Buying a high(er) end guitar...issues...

drumdrum

Hi!

I hope this is in the right forum.....

But basically, I'm in Dublin and I'm looking to buy an Ibanez Prestige or a guitar of a similar spec - you know, a thin neck, humbucker style pick-ups, yet with a great tone for (but not limited to!) heavier styles of music (NOT Les Pauls...they just aren't for me).
Now I'm a big believer in trying an instrument out in person first, as guitars tend to have a very individual feel to them.

I tried the usual Dublin haunts...Music Maker, Xmusic, Waltons, the two other guitar shops near Music Maker.... and none of these seem to stock what I want. When I inquired about them getting some in I learned that the shops in general are VERY reluctant to order in higher end gear at the moment - due to the times I guess!
I was told that they make most of their cash from lower-end sales, and they seem to fear getting in higher end stuff because most of the time it ends up lying on the shelf for ages with the higher price tag being the main deterrent for other potential buyers.

I understand this logic from their POV, but its left me guitar-less for the last few months and my calluses are starting to revert to normal!

I've looked privately at adverts.ie and buyandsell and the "deals" there don't seem to be very good IMHO. In some of the cases I saw the seller only dropped the price by €100 at most compared to a brand new version, and I reckon I'd be better off buying it new with a warranty at that point!!! Personally, I'd rather NOT buy online as you never know what you are getting and sending stuff back because you didn't like it can get costly on the shipping!

Does anybody know of any alternative shops in Dublin or anywhere else that might stock what I want? A friend said to me to go "up North" for one, but I'd rather not travel that far if I don't have to.

Thanks in advance!

zafo

Worth checking out the place on Liffey Steet, can't remember if they do Ibanez but they have ESP and LTD in there.

Dord

Xmusic are the main Ibanez dealer in Ireland. Surely they'd order what you want in if you gave a deposit. That's how it has worked for years with higher value guitars and shops in Ireland.

68 lost souls

Something like the Ibanez J Custom they have in there at the moment? Its on their sale list.

Malice

Dord wrote: »

Surely they'd order what you want in if you gave a deposit.

But what happens if they order a guitar that he likes the sound of but then when he plays it he realises it's not for him? I remember playing a Schecter 7 string guitar in Boston a couple of years ago and absolutely loving the look of it but when I went to play it I realised the feel of the neck was all wrong for me. Now had I gotten the shop to order the guitar in specially for me I don't think they'd have been too impressed with my turning around saying "I don't like it now that I've played it."

Dord

In that case, if it's such a high value item I'd say go find a shop that has one. I'm interested in buying a particular model 50's Gibson hollowbody and when I'm ready I'll fly to a city where a shop has one.

trad

How about a trip to Denmark Street in London. I'm not a guitar player but the last time I was there, there was a serious amount of guitars for sale on the one street.

Malice

Dord wrote: »

In that case, if it's such a high value item I'd say go find a shop that has one. I'm interested in buying a particular model 50's Gibson hollowbody and when I'm ready I'll fly to a city where a shop has one.

That'd be a bit of an expensive trip if you ended up finding out you didn't like feel of the guitar in question .

quicklickpaddy

I'd say your best bet is to try out the second hand ones, even if they're only reduced by a small amount. Especially considering the state I've seen a lot of the X-Music guitars in. Some of them are missing tone knobs and the plastic on the tops of the pickup selector switch and are horribly set up. It's not like travelling to another country or paying postage fee's just to find out you don't like the feel of it. Try forget it's second hand and see what you think of it.

If a second hand guitar feels right to you then it's worth not feeling like you've got yourself a bargain - you'll just have a nice guitar. Try to see it in terms of what it's worth to you as opposed to what you think it's sell-on value is. Also, with second hand you'll more than likely have the scope to haggle a certain amount anyways.

Ravelleman

Malice wrote: »

But what happens if they order a guitar that he likes the sound of but then when he plays it he realises it's not for him? I remember playing a Schecter 7 string guitar in Boston a couple of years ago and absolutely loving the look of it but when I went to play it I realised the feel of the neck was all wrong for me. Now had I gotten the shop to order the guitar in specially for me I don't think they'd have been too impressed with my turning around saying "I don't like it now that I've played it."

I don't see what your complaint is. The harsh reality of living in Ireland means that buying guitars, among other things, comes with an inherent risk. Shops clearly have a profit motive; they're not here to provide a public service for people to try gear they *think* they might like - such is the nature of society.

If you don't want to order online and you don't want to pay a deposit to make it worthwhile for an Irish store to order something for you, then what is it exactly that you want? Shops sell things that people will buy. That's how it is.

The trick is to try to buy guitars that you know can be sold for roughly what you paid.

My most recent guitar is G&L Legacy. A 15 year old G&L Legacy Special just sold for €1100 on adverts.ie... Based on that, if I sell the 2011 Legacy I bought two months ago (with comparable features and import duty included), I'll stand to make a hefty profit. The same goes for my Gretsch Annie.

