Have you ever missed a good deal on a guitar because you were afraid you did not know enough about the guitar you were watching in an auction?  Or maybe you hesitated because you were afraid that when you received the guitar you wouldn't be able to tell if you made a good purchase or not.  If you are one of the people who just does not have the confidence to buy a guitar on Ebay for these or similar reasons, this guide is just for you.  This guide will help you buy a guitar with confidence, and get a great deal while you are at it!

There's a reason some people go as far as personify their guitars by giving them a name.  Guitars and the gift of creativity that they give us is a wonderful if not magical thing. However, some people seem to have the misguided impression that you have to be an artist or a psychic or something to know enough about guitars to make a good purchase.  Well, I'm saying that is just a bunch of good fashioned bologna!  Who am I to say such a thing?  Well, I am definitely nobody special, but I do know a thing or two about guitars.  I have been playing them for over 30 years,  been building them for 20 years, and I even made the guitar you see in this Guide (no its not for sale-this is not a pitch). I just want more people to experience the magic of owning a guitar.  Really !  - you'll see what I mean when you get one. O.K. enough of all that ! Let's get started!!!

So what do you need to know so that you will have the confidence to make the plunge and get that awsome deal you have been watching? 

• Some basic mechanics, and what to look for to know the thing is not going to fly to pieces in a year or so, guitars should be made to last...
•  ... and the most important thing - do you like it, does it look and sound good to YOU...

O.K.,  I know, that sounds a little simplistic, but it really is not much more complicated than that.

Here is what we are going to cover in this guide so you will be ready to get that next great deal!

• Quality
• Mechanics
• Sound, Appearance and Feel.

Quality:

This first category should not take too long; it should be just a quick look.  If your purchase fails the quality inspection, you probably should look elsewhere because if this basic stuff ain't the way it should be, you are just asking for trouble later.  When I said a guitar should be made to last, I wasn't kidding.  The most important guitars age like fine wine; they become something wonderful - not vinegar.  The way this happens is all about good old fashioned quality.  You do not have to be an expert here!  Just look at it.  Does it look like someone took the time to make sure that everything fit together correctly or does it look like that messy kid down the street put it together in between naps. 

YOU can do this!  Look for things like:

• If it is electric, are the screws put in straight? Are the screw heads burred, stripped etc.?
• Are the parts assembled straight? uniform? consistent?
• Are there any loose or missing parts?
• Do you see any obvious damage, chips, cracks or joints that are coming apart?
• Just ask yourself "did they do a good job making this quitar?", would you have been proud to say you made this?

Mechanics:

O.K.  This is the part where it gets a little more technical; this is some stuf you may not know and you will make a better decision if you pay attention to these things...

Did you know that when a guitar is strung up to proper pitch, the strings can be putting more than 200 lbs of pressure on the guitar?  Basically, the strings try their best to completely destroy the guitar, but if it is a well designed guitar, the guitar will win the battle every time.  Here is what you look for to make sure the guitar will pass the test of time:

