5 Worst Ways to Spend Money On Your Next Guitar

Baxter and Jonathan want you to be wise with your guitar buying dollars. Here are 5 things to avoid when looking for your next guitar!
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[@charlesbolton8471]

I completely agree with “limited doesn’t always mean rare”. I would also add that rare doesn’t always mean valuable.

[@Funkybassuk]

And that none of those necessarily mean good.

[@tonepilot]

Exactly. There’s only one of me so I’m rare but not valuable.

[@qua7771]

Limited often means limited to how many they can sell.

[@MO-vr1jg]

Good point.

[@rosewoodsteel6656]

This brings to mind all of the "Limited" runs that Taylor has done over the years.

[@rodgereyre6640]

I find 'Limited Edition' often means - limited to the number that they can sell

[@alangreenway6695]

I bought a PRS Lefty LMTD Custom 22 in 2011. In 2020 the signed Paul Reed Smith backplate fell out of the case I had never seen.

[@rosewoodsteel6656]

I think I'd hang on to that. :)

[@timnewman1172]

The only guitar I bought for value was the Martin 0-18 I traded my 1977 L.P. Standard for... I had the Les Paul for a long time but rarely played it... now I have a beautiful Martin that I rarely play...

[@Funkybassuk]

Brewster’s Millions - one of our favourite films in my family, across 3 generations. The late, great Richard Pryor and John Candy RIP.

[@TheFeelButton]

I'm getting ready to invest in some limited edition Nascar signed Floyd rose guitars but I'm waiting on a deal! Cheers Casino!!

[@FunkyELF]

My GS Mini is signed by Molly Tuttle. I'll never sell it but I'd like to think it didn't hurt the value.

[@jctedsap]

Only autographed guitar I have I won in a radio contest. It’s a telecaster autographed by John Fogerty and has the Blue Moon Swamp logo on the pickgaurd.

[@GinraiMinor]

Guitar Etiquette: Have the artist sign the back of the Headstock(best place to sign a guitar imo) and don't obscure the serial # !! p.s.-snag a photo of the signing if you can as well!!

[@johnstillwell4353]

Thanks! Timely delivery!!

[@MintyBitesBack]

Hah! 😂 I just want you to know I’ve broken every single one of your rules! And loved doing it!! 😂😂

[@joeyvanostrand3655]

Sometimes we can have fun learning the hard way.

[@csnide6702]

I thought that Chibson's were going to come up..... I can't even mention that I have one in my Local guitar shop........

[@DrFearCo]

The other thing is ticking boxes. I need a tele… I need a Strat… I need a Les Paul… etc etc etc.

[@Barbarapape]

The one and only guitar that i bought in a sale that all my friends thought i was a fool for buying it was a Parker Fly, which i still have in mint full working condition which is rare as a lot have faulty acoustic transducers under the bridge. It still lokks odd against the standard shapes, but it will never sell it. The only two custom shop signature guitars that i still have are a Bonnie Raitt and a Hank Marvin both singed by them in person, problem is that if that marker pen ink wears off............

[@jaorte10]

Collectibles somehow find me. Like stray pets that just turn up. That's how I like it. Like they were somehow meant for me.

[@rosewoodsteel6656]

I had to laugh at that. We just had a feral kitty cat neutered. He's recuperating in our garage. :)

[@tonybroken6353]

99.9 % of guitars are going to lose value over time, definitely not an investment. People buying signature guitars thinking it's an investment, it really isn't because it's likely they will have a new signature guitar out very soon. The exception seems to be if it's a really limited edition, like those charvel evh art guitars they did, i think they were pretty expensive to start with though.

[@ethanbean5479]

talking about Autographed guitars, I have a Mark Holcomb signature that I had him sign the inside of the electronics cover. you will only see it if you remove it, but I didn't want it rubbed of and I wanted him to sign part of HIS sig

[@user-no1cares]

Buying an investment guitar is a matter predicting that the guitar you buy & stash under the bed will be greatly coveted in the future & becuase you own one, you’ll be a better musician & a better human than those that don’t.

[@umrmech84]

You mean I DON'T really need a 5th Eric Johnson Strat? You LIE!!!

[@raf5.132]

Of course u do. Are u gonna repeat guitars when playing M-F? U need one for each day.

[@rosewoodsteel6656]

Pay no attention to the man (men) behind the curtain.

[@MrSmiley1964]

You must have every color in Maple, Rosewood, Solid and Thin-Line and a backup for each in case a string breaks while you're playing during a set. Even my wife sort of understands that.

[@johnstillwell4353]

You need six. Seriously, it is one of the few guitars that has kept its value.

[@umrmech84]

@johnstillwell4353 I actually hadn't planned on getting the Virginia, but my wife said she didn't think I would spend that much on yet another EJ, so I took it as a dare.

[@junee37]

investment? I wish buying 15 years ago not mentioning 25 years ago few 61 strats … ‘’they not making more from 59-61-65-69 ….. I agree to play those guitars but they’re definitely keeping values …

[@MrSmiley1964]

My personal from hard knocks 1- Floyd Rose haven't been able to deal with these things since the 80's. But I've tried more than once. 2- those multi-scaled fanned fret guitars I must have bumped my head harder than I thought. Contact me if you are interested. 3- Candy Apple Red. They don't taste like candy, and they aren't made out of Apples. see #1 for more info. 4- I had luck with investments, but I bought before guitars were investments. Sue was just used when I bought her from that pawn shop in '79. Same with Frank in "84. 5- Can we do a bit about amps? I really lost big when selling my '74 Super Lead 1/2 stack. Seems there's no real demand for 100 watt amps in the clubs these days.

