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Who & Why do they stamp headstocks "used"


seaofstrings

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sometimes its factory seconds and sometimes its the shop that stamps them used or stamps something similar...keeps them from ever being sold as new to an unsuspecting buyer for one or being returned for new warranty service as well.

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Well I guess that would make sense, especially once you start hitting the $1000 mark.

 

It just seems like it'd be kind of a buzz killer sometimes.

 

musician- "Yes this is my baby here, model xxx, killer tone, great feel"

 

fan/woman - "what that stamped on the back?" :thu:

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Originally posted by seaofstrings

Well I guess that would make sense, especially once you start hitting the $1000 mark.


It just seems like it'd be kind of a buzz killer sometimes.


musician- "Yes this is my baby here, model xxx, killer tone, great feel"


fan/woman - "what that stamped on the back?"
:thu:

 

lol...a buddy has a guitar that is stamped second and if you didnt specifically look, you would never know.

 

besides, who on earth asks to see your serial number 'cept when you are selling?

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Originally posted by k4df4l



lol...a buddy has a guitar that is stamped second and if you didnt specifically look, you would never know.


besides, who on earth asks to see your serial number 'cept when you are selling?

 

 

No, a few I have seen have been astronomically huge. Not serial number size. I am talking 1/2" tall letters inbedded into the wood.

 

That was my question though. thanks

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Originally posted by seaofstrings



No, a few I have seen have been astronomically huge. Not serial number size. I am talking 1/2" tall letters inbedded into the wood.


That was my question though. thanks

 

 

interestingly enough, I have seen people pass on some really nice guitars because they were stamped USED....it doesn't bother me but I can understand how it would to some.

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Originally posted by k4df4l



interestingly enough, I have seen people pass on some really nice guitars because they were stamped USED....it doesn't bother me but I can understand how it would to some.

 

 

yea, I know it sounds, well, stupid. For some reason it does matter with me. I am normally not at all one who would care... kinda weird.

 

I think it is more the theory behind doing it, not that it is stamped. My used car I purchased doesn't have this, nor my home, etc.....

 

kind weird i guess

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MIRC does this stamping. They make problem products go away for the guitar companies by buying large lots of seconds, corpses, parts, and junk, then refubing what they can, grading them, and reselling them to retailers, pawnshops, and ebayers. I have dealt with them, and had issues with service, pricing, and product quality. This may have changed.

 

To read more about them, go to........

 

www.mircweb.com

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Originally posted by k4df4l



interestingly enough, I have seen people pass on some really nice guitars because they were stamped USED....it doesn't bother me but I can understand how it would to some.

 

 

If the price is also "used" it may not be as big a deal.

 

I wonder, though, with factory-stamped "used" instruments, whether they have a history. That might include returns on warrantee for structural issues, broken or damged stock from retailers sent back to the manufacturer, "refurbs", etc. Those guitars may have been A-stock when they first left left the factory, and since they are not "new" the second time out, they stamp 'em "used".

 

In short, "used" might mean "refurbished".

 

And that could mean anything from a fixed finish blemish to repair of a splintered neck or kicked-in hollowbody.

 

{EDIT: I just noticed the http://www.mircweb.com/ link. Most interesting!}

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Originally posted by BowerR64

I think they are bad necks, if it has a finish blem why ruin the neck with a huge stamp? There are bad frets or they are warped or somthing that keeps them from passing the QC.

 

Every company has different standards for grading their blems, defects, and such. See my previous post regarding a company called MIRC-they do the big USED stamp as part of their reclamatiion process. MIRC used to charge a price just shy of first quality to dealers, so the end user price wouldnt be as low as a real "used" instrument, because the dealer would need to get some margin out of the deal.

 

Other companies use a small 2 or second mark that is usually far more subtle. Seconds range from finish flaws to complete garbage. I have dealt with a lot of b-stock over the years, and the best comes from Godin/Seagull, Fernandes, and Schecter. The worst from Jay Turser, Hohner, Washburn, and any off brands.

 

Frankly, there is so much sub-par product out there its just scary.:o

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So if it has a bad body finish they ruin the neck? that dont seem like somthing they would do when they could just throw the neck on a different body. Maybe both have blems? Only thing ive ever seen was stamps on the necks nothing on the body.

