Was just doing some window-shopping for no reason while I wait for a Skype call to start so checking out clearance sections of the usual suspects.
When it's Coda or Peach, it's usually like "has very small scratch by jack" or "pinhead-sized indent on back so we're taking 30% off the price."
When it's GG it's usually more to the effect of "headstock snapped off, has been professionally repaired. contains two fist-sized dents on the top and some rust on the hardware, here's 5% off."
Exceptions to every rule of course but this seems to be par for the course...
Comments
To be strictly correct, shops should be selling *any* guitar that has been out in the shop and played by other customers as 'ex-demo', but I know most won't if there is no visible evidence.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
After giving it back, the guy asked what I thought of it. I said it was great to play, but not for me as I'm not a fan of relic'd Les Pauls.
He said it wasn't for sale and had been a demo guitar since 1992. It really did feel like a new one.
GG will have a central admin/hub for their web site and all relevant issues that go with it - So unless the branch manager sends appropriate input to the admin/hub, then the web site will not reflect such requirements as ex-demo - The store manager at GG effectively runs his own shop floor and not the company web site - Guitars might reflect an 'ex-demo' pricing in-store as required' but I assume they are far less proactive in ensuring such edits get through to the web team
Signs of this were evident in the recent info regarding the R8's with John/Doug so much more proactive with pics, info, weight etc on each individual guitar
Some years later, I took it to a shop for a setup. When the work was complete, the tech plugged it into a Marshall plus 4 * 12 cabinet. It sounded great. A couple of youngish lads stood open mouthed at the sound, one of them said "Wow! and it is a fucking Epi" To whom I said "it is my Epi, do you want to try it out?" We all made a bit of noise with the guitar, the lads were amazed at how good it sounded. The tech did a great job and it is still going strong, definitely a keeper.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Maybe it's still for sale....