New or used gear? Which way to go

[YetAnotherOne]

Re: New or used gear? Which way to go

I bought my first guitar new in '83 (a Peavey Patriot) and my second new in '85 (a Jackson RR Custom). I purchased my third new guitar in December of '03 (the Warthog Warrior). In the intervening years I've probably owned around 100 guitars, all of them used. I've never been terribly disappointed with any of them, particularly since I normally buy only when I think I can turn it around quickly and break even or only take a small hit if I don't like it or when I'm 100% certain that I'll be keeping the guitar no matter how well/poorly it plays.

[Newc]

Re: New or used gear? Which way to go

I never buy a guitar without seeing pics of it first. If it's in slightly less-than-described condition, I don't panic. If it's beat to hell and the seller said it was mint with "just a little wear", I panic.
That said, I've only bought 5 new guitars out of the 50+ I've owned:
-Ibanez EX350
-Jackson DK-2
-Ibanez PF-10 acoustic
-JCF01 Rhoads
-JacksonStars NASL (NOS, but still new/unsold when I got it)

And I only bought three new amps ever:
-Peavey Transtube Bandit 112
-Carvin VE212 cabinet
-Twisteramps proto head [img]graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

I've had used amps (Ampeg Bassman-type thing and a Randall rack head), but the best buys have been rack gear - ADA MP-1 and Digitech GSP21-Pro. I've bought outboard gear new (Digitech TSR-12, Alesis 3630, drum machine, etc) but most of my stuff was used when I got it, and none of it was defective, DOA, or burned out shortly after getting it.

Just take note of what you're buying; the sort of use it WILL see as well as what it HAS seen, who owned it, etc.
Just because a piece of gear never left the guy's bedroom/basement doesn't mean it hasn't been dropped, kicked, or had something spilled in it, or left on without a speaker cabinet hooked up to it, or run overnight with a bad tube in it, etc.

Newc