Buying guitars through ebay... !!!

[Watersilk]

What a stressful experience!

Ever since reading Music Radar's faultless review of the PRS SE Soapbar, I wanted one! They gave it five stars out of five in a 25 best sub £500 guitars article.

<http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/guitars/25-smokin-electric-guitars-under-500-275278/21#!11>

These guitars are now discontinued, so recently when the guitar-buying itch struck, I decided to trawl the net and see if I could find a good secondhand example. After looking at a few, I decided to buy one I found on ebay; a 2003 model in Vintage Cherry. The seller wanted £300, which I think was a bit more than they generally sell for, but it did look in good condition; he said he was a Strat man, and bought it in on a whim, so hadn't played it much. I bought it.

Very soon after, I had a message from ebay saying that my account is suspended indefinitely because of suspicious activity! I wrote to the seller and he told me that ebay had sent a message to him telling him not to ship the guitar giving the same reason, and that they will take the money back! Luckily I had been in correspondence with the seller, and carried on writing directly outside ebay's message page. Both of us spent an hour on the phone to ebay, the seller saying that he wants to sell the guitar to me, and me telling them that I want to buy the guitar, to no avail!

PayPal told the seller that the transaction had gone through, and it was safe for him to ship! This was after about a week of stress! Hopefully, the guitar will now be sent.

I live in Africa, Amazon wont deliver here because things go missing! I gave my mothers address in England for shipping because it's safer to have it delivered there, this 'seems' to be the problem, I don't know, because my account is still suspended and they wont provide a reason why!

I have to wait a month before I get to see my Soapbar, and I'm really looking forward to opening the package and playing her!

 

[John Beef]

Wow, that's a bummer!

 

[John Beef]

Wow, that's a bummer! Hope it all works out.

Here, I can help with the pic.

 

[andy474x]

My first PRS was a used SE that I bought online. I hope you enjoy yours just as much as I did!

 

[Watersilk]

Wow, that's a bummer! Hope it all works out.

Here, I can help with the pic.

How did you do that? You must be a magician!! I was struggling to make that link work!

 

[Goldtop]

I wish you good luck all around. Please let us know how it turns out.

This thread got me thinking... It's so easy to take things for granted. Get online, type in a few numbers, and wait for the shipment. Or go to a store, plunk down your money or credit card, and you can be back home playing in a few minutes. But it's not always so easy for everybody.

I watched the DVD "Beware Mr. Baker" again a few days ago, and some of the scenes showed guitarists in different parts of the world. Some of their instruments looked almost unplayable, like stuff you probably couldn't give away in a garage sale here in The States. But these people were making great music with them and having a wonderful time, happy, dancing, with huge smiles on their faces.

I feel really fortunate to be where I am...

Goldtop Lloyd

 

[Watersilk]

I wish you good luck all around. Please let us know how it turns out.

This thread got me thinking... It's so easy to take things for granted. Get online, type in a few numbers, and wait for the shipment. Or go to a store, plunk down your money or credit card, and you can be back home playing in a few minutes. But it's not always so easy for everybody.

I watched the DVD "Beware Mr. Baker" again a few days ago, and some of the scenes showed guitarists in different parts of the world. Some of their instruments looked almost unplayable, like stuff you probably couldn't give away in a garage sale here in The States. But these people were making great music with them and having a wonderful time, happy, dancing, with huge smiles on their faces.

I feel really fortunate to be where I am...

Goldtop Lloyd

I haven't seen Beware Mr Baker, I will look out for it.

Yes, living in Africa opens your eyes to the important things in life. Poverty can really focus your thoughts on the struggle to survive, and teach you how to celebrate life.... embracing every opportunity for revelry and gay abandon. Here, in the townships and rural shacks, you get a glimpse of what life must have been like in the American south, in the Delta, in the 1930's; I'm a great Blues fan!

The best, and one of perhaps only three music shops for musicians in Namibia, has grown from strength to strength in it's 26 years of existence, they are chock-full of musical instruments, drums, keyboards, amps and guitars, however, a PRS SE is well out of most musician's budget; here, a Yamaha Pacifica represents the same financial threshold as a Private Stock PRS is to those in the first world!

