Poll: Your position regarding used gear

[jTrolt]

I've had it with buying used instruments. Overpaid (pretty much new price, scarce instrument) earlier this year from a 5 star, 100% trust rated seller on the 'verb, only to receive an unbelievably scungy slab of wood with a lot more dings than the photos could indicate, and really filthy frets. But at least it was salvageable.

But this one really has me saying, I'm done:
Friend finds a bass I'm looking for in a chain store specializing in used musical instruments, a couple states away. He says plays good, looks good, sounds good. I order it on line and have it shipped. No haggle, it was priced just right for what it is.
I receive it, am pleased with the look, general appearance and okay playability, but I see the action has a bit too much relief. You can guess where this is going...
Grab included truss wrench, and sure enough, spins freely. No resistance. Called my local tech, and yep - probably at least what I paid for the instrument to pull the fretboard, etc, as it's a dual - action truss rod, and no Stu-mac repair kit is going to get it working again. Major surgery.

Call retailer. They forcefully declare "shipping damage!". I say well, the box is remarkably clean and intact. They pass me to shipping manager, who says they checked the truss rod before it went out - what do you mean, it's broken? I describe just as I did above. I stated that, IMHO, truss rods don't pop in shipping, they get broken by ill-informed players that crank willy-nilly until it pops. I disclose my findings regarding the astronomical estimate to repair. But if you want to submit a claim to the shipper, that's your call...
Silence.
Hold please.
Okay - we're sending a return authorization.
Now, I can't say enough about how decent these people were through the whole process, other than their indignation over the truss rod. They were being extremely careful about making sure I saw every little blemish, even emailing more pics to verify prior to shipping. Packaging / padding was waaaay over and above any new instrument I've purchased. I am completely sympathetic to their situation, and truly believe their intentions were good, but they have an instrument that was likely a total loss when it came in their door. Completely sucks to be them.

My conclusion is, used instruments, especially those found at the local pawn/used gear outlet have an unacceptable regularity of latent issues, especially in the neck department. When someone wrecks their instrument in this way, only hope is a quick buck at the local used dealer, 'case they damn sure are not going to take the loss for their mistake. It's not like the guy at the counter can test the trust rod of every instrument that walks in the door. It would be like taking your car in for a trade and having them drop the oil pan to inspect the engine's crank shaft before assessing a trade in value.

So, since I cannot trust my fellow musicians to be forthright in their gear dealings, I will now stay firmly committed to buying only new gear. It just cost me several hours of distraction and a sizeable loss for the retailer because someone felt it best to grab some quick cash and shove a total loss into someone else's life than to eat their own sh@@.

End rant.

What's your experience?

 

[WestyBassBob]

TLDR

I find used instruments to be overpriced and not worth the hassle. Both used times I bought used guitars I ended up wishing I’d just bought new. They weren’t terrible. Just not very good and with issues that left me shopping again sooner than later.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I've had it with buying used instruments. Overpaid (pretty much new price, scarce instrument) earlier this year from a 5 star, 100% trust rated seller on the 'verb, only to receive an unbelievably scungy slab of wood with a lot more dings than the photos could indicate, and really filthy frets. But at least it was salvageable.

But this one really has me saying, I'm done:
Friend finds a bass I'm looking for in a chain store specializing in used musical instruments, a couple states away. He says plays good, looks good, sounds good. I order it on line and have it shipped. No haggle, it was priced just right for what it is.
I receive it, am pleased with the look, general appearance and okay playability, but I see the action has a bit too much relief. You can guess where this is going...
Grab included truss wrench, and sure enough, spins freely. No resistance. Called my local tech, and yep - probably at least what I paid for the instrument to pull the fretboard, etc, as it's a dual - action truss rod, and no Stu-mac repair kit is going to get it working again. Major surgery.