People who pay full, European prices for mundane gear, to me, are chumps. The Euro is strong against the Dollar. The time is right to buy from the USA.

Malice

Ravelleman wrote: »

I don't see what your complaint is.

You don't see what my complaint is because there isn't one. I was just pointing out that the situation is not quite as simple as was alluded to earlier in the thread. Drumdrum wrote that he was looking to buy a certain type of guitar. He didn't specify a particular model which suggests he hasn't got his mind made up yet.

Dord then replied with

Surely they'd order what you want in if you gave a deposit.

which would be fine except for the fact that drumdrum hasn't made up his mind and therefore he would be in a bit of an awkward situation if he got the shop to order in something that he thought he would like but in reality was not for him.

Ravelleman wrote:

The harsh reality of living in Ireland means that buying guitars, among other things, comes with an inherent risk. Shops clearly have a profit motive; they're not here to provide a public service for people to try gear they *think* they might like - such is the nature of society.

I don't think that's restricted to Ireland in fairness. Maybe it's not quite as blatant in countries with larger populations but I don't think there are many music shops that don't exist with the goal of making a profit.

Ravelleman wrote:

The trick is to try to buy guitars that you know can be sold for roughly what you paid.

I'd rather buy guitars to keep and play with so I'd have said the trick is to buy guitars that you like but hey, each to their own

population

For Ibanez stick with X Music

Ravelleman

Malice wrote: »

I'd rather buy guitars to keep and play with so I'd have said the trick is to buy guitars that you like but hey, each to their own

Nope, the trick is to find something that you like, while eliminating the inherent risk involved with shipping something into Ireland. If you buy sensibly you can't lose money. That's what the OP's problem is - he doesn't know what he wants, no one stocks anything interesting and he doesn't want to take the risk of giving a deposit on something he may not even like. Living in Ireland dictates that you have to order online to get all but the most mundane gear. Like I said, the trick is to eliminate the risk.

And when I said 'you' I meant one in general. I had put 'one' in there but it didn't read well, so I just left it as 'you'. It wasn't directed specifically at you, Malice, rather the problem in general.

My point is that if no one stocks what you want, you don't want to order online or pay a deposit to get it in a shop, then what's left? I'd just cheer up and buy myself an ice cream or something.

Malice

The whole "try before you buy" scenario has come up a few times on here and in general I would agree. Two of my last three purchases were extensively playtested before buying. Having said that buying blind can work out quite well. I bought a K5 bass online without ever having played one (or in fact any 5 string bass) and was delighted with the purchase. It also taught me what NOT to do when a GAS attack hits .

Ravelleman wrote:

And when I said 'you' I meant one in general. I had put 'one' in there but it didn't read well, so I just left it as 'you'. It wasn't directed specifically at you, Malice, rather the problem in general.

Ah, I think we may be arguing in agreement then .

Ravelleman wrote:

My point is that if no one stocks what you want, you don't want to order online or pay a deposit to get it in a shop, then what's left? I'd just cheer up and buy myself an ice cream or something.

A trip to a guitar retailer in a large European city maybe? An ice cream would be a far cheaper option mind you .

Dord

Ravelleman wrote: »

Nope, the trick is to find something that you like, while eliminating the inherent risk involved with shipping something into Ireland. If you buy sensibly you can't lose money. That's what the OP's problem is - he doesn't know what he wants, no one stocks anything interesting and he doesn't want to take the risk of giving a deposit on something he may not even like. Living in Ireland dictates that you have to order online to get all but the most mundane gear. Like I said, the trick is to eliminate the risk.

And when I said 'you' I meant one in general. I had put 'one' in there but it didn't read well, so I just left it as 'you'. It wasn't directed specifically at you, Malice, rather the problem in general.

My point is that if no one stocks what you want, you don't want to order online or pay a deposit to get it in a shop, then what's left? I'd just cheer up and buy myself an ice cream or something.

Solution - find some friends that have similar guitars to what you want and ask nicely to try them out. :pac:

z0oT

drumdrum wrote: »

Does anybody know of any alternative shops in Dublin or anywhere else that might stock what I want? A friend said to me to go "up North" for one, but I'd rather not travel that far if I don't have to.

Thanks in advance!

Dublin, I can't speak for but I've an Ibanez RGA121 prestige, which I got around 4 years back in Ad Lib Music in Carlow, which is now "ImInMusic". Might be worth giving them a call, failing other avenues.

Daniel S

If I were you, I'd go around to friends houses and see what you like in a guitar. I found that with fairly large hands, the 50's Gibson neck was my favourite. Other things such as pickups and body. Try and build your perfect guitar in your head. It just so happens that the Gibson Les Paul Studio (In Fireburst with Gold Hardware) was exactly what I was looking for, and I got it pretty cheap too!