Let's say you have 30 seconds....

[sondich]

Let's say you have 30 seconds to evaluate the condition of a used electric guitar that you're considering buying. What would your "30-second" checklist look like?

I know that 30 seconds is not sufficient time to do this properly but I want to hear what you'd focus on when there's not enough time.

Steve

[dantedayjob]

quick look down the neck, glance over body for obvious flaws, plug in and check all pots/switches are working, chromatic scales all over neck looking for buzz, play a few clean licks with any remaining seconds.

[whiskeyzulu]

Why the fire drill? Hasty decisions with an instrument usually don't work out - take at least a minute!

Check neck/headstock/tuners for breaks/repairs and playability noting fret life, give body once over and look for signs of obvious trauma - then electronics if time permits.

[Thinline_slim]

Check that the neck is straight, tuners, nut bridge and check to make sure the body is in good shape.

Then play it acoustically to make sure it resonates for the rest of the time. Maybe check for fret buzz along the way.

I can fix all the electrical later if need be.

[danelectro]

Is this guitar being purchased in a back alley?

[tapeworm]

i check the height of the bridge and how much it can be lowered for future adjustment, look down the neck to check for straightness and check the frets for wear. if i can plug it in, i check all the electronics for scratchiness.

[jpervin]

If all I had was 30 seconds, I wouldn't buy it.

[WoodyStrat]

If I only had 30 seconds, I would pass. I don't need anything that I can't spend more time evaluating.

[Trebor Renkluaf]

30 seconds? Turn and walk away. 30 seconds is not enough. Not even close.

[Dev...in]

30 seconds isnt enough time but... the most important thing for me to look for is action and fretwear. Breaks are a big concern. I purchased a guitar in 30 seconds and suprise suprise somone had popped the skunk-stripe out of it.

[joey3f]

All the guitars I've bought, I knew I wanted them inside a minute.

Straight neck is the only deal breaker for me.

[Dale]

Check that the neck is straight, tuners, nut bridge and check to make sure the body is in good shape.

Then play it acoustically to make sure it resonates for the rest of the time. Maybe check for fret buzz along the way.

I can fix all the electrical later if need be.


Same here

[Boris Bubbanov]

All the guitars I've bought, I knew I wanted them inside a minute.



I agree, I probably know I'm gonna buy something within the first 30 seconds.

THEN I spend the next half hour doing my due diligence.

+

Psychologically speaking, if you close too quickly on a guitar you are gonna be strongly inclined to under-cherish it, to not see it for how good it might genuinely be. Take the time.

[monty]

I'd use up the 30 seconds checking out the neck.

[Structo]

The neck, the neck and the neck!

[Dev...in]

I agree, I probably know I'm gonna buy something within the first 30 seconds.

THEN I spend the next half hour doing my due diligence.

+

Psychologically speaking, if you close too quickly on a guitar you are gonna be strongly inclined to under-cherish it, to not see it for how good it might genuinely be. Take the time.

wow, very true.

[sondich]

Is this guitar being purchased in a back alley?

LOL

See I have this friend who is an idiot and tends to buy lemons...

OK, I give up. It's me. The reason for the fire drill is that I do not have the skill set to identify a lemon on the spot. Forget about distinguishing a great guitar from an average one, I'm talking about quickly ruling out a guitar that you definitely don't want to bring home. By imposing a 30 second time limit on people with mad skills (you), I was hoping to zero in on the bare minimum threshold for acceptability.

I absolutely will inspect my next purchase with due diligence or take it to someone who can.

[KennethC]

Psychologically speaking, if you close too quickly on a guitar you are gonna be strongly inclined to under-cherish it, to not see it for how good it might genuinely be. Take the time.

It's interesting how this is so relevant to the topic of guy-girl relationships. :agree

[dazco]

I would look at it and consider the resale value for next month when i'm gassing for something better. :D

[joey3f]

I agree, I probably know I'm gonna buy something within the first 30 seconds.

THEN I spend the next half hour doing my due diligence.

+

Psychologically speaking, if you close too quickly on a guitar you are gonna be strongly inclined to under-cherish it, to not see it for how good it might genuinely be. Take the time.

This is very true - and a very intelligent comment.

However, I don't cherish my guitars, they are just tools to me.

[whomad1215]

neck, frets, tuners (older uncared for guitars sometimes dislike tuning). im assuming its electric otherwise I'd say check for separation/top sinking. do the electronics work. can you fix the intonation

[ant_riv]

Well everyone else in this thread can have their superficial values of analysis.

I would check that the color matchs my eyes.

If there was any time left, I would check myself out in a full-length mirror, to make sure that the guitar didn't make my butt look fat.

Is there any other criteria by which a great guitar is judged?


:rotflmao:rotflmao:rotflmao


Just kidding OP. Your point is well taken. I just wanted to have a little fun.

[Tone_Terrific]

Considering how many people buy online, with zero checkout time, 30 secs is a bonus.

[baimun]

While I agree that more than 30 seconds is needed to decide whether or not to part with a sizable amount of cash on a purchase....



... I can honestly say that I've dismissed guitars in 1/10th that amount of time on by simply wrapping my hand around the neck. I've played enought guitars over the past 30 years to immediatly know the shape of a neck I will hate when I touch it.