Call retailer. They forcefully declare "shipping damage!". I say well, the box is remarkably clean and intact. They pass me to shipping manager, who says they checked the truss rod before it went out - what do you mean, it's broken? I describe just as I did above. I stated that, IMHO, truss rods don't pop in shipping, they get broken by ill-informed players that crank willy-nilly until it pops. I disclose my findings regarding the astronomical estimate to repair. But if you want to submit a claim to the shipper, that's your call...
Silence.
Hold please.
Okay - we're sending a return authorization.
Now, I can't say enough about how decent these people were through the whole process, other than their indignation over the truss rod. They were being extremely careful about making sure I saw every little blemish, even emailing more pics to verify prior to shipping. Packaging / padding was waaaay over and above any new instrument I've purchased. I am completely sympathetic to their situation, and truly believe their intentions were good, but they have an instrument that was likely a total loss when it came in their door. Completely sucks to be them.

My conclusion is, used instruments, especially those found at the local pawn/used gear outlet have an unacceptable regularity of latent issues, especially in the neck department. When someone wrecks their instrument in this way, only hope is a quick buck at the local used dealer, 'case they damn sure are not going to take the loss for their mistake. It's not like the guy at the counter can test the trust rod of every instrument that walks in the door. It would be like taking your car in for a trade and having them drop the oil pan to inspect the engine's crank shaft before assessing a trade in value.

So, since I cannot trust my fellow musicians to be forthright in their gear dealings, I will now stay firmly committed to buying only new gear. It just cost me several hours of distraction and a sizeable loss for the retailer because someone felt it best to grab some quick cash and shove a total loss into someone else's life than to eat their own sh@@.

End rant.

What's your experience?

I only by used gear from Guitar Center. Comes with 100% money back guarantee. If it's coming from different store, I have it shipped to my local store. Gear is conditionally rated ( this is a little hit or miss) but they will stand behind it. And if it was over rated , you can work out a pretty good discount or give it back and get a full refund.If there is a problem with shipping damage, you just refuse delivery.

I walked away with some significant values buys there, and never had much of a problem when things are as advertised.

 

[bholder]

TLDR

I find used instruments to be overpriced and not worth the hassle. Both used times I bought used guitars I ended up wishing I’d just bought new. They weren’t terrible. Just not very good and with issues that left me shopping again sooner than later.

My experience has been generally quite the opposite. Yes, I've had a very few bad experiences, but in general, I've found used instruments of high quality available at substantial savings over new. Besides being able to find things that simply aren't available new.

 

[4SG]

I bought my first bass in 1981. Since that time I don't think I ever bought a new bass from a store. Granted, I only had one bass for many years, but when I started gigging regularly I bought and sold them all the time, maybe 15-20 basses. Not one was bought new.

 

[sovereign_510]

i have bought used, i wouldn't say that i *never will again,* but i have had problems. i prefer buying new if i can, though i have bought used out of necessity

 

[Smith357]

I rarely buy new gear, and I do not buy an instrument without playing it first. With a current number of seven, only one was new,

 

[coreyfyfe]

Most of my gear is older than I am.

Sometimes you get hosed by an untrustworthy seller, sometimes a retailer gets hosed by a trade in that isn’t above board. It happens, though rarely in my experience.

 

[Ricky Rioli]

used instruments, especially those found at the local pawn/used gear outlet have an unacceptable regularity of latent issues, especially in the neck department.

Order from G&L and you can enjoy this particular disappointment whilst still buying new, best of both worlds

 

[ad9000]

Sorry to hear about your 'verb nightmare - it does happen, unfortunately. Almost all of my used buying has been from the TB classifieds rather than verb or Evilbay, and I've had almost all good experiences here. Only once or twice since 2004 have I felt that an item was misrepresented. One bass that I bought recently on TB had some issues, primarily because the seller was inexperienced and/or ignorant as far as what was necessary to properly maintain the bass. He was very accommodating and offered to reimburse me for repair expenses, and fortunately there was nothing that wasn't correctible.

I really don't like buying instruments without getting my hands on them, especially if they are vintage, but with the ones I have bought sight unseen I've had good luck overall. I have taken advantage of return policies in a couple of cases when I bought from dealers. I am less hesitant about buying used amps online, but I would avoid buying heavy tube amps if shipping is involved.

