Just a Quick Poll.

Would you guys buy guitar(s) online?

A. Yes, they're cheaper. They're packaged well and damage is nil; they come in factory boxes, which means they've never been played before.

B. No, every guitar is different. I have to play the one I'll take home with me.

C. I don't care, guitar is a guitar.

D. Other.

Well i haven't before (yet) but i think i would. Most people shop at Guitar Center anyways, and their service is good for nothing. Might as well get a better price online and find a good local repair place that'll take care of you if you need repairs, adjustments, etc...just my 2 cents

In December i purchased a Schecter online at Musicains Freind. The only reason I did that was price. They were having 100.00 off sale on selected guitars. It was also a wim buy. I never tried one before, I loved the way it looked and all the reviews were great.. Well I was'nt disapointed..However I just bought a Ibanez AEL20 at the guitar center. I tried every guitar out in that price range even a couple other AEL20's. the sound of this particular one is fantastic.. It sounds great unpluged and great pluged in. I would have to be really lucky to duplicate it in an on line purchase. I think (my opinion) that Accostic or Electric Accoustic guitars very so much in sound between guitars that buying them at a store is a must..

so where do I vote?

I think you should lay your hands on a guitar before you buy, always with an acoustic. But there are exceptions to the rule. Electrics lend themselves to be easily transformed by changing pickups and coil tapping and the like. I played a few Jackson's and figured I liked the DKMG model but hated the pickups. So I snagged one off EBAY and saved myself enough cash to upgrade the pickups.

I only ever bought one guitar from a store and that was back in 93. All of my current guitars have been bought offline. I guess it's sort of a crap shoot, but if you go to a store and listen to the same model you want to purchase then you should be ok. And listen to reviews on Harmony-Central.com I've gotten some great guitars online and some were just ok. Funny thing is, the ones that were just ok were from the major brands. The one thats great is from some little company down in Texas. If you're buying used
1) Get pictures
2) Find out the guitars history
3) Why is the person selling it
4) What modifications have been done to it
5) Does it come with an amp or case

You can get some damn good prices online used and new. Shipping sucks though if you live in Alaska, Hawaii or Canada

I've never bought a guitar online...partly because they dont ship out here cheaply...and because I like to try my guitars personally...make sure I get the sweetest one...Yes, I think every guitar is different, and even the same model can sound different from another

Never. Every guitar IS different. Will never buy any guitar online, or amp, or effect for that matter.

depends.

my electric is from a company that isnt very well known. (Agile) and you can only buy them from one store in like... illinois or something. so i had to totally base my judgement on what i saw on the site and gut feeling. and for the price ($250) it was the best SG ive played for anything less than $500.

As far as guitars go, I don't think I would ever buy one without trying it out. I feel you have to play them personally and know how they sound and feel, try different models and even different guitars of the same model before you make a decision. An amp I would be hesitant about, but I probably would buy online. As for effects I will, and have, bought online. Especially if it's one that's hard to find in stores.

Originally Posted by: AkiraI've bought all 3 of my guitars from ebay.

I got an as new Jackson Soloist for £1000, which is half the retail, it was a great bargain and the guitar is fantastic. However, you have to have the guitar in mind fully researched so you know how to spot a dodgy auction.

Ebay is a bit better, cos you can see pics of the exact guitar...so you can forsee most problems...but there are still some guitars that are just made of a bad sounding piece of wood...and that you cant see.

well, I would buy an amp online, in fact, I've done it several times, I just need to try out an identical amp first, to know what it sounds like, as I believe there isn't as much of a variance in quality in amps and effects.. guitars on the other hand.. well, I won't buy an acoustic online, since the wood makes up 100% of the tone, and there can be good wood and bad wood. but with an electric, the electronics make up at least 90% of the tone, with the wood taking up the other 10%.. therefore, two identical guitars don't sound all that different to me. I have bought one guitar online, my gibson, and I couldn't be more happy with it (unless it had a different bridge pickup)