In a world of excess, this is a sobering thought!

I'm also fortunate to be where I am, some things are just a bit more complicated. I'm very curious to hear what the P90's sound like, I've heard such good things about them. I will let you know how the Soapbar story ends

 

[Goldtop]

All the best to you. You like The Blues, you like Soapbars... Great combination!

Goldtop Lloyd

 

[bestellen]

It is alright, but I honestly would suggest you try to find a local shop somewhere near you, first. Playing before buying is a crucial thing to consider when buying guitars.
But as far as Ebay, try to go to zzsounds, or Musiciansfriend. These websites are more reliable, and will hand you better instruments for a likely better price, and often with freeshipping.

When buying, check reviews. Always, always check reviews. If you see a few of 4 out of 5's, but one 1-2 out of 5 review, don't buy it. Sometimes some cheap instrument will be sold, and to inexperienced buyers it will be the greatest thing ever, however, one experienced player will go through the instrument's specs, and list all the things that will cause problems.
Make sure there are a lot of reviews, and almost all of them are favorable (3-5 stars), that is how you can tell if an instrument is reliable or not.

Look through all the specs of the guitar, and make sure they suit you, and your style. Do like thick, fat necks or narrow, thin necks? Jumbo-sized frets or small frets? Its all up to you.
Good luck!

 

[Watersilk]

It is alright, but I honestly would suggest you try to find a local shop somewhere near you, first. Playing before buying is a crucial thing to consider when buying guitars.
But as far as Ebay, try to go to zzsounds, or Musiciansfriend. These websites are more reliable, and will hand you better instruments for a likely better price, and often with freeshipping.

When buying, check reviews. Always, always check reviews. If you see a few of 4 out of 5's, but one 1-2 out of 5 review, don't buy it. Sometimes some cheap instrument will be sold, and to inexperienced buyers it will be the greatest thing ever, however, one experienced player will go through the instrument's specs, and list all the things that will cause problems.
Make sure there are a lot of reviews, and almost all of them are favorable (3-5 stars), that is how you can tell if an instrument is reliable or not.

Look through all the specs of the guitar, and make sure they suit you, and your style. Do like thick, fat necks or narrow, thin necks? Jumbo-sized frets or small frets? Its all up to you.
Good luck!

Thank you for the advice bestellen. I always said, I would never buy a guitar over the internet, I agree, you have to have it in your hands to know if it's worth buying. I have taken a risk this time, this is because PRS stopped production a few years ago. I will have a look at those websites, but shipping may only be free if the seller is in the same country as the shipping address.

The problem is that living in Africa means that there is no decent local guitar shop nearby, unless I am in the market for a Yamaha Pacifica or non USA Fender. I was particularly looking for an SE Singlecut with P90's and a mahogany body. I like to play blues, and like the single coil, with a bit of a humbucker sound; I think they suit my style of playing.

I checked a lot of reviews for this guitar, everyone raves about them, negative comments don't seem to exist. I have a USA P90 model with Seymour Duncan pickups, and wanted to try an SE with PRS clones, which excite many players. This model has a solid mahogany body, no maple cap, and there is something special in the mahogany body, which gives bass, paired with the brightness of P90's. I also wanted the 25" scale.

I also want to upgrade some of the hardware and electrics, as I've done on my Korean Hamer, which is now amazing! It should be a fun project, I just hope that the risk I've taken in buying without seeing and playing, is justified, and this guitar is fine.

I will post when I get the guitar, even if it is bad.

 

[John Beef]

How did you do that? You must be a magician!! I was struggling to make that link work!

My co-workers have referred to me as the IT Ninja. I also have a superpower where I can walk into a room and computers stop malfunctioning. So, maybe it's magic?

 

[Watersilk]

My co-workers have referred to me as the IT Ninja. I also have a superpower where I can walk into a room and computers stop malfunctioning. So, maybe it's magic?

Hello John,

I can see why I wasn't able to post that image, my Apple Cube doesn't run a browser that's able to show all the content. When I used my newer laptop, I was immediately able to copy the link and post. Pictures do bring life to this forum, thank you for helping...