The case for buying blind

BMU

I received my last two guitars without ever having played them. In the case of a Schecter, I ordered it online despite not even liking any of the Schecters I did get a chance to play in local shops. The experience was good in both cases and changed my thinking a little.

I'm not criticizing shops for not having larger variety, we're a small remote market. I'm actually gobsmacked at the variety of high end instruments a place like Music Connection is able to stock - cudos.

Rather, my pet peeve with music shops is failing to set up & take care of those instruments they do have. When I have to play a R10,000+ axe with 5mm action or rusted strings, I feel like screaming. It deflates the entire experience.

A few personal examples:
- A Petrucci Musicman - R38,000 sticker price with a setup that was almost literally unplayable.
- Likewise those Schecters I didn't like; probably were fine instruments just needing some very basic TLC.
- a fine, high-spec bass guitar I really GASsed for a while back, full of not-so little dings and scratches. Maybe the bored shop attendants, between smoke breaks and in lieu of spending their time actually taking care of instruments, used it for cricket practice in the parking lot.
- A white JEM with strings literally touching the frets, and rusted. Unplayable $3000+ worth of dead stock.
- An Ibanez Universe in the same shop with action a mile high. Another unplayable $3000 waste of space. (They could've put another Jemma Jameson promotional poster up there instead. Cheaper & more entertaining.)

I've also stopped trying to talk about it, I only harm my own blood pressure:
"This action is so bad I can't play the instrument at all".
"Oh, you like really low action?"
"Sometimes, but in this instance I would've settled for JUST *NORMAL* 2mm ACTION PER THE MANUFACTURER'S SPEC!!!!!!"

And before we start the SA bashing, this seems to be universal. I saw the same thing in Singapore; a high performing 1st world service-oriented economy.

So my current thinking is: if the price is right, why not just go online for everything. Limitless choice, pick exactly what you want. Set it up when it arrives. Eliminate those showroom experiences that make good instruments appear bad.

Shops then, are only there to cruise for marked-down bargains. All the good stuff they couldn't sell because they're shop-soiled or never set up to begin with. A win-win situation! ?

PS - I'm not *totally* serious that this is the only way I'd do things, but it's definitely more of an option for me now. What I am saying, is
1) local shops (everywhere in the world) take all that financial risk, then do amazingly little to capitalize on their only competitive advantage: the see-feel-touch factor.
2) the "play before you buy" effect is overrated.

Tokai-SA

Depends what guitar you're buying blind.

I bought a Mexican Fender without seeing it, by the time I've sorted the setup and frets out chances are I'll be blind. ?

Japanese made guitars are the best guitars I've ever bought without seeing them first, every one has been perfect out the box

AlanRatcliffe

I've bought two guitars sight unseen. One Worked out, one didn't. The one that didn't work out was a wonderful guitar, but the neck didn't suit me at all. If I'd had hands on time before I bought it, I would have known within 30 seconds and saved myself R13K.

As far as the shops go, exercise your rights as a consumer. If you're interested in a guitar that is badly set up or has rusty stings on, ask the salesperson to put new strings on and set it up for you to try properly. They should do it gladly for a potential sale. Ask me - the guy in the shop who spends his time setting up instruments ahead of time ends up spending his whole day setting up while others sell them. ☹

BMU

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Ask me - the guy in the shop who spends his time setting up instruments ahead of time ends up spending his whole day setting up while others sell them. ☹

Ah, right. Ouch.

So you're both alleging that I was lucky so far. I think you're not wrong. ? But I feel better having vented.

I have actually done that - asked them to set it up. But only if I'm pretty sure I want the guitar. Hate having to ask. (Yes I do also drive around lost rather than ask directions.)

singemonkey

I agree with Tokai SA that it depends on the reputation of the manufacturer. Some high priced guitars have consistent stories of perfect set-up and flawless construction - and I also hear that mainly about Japanese makers like Tokai, Bacchus, Yamaha, and ESP/Edwards (but I think PRS has some of that reputation too, no?).

But when you hear horror stories, it's unwise. I've got two great Gibsons, but given everything I've heard, I'd never buy one sight unseen. The appalling stories of crappy guitars that cost $2,000 would kill any thoughts along those lines.

I imagine that if I ran a music store, I'd do what it takes to make sure that all the guitars in the shop had perfect "middle-of-the-road" set-ups. I think the thing that sells guitars is the guitars themselves. I bought my Yamaha because it looked and felt so good right off the wall of the shop. I kept coming back to play it, and eventually they offered me a deal I had to take. If that guitar had been badly set up, I would have put it straight back on the wall and gone somewhere else for a Fender.

Also it depends on price. I think if I was paying more than a month's income, I'd have to have it in my hands ?

aubs1

singemonkey wrote: Some high priced guitars have consistent stories of perfect set-up and flawless construction - and I also hear that mainly about Japanese makers like Tokai, Bacchus, Yamaha, and ESP/Edwards (but I think PRS has some of that reputation too, no?)

YES, unless you wanna further "Fine-Toon" them more to your style or preference..... ?

BMU

singemonkey wrote: ... If that guitar had been badly set up, I would have put it straight back on the wall and gone somewhere else for a Fender.

Yeah exactly.

It's funny, a guitar I played in a shop again and again, when I finally brought it home I realized it didn't suit my style very well. (It had small frets which made sweeping very hard for me - my own stupid mistake.) Then later I bought one mail order and avoided that trap. So the mail order worked out better, but arguably only because of the hands-on experience gained in the first place.

Another one I played in a shop and bought, when I lowered the action to my preference had one semi dead spot. Eventually I got it worked out, but the point is the hands-on test didn't necessarily leave me any better off than if I'd just bought blind.

So on average I wonder if either way is really that much better; both seem viable to me with certain inherent risk probabilities... in the end it's all statistics, just like quantum theory. ?

Gearhead

BMU wrote: They could've put another Jemma Jameson promotional poster up there instead. Cheaper & more entertaining.

??? U mean Jenna? ???

?

BMU

Gearhead wrote:
BMU wrote: They could've put another Jemma Jameson promotional poster up there instead. Cheaper & more entertaining.
??? U mean Jenna? ???

?

Damn, that's embarrassing. Yes, I meant Jenna. ? Actually that was just a check to see who paid attention all the way through that long post. Spot test next week.

Gearhead

talk about low action