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrswell, I would buy an amp online, in fact, I've done it several times, I just need to try out an identical amp first, to know what it sounds like, as I believe there isn't as much of a variance in quality in amps and effects.. guitars on the other hand.. well, I won't buy an acoustic online, since the wood makes up 100% of the tone, and there can be good wood and bad wood. but with an electric, the electronics make up at least 90% of the tone, with the wood taking up the other 10%.. therefore, two identical guitars don't sound all that different to me. I have bought one guitar online, my gibson, and I couldn't be more happy with it (unless it had a different bridge pickup)

You're right about the acoustics. I'll give you that. You're dead wrong on the electrics. If the electronics was really that much of a factor no guitar would cost thousands of dollars. The wood used in an electric guitar should be one of the first things considered when making a purchase. For me nothing does it better than mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard. If wood didn't matter you could take a $200 dollar maple bodied Epiphone put a set of Gibson PUPS and have a guitar that sounded like a Gibson. Which in this world we live in just isn't possible.

Originally Posted by: magicninjaYou're right about the acoustics. I'll give you that. You're dead wrong on the electrics. If the electronics was really that much of a factor no guitar would cost thousands of dollars. The wood used in an electric guitar should be one of the first things considered when making a purchase. For me nothing does it better than mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fingerboard. If wood didn't matter you could take a $200 dollar maple bodied Epiphone put a set of Gibson PUPS and have a guitar that sounded like a Gibson. Which in this world we live in just isn't possible.

You said it, man! Try out those guitars, or you'll never know what you might have missed out on.

not saying wood doesn't make any difference in tone..

btw, if you took a mahogany bodied epiphone, that had mahogany set neck with rosewood fretboard, and put in gibson pickups, it would sound pretty close to the same as a gibson.. not exaclty like it.. but it would be similar. why do guitars cost thousands of dollars, and some be really cheap? well, some use maple tops, that's a few extra bucks, expensive guitars usually use much more expensive paint jobs, alot of the time, they are partly handbuilt which costs alot more then having a machine do it all. and they spend some attention to detail, like fret filing for example.. this isn't that a cheap guitar is just as good as an expensive one, I'm not saying that, I'm syaing that if you took 2 identical guitars, say 2 fender standard strats, and played them side by side, their differences in tone would be minimal. and if you took a USA strat, and a standard strat, the difference in tone would be a bit bigger, but not much.. because, yes, the USA does use better quality wood, which I did say has an impact on tone. but overall, the USA would probably feel and look much nicer, but as far as sound, not be a whole lot better, it just goes through alot more expensive of a construction process.

Originally Posted by: 6strngs_2hmbkrsbtw, if you took a mahogany bodied epiphone, that had mahogany set neck with rosewood fretboard, and put in gibson pickups, it would sound pretty close to the same as a gibson.. not exaclty like it.. but it would be similar.

That's what I'm saying, you got it backwards. It's more like wood=%70 electronics=%30. You won't usually find a mahogany body with a mahogany set neck with a rosewood fingerboard of any brand for very cheap. Why? Mahogany is the ****.

yeah, I relize I was exaggerating a bit, electronics aren't 90% of the tone, but they are a very large chunk of it. if you took two guitar, one with alder body, and the other with mahogany, they would sound very different, the point I'm trying to make is, two identical guitars don't sound all that different, there may be some slight nuances that only people with ears like schmange could really tell apart, but for the majority, they will sound pretty much the same to 95% of the people listening to it.

Alright i'll give you that.

I've bought three big money guitars online and I've been happy with them all, most recent one I got was an EBMM Petrucci 7-String, amazing axe. Basically, if you are from Ireland or the UK, if you don't buy guitars online from the US they literally cost double in the shops...

Originally Posted by: magicninjaThat's what I'm saying, you got it backwards. It's more like wood=%70 electronics=%30. You won't usually find a mahogany body with a mahogany set neck with a rosewood fingerboard of any brand for very cheap. Why? Mahogany is the ****.

Actually Agile and Raven both make guitars with Mahogany bodies, set necks with rosewood fingerboards. And I bought two guitars from each for around $200

Guess I'm buying an Agile then. Flamed maple tops and backs? Not a question of tone just looks. How do they play?