Buying your first vintage guitar

After 30-plus years of selling vintage guitars, we have watched a lot of people buy their first one. The buyers who are still happy with the guitar a year later tended to do the same few things. None of it is complicated. Here is what we tell them.

Be honest about the budget

Vintage does not automatically mean expensive. The last time we counted, around 240 pieces in stock were priced under $1,000 — guitars, basses, amps and pedals across our four stores. A first vintage guitar does not have to be a five-figure Stratocaster.

Set your number before you start looking, and make it the whole number: the guitar, a setup if it needs one, a case if it does not come with one, and shipping if you are buying remotely. Then hold to it. There is always another guitar coming through the door.

If the guitar you want costs more than the number, we do offer layaway: 20% down minimum, with a guaranteed hold of one month. Know before you use it that deposits are non-refundable. Layaway is a way to secure a specific instrument, not a way to buy on hope. Be sure before you put money down.

Decide what the guitar is for

This is the biggest decision, and it moves the price more than the model does.

Collector value runs on originality. An all-original instrument — original finish, hardware, electronics and pickups — is what collectors compete for, and it prices accordingly. A refinished guitar, a "refin," typically prices 30 to 50 percent below an all-original example. Replaced tuners, a changed pickup, a refret: each one moves collector value down.

None of those things necessarily make a guitar play or sound worse. Take our 1963 Fender Precision Bass — Black Refin Pre-CBS w/HSC, listed at $12,495 in recent inventory. The Pre-CBS construction is all there. The finish is not original, and the price says so plainly. For a player who wants a 1963 Precision Bass to play, that is arguably the smarter buy. For a collector assembling untouched examples, it is not the guitar — and nobody should pretend otherwise.

So decide honestly which buyer you are. Do not pay collector money for a player guitar. Do not expect player money to buy an all-original collector piece.

Read the listing the way it was written

Our listings state the year, the model, the finish, what is original and what is not, and which store the instrument is sitting in. The titles use dealer shorthand — OHSC, refin, Pre-CBS — and we keep a plain-English glossary of every term.

Read the description all the way through. Then note what it does not say. If the listing does not mention the pickups, or a repair, or the case, that is not an answer. It is a question. Write it down and bring it to the next step.

Call the store before you buy

Store names appear in more than 4,800 descriptions in our catalog, because almost every listing names the store holding the instrument. That is there for you to use. Call the store, and the person who answers can put the guitar on the bench and answer specifically: what the pot codes read, whether the neck is straight, what the wear looks like in daylight.

Ask for anything the listing does not cover — more photos, measurements, a video walkthrough of the guitar being played. We would rather answer twenty questions before the sale than have an unhappy buyer after it. That is not generosity. It is how a store that sells vintage instruments stays in business for 30 years.

If you can, come play it. We have four showrooms — Burbank, Sherman Oaks, Orange and San Diego — open 11 to 6 Monday through Saturday, Sunday by appointment, with vintage amps to plug into on the floor. A first vintage guitar is as much feel as spec, and no photograph replaces that.

Know the return policy before you buy, not after

Our policy is strict, and we would rather you know it now than discover it later.

All sales are final. In-store purchases can come back within 24 hours for store credit only, in original condition. On mail order, you have 24 hours from delivery to call any store; a return has to be approved by management, you pay shipping both ways, and there is a 15% restocking fee. Damaged or modified items, special orders, layaway, closeouts, oversize or overweight items and discontinued items cannot come back at all, and all trades are final.

Read that twice before you buy, because it is the reason for everything above. A strict return policy puts the weight on the conversation, not the return window. That is why we answer questions about condition and originality honestly before money moves — and why you should ask them.

What we would tell a friend

• - Buy the guitar, not the story. Provenance matters when it is real. A good guitar that plays well does not need a legend attached.
• - Originality is money. Learn the shorthand before you shop. It is what the prices are built on.
• - Player-grade is a legitimate first vintage guitar. A refin or a changed part can be the honest way in.
• - Think about the exit. If you ever sell or trade, original cases, paperwork and originality are what raise the offer. We buy single instruments and whole collections — tell us what you have and we will value it before you buy your next one.
• - Ask first. The return policy is strict on purpose. Twenty minutes of questions protects the purchase.

A first vintage guitar should be bought with the questions answered, not with fingers crossed. Call any of the four stores. The phone is answered by people who can put hands on the guitar.