My only experience buying from GC online was an older Euphonic Audio cabinet. I had it shipped to a local GC store so I was able to inspect it before taking it home. I considered that one a score because it was one of the few 4 ohm models they made of that particular cab as opposed to the standard 8 ohms, a fact that wasn't mentioned in the listing. While it wouldn't have necessarily increased the value of the cab, it was a surprise benefit to me.

 

[fishdude101101]

I only by used gear from Guitar Center. Comes with 100% money back guarantee. If it's coming from different store, I have it shipped to my local store. Gear is conditionally rated ( this is a little hit or miss) but they will stand behind it. And if it was over rated , you can work out a pretty good discount or give it back and get a full refund.If there is a problem with shipping damage, you just refuse delivery.

I walked away with some significant values buys there, and never had much of a problem when things are as advertised

Guitar center is the best for used gear. I think their used prices are good too.

 

[Geri O]

Pretty certain most responses here will come from those with bad experiences. Certainly understandable. I won’t demean those folks as “squeaky wheels”….

But allow me to comment with my very good fortune buying used gear. I guess I’m careful to examine the gear and the seller and look for anything possibly out of sorts with the deal. So far, so good. There was one less than optimum deal with a 98 Stingray SR5. It was a “too good to be true” deal from GC. I was told that it was “around 5 years old”, but it was much older. And had very chewed-up frets. However, I considered what I paid for the bass and and the cost of a re-fret by our local and most-excellent guitar guy, I decided to keep the bass. After the re-fret, it turned out to be a typically great Stingray bass. I came out after all.

Now that I think about it, there’s been a few new items that seemed like an answer to a solution, but turned out to be garbage and went in the garbage a few minutes later. Be careful buying from Ali Baba and Temu….

 

[MuseChaser]

Let's see... My first violin was made in the early 1800s, and the second one in 1980. Piano in 1980. Pretty much anything I want to own was made years ago....houses, cars, instruments. I think the only new instrument I've ever bought was a cheap Ibanez SRH500F. Can't imagine buying a new one, unless it was better and cheaper than the used one I was interested in. That rarely happens.

Edit - didn't answer the poll. None of the options applied.

 

[Driften]

Buying new can net you a lemon as well. Things slip pas QA with most of the makers. The only sure bet is to be able to inspect/play the bass first, but that is often not possible. Normally what I want isn't available locally and some unavailable new from anybody. Some runs are small and sold out long before I'm interested.

Sorry you had two bad experiences in a row!

 

[JTNuney]

It's not like the guy at the counter can test the trust rod of every instrument that walks in the door.

Just came here to mention how much I enjoyed this accidental yet very appropriate typo.

“Hey, Bob, did you check the neck relief on that used bass we just took in?”

“Nah, didn’t need to. It’s got a trust rod!”

 

[MrAB4003]

It's been mostly positive for me with used gear, but I have anxiety about getting into a situation like OP did.

I traded for my No. 2 bass (my 2022 Ric 4003) gently used from the original owner and I absolutely love it! I've also bought and traded high end used and vintage basses in the past and I didn't bond with them. There was nothing wrong with any of them in terms of playability, structure, or build quality. I just wanted something different.

 

[jTrolt]

“Nah, didn’t need to. It’s got a trust rod!”

LOL - You got me! I love it!
Laughter's the best medicine!

 

[chris_b]

99% of my gear over the years has been second hand. I have a very low turnover because I buy what works for me and tend to keep it for many years.

I buy from known members from bass sites and, so far, I have never bought anything that had issues or problems.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

Some days you bite the bear, some days the bear bites you.
Other days, no one gets a meal...

 

[ajkula66]

None of the options in the poll applied so I passed...and what, no carrots ?

I've bought hundreds of guitars, basses, amps etc. over the past 45 years - both new and used - and while I had some less-than-stellar experiences they usually got resolved very quickly, thank you Guitar Center...

Most of my gear dates from era when leaded petrol was the norm and I have next to no interest in most of the new stuff, so I'll keep on buying used gear, on those rare occasions that I actually find myself wishing for something that I don't already own.

My $0.02 only...