SleepingSG
Senior Member
- Messages
- 437
Hello vintage fans.
I recently sold a vintage guitar to guitar center. It was a Kalamazoo Gibson, rather well known year. Like many of you I love the details, I knew what it was and was certain about it.
When you sell vintage to guitar center the local store must defer to a national vintage expert via phone, photos, black light, and everything is tested well. The national experts then determine what it is and its value. Great! Lord knows the local teenage employee doesn’t know anything about vintage gear.
But here’s the thing. After a 30 minute process. They got my instrument year wrong, and with an error that made it more valuable.
Well, I mentioned the mistake, but the local guy shrugged as it wasn’t his call and they were offering me *great* money for it.
When I went online to check out their stock I realized MANY of the guitars were not correctly dated, some unforgivably obviously so.
I am not ascribing deceptive intent on the company, could very well be someone is making mistakes. Could be that I am in correct, though, I really doubt it. Im also not going to go into detail on any of this about which instruments are wrong and why, it would be a huge task given how many I recently saw incorrect, and I don’t really want this post to cause issues for any individual employee.
This is simply to let fellow vintage gear admirers know to do your own inspection of any of these 60-70s guitars at guitar center. I do trust them on the *condition* just not the actual dating and original parts identifying.
Given GC’s financial situation, many may start looking to buy off their vintage inventory or they may be hitting the market outside of guitar center, via other online store fronts and start throwing prices way off.
I recently sold a vintage guitar to guitar center. It was a Kalamazoo Gibson, rather well known year. Like many of you I love the details, I knew what it was and was certain about it.
When you sell vintage to guitar center the local store must defer to a national vintage expert via phone, photos, black light, and everything is tested well. The national experts then determine what it is and its value. Great! Lord knows the local teenage employee doesn’t know anything about vintage gear.
But here’s the thing. After a 30 minute process. They got my instrument year wrong, and with an error that made it more valuable.
Well, I mentioned the mistake, but the local guy shrugged as it wasn’t his call and they were offering me *great* money for it.
When I went online to check out their stock I realized MANY of the guitars were not correctly dated, some unforgivably obviously so.
I am not ascribing deceptive intent on the company, could very well be someone is making mistakes. Could be that I am in correct, though, I really doubt it. Im also not going to go into detail on any of this about which instruments are wrong and why, it would be a huge task given how many I recently saw incorrect, and I don’t really want this post to cause issues for any individual employee.
This is simply to let fellow vintage gear admirers know to do your own inspection of any of these 60-70s guitars at guitar center. I do trust them on the *condition* just not the actual dating and original parts identifying.
Given GC’s financial situation, many may start looking to buy off their vintage inventory or they may be hitting the market outside of guitar center, via other online store fronts and start throwing prices way off.