Appreciate the input from both of you.

I don't know how many guitars retailers you have delt with, but my experience with pretty much all of them has been fantastic. They generally have great customer service and are usually also guitar players, so they are easy to talk to. Keep in mind, they wan you to buy strings from them because that's where they make their money.

I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but I bought my Dave's Guitar Shop Thin Skin Strat secondhand from Reverb. The tremolo bar seemed to be ginked up, so I reached out to Dave's Guitar Shop to ask which tremolo bar I should buy to replace it.

They just responded asking for my address, and sent me a tremolo bar and spring for free.

DallasTeleAg said:

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I've purchased some fairly high dollar guitars off Reverb (the highest being about $3,200), and have had good experiences at this point. If I have a chance to play in person, then I would always choose that route. However, I personally like purchasing used guitars because you can find such a great deal. As long as you are buying guitars with a good market, you can easily resell it if you don't like it. You would be out the 5% to Reverb and taxes. If you are buying it from an individual, then they will not take it back if you just don't care for it. If they misrepresented it or lied about it, then you involved Reverb if they won't take it back or refund some money.

For example, I ended up buying (2) Gibson ES-330 guitars back in 2020 for $2,700 each. I ended up loving one and not caring for the feel of the other. I turned around and resold the other for $2,900, so I was out some taxes on the overall experience. Granted, that ES-330 was a VOS Olive Drab Green 330, and now they show to be going for around $4,500. I wish I had held onto it for a few years.

This is just the risk of buying off Reverb.

Most legit retailers will easily accept returns. CME, Sweetwater, and others will usually take a guitar back if you receive it and it just doesn't meet your expectations. Also, keep in mind that when you are purchasing a guitar for over $2,000 from an online retailer, you should speak with an actual person. Talk about what you are looking for. Ask their actual opinion on the specific instrument. Ask if there is something else in stock that everyone thinks plays extremely well. Ask them what your options are if you don't like the guitar.

If you see a guitar on Reverb from one of these retailers, just call them and buy direct from them. They will usually let them go for less, and you are generally safe buying from a legit company. I actually found my 60 RI Les Paul while searching Reverb, and found it at the Tone Shop in Addison. When i came to down a week later, I ran by the shop to play it and ultimately purchase it for a good deal (less than they had it on Reverb).

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Echoing this advice.

I had looked for an Alex Lifeson PRS acoustic on Reverb for some time. When they would show up I would watch them a few days and see if the price went down. They got snapped up quickly each time.

A month or two went by and I saw one show up at The Tone Shop in Addison. Called them and they said they had just listed it on Reverb a couple hours earlier.

Bought it from them that day direct from the store, not from Reverb. They threw in free shipping and it showed up the next day way cheaper than any of the others like it I have seen listed since.

I saved about $200 depending on which other listings I compare my deal to.

Not being able to play it first was only a minor concern. The employee I talked to told me they had set it up and that it felt good, was "very playable", and had a good sound, so I went with it.

DallasTeleAg said:

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I've purchased some fairly high dollar guitars off Reverb (the highest being about $3,200), and have had good experiences at this point. If I have a chance to play in person, then I would always choose that route. However, I personally like purchasing used guitars because you can find such a great deal. As long as you are buying guitars with a good market, you can easily resell it if you don't like it. You would be out the 5% to Reverb and taxes. If you are buying it from an individual, then they will not take it back if you just don't care for it. If they misrepresented it or lied about it, then you involved Reverb if they won't take it back or refund some money.

For example, I ended up buying (2) Gibson ES-330 guitars back in 2020 for $2,700 each. I ended up loving one and not caring for the feel of the other. I turned around and resold the other for $2,900, so I was out some taxes on the overall experience. Granted, that ES-330 was a VOS Olive Drab Green 330, and now they show to be going for around $4,500. I wish I had held onto it for a few years.

This is just the risk of buying off Reverb.

Most legit retailers will easily accept returns. CME, Sweetwater, and others will usually take a guitar back if you receive it and it just doesn't meet your expectations. Also, keep in mind that when you are purchasing a guitar for over $2,000 from an online retailer, you should speak with an actual person. Talk about what you are looking for. Ask their actual opinion on the specific instrument. Ask if there is something else in stock that everyone thinks plays extremely well. Ask them what your options are if you don't like the guitar.

If you see a guitar on Reverb from one of these retailers, just call them and buy direct from them. They will usually let them go for less, and you are generally safe buying from a legit company. I actually found my 60 RI Les Paul while searching Reverb, and found it at the Tone Shop in Addison. When i came to down a week later, I ran by the shop to play it and ultimately purchase it for a good deal (less than they had it on Reverb).

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I've been pleased with Sweetwater so far. The "sales engineer" called me the next morning after the order to let me know the cable I ordered with it was out of stock and wanted to know if he should ship what he had (I ordered the guitar plus a case, strap, and cable) or hold it until the cable arrived. Asked why I chose Sweetwater and I told him a buddy from church had recently ordered a Gibson Les Paul from them and had been pleased with how everything was handled. He then looked the guy up and moved me over to that sales engineer.

Got an email this morning with pictures of the actual guitar.

Also like that they do a 55 point inspection on every guitar over $399 before it ships. Doesn't mean it still won't need a setup after it arrives, but at least you know you're not getting stuck with something that shouldn't have slipped past the manufacturer's QC.

Seems like a much better outfit than Guitar Center.

