More Guitars

Hey!   First let me acknowledge the birthday Bob Dylan.  Believe it or not Bob just turned 70.  I’m feeling a bit old now.

Guitars:  Since I received some questions on that topic I thought I’d continue with it for a bit.  Remember, these are just my opinions.  Clearly some of you think a new guitar is better than a used one because of the warranty.   Truth is a never gave two craps for a warranty.  Finding someone who honors it would be in of itself miraculous.   I though the first thing to do was decide how much money you wanted to spend.  Taking the figure 200.00,  I think you can get a better guitar buying used than a new 200.00 rip off.

Let’s continue,  What kind of music do you like;  Country, Rock, blues, jazz, or whatever.  Certain guitars while you can play anything on them, lend themselves to different Genres and functions.   A solid body is built for speed.    A hollow-body is built for a richness and full body sound.

Try them both.  Of course the hollow-body can be heard better because the sound resonates.   Like I said in an earlier post, I have three main guitars all of which I use for a different reason.  Speed, rhythm, lead, and fun.

Some things to look for in picking out your axe;     comfort, weight, fit and finish,  type of pickups, type of tuners, and track record.   Track record?  Yes go on line and see what others are saying about the guitar your thinking of buying.  I lot of information can be gathered this way. You’ll also get a sense of the prices.  Got to love the interwebs!

Let’s say you pick a Fender telecaster.  There will be serial number on it.  I look to to see that it hasn’t been modified if used.  I want as original as I can get because of resale value.  Okay it says Telecaster.  Look to see where it was made.  Yes many guitars are made in another country. The ones made here in the USA cost more and also resells for more.  It’s acknowledged the American made has a more intrinsic worth.  Is it a better guitar?   Once upon a time it was.  These days imports have come a long way.  As a matter of fact, many times more value as in bang for the buck.  It’s just me but if I’m going to buy a Fender, I want an American made one.  The fit and finish just seems to be better to me.

Okay you decided your the new B.B.King.  Now’s when you because you did your homework start negotiating for purchase. You have that price your willing to pay in your head. I always ask what work was done on it by them. I also ask for a parts list they had to replace if any.  Sometimes I’ve had a dealer through in a used case or a guitar chord with some extra sets of strings, anything to get rid of me. lol

Whatever you’ve purchased I’d treat it with the respect it deserves.  I’ve always cherished my equipment as it’s to hard to come by.

Good luck and if you want more guitar thoughts just let me know.

Read more at Tim’s Scared Stiff