• Check out the neck and how it joins the body of the guitar.  This is one of the most critical and often over looked parts of a guitar. The neck is a fairly thin piece of wood that has a very hard job.  It has to withstand the forces of the stings, keep the sounds of the guitar accurate, all while giving the player a comfortable platform that allows for creativity instead of calisthenics.  Here is what you look for:
• Is the neck consistent.  Notice I did not say straight.  Did you know that a guitar neck should NOT be straight.  A correctly adjusted neck has a bow to it that is called "relief."  First take a look down the neck, don't get crazy here, all you are looking for is something obvious like maybe there is a twist to the neck or a large bow, or maybe the neck has a S shape to it, any of these are the kiss of death to a guitar and need expensive surgery.
• O.K. now for the good kind of bow I was telling you about. Don't get scared, this is a very easy test.  Take the guitar and place it like you are going to play it.  Take a finger on your left hand a push the string down to the fret closest to the tuning keys.  Take your other hand and push the same string down to the fret where the neck joins the body.  Now look at the string as it goes down the neck.  If the neck is correct there should be a very small gap between the string and the fret that is about half way between your fingers.  A very small gap; this gap is generally somewhere between 10 and 30 thousandths of an inch, but those thousandths are very important. When a string is played, it bows (think of a jump rope).  This bow in the neck compensates for that bow in the string.  If it is not there, the strings will need to be moved too far away from the neck to keep the strings from rattling against the frets.
• Now look at the fretboard.  Look at all the frets to make sure they are all seated down in their slots evenly.  Consistency is the key here.  The frets need to be consistent all the way down the neck for the guitar to play accurately and comfortably.
• Finally ceck the joint where the neck is joined to the body.  If it is screwed to the body like many electrics and some acoustics, take a close look at the screws.  Are they seated all the way?  Do they look like they have been put in and taken out frequently ( a sure sign of a problem someone has been trying to deal with).  If it is a glue joint, look very close.  Make sure there are no cracks in the joint.  There is a lot of pressure on this joint and if there are any problems now, they will likely get worse later.  This usually is completely correctable, but something you may not want to deal with.
• Check out the bridge.  Follow the strings to where they attach to the body of the guitar. Where the strings pass over some sort of bar is called the bridge and on electrics sometimes they will have a bridge and then another piece where the strings attach to the guitar; usually called a tailpiece.  Since the strings attach in these areas, there is a great deal of tension on the guitar here and if the guitar is not up to the challenge, this is a common place for problems to start.  On electrics again check the screws for signs of excessive use, on acoustic guitars look very very close to see if you can see a gap where the bridge may be starting to pull away from the body of the guitar.
• Check out the body.  Take another look at the body.  For a solid body electric this is usually just a cosmetic check but for a hollow guitar this is a much different check.  Acoustic guitars are a balance of strength and fragility.  Fine acoustic guitars have a top that is somewhere between 100 and 130 thousandths of an inch. The sides and back are often even thinner.  The only thing that keeps the strings at bay is the complex bracing inside.  SO,,, what you are looking for here are signs of the bracing that is not winning the battle.  Fortunately, what you are looking for here are OBVIOUS stability issues.  It is normal and perfectly fine for a guitar to develop gentle warps and bends in the body especially on the top and especially common in the top just behind the bridge where it can develop what is called a belly.  Which is just what you think it is, a bulge just below the bridge.  Don't get excited when you see any of these things, what you are looking for are real OBVIOUS warps or cracks.  Stuff that looks like a brace has come loose or broke inside the guitar.  Oh, I mentioned cracks.  Don't get too excited here either.  If it is not in a joint of some kind, and it is not really big and UGLY, take a close look at it.  Cracks in the body are not a good thing but they usually stabilize eventually and stop when they run into a brace that is glued to the other side of the piece of wood.  Look at it to see if it is new or if it has been there a while.  If it is new you will know less about what it is going to do, but if it has been there a long time, it has probably done all the damage it is going to do.  Don't get me wrong, cracks are not what you want, but it really should not be a reason to reject an otherwise great guitar.  As a matter of fact, many people look at cracks in the finish of some vintage electric guitar as beauty marks and may even prefer a guitar with finish cracks.  And if that is not you that is O.K. too!
• Finally check out the hardware.  Test all the knobs, the tuning keys, and all the bells and whistles.  Plug it up make sure the controls do something.  I say it that way because you may not yet understand what the controls actually do, but make sure that you can tell that they do something.  Also check the tuning keys.  Make sure they operate smoothly and the strings do not appear to slip or jerk when you tune the strings.  Again not a reason to reject an otherwise great guitar as these are easily replaced.

Sound and Appearance and Feel:

EEEEEW this is the mystical part right?   WRONG!  This is the part where YOU become the expert.  I could write encyclopedias on this topic (and people have done just that), but for the purpose of this guide, that would be totally inappropriate.  In this final check only you can be the expert - not me.  There are sounds and finishes that are considered by the so-called experts to be what you look for, but does that really matter here?  If you are buying this instrument to play professionally, it matters more but if you are doing that you probably know exactly what you want to hear and how you need it to look.  What likely really matters here is only if you are happy with the way it sounds and looks and feels.  If you have looked at the first 2 categories ( Quality and Mechanics) and you are satisfied with them, then the guitar is going to last for a long time.  So,,,,,  all that is left is your expert opinion.  Do you like the way it looks, sounds and feels in your hands.  Remember YOU are the expert here.

If all this just sounds like common sense, that's because it really is.  This is not hard, do not be intimidated and let another deal get away !!!  You can do it !!!  There is a great guitar out there waiting for you - go get it.

Go for it!