Buying A Used Guitar on Craigslist. How to tell if fake?

StudioAudience

I've been learning how to play the guitar since about February of this year. I'm still very much a beginner, but I've been itching to get an electric guitar (I've been learning on an acoustic) to just mess around with. I was going to get one sometime in December or so, but have been checking craigslist lately to see what the prices like. I came across this ad just now:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/pho/839785851.html

It seems like a good bargain to me, but I'm weary about buying used from a non-retailer because I'm really not experienced enough to be able to look for defects or counterfeits. So I'm inclined to just pass on it and move along, but another part of me really wants to get it. Are there any guitar gurus who have any input/tips on this guitar and/or whether its worth buying a used one? Thanks.

Demerdar

Erm, it looks pretty legit...

I'd say go for it. Maybe try and play on it to see how you actually feel about it before you buy it, if the owner would allow that (and he should, as a fellow musician).

Honestly, I've never gone wrong with buying instruments online :^:

Red Rover

The ad looks legit and it does look like a good deal. I'm assuming you're in the same general area as the seller. Contact him and ask to come see it and try it out. If he hesitates to let you do that then let it go. I'm guessing you don't have any guitar playing friends since you're asking on this forum rather than asking a friend but if you can swing it, try getting somebody who knows a little bit about guitars to come along with you.

Some things to look for though...
- Warped neck... look if the neck is twisted or has a slight sideways bend to it. Some forward bowing is normal though especially if he has heavy gauge strings on it.
- Dirty/malfunctioning pots... play around with the nobs and switches. You shouldn't hear any scratchy sounds coming from the amp. If you do hear a bit though it's not the end of the world. They probably just need some cleaning. Replacing pots is cheap anyway.
- Rusting or pitting in the hardware... if those pics are legit then it looks pretty good.
- Fret buzz... check to see if there's any buzzing when you fret the notes. Also, not the end of the world. Can usually be fixed by raising the action.

Those are the main points I look at when buying a guitar/bass. It's also important that if feels comfortable when you play it. You shouldn't have to struggle with it. Also, some say it's not important but I feel it is... you have to like the way it looks! Every time you look at it it has to scream "PLAY ME!"

As far as buying used... I ONLY buy used. You save tons of cash and can usually resell without losing any money (if you take good care of it). Once you have it, a good setup by a guitar tech is recommended. Just bring it to your local guitar shop.

I love shopping for new guitars!

StudioAudience

Thanks for the replies. Yea, I don't think he'll have a problem with me testing it out before I buy it. And unfortunately, I don't know anyone at all who plays the guitar. Thanks for the list of things to look out for though Red. I emailed him to ask about scratches and stuff, and he took some pictures w/ captions to point out some things.

http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa211/597162/

Is the $450 still a reasonable price?

wasted pixels

Nobody would sell a counterfeit copy of a modern Epiphone. If they were going to sell a falsely-branded Les Paul, they'd be selling a fake Gibson.

Anyway... you asked if it's a good deal. For a non-vintage/collectible instrument, you can usually expect to pay between 50% and 75% of the original street price (depending on age and condition, of course). So if a Fender Strat goes for $400 new, you could expect to find it for $200 to $300 used. In this case, he wants half the street price for the amp (an excellent deal), and less than half the street price for the guitar (oh wow). If the instrument is in good condition and you can afford $30 or $40 more to have a professional set it up for you, it's a steal.

The Cheese

wasted pixels wrote: »

Nobody would sell a counterfeit copy of a modern Epiphone.

Yeah they would.

wasted pixels

Site seems to be down, but I was able to find a cached copy on Google. It's interesting, but as with the "BEWARE OF FAKES" guides all over Ebay, it sort of smacks of "Why not be on the safe side and buy your guitar from me?"

