Reverb Feedback

Buying and selling websites are a critical part of the guitar restoration and sales business. Even with a private website it is tough to sell without Ebay or Reverb.

Guitar sales websites are an important tool for the restorer and seller. They are also important for the customer. An assumption most customers make is that the sales site is looking out for the customer’s best interests. This is not necessarily so.

Guitar sales depend completely on seller ethical behavior. It is easy to hide condition issues by not showing them. One image in particular that customers should insist on is a side view of the neck showing string height. If string height is very high, the condition rating (like new, excellent, fair, poor, etc.) should reflect this. So should the price.

Customers rely in part on feedback to discover whether the seller is honorable. If there is too much negative feedback I, for one, will not buy from that seller. Negative feedback keeps sellers honest. It is as important as the friendly functionality of the site.

Without negative feedback, seller’s ethical performance is not visible. Buying guitars is much like buying horses. People will sell you a broken down nag and miss-represent the condition of that nag and hide it if possible. Same is true with guitars. Sellers will sell garbage, then refuse to back up their sale with a return, correction, warranty service, or refund.

The guitar sales site Reverb does not allow negative feedback. More precisely, they do not allow less than four out of five star rating. You can enter critical text, but with a four star rating this is the only way to enter negative text. Negative comments will probably be missed unless all feedback texts are read carefully. Who wants to read a lot of feedback text? The stars rating graphic is much easier to review.

The problem is essentially the same for Ebay. Even worse, the site tech or sales support staff do not defend customer interests. Their incentive is to keep the selling fee. So beware when purchasing a guitar from Ebay or Reverb. You will find it very difficult to evaluate the ethical behavior of the seller.

What’s to do? Below is a list of questions that should be asked before every guitar purchase. This applies to both new and used instruments. The seller can’t fudge on answers to these questions because lying practically guarantees a return with refund even if the listing says "No Returns". Instrument sale price should reflect poor answers to these questions. If all answers are positive indicating a good condition guitar, a high price is also reasonable. You can make an informed decision.

Questions you should ask before every acoustic guitar purchase:

What is the string height between the top of the 12th fret and the bottom of the High Pitch E string?
How high is the saddle above the top of the bridge for that string?
What is the string height between the top of the 12th fret and the bottom of the Low Pitch E string?
How high is the saddle above the top of the bridge for that string? (If the action at the 12th fret is greater than 4/64-5/64 inch and the saddle is less than 1/8-inch, that instrument is at the end of playable life. It was either not set up correctly when built, or is experiencing top or neck deformation. At the least, an expensive reset will be required soon. And, I must add, I am shocked at how many brand new high dollar guitars are for sale with bad set up statistics.)
Is the neck straight? The best indication here, for playability, are the fret tops all in the same plain? A very slight dip at frets 7-4 is acceptable, but no more than .001-2 inches. This may or may not be modifiable by the truss rod. The seller probably can not say if the rod is adjusted to the max.
If the guitar is listed as mint or excellent or like new, is there any visible fret or fret board wear?
If there is a truss rod, is it fully functional?
Is the neck to body joint intact?
Are there any body, top or back cracks?
Has the neck been repaired of altered?
Has the body been repaired of altered?
Is the neck cracked?

Honest answers to the foregoing will determine whether the guitar you are buying is worth the price. They also indicate the ethical behavior of the seller. I just had a seller refuse to describe the foregoing play action stats. This very expensive guitar, like new, was a bad buy and I returned it. Hopefully, after asking the right questiohs, you won’t buy a broken down old nag.