How many people buy new?

ICBM

I like shiny as well, but almost never buy new... I'm too tightfisted. I can't remember exactly how many guitars I've owned - over a hundred at least - and of those, three were new. But all heavily discounted due to being ex-display.

stickyfiddle

I have 2 genuinely fully-new-bought guitars. Others are custom builds or used.

1 was originally new then sold then a duplicate of the same run bought used a few months later, so almost bought new but not really.

In ~20 years I think I've had ~40 guitars in total. Of those, about 10 were bought new, I think.

SteveRobinson

In fifty years of guitar buying I've only ever bought two new, a Les Paul Special from Peter Cooks and Squier Jazz Bass (which I still have) from Dawsons.

I don't keep count but I've probably bought and sold a hundred or more second hand.

crunchman

Most of mine have been new.

3 of of them were deals at prices that were around what they would have cost second hand though.

fretmeister

Over the last 30 odd years I suspect it's about 50/50 even though at the moment most of the basses were new.

Amps - probably more like 60-40 new as I like warranties on powered things.

Kittyfrisk

ICBM said:

I like shiny as well, but almost never buy new... I'm too sensible. I can't remember exactly how many guitars I've owned - over a hundred at least - and of those, three were new. But all heavily discounted due to being ex-display.

FTFY 

Alex2678

I do like the experience of buying from a shop whether new or used, buying on eBay and waiting for a battered cardboard parcel tape monster to turn up kills the magic 

rlw

New or very very shiny used for me.

Rowby1

Exactly half and half. 

Musicman20

New. Although if the right guitar came up used from a a trusted seller I would go for it.

I bought one used bass from a guy about 7 years ago and it did not meet the condition he was selling it as. It did put me off I must admit. I sold that bass and luckily didn't lose any money (with the correct condition description).

I wouldn't pay the current new prices though. Especially Gibson. I always wait for stock blowouts when it's obvious a manufacturer has sold a large batch of new guitars to make room for a new model. In that sense I often pay the used price anyway.

HerrMetal

Only ever bought new twice. My second guitar was a catalogue Strat copy and it was replaced by a shiny new purple Marlin State of the Art with humbuckers and locking trem.  Must quell the feelings of nostalgia for that.  Everything since then (maybe 1986?) has been used and abused.

Bigsby

First 4 guitars I owned were all bought new. Then I was in a band and too skint (plus I had a good idea of what to look out for when buying), everything was bought used or traded, apart from one Strat.

Over the last decade I've mostly bough new (apart from a couple of out-of-production models that I wanted). Until recently it was possible to pick up clearance bargains - especially Gibsons, often with 40 to 50% off RRP. Given that popular Gibsons tend to only lose around 35% (and some actually go up after being discontinued), I was buying and often selling with a small profit. I always assumed the buyers never looked at new gear and thus had no idea how cheap they were on blow out.

Currently, all the guitars I own were bought new or made to order. I like shiny, and I don't mind any dents or scratches I might put on them either. I really don't see the point of buying used/relic'd just to have someone else's dents and scratches.

Offset

2 were brand spanking new, 6 secondhand and 2 ex-demo (one of those hopefully about to go and be replaced with another secondhand).  One of the newbies was a brand-new model and therefore secondhand wasn't an option.

Mellish

All mine have been bought new
Obviously, secondhand is cheaper but, for me, I need to know it hasn't been mistreated. It probably hasn't that's just me  

thecolourbox

I prefer guitars second hand than new because usually when you buy new they still require work doing on them for set up etc and this the costs spiral even further. Often devils hand guitars have already had that work done and if they haven't, you can either turn it down or factor it into the price

However for amps and pedals (at my low end of the market) new makes much more sense as often I've bought second hand stuff that has been tinkered with and not declared, or has faults or problems that aren't shared, but for the money and hassle it takes to negotiate a return (and the inevitable accusations of foul play that get thrown around when you dare to criticise an item) it's just better to buy new and buy well

axisus

In the first 10 years or so I would buy inexpensive new guitars. After that I realised that:

1 you get more bang for your buck 2nd hand
2 I like a nicely played in guitar waaaay more than a stiff new thing
3 I don't like shiny blingy guitars - I worry about damaging them
4 I actively like tatty old aged guitars
5 I like to dismantle guitars, mod them, faff around generally. I don't do that with expensive new guitars.

So secondhand for the win.

LastMantra

Mainly second hand. A fair bit (amps and pedals) was bought as not working, spares/repairs as projects. A lot of the used stuff I have will have gone up in value. 

thegummy

I've only ever bought new.

I do like the idea of buying used because it's so much better value (especially if I ever sell it on) but a couple of things hold me back, it's not that I actually care about having a brand new guitar.

Firstly there's a lot of dishonest people around so I could buy a used guitar, only find a big problem with it a week later but never hear from the guy again. With a shop I can always go back and they'll definitely do something about it (would buy used from a shop).

Probably the main thing that's stopped me, though, is that any time I find a guitar I've wanted it's rarely on sale second-hand at the time.

Can only guess that those who mostly buy used guitars are either not looking for a specific model/finish and are just browsing what's on offer to see what takes their fancy or if they do want something specific they check for it regularly and patiently await it coming up.

TheBigDipper

About 50-50 for me. But as I don't buy too often, and never seem to sell them, resale value isn't really a concern or consideration. I think I've sold three guitars in my entire life, and all of them 30-40 years ago. The second hand guitars have only been a year or two old when I bought them - and always from a shop, although that's not policy, just the way it seems to work. I always play before I buy.

longjaw

I've got over 30 guitars and I think I've only bought 4 or 5 new.