I ran across this site called noise guitarnoise.com/lessons/how- … tic-guitar
and the guy had some good items to watch for when buying a used one . I guess I could have copied the items and text but did not want to be accused of stealing . LOL hope this helps someone out Have a good day
It is a good list. Some of the items I do not think a noobie to guitar would really understand how to check for these things (neck angle, truss rod…etc) however folks who have some guitar experience would find this list very helpful.
Much thanks for posting!
I think some of the best advice it gives is if you are new to it to take someone who has been a guitar enthusiast for some time. Most people who have been around them for a while can go find the good ones in whatever price range pretty quick. Unfortunately most new guitarists don’t make great decisions when purchasing a first guitar. Then again when you are buying a guitar for a 14 year old and their primary interest is that it is purple, the odds of finding a good one are pretty small to start.
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Then again when you are buying a guitar for a 14 year old and their primary interest is that it is purple, the odds of finding a good one are pretty small to start.
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Definitely.
It has been my experience that students in their teens are often looking for an acoustic that has a cutaway and a pickup system. What they don’t realize is that by including those things in their “must have” list, it often lowers the quality of the instrument in the price range that they are looking at. But then again, pretty colors are nice… 
Yeah, it’s tough to effectively help people sometimes. I have a friend who is graduating from high school this year. He is a fairly “tame” guy (no rage or addiction issues). Just a basically great 18 year old. His parents are going to buy him a guitar as a graduation gift. He wants to get a Schecter Synister Gates model. Schecter makes makes some nice guitars, but I am not sure he’ll appreciate having a Death Bat logo and giant “SYN” pearl inlay on the fretboard when he is a few years older. I know what types I would suggest trying out, but it’s not my guitar. It’s probably going to be a good shredder type guitar, but it’s hard to explain to a teen that their tastes will likely change drastically in the upcoming decade. There was a time (cough… 30 years ago) when I thought it would be really cool to have a BC Rich Warlock… that phase didn’t last too long and thankfully I didn’t blow a bunch of money on one.
My apologies in advance to any who think a Warlock or Synister Gates model are the epitome of enduring, timeless and taseful design. I do realize my tastes are not universal.
Speaking of shredder type guitars… some of the recent entry-ish level guitars are pretty amazing value. I am occasionally tempted to get one of the Ibanez or Jacksons with a floyd rose type locker so I can have a guitar to play around with drop C crunchyness. Maybe even a seven stringer? Perhaps when I get some more time…
Good replies from all it is good to see some activity 
Warlock Bass yes I did own one , but it was given to me and I gave it away
One thing I’ve found over the years and buying many guitars is you can find some real nice guitars for a great price that only need setup. People don’t enjoy them because they have no idea how to set up the guitar to play well. Recently had a Goodall that was a mega guitar but had about .30 thousand relief in the neck and was hard to play. It was a friends guitar and he was frustrated with it and thinking of trading. After adjusting the truss and some new strings the thing was fantastic in both sound and playability. Took no more than 30 minutes, he had been struggling with it for months thinking it was just a bad guitar. Now he wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I purchased a D18 that played like a 2 dollar guitar at a great price, same story, turned out to be one of my best guitars. If you know how to do the adjustments you can spot them right away and get some fantastic buys!
When I got my 09 J45 the nut on the truss rod was almost backed completely off the rod, never been adjusted, I know this because the pocket was full of wood scrap. Now it’s a wonderful player as well. Was in mint condition because it stayed in the case for years as it was hard to play.
So the more you learn about guitar construction and set up the better deals you get… :mrgreen:
I have always found it amusing when someone is selling an older used guitar and the add reads “still has the original strings”
I have actually seen this more than once. Wow! if they only knew that not changing the strings is not a good thing.
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I have always found it amusing when someone is selling an older used guitar and the add reads “still has the original strings”
I have actually seen this more than once. Wow! if they only knew that not changing the strings is not a good thing.
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Yep… those are the funniest ads. I love it when the ad reads something like this:
***All wood Silvertone acoustic guitar WITH ORIGINAL STRINGS! Very rare! Perfect condition except for a few bent (broken?) knobs and some cracks. Original pickguard screws!
I see these sorts of ads often and it always leaves my shaking my head (does the seller really think they are selling the Hope diamond here?). I hope this doesn’t make me appear as a guitar snob… 
I have owned quite a few of this level of guitar in my life and they were almost all functional. These days, I own one nice acoustic and a few decent cheap ones (along with a few cheap electrics).