Often less expensive than a new guitar and just as ready to rock out, a used guitar could be the perfect addition to your guitar collection or the perfect first guitar to start you off, but how do you know that your potential purchase isn’t a potential dud?
The truth is you can find some fantastic guitars that were expensive when new, but are relatively cheap secondhand. Sometimes you can get lucky and find a custom or a limited edition guitar that someone is selling quickly for the cash and you can often get a gem of a bargain if you know what you are searching for. It really pays to do the research before thinking about buying a previously owned guitar as some sellers will jack the price up to cash in, especially if they know they are selling to a novice who may have limited knowledge about guitars.
So, as a novice who may not know squat about guitars, what should you look for when inspecting a previously owned guitar?
OK, Let’s just say that after perusing the weekly classifieds musical instrument section you have found a used guitar and you are ready to go and take a look at it. Before you head out, look below at a list of hints that will help you when examining the guitar and talking to the seller:
Hints on Buying Your Second Hand Guitar and Questions to Ask the Seller
The model and make of the guitar – It is best if you can research the guitar model you are interested in to find out the asking price elsewhere, both the new and used price. Also in your research, find out if other people have experienced any problems with it. You can find reviews for almost any guitar submitted at www.harmony-central.com/Guitar or you can check it out at your local music store.
Check the condition of the guitar – Ask the seller about any damage that would be undetectable upon rough inspection. An honest seller may tell you.
How old is the guitar, how long have they had it? – If they have owned it for a long time, they should know the history of its use, repairs and maintenance etc. If they are not forthcoming with that sort of information, they may be trying to pull one over you.
Check for the following when inspecting the guitar:
The guitars overall condition – Examine the guitar and make note of any obvious damage. – Guitars often take a bit of wear and tear and if its just small scrapes and scratches then the guitar should probably be OK. Check for rust also, not just on the strings, but also examine the hardware that is holding the strings and the pickups. If you find rust in any of these places… run! It’s not worth it. A guitar that may fall apart on you in the near future isn't much good, is it? Trust me – leave it alone.
Examine the neck of the guitar – the neck is very important. Here are some areas for you to examine:
Check the neck and make sure it is not warped or out of shape in any way.
Check the area where the neck joins to the body of the guitar – examine it for cracks: signs that it may have been broken in the past.
In the same manor, check the area where the neck joins the head of the guitar
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Check the Action – How close the strings are to the fret board starting at the head of the guitar all the way down to the bridge is described as Action. Preferably you want to have the strings very close to the fret board as to make it easier to press them down (not so close that they are touching of course). If the strings are nice and close to the fret board all the way along, you would say that the guitar has a good Action. Pictured right is a guitar with poor Action. Do you see how far the strings sit off the fret board? Guitars with poor action are harder to play and don’t sound very good. You can repair the action on your guitar by taking it to a guitar technician, but it will cost you between $20 and $50.
Intonation of the strings - The accuracy of each individual note that the guitar can produce on any string is described as a guitar's intonation. If the intonation is correct, every note on the guitar will be the correct pitch – If it is out, the guitar will be impossible to tune and it will sound horrible. To roughly check the intonation, play the E shape barre chord on each fret of the guitar. As you move towards the bridge of the guitar, you should hear the chord keeping its pitch – if not, the intonation is out and you will need to get a guitar technician to work on the problem.
Checking Out An Electric Guitar
If you are checking out an electric guitar, you must plug it in and see how it sounds through an amp. Ask the seller if you can play it through your amp and if you don’t have one, ask someone if you can borrow theirs. Try the following when testing an electric guitar through an amp:
Turn the amp up to a fair volume level and then play with the volume and tone controls by turning them to full and then back to zero. Test the pickup selector by flicking its switch back and forth. Carefully listen to all of the sounds that are being made while doing these things. You are listening for scratchy sounds or clicks that might indicate old or worn electrics.
Strum a single chord and while the chord is ringing start playing with the controls like before, still listening for scratches or clicks or any other nasty sounds. Guitar technicians can fix these problems and most guitars need to be done about once every 5 - 10 years. Just be aware of this fact or you could find yourself spending more money than you first intended.
Important Things To Remember Before You Purchase Your Second Hand Guitar
Check the electric guitars sound – Before purchasing an electric guitar, you want to know that the guitar sounds like it should? Once you have tested the guitar's sound, go to a music store and ask if you could play on a new model of that same model guitar. If at all possible, use a similar amplifier to the one that you tested the used guitar on, and see if you notice any BIG differences. There is a simple rule that I like to follow: If you’re not happy with the guitar sound… Don’t buy it!
The paramount thing to remember when shopping for any guitar, whether it be acoustic or electric is... Don’t shop impulsively.A guitar is a major purchase and you want to get the right one. Leave yourself time to go away and think about the purchase. If you have doubts when checking out a guitar, you are probably better to leave it and hold out for something that better suits you.
If you are a novice guitarist and a little worried about testing guitar in public – don’t worry. It is important to remember that you are not there to showcase your playing ability, but are there to discern whether your proposed buy is a good deal or not, so just go for it.
Take an experienced guitarist along - If you are still worried, take an experienced guitarist along with you when you are checking out a possible purchase. See if you can get a teacher or a friend to come along. Most musicians love to help newbies. Not only will they be able to offer helpful advice, but they will be good moral support when it’s time to pick up the guitar and test it out in public.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Neil Gerstein is an expert author who writes about multiple topics. You can read some of his articles on his following websites:
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