When you decide to pick up an electric guitar as your main instrument, you’re entering a whole new world, and there is so much to learn!
Chords and scales will occupy your mind. Not long after, you’ll be learning about different types of guitars and pickups, along with string action, pick guards, pedals, amps, and so on. It will take quite a few years to figure out what your ideal guitar and setup is to make the kind of tone you like.
On this journey, you’ll probably want to upgrade your guitar, and this would require that you trade or sell one to help obtain another. As a beginner, however, some will try to take advantage of your ignorance and cluelessness.
While I was not personally ripped off, I was in a position where someone definitely tried a few months back. I wanted to share my experience so other’s can learn to not just take other people’s word as truth or fact.
As for the backstory, around summer 2021, I was interested in getting a second guitar so I was looking around Kijiji. I noticed one seller selling this beautiful Sunburst Epiphone Les Paul Special, so I inquired about it. I then looked through his other ads, and saw that he was selling a Telecaster as well.
If you’ve been in the guitar world for a while, you’ll know Telecasters are highly praise for their tone and flexibility. I remember a comment saying you’ll never see these being resold because owners love it that much.
For the seller, though, he bought bought of them very recently so they were pretty much brand new, but he was leaving the country and couldn’t take them along.
After talking to him for a bit and looking through his other ads, I got a pretty sweet deal which included both guitars, guitar stands, a laptop stand, and some other goodies. I wasn’t rich or anything, but I couldn’t pass up a good deal, and wanted to help him clear some things for his move.
Between then and December, I only picked them up to play once or twice. I’ve always played a Stratocaster, so their body shapes were a bit uncomfortable. I figured I would use one for alternate tunings, but I wasn’t practicing any for my band. Thus, they just sat there on their stands.
So when I was trying to make up some extra cash for the holidays, I decided to sell one, and I put the Telecaster up. While I definitely see the value, I just loved the Les Paul shape and colour more. It is what it is. I took some photos and put it up around 4am.
By the time I woke up, someone already replied and expressed interest in seeing it. They wanted to come by that evening. Sure, no problem! I gave it a wipe, tuned it, plugged it in to make sure it worked, and got it ready for the potential seller.
I was expecting one person, but two people came in. A young man, maybe a handful of years younger than me, and his father. They were both musicians who played guitar.
I handed them the instrument, and they plugged it into their portable amp, the same Roland Mini Cube I have, just in a different colour. Sound came out, all strings ringed well, no issues there.
They both took a turn playing it, and giving it a suspicious look. The father then said ‘the action is quite high and the neck is warped…it would cost a good $75 to have it set up. Would you take $150 for it?’
Now, $150 is a good $70 under my asking price. It is a Squier, so it’s on the cheaper side, but a brand new guitar was still worth $250+. Considering neither me or the last guy really used it, it was still in pristine condition, no damage or scratches, fretboard still bright as day. Thus, I put it up for $220, knowing people would try to haggle, and I could at least get $200 for it.
I asked to take a look at it. Thankfully, I’m fully aware of what a warped guitar looked like. I picked up guitar again in January 2020. I only had a second hand Behringer guitar. So by April, I decided to buy a branded guitar, and ordered from cosmo online. It was quite a drive, so I was dissappointed when it was clearly used and had noticeable damage on it. Thus, I ordered and waited for a replacement.
When I got the second one, the one in my bio picture, it was very uncomfortable to play, and I noticed a while after that the fretboard was warped. The board was concave, so frets near the nut and around frets 15-18 had low action, while frets 7-8 had high action. I let it be for a few months, then took it to L&M to get looked at when things opened. Guy gave it a 10 second look and 2 strums, said it was fine. But after doing more research, I adjusted the truss rod myself.
This Telecaster, however, was clearly not warped. The next was straight. I saw what he meant in that the strings got higher throughout, so the action was a bit high, but I told them they could just lower the bridge to make it more even.
Son continued to play a bit more and was clearly digging it. The dad was still trying to look unimpressed and bring up non-existent issues.
I shrugged and said, ‘If you want to think about it and come back, you can, but the lowest I can do is $200’. I knew someone else would be willing to buy it for the price, cause it was already a good deal for the condition it was in. I was willing to wait if they were going to continue to low ball it.
Even though the dad was trying to look unsure to get him a better deal, it was clear the son was already kinda attached to the guitar. They then mentioned how butterscotch was his favourite colour, thus why they jumped when they saw the ad. Not sure if they were trying to get some sympathy points, but it just made me feel more confident that they would buy it regardless.
Eventually, the son said he would take it, and he got up to pull out the stack of $20s in his jacket pocket. He was happy to get the guitar of his dreams. We even exchanged instas, cus hey, it’s good to connect with other young musicians. No hard feelings. I totally get the hustle.
The experience certainly got me thinking though. If I was less experienced, or say, I wasn’t a guitarist at all and was trying to sell one for a loved one, I would have believed him.
It’s natural to take someone’s word when they’re more experienced and seem to know what they are talking about. Whether the father truly believed it was warped, or was just trying to pick at it anyway that he can for a bargain, he was convincing. But lucky me, I knew better from experience.
Regardless, by the next day, the son messaged me and told me I was right about the bridge. A free fix, no professional setup required. So don’t think I was bullshitting or lying for money either haha. I’m a very honest individual, especially when it comes to business.
If you know what your guitar is worth, and you wouldn’t part with it for less than that, then stand your ground. As always, add a little extra to your ad as most people will try to bargain. You can drop the price a bit and make the sale, and everyone’s happy in the end! 😉