[just_one_more]

Neck, fingerboard, frets and general string and bridge alignment to make sure there is room for adjustment. Unless i was paying a premium for the pickups i would not even plug it in.

[mad dog]

It doesn't sound like enough time. Except that I tried an old guitar yesterday. The first 30 seconds told the tale. How it felt in my hands, neck feel, playabililty. That elusive "alive" quality too many guitars don't have. Just a few seconds feeling the thing, and I knew it was a good one.

Plugged in to hear it ... kind of unnecessary at that point. All in all, took well under two minutes, closer to one, to know I wanted it. (Don't have it yet, working on that now.)
MD

[treeofpain]

I find that the time needed to check out a guitar is directly proportional to its price.

[chucke99]

I've burned myself in the past for not being thorough in guitar assessment (especially if it's a guitar at a low price and I'm looking to double or triple my money on resale). So now I try to take it slow. But these are things I always make sure to check, in the order in which I normally use:

1. Site down the neck and look for warp, twist, etc. Sideways view, do you see rises or falls in the fretboard? Check each string for buzzing at EVERY fret. Check both sides of the binding for cracking or missing parts.
2. Further check out the neck for fret wear, action height, and the back of it for large/uncomfortable dings. Is the nut in good shape?
3. Give the headstock a once over, front and back: Do the tuners/bushings all match? Are there any cracks or repaired breaks there? On the back, are there invisible repairs, or are the tuners misaligned, etc.?
4. On to where the neck attaches: If bolt-on, is it straight? Any cracks at the join? If it's a set neck, are there cracks in the join? Is the join loose? Any sign of a repair there?
5. For the body, a good once over of the body itself: Any cracks? Big dings? Holes? (Especially extra holes where the strap knobs are.) Extra holes? If the guitar has F holes, are they intact? If bound, is the binding on the body cracked or are parts missing? Any separation of the top from the sides on an acoustic or semi/full hollow electric?
6. If acoustic, check the bridge area for lift. If there's a bulge there, forget about the guitar, unless you know a great luthier and the guitar is a holy grail at a cheap price.

And here's where I pray for something to go wrong. Bring a small portable amp (I have a battery-powered Pignose) and plug in the guitar.

1. Do the volume and tone knobs work, for each pickup. Does the pickup switch work? (I'm praying that the pots are scratchy, or that one or more pickups have horrible crackling sounds when a pot is turned.)
2. Do any additional switches work (phase, split coil etc.)? I'm hoping they are also scratchy or make cracking sounds when switched.
3. If there's a pick guard, is it the original one? On straight? Missing altogether? Degraded (gassing)?
4. Are all the bridge saddles original, are there any hardware store fixes like screws in the bridge, tremelo, etc.?

Sounds like a lot to do, but it can be done quickly if you know what you're looking at.

The reason I hope for electrical problems (or a bad nut, or tuners that don't turn smoothly, or even a high action because the bridge is too high) is because that can turn a $350 guitar into a $250 one instantly, and it can mostly be fixed with a quick few squirts of pot cleaner. I got a $400 amp that way (it was marked at $90) for $20 because of the horrible sounds it made when I turned the knobs.

Good luck in your search. Your best friend will be preparation. If you know what you're looking at, you have a better time making sure you get value.

[dspellman]

I just bought a 5-string bass Sunday that I knew I was going to own within the first 30 seconds. I wasn't even looking for something like that. Within the first few seconds I realized that the condition was outstanding and that someone had taken good care of it and that it hadn't been played much. That much was established in a couple of flips to check the front and back and a bit of running my hand up and down the neck. Frets weren't sprouting, weren't even worn much, no cracks or dings in the paint anywhere, the fretboard was in great condition. Sighted down the neck, tried the action on all five strings on virtually every fret, checked for loose tuners, bridge pieces, pots (the knobs didn't wobble when I rotated them, etc.), strap buttons. All good. Grabbed a cable that was already in an amp, tried each of the knobs (4) and each of the switches (4 of those, too) and the whole thing was rocking, except that it needed a new set of strings. Turned out it had been owned by a jazz player who wore it up around his bow tie and wanted something more woody and less rock star (it's ferrari red). I ended up spending more than 30 seconds with it, but the decision had already been made in that first half-minute.

[DGTCrazy]

Look at the neck, then pluck the B string to see if/how the body resonates. With the extra 20 seconds, look at the finish/body at the headstock, neck joint, treble and bass bouts while evaluating the weight. Finally, take a peak at the serial number.

But seriously......avoid any situation where you only have 30 seconds to evaluate a guitar. You need at least 45:omg

[Polynitro]

look down the neck for any warping/twisiting, quickly scan the body/neck for any crack/repairs, look at the fretwork, strum some chords, play a few blues bends at the open E, 5th A, 12th e, 15th a position and Im done.

[IGuitUpIGuitDown]

Don't You Think Of Anything But Sex?

[jtees4]

I'd play it for 20 seconds, make up my mind...and then look at it for the remaining 10 seconds. If I still wanted it, I'd buy it.

[joejazzguitar]

Check that the trussrod nut isn't maxed out or frozen.
Check that the trussrod nut allows the neck to be adjusted from concave to convex.
Check for breaks.
Check for sufficient string angle over the back of the bridge.

[teleclem]

The neck.