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RobJe -> RE: Buying a used guitar or a new guitar? pros & cons (Dec. 31 2020 15:01:17)
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Good, acceptable and bad guitars exist in all categories – factory made, luthier made, new, secondhand, repaired (or needing repair) and perfect condition. Finding the one that suits your needs and financial state is not always easy. So there is no simple answer to your question.
Here are some suggestions.
Work on improving your flamenco playing - it becomes easier to select a good guitar as your playing improves. If you keep playing and improving, your first guitar won’t be your last.
Ideally you should try before you buy or if you are commissioning a guitar, see if you can find one or more examples of the luthier’s work to try. The alternative is to find recommendations as to quality of guitars produced by whoever you choose. Some, but not all luthiers manage to achieve consistency and would refuse to send out a bad guitar. Factory output can be a bit more hit and miss.
Try as many guitars as you can find. I don’t know whether your geographical location makes this hard. For me, being close to London it has been easy. Visits to shops and luthiers in UK and Spain and trying the guitars of players that I have associated with over the years have given me plenty of opportunities. You might have to work had at this. Take a friend if you can. Take another guitar for comparison if you can. The first guitar I bought )in 1959!) was new, shiny and affordable. I was dissatisfied with in in a few weeks. Later I had the opportunity to play a fabulous guitar in London and I began to learn something about the qualities that I wanted. Sadly, the price was way out of my league. I went to Spain and bought a fairly cheap but perfectly suitable guitar. I have been buying guitars ever since.
Yes, you do need to take care buying secondhand guitars. Properly repaired cracks do not usually affect the quality of a guitar. They might affect its secondhand value though. You need to increase your knowledge about the issues that can affect the playability of a guitar and understand which can be corrected easily. All the flamenco guitarists I have known have had several guitars. Professional players don’t choose bad guitars and buying one from them that is being sold to make way for a new one can be a good deal. I have found amazing bargains at auctions but it might take some time to find what you want.
Do some searches on the Foro – there is a lot of information here that should help you.
Rob
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