance, and see how it plays and sounds. I found two that I didn't want to pass on and got lucky both times. Neither needed any major adjustments and both arrived intact and in great shape.
The second bass I bought is my baby - 2011 Music Man Stingray HS in black cherryburst that I bought, sight unseen again and having never even gotten close to one before, from a seller in Quebec on Kijiji in 2016. We communicated by email and telephone (at HIS insistence) before any money changed hands. It arrived in absolutely pristine condition in the original hard case - still had bits of plastic film under the pick guard screws! I checked-out the sin number before purchase and it all looked good.
So yeah, you can say I've had very good experiences buying basses without playing them. Still, it is nice to try things out first and check the finish, balance, and see how it plays and sounds. I found two that I didn't want to pass on and got lucky both times. Neither needed any major adjustments and both arrived intact and in great shape.
my used and b-stock basses and acoustic guitars all came in the condition promised. i rarely buy from anyone who doesn't have stellar feedback and lots of it, which probably helps. i expect to need setups on all of them as i prefer extra light strings and low action.
I currently own four basses, none of which I played prior to buying:
- SX Medium-Scale Jazz bought new. Need a setup but that was no problem. Wonderful bass, love it;
- 1993 Fender Urge Bass (MIA) bought used from a fellow TBer. Arrived in flawless condition, not a scratch on it. I adjusted the truss rod a little. Stupendous bass;
- 2001 Stingray 5H, also bought from another TBer. Arrived in condition exactly as described. Thunderous sound, comfortable neck. Thrilled with it;
- Traveler TB-4P, bought new from Music123. Nice wide neck, medium scale. Great portability. Needed a setup but that was easy. Tuning stability could be better. Still like it.