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Originally posted by BowerR64

So if it has a bad body finish they ruin the neck? that dont seem like somthing they would do when they could just throw the neck on a different body. Maybe both have blems? Only thing ive ever seen was stamps on the necks nothing on the body.

 

 

I have never seen any body stamps either, and I wouldnt call a stamp ruining a neck, just IDing the guitar as less than first quality to hold up the companys rep, and avoid bogus warranty claims.

 

It is not cost effective to cobble together 1 good guitar out of two bad ones, which is why MIRC exists-they sweep the floor of guitar companies warehouses, and do the cobbling for them after putting their own stamp and serial number on them to protect the original manufacturer.

 

I prefer the stamp on this stuff to the Washburn method of dumping junk on the world with no indication that it is flawed or fully defective. Some companies like Takamine, Ovation, and Hamer grade their less than first quality stuff with a tier system-AAA, AA, and so on. Sometimes companies stamp perfectly good overstocks as blems just to move them out. Its a wicked, wacky world of guitars out there.

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Originally posted by Clyde42

I prefer the stamp on this stuff to the Washburn method of dumping junk on the world with no indication that it is flawed or fully defective.

Ya. Hell will freeze and become populated with polar bears and seals before I'll ever buy a Washburn, & that's why. (Plus the fact that they SUXOR.)

 

Altho I heard Bob Dylan owns one Washburn; go figure.

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Originally posted by BowerR64

Where can i get headless "USED" guitars? prefer steinberger.

 

 

You are

better off just getting them from YO. MIRC deals with Epiphone, and probably other Gibson owned brands, but as I stated in an earlier post, by the time they do their thing, their price to dealers isnt that much less than first quality, so the end user usually pays more than used price. They mostly provide an opportunity for dealers to widen their inventory without becoming "new" dealers for a lot of brands, or for pawnshops and fleabayers to get their mitts on some guitar inventory.

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Originally posted by Darkstorm

I have never, ever, seen a guitar with "used" or "second" or "2nd", or "blem" or any other such thing stamped on it anywhere. Not in any guitar store in america or england that I've been in for the past 30 years. A new one to me.

 

 

Lucky guy! I have seen way too much of it myself. Many marks are subtle. Sometimes a tiny 2 on the last fret of the fingerboard. Jackson had a {censored}load of water damaged stuff a few years back, and all the guitars had a little W on the last fret. Whenever someone brought in a used Jackson to sell I would check for a W, so I would know it was originally purchased at a lower price, and that it was probably floating at one time. Lots of bad necks on those floaters.

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Clyde > Little w for water damaged. Hum thats the type of only time I'd want to see some sort of stamp on a guitar. And would avoid buying it. Lol. I dont think I'd want to buy a guitar with used carved or stamped onto it. Would be as unappealling as shopping for a used car at a lot that branded the word "used" onto the bumper or some such. Lol. I'm glad we dont brand the word "used" onto peeps who get a devorce. Ok your divorce is approved, bend over a little so can touch this little branding iron with the fancy "U" to your forhead. Lol.

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Originally posted by Darkstorm

I have never, ever, seen a guitar with "used" or "second" or "2nd", or "blem" or any other such thing stamped on it anywhere. Not in any guitar store in america or england that I've been in for the past 30 years. A new one to me.

 

 

Check out pawn shops. That's where I run into these, often hanging as "new" merchandise. A closer look shows otherwise.

 

Here is an example stamped USED from Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7361103381

(item # 7361103381)

 

Here is an example stamped SECOND from gbase.com:

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=782998

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Originally posted by seaofstrings



yea, I know it sounds, well, stupid. For some reason it does matter with me. I am normally not at all one who would care... kinda weird.


I think it is more the theory behind doing it, not that it is stamped. My used car I purchased doesn't have this, nor my home, etc.....


kind weird i guess

That's because a new car doesn't get sent back to the factory or get sold with known blemishes,slight changes,etc. The guitar is actually new but usually gets sold with no warranty. I've bought a number of guitars new and used with USED stamped on them. I bought a couple of new Epi Wildkats that initially came to the US with faulty Bigsby tails. Instead of waiting for replacement Bigsbys,they simply replaced the tails with a trapeze style and sold them that way. They work fine and the thing is,I probably wouldn't have bought one with a cheap Bigsby,or would have changed it myself.

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