So, when you're about to buy a guitar, whether it's new or secondhand, what are the first things you look for?

See if it rings nicely. Electric guitars should sustain a lot. Listen to the guitar unplugged. It should ring and sustain without an amp with overdrive.

New guitars should have near perfect finishes too. If you are buying a real budget model then imperfections are likely, but on pro quality stuff that is meant to look new, they should be without flaws.

How do you decide whether buzzing is because of bad frets / bad setup?

It's almost invariably because of those reasons. The important thing to check is whether it can be fixed. If the neck is too straight or the action is too low, or the nut is cut too deep, its pretty easy to fix and so a minor hassle. If its a new guitar and the frets are in bad shape maybe put it down and look at another one. New guitars should be 100% playable after a rudimentary setup. If they're not, they're badly built, move on.

What's the first song you play?

EZ's noodle in E ?

What'll make you put a guitar down?

If its fiddly (sticky knobs, sticky switch) or if it doesn't want to sustain nicely or the setup is really bad or the strings are really old.

I played a whole lotta Teles a month or so ago in various shops and some of the cheaper ones were just plain bad. Some of the expensive ones had sticky knobs, they'll get stuck on 0 or 10 and will only come loose with some force. Not good. Almost all had old strings on them. Like rusty old.

Basic unplugged tone and resonance - everything else is fixable, but if they aren't there, nothing you do will be able to improve things much. Obviously I look at everything though as sometimes it's more work than it's worth - twisted neck, incorrect fret positions, damaged truss rod, incorrect neck angle on a set neck, etc., etc., etc..

It's almost invariably because of those reasons. The important thing to check is whether it can be fixed. If the neck is too straight or the action is too low, or the nut is cut too deep, its pretty easy to fix and so a minor hassle. If its a new guitar and the frets are in bad shape maybe put it down and look at another one. New guitars should be 100% playable after a rudimentary setup. If they're not, they're badly built, move on.

This part still bugs me a little. How much buzzing is too much - especially when you're buying something secondhand where the setup might be way off? It feels like something I should know by now but I'm asking anyway. ??? A long time ago I bought one or two guitars that supposedly needed fretwork (probably what I get for flocking to the cheaper ones first - the rest were either downright good guitars or bought new) and now I tend to be more careful when buying. Guess it comes with experience. I know a lot more now than back when I started.

EZ's noodle in E ?

? For some reason the first riff that pops into my head is always Iron Man and I have no idea why.

Also to bear in mind is one persons idea of a setup and your idea of a setup could be 2 very different places..

Imo if you know what you're doing, you could make what seems like a sh@tbox play like a dream..

Like Alan says, most things can be fixed..

Me personally, hardware and timber are 1st things I look at.

Obviously first thing to do is to give the guitar a little play through to see how it feel and plays, and how it resonates, etc, etc.
Check the finish, the neck joint, etc.

Then I start by doing some crazy bends on the E, B and G strings from the 12th fret all the way up to the 17/18/19th fret.
If there's a problem with the frets then that will expose it.
If it chokes out, then I look at the neck relief & action.
If the actions already pretty high and neck relief about right, then we have a problem. ?
I'll also check how well the nut is filed/cut...by fretting each string at the 3rd fret and checking the string height at the 1st fret...if it's touching at the 1st fret, another danger sign, nut is cut too low.

If it's a Strat or Tele type I like to check the fretboard markers to see if they're running evenly between the G and D strings all the way down the neck...a sign of a good fitting neck, etc.

As Alan says, most things are fixable, but it's not fun to buy a guitar and have to dress the frets and replace the nut just to get it playable...it's also a sign of a badly made guitar.
Most guitar techs jump for joy when a guitarist says he wants his action medium/high on his setup, it's the low action setup that can give a tech a hard time.

For me, it has to feel right,
I've played some really expensive guitars that were just not for me, at the same time other 'cheapies' fitted like a glove.
On a 2nd hand guitar I look for obvious things like cracks, warped necks, not too concerned about scratchy pots or switches as that can be fixed.
On a new guitar the finish has to be good and everything must work 100%. There should be no sharp fret ends, or unusually high action.
Overall there should be no rattles and buzzing, and when played through an amp there should be no earthing issues.
Other deciding factors for me are colour, weight (i like a guitar with some mass to it), and general coolness of the design. :yup:

Acoustics...

Cut-out: For my style, it's a necessity.
General condition: Nicks, scratches etc. they are fixable, but the price should reflect that.
Action: If the action is high and the saddle is sanded way down, you're going to have to do a neck-reset soon. Currently have that problem with my Cort, saddle cannot be reduced any more.
Brand: If its a cheapie make...that should be reflected by the price.
Pickup: If it's got one, it should work.

Electric:
Pickup: They should all work
Tone: Unplugged should at least make me smile.
Condition: If you need to re-finish, will it make the guitar worth the effort put in?
Cosmetics: Does it look like..."Oh! Yeah!"
Action, intonation, all adjustable, so I don't sweat that too much...

It should speak to me on another level. I like to see a guitar and should say, buy me, play me now! And then I plugg it in and see if everything works and then I just let it rip in Em. If it feels right, I'd buy it.

... after I consulted with the Missus, that she likes the color and thinks it's pretty.

Alex B Broadway wrote: So, when you're about to buy a guitar, whether it's new or secondhand, what are the first things you look for? How do you decide whether buzzing is because of bad frets / bad setup? What's the first song you play? What'll make you put a guitar down? Always been curious to hear what other people have to say about this. ?

I struggle to critique a guitar in isolation - so I like to A/B with a guitar that I know well & is setup to my preference. I now take along a example when shopping and the guys in the local music stores are generally ok with me sitting and A/B'ing for as long as I like. I'll run through a few checks like everyone has mentioned - if it's new then imo it should be 99.9% working and w/o blemishs. If 2nd hand then I'll run through a list like Nitebob's got.

I found this helps me keep the ol' GAS at reasonable levels ???

First song...check the tuning & then a spirited blues noodle in A,...then check the tuning again. If I'm feeling lucky, I might just bust out purple haze to make everyone grimace ? Either way, I'm trying chords, fills, leads all over the neck. If anything sounds or feels wrong/out of tune, it probably is and I'll probably walk away from a new guitar and investigate further on a 2nd hand one.

guidothepimmp wrote: Also to bear in mind is one persons idea of a setup and your idea of a setup could be 2 very different places..

Imo if you know what you're doing, you could make what seems like a sh@tbox play like a dream..

Gotta vouch for that one. My guitars were victims of high playing action, incorrectly adjusted truss rods, bad set ups, VERY bad set ups and cruddy truss rod adjustments............all three of my guitars are now near perfect, with the worse one of the lot (Hamer Explorer), now being the nicest one to play.

Hardware and Timber........the rest I see as a bargaining point when buying a guit.

Bumping a golden oldie....because it's a evergreen topic for the GAS'ing guitarist! ?