Stupid things you've been asked when selling a guitar

maltingsaudio

The one where the kid brings the guitar back because it doesn’t sound like it did when demonstrated..... what amplifier are you using....didn’t realise I needed one!

Always thought this was an urban myth but have experienced it first hand

ICBM

maltingsaudio said:

The one where the kid brings the guitar back because it doesn’t sound like it did when demonstrated..... what amplifier are you using....didn’t realise I needed one!

Always thought this was an urban myth but have experienced it first hand

I have also seen first-hand the result of connecting an electric guitar directly to the mains, as you sometimes used to see in old cartoons...

The pickups had melted and the volume pot was completely burnt out. Amazingly, the idiot wasn't electrocuted.

Kittyfrisk

ICBM said:

maltingsaudio said:

The one where the kid brings the guitar back because it doesn’t sound like it did when demonstrated..... what amplifier are you using....didn’t realise I needed one!

Always thought this was an urban myth but have experienced it first hand

I have also seen first-hand the result of connecting an electric guitar directly to the mains, as you sometimes used to see in old cartoons...

The pickups had melted and the volume pot was completely burnt out. Amazingly, the idiot wasn't electrocuted.

Would have made a good candidate for the Darwin Awards 

thermionic

From now on, I will refer to the act of measuring guitar nuts as "Bobba Fettling".

Kittyfrisk

ROFL   

JerkMoans

bobbatone said:

bgmartinsbridge said:

Is Boba a member on here, he could explain his nut width fetish! 

Turns out I am a member (who knew) so I can enlighten you, and also apologise to anyone I have ever forgotten to respond to.

So the nut fetish is fairly simple and I’d be surprised if it wasn’t a very common fetish. Considering the various sizes of nut that a guitar may come with, over the years I’ve come to understand what my preferences are. This is also true of the neck shape and depth which is also a question I’ll often ask. These specs give me a strong idea of whether I’ll get on with the guitar or not before I go see it in person. 

Going off a spec sheet (especially online) is not always going to work as the specs of guitars can change from year to year and even then, they can still vary to what the spec sheet says (in my experience). Also any particular guitar does not have a ‘standard' nut width or neck profile, most common sure, but they are not all made the same. So the best way to be sure is to measure the actual nut, on the actual guitar in question (with calipers or a straight edge, because yes the tape is not reliable).

Most people are kind enough to get back with these details and it’s very useful. If the specs sound good to me, I’ll then consider the other factors and decide whether I’d like to see it in person. I regulary buy/sell guitars depending on what I need for a session/project so when I need something, I usually end up asking a fair amount of people about their nut sizes to narrow down my search, and I do try to atleast say thanks. As I say apologies to anyone I haven’t responded to. Clearly your nuts are just too big for me.

I just adore happy endings

bgmartinsbridge

Bobba Fettling - now that sounds a good ending. 

Tenebrous

Not quite as shocking as Bobba Feltching, though.

bgmartinsbridge

Now that's a whole new discussion! 

skullfunkerry

I feel like I'm a bit late to this now that there's been a resolution... again, not a guitar and not strictly a question this time, but still eBay: I listed a pair of quite expensive Jeffery West boots and ticked the Global Shipping option. A guy in Australia messaged me and said he wanted them, but eBay were very expensive with their international shipping, so would I amend the listing to ship directly to Australia with a price of £20 for postage. I looked on the Royal Mail website and a couple of courier brokers and the cheapest price I could find was about £40, but he wouldn't have it: even with me sending him screenshots of the Royal Mail website showing the cheapest price he insisted that I was trying to pull a fast one

KrisGee

Selling a 2004 MM axis in 2019:

"How many previous owners did the guitar have?"

How the fuck am I supposed to know, even DVLA don't know.

Or this regarding an LP on ebay:

"Hi what is the neck profile? Thanks, Adrian"
It's 60s slim taper mate mate
"Ah shit not for me then."
Fair enough.

Same message for the same guitar but through gumtree so I have a little play:
It's 50s neck so a fat one.
"Ah shit not for me then."

Speechless.

ten77guitar

KrisGee said:

Selling a 2004 MM axis in 2019:

"How many previous owners did the guitar have?"

How the fuck am I supposed to know, even DVLA don't know.

Or this regarding an LP on ebay:

"Hi what is the neck profile? Thanks, Adrian"
It's 60s slim taper mate mate
"Ah shit not for me then."
Fair enough.

Same message for the same guitar but through gumtree so I have a little play:
It's 50s neck so a fat one.
"Ah shit not for me then."

Speechless.

Maybe he likes medium necks? 

BloodEagle

Some dickhead on this site emailed me about a guitar I had listed at £1800. He asked what the ‘lowest I would go’ was, and then offered a pretty fucking irritating £600. I said no thanks, don’t be silly. His reply, I quote - ‘If you said £700 I’d consider it’. I told him to pop off, and he accused me of being rude. 

Tenebrous

BloodEagle said:

Some dickhead on this site emailed me about a guitar I had listed at £1800. He asked what the ‘lowest I would go’ was, and then offered a pretty fucking irritating £600. I said no thanks, don’t be silly. His reply, I quote - ‘If you said £700 I’d consider it’. I told him to pop off, and he accused me of being rude. 

I mean, I'd at least have offered you £725.

DesVegas

One guy asked me if he could hear the guitar without massive amouts of reverb, fuzz and two phasers!! I mean, what's the point in that??

JerkMoans

DesVegas said:

One guy asked me if he could hear the guitar without massive amouts of reverb, fuzz and two phasers!! I mean, what's the point in that??

Fucking hipsters.

DesVegas

JerkMoans said:

DesVegas said:

One guy asked me if he could hear the guitar without massive amouts of reverb, fuzz and two phasers!! I mean, what's the point in that??

Fucking hipsters.

Damn straight

bgmartinsbridge

Someone on ebay has just asked me how would I describe the neck on the guitar. 

I know but had to.... 

Well, it's a long piece of wood, sort of straight with rounded back and it's got pieces of metal called frets on the top. 

thegummy

I wouldn't say I thought it was "stupid" but I didn't understand why someone would ask me for the serial number of a guitar when they did.

I think some people on here actually told me the reasons for it at the time but I've forgotten them now if there was any.

DB1

thegummy said:

I wouldn't say I thought it was "stupid" but I didn't understand why someone would ask me for the serial number of a guitar when they did.

I think some people on here actually told me the reasons for it at the time but I've forgotten them now if there was any.

I had that on eBay once - I didn't want to give out serial numbers, for reasons of security and possible forgery, something like that anyway. One chap insisted that he wouldn't bid until I did, and recounted his history as a buyer and seller of guitars, a collector and all round connoisseur of the bloody things. When I let him have the serial number, he would bid, as he would then have total confidence in my integrity.

So I did - and he didn't bid. I was a bit intrigued and messaged him to ask why he hadn't bid, not expecting a reply. But he did reply, to be fair - the answer was that it was 'out of his price bracket'.