Members honeyiscool Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 Yeah but how much money will you lose by selling Kinmans outright? You always lose money if you buy new and sell used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tedmich Posted November 13, 2012 Members Share Posted November 13, 2012 many here know nothing of the value of a custom guitar to THEIR PLAYING, simply the price they can get for the silly thing when they move on. You gotta play 10,000 hours to get it and sometimes not even then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DaleH Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 Customize to you pretty much means {censored} to anyone else as far as guitars go. I don't buy used for more than half of what a guitar cost new no matter what has been done to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Steadfastly Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 No, you will not increase the value of the guitar. You may end up making a better guitar but not a more valuable one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Northstar Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 I know it is very difficult with second tier brands like Epiphone and Squier, but what about brands like Gibson and Fender?If you swap the pups on a Gibson or Fender, can you increase the resale value? What about altering the finish? What about adding something like a Bigsby?Just curious what you think. What I've seen with "cheap" vintages on eBay, like 59 and early 60s Melody Makers vintage, is that it pays to gut the guitar and sell it screw by screw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members straycat113 Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 That is it in a nutshell! The only way you will re-coupe most of your money would be to part it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members omni Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 You can't polish a turd to put it bluntly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Canadian Jeff Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 Some say you shouldn't even buy a guitar unless you like it exactly how it is. I'm inclined to agree if we're talking about a new instrument. However, cheap guitars can be fun to mod. That being said, a cheap guitar with mods is a cheap guitar. I've had plenty of 'wtf' moments on CL because someone thought a couple of new pickups should double the instrument. Right now there's an RG1570 that some guy wants like $1000 for because it has ''$500'' in ''upgraded'' pickups. Dude slapped a couple of DiMarzios in and now it's worth a mint? lol, those guitars were being blown out around here for $499 with a hard case a couple of years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JTEES4 Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 I think generally speaking, upgrading pups on a cheaper guitar (say midline like Epi, MIM, Yamaha) will increase used sale value by a bit. Other mods generally do not add value, except maybe Sperzel locking tuners. On a real Gibson, most mods will not increase the value. Same with American Fenders. Of course, this is all general and is sometimes not true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Edward Posted November 14, 2012 Members Share Posted November 14, 2012 Some say you shouldn't even buy a guitar unless you like it exactly how it is. I'm inclined to agree if we're talking about a new instrument. However, cheap guitars can be fun to mod. That being said, a cheap guitar with mods is a cheap guitar. I've had plenty of 'wtf' moments on CL because someone thought a couple of new pickups should double the instrument.Right now there's an RG1570 that some guy wants like $1000 for because it has ''$500'' in ''upgraded'' pickups. Dude slapped a couple of DiMarzios in and now it's worth a mint? lol, those guitars were being blown out around here for $499 with a hard case a couple of years ago. Yes, people are often unrealistic. I prefer to buy a guitar how I want it new, but I wouldn't rule out switching things around if that's not an option. As a lefty, there are often things I can't get stock. A couple of years ago I flirted with the idea of buying a US P Bass, but the only one I could realistically afford, the US Standard, only comes lefty with a rosewood board - a dealbreaker for me. I'll probably end up going non-Fender to get a left handed, basic P-Bass with maple board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vibroluxman Posted November 15, 2012 Members Share Posted November 15, 2012 My fender strat is completely customized. I'd never get the value back out of it. But I love the guitar, and I changed things to make it play the way I wanted. Same for my Les Paul - If I were to sell it, I'd yank the Fralins out and put back in the stock buckers. It'll sell faster stock/I wouldn't get the cost of the pups back out of it. As it is, it sounds too damn good to part with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members allthumz Posted November 16, 2012 Members Share Posted November 16, 2012 Off Topic but... I'd like a vigorous market where you can buy new set neck and bolt-on guitars with no hardware or electronics so you can customize right from the get go. I'm talking name brand product. Without being able to play an unfinished guitar I don't know how you'd evaluate whether or not a guitar is top notch or a dud though. Tap test? BTW I agree and have found that I can't recoup the costs of customization. I only play low priced guitars though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bucksstudent Posted November 16, 2012 Members Share Posted November 16, 2012 no, never. there is a guy on TDPRI who took a $350 Squier, nailed some holes in the body to put a jazzmaster bridge on and now he thinks its worth $700. I told him its a ruined $350 worth maybe $200 now. This reminds me why I requested to be banned permanently from there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flintc Posted November 16, 2012 Members Share Posted November 16, 2012 There might at some point be a gray area between customizing and repairing. It is possible to buy $25 flea-market guitars, put some work into them, and sell them for $100. I myself paid $100 for a bass this had been done to. The frets were in terrible condition, so they were removed to make a fretless. A working old pickup replaced the non-working original, which was inferior when new. Before this "customization", the bass was pulled out of a dumpster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members omni Posted November 16, 2012 Members Share Posted November 16, 2012 This reminds me why I requested to be banned permanently from there... They should have given you a medal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IbanezJon Posted November 16, 2012 Members Share Posted November 16, 2012 The moral of the story is don't alter your guitar unless you want to keep it.. and even then.. you're always going to lose money whenever you sell one vs what it's worth or what you payed. Unless you find the right buyer or it's mint/brand new.. etc. If you're going to change pickups/bridge/tuners etc.. be sure it's to what you are going to like.. and then just keep it. Or lose a lot of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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