Would've liked to buy from the more local guy in Bastrop, but he can't get stuff from Fender, Gibson, PRS, etc. unless it's second hand. With the bigger manufacturers, they won't sell to them unless they're moving something like $250K/year on their product. Thus the reason you don't see that many guitar shops anymore unless you live in a big city with a strong music scene.

Worked on my new Novo, today. Neck cleaned and oiled, frets polished, new strings, and treble bleed circuit added. Did a full setup on the guitar after I finished, and it is playing and sounding like a dream.

Honestly, I have to keep myself from immediately going to their site, or Reverb, and buying a Mirus J model, which may end up being my next purchase. These are just fantastic guitars for those of us who love vintage guitars and sounds.

I will say, I am curious as to why Novo doesn't default to installing the treble bleed circuit as stock. When I took the control plate off, I was pleasantly surprised to see they use Emerson CTS pots and capacitor.

For those who have never installed a treble bleed circuit, I highly recommend it. It is super easy to install and makes the volume knob on a guitar extremely useable: https://emersoncustom.com/products/2017-treble-bleed-circuit-volume-mod

Guitar Center had a good deal on a Williams Allegro IV

About a $150 off and I was craving one bad. I want to sit down more on the piano and create back tracks so I can do more chord play on my guitar. (some singer songwriter stuff ya know)

Been very pleased with the purchase so far and key strikes are outstanding.

My wife is really taking to it as well. I have never seen her so focused before. She was on it for like 3 hours today. Goal is to get her and the kids proficient enough so I can play along side them with my guitar.

Incase anyone was looking for a budget keyboard with great tone, this is a winner. Ain't no workstation but that's many years down the line for me.

now that is something cool and different. I love the single coil with the p90. Don't see that everyday....

Just wanted to follow up as promised. Finally, after a discouraging silence, I got an email from Sam Ash today saying they're processing a refund for the difference in cost. So that's a nice little (not very expected) Christmas bonus! Gotta say I'm pleased with their customer service, and wanted to advertise the good comments at least as loudly as the original criticism which it cancels!

edit - sorry, i guess shutterfly pics don't embed

Just know, your name shows up on those links. Don't know if you mind or not.

For the sorta rook so he can take his links down.

Thanks, I DIDN'T realize that. And Thanks to MB for hosting them elsewhere.

I used to have the imgur app, and it gave me enough grief that I deleted it. Guess I'll need to find a better alternative.

You can upload images directly on a TexAgs post from your cell phone or computer. No need to host them elsewhere.

DallasTeleAg said:

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You can upload images directly on a TexAgs post from your cell phone or computer. No need to host them elsewhere.

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Isn't that only for people with stars?

Oh... didn't know that. I just know I can, didn't know it was because I pay for stars.

What is a good cheapish guitar for a 7 year old that wants to give it a try?

Sea Speed said:

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What is a good cheapish guitar for a 7 year old that wants to give it a try?

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I bought my 8 yr old a Luna Aurora Borealis 3/4 size off of Sweetwater. It was less than $200.

https://www.amazon.com/Fender-FA-15N-String-Beginner-Acoustic/dp/B07BCPM3RX/ref=sr_1_23?th=1

Fender 3/4 size acoustic, choice of nylon or steel strings, $150

Or, they have a starter pack (with tuner, stand, strap, strings, lessons, etc.) for $50 more

https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Acoustic-Beginner-Starter-Fingerboard/dp/B09S193198/ref=sr_1_37

$140 for damaged box on that second one. Not bad.

Any new Christmas gear?

No new guitar, in fact I sold one a couple of days ago and am taking one to be consigned in a shop in Lubbock tomorrow. But, I am getting this-



Simple mixer to run my video editing computers through. My old one puked a couple of days ago.

I asked for a StewMac gift card to get some tools. Now I just need to decide how to spend it.

TX AG 88 said:

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https://www.amazon.com/Fender-FA-15N-String-Beginner-Acoustic/dp/B07BCPM3RX/ref=sr_1_23?th=1

Fender 3/4 size acoustic, choice of nylon or steel strings, $150

Or, they have a starter pack (with tuner, stand, strap, strings, lessons, etc.) for $50 more

https://www.amazon.com/Fender-Acoustic-Beginner-Starter-Fingerboard/dp/B09S193198/ref=sr_1_37

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Thanks for this BTW, we bought the whole kit for my daughter and she's extremely excited.

Slicer97 said:

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MiniSlicer got his Epiphone Modern Figured Les Paul in Carribean Fade (detailed description because I can't post pics).

He was almost tearing up when he saw it because I had hinted it was a little outside the budget and he was expecting something else.

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Like this?

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Epiphone/Les-Paul-Modern-Figured-Electric-Guitar-Caribbean-Blue-Fade-1500000326751.gc?cntry=us&source=4SOS0DRBA&source=4WWMWXGT&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIl6qY6b6tgwMV0FN_AB3tug_EEAAYASAAEgIzH_D_BwE

Would love to hear a review.

I didn't make you click on that link!

dave99ag said:

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Used some Christmas money for a new pedal... The Dane!

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A pedal that has a BSC mode.

maroon barchetta said:

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I didn't make you click on that link!

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No, just thought I would do the public service for my fellow Ags. True to form, google etc jumped on the opportunity...

That is a sweet looking first guitar. Love the colors. Nice work slicer.

Glad it helped!