Used Guitars
Greetings everybody! Today we still talk about purchasing a guitar. If you are on tight budget you may consider used guitars as another option. Please bear in mind that used guitars here are different from vintage guitars. Should you are interested in vintage guitars I will make another post dedicated to them next time.
OK, let’s go back to our business.
What can you expect from a used acoustic guitar?
- Body defects such as dents, scratches or even cracks
- Bowed / warped neck
- Uneven worn frets or missing frets
- Loosen tuning pegs
- Popping off bridge
- Broken saddle / nut
- Rusted strings
- Low price
Yikes! I bet you don’t want to see those all except the last one which I can’t agree more. Now to help you screen those bad points I have a check list to follow:
- Look at the overall guitar condition carefully.
- Minor dents and scratches are OK but not cracks.
- Inspect all frets. Check them one by one for buzzes. No missing frets please.
- Press at fret 1 and 19; look at the gap between the strings and the neck. A tiny gap is OK but if the gap is bigger than a quarter inch you better get another one. The neck could be bowing.
- Tune the strings and see if they can reach the standard tuning without problems. If one or more string fails the tuning pegs should be replaced. Better get other guitar if available.
- Inspect the bridge for gap. Gap between guitar body and bridge means the bridge may pop off anytime.
- Cracked or worn out saddle is OK. You can replace it easily. Same thing with the nut.
- Play it. If you feel the guitar is not right in your hand leave it. You don’t want to buy a guitar that is hard to play.
Don’t buy used guitars if they are more expensive than the new ones. Remember, we are only looking for a low price guitar with reasonably good quality.
To Your Guitar Success,
-TJ-
Beginner Guitar Lessons Admin
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