The knockoff Casinos aren't really surprising at all (as they're such sought-after vintage instruments), but the fake Zakk Wylde Les is a bit odd. That said, point duly noted, but I still don't think the risk of getting a knock-off Epiphone is high (compared to the risk of, say, getting an Epi or Agile body and electronics with a Gibson neck attached) unless you're buying off an auction site. It certainly isn't something the OP should be worrying about, at least in this instance.

mooshoepork

jesus christ that is cheap. They are about 1000 dollars here (Australia) new. Go for it.

fuelish

Generally, if something is to good to be true or way cheaper than everyone else has it for, something is up.

On the other hand, if you want the look(like those Epiphones) way cheaper than the real thing, maybe it is not a ripoff. You get the look you want at a price you can pay.

Pheezer

You could get the serial number and validate it against this: http://www.guitardaterproject.org/epiphone.aspx

But a good fake would use a valid serial number.

This guy's photos look good, but the guitar is way too cheap. Something's wrong with it, it's a fake, or you're exceedingly lucky. Try playing it, see how it feels. Even if it turns out to be a fake, if it's got the look, feel and sound and you don't know any better after playing it and hearing it, it's probably still a reasonable deal.

wasted pixels

Pheezer wrote: »

This guy's photos look good, but the guitar is way too cheap. Something's wrong with it, it's a fake, or you're exceedingly lucky. Try playing it, see how it feels. Even if it turns out to be a fake, if it's got the look, feel and sound and you don't know any better after playing it and hearing it, it's probably still a reasonable deal.

It probably sounds like it's my ad the way I keep defending it, but, $350 isn't that outrageous of a price for it. I usually see them going for $400 - $450, so $350 isn't that unreasonable.

Of course, this is coming from a guy who's girlfriend just bought him a new Wacom Intuos3 tablet for ten percent of the going price, so my bargain-hunting senses may be a bit askew.

StudioAudience

Pheezer wrote: »

You could get the serial number and validate it against this: http://www.guitardaterproject.org/epiphone.aspx

But a good fake would use a valid serial number.

This guy's photos look good, but the guitar is way too cheap. Something's wrong with it, it's a fake, or you're exceedingly lucky. Try playing it, see how it feels. Even if it turns out to be a fake, if it's got the look, feel and sound and you don't know any better after playing it and hearing it, it's probably still a reasonable deal.

Thanks for that. I checked it and it looks like its a valid serial number; that one was made in Korea some where. I asked him if he could provide any sort of proof of purchase, but he said that he had bought it at a guitar center in '05 and had long lost the receipt. Anyhow, I think I'm going to go take a look at it tomorrow and check it out. Thanks for the response so far. That link to counterfeit epiphones was pretty handy.

romanqwerty

Make sure you test it throughly for fret buzz. If you plan on playing anything in any sort of drop tuning, put it into those tunings and run up and down every not one every string for buzz w/o and amp.

I bought a LP that sounded great in standard at the store, but when i tuned it half a step down, i got some 3rd fret buzzing. Luckily, the store fixed it for me, without raising the action.

Pheezer

romanqwerty wrote: »

Make sure you test it throughly for fret buzz. If you plan on playing anything in any sort of drop tuning, put it into those tunings and run up and down every not one every string for buzz w/o and amp.

I bought a LP that sounded great in standard at the store, but when i tuned it half a step down, i got some 3rd fret buzzing. Luckily, the store fixed it for me, without raising the action.

Well the thing here is though, if the guitar was never played in drop tuning and spent the last month or few in a box, it will probably need to be set up again and possibly with new strings. So if it's constant buzzing up and down a three or four fret range, yeah that might be a bad sign. If it's one or two frets, and they're frets 1-4? Probably just needs a little tweaking. Getting a guitar set up correctly by a pro the first time isn't a bad investment in any case.

Pheezer

Oh, forgot to mention. I'd say go for it in this case, if you've been looking for a Les Paul or Les Paul styled guitar. It's not my favourite style at all, so getting a deal on it wouldn't really mean that much to me. If this is what you've been looking for though, give it a play and decide on that.