[@johnstillwell4353]

Hi Guys. I've made a miracle comeback as I was not feeling too well all week and now I'm fine. As far as collectible guitars go, the time I've put to dating my one collectible piece has not been fun. It's in my humble opinion a 1960 Gibson ES 345 TD. It's one of the popular ideas, but it has support. It's all about the guitar and mine has: Orange Oval Paper where the Serial Number can be found, Stop tailpiece, correct headstock, parallelogram inlays or whatever they call them, Patent Number Pickups (and yes can find them on guitars between 60-63, not often but it happens), original case had the pink inside and there must be story to that relating to this place somehow because that color is.......well, it's really hip. My 345 also has a very thin neck which dates it back to either 59 or 60 as they started moving larger after that. I'm selling it so I'm looking to let you all know what you will get for a guitar that when I bought it selling it for money was the last thought in my mind. As far as the amount goes, I'm sure I'll be disappointed, but not too bad.

[@reauxdom255]

Common on Big Casino. My son made a terrific living, playing VIOLA. May I ask why a professional musician as yourself is minimizing the value of those instruments that are truly important in an orchestra, or band setting? Common on Big Casino, remain professional and considerate in your comments. Love all musicians for their contribution. Thanks Casino.

[@TommiChong]

One advantage of being left handed... Guitar Acquisition Syndrome isn't a factor. We don't have a selection of anything cool unless you pay custom shop prices. Boutique...forgetaboutit.

[@southernpanda33]

Yea, it’s hard to make poor financial decisions when there’s 9,000 guitars and only 167 are left handed. I’m looking at you, Sweetwater and Guitar Center.

[@TommiChong]

@@southernpanda33 165 made overseas "beginner POS"....the other two are "currently unavailable".

[@the_hippykiller22]

I'm a lefty and I kinda disagree, it makes cool guitars even rarer and when they pop up you just grab em cause you might never see one again... I've owned more than 100 guitars in 15 years and currently own around 20 lol

[@BigfootRunning]

I’m a lefty and don’t have trouble finding great guitars… it’s becoming a problem 😂

[@TommiChong]

Must be my area. All that's around Jacksonville Florida is Player Fenders and a few Am Pro 2 all basic BS. Autistic....might as well change religions

[@user-ko4iy1pp9j]

What about a Nigel Tufnel limited rare autographed one off model?

[@davidgood6744]

I saw Liam Gallagher and John Squire give away an autograph Fender Player Stratocaster recently. Now that is class.

[@Funkybassuk]

Missed a trick not having John Squire giving away a Squier.

[@davidgood6744]

I’m surprised I had the spelling correct.

[@RoadKing-ky2bs]

In 2020, I bought a new 60th Anniversary Fender Jazz bass in Arctic Pearl. It was a "limited run" of about 1,330 instruments worldwide. I called Fender to get an exact number, but they gave me the aforementioned quantity ballpark. I bought mine because I just wanted it, not because of an investment. I love it and play it when I have time.

[@mikebauer6917]

Buy a microphone and audio interface. Then fall down the audio recording rabbit hole of plugins, preamps, compressors and mics. A whole new level for GAS.

[@JasonCaron-qv3cp]

HAHA! Love the CG content but very contradictory to say don't buy guitars as an investment, but later in segment that some of the signature models are rising in price.

[@stannowak5086]

Raise hell , Praise Dale ! Roll tide !

[@MinivanMegafun100]

Oh yeah the “Limited Edition” sellers on marketplace are hilarious. I owned one of the 2012 “Telebration” guitars (the “75” Tele Custom) and it was really difficult to resell 3 or 4 years ago. They were originally AVRI price point and I ended up reselling mine for the same price as a used American Standard. No one wanted this guitar despite the model being rare and “limited”.

[@shanewalton8888]

My Dean VMNT has Dave Mustaine's autograph on it. Very cool.

[@myshow667]

i had an older epi LP that i was gonna hock, and John 5 was in our venue that week so i had him sign it. maybe get a couple extra bucks for it. but then i started thinking, ya know be kinda cool to get lots of people to sign and keep it as my "gold watch" to hang on a wall someday for al my years of work and damage to my personal life and body heh. got like 50 sigs on it now, runnin out of room on the back

[@mikewhitfield2994]

I was about to pull the trigger on a beautiful Taylor solid body electric when I learned that the electronics (including the pick-ups) were all proprietary and not very reliable. Honestly I kinda wish I'd bought it even if I had to gut it, rout it out, make a new pickguard and replace everything with standard hardware.

[@BOBXFILES2374a]

Re "Investments," this reminds me of, say, buying a 1974 Torino with a blown tranny & bad paint, putting 20 or 30 thousand dollars into it...and waiting for the value to go up. Some day!

[@gado6438]

What about anniversary editions?

[@homegrownson]

I have traded Guitars for Cars, a Ford 8N Tractor with front end loader and of course other gear and Guitars and have traded Collectibles, Antiques, Memorabilia for Guitars & Gear so many times I don't really spend money more then move money already invested into other Gear or ???

[@ZonkerRoberts]

Special guitars with parts that won't be available in the future? I propose we call this "The Acoustasonic Effect". Because there's no way you'll be able to get many of the custom chips on that DSP board in 10 years. They'll probably be unobtainable in less than 10.

[@chrisgreen2078]

As a proud owner of two.. Count em two Variax JTV guitars... This. This right here. I miss when I could take those out to shows. Now its a gamble and they only come for specific theater shows or things like that because I'd just rather not risk the damage. They play like amazing guitars and when the tech goes out I'll still use them as great guitars. But ouch yeah this one's real

[@jaredlackey9177]

I bought my limited edition MIM Strat because it was a better deal on a great guitar. I don't care if it's rare.

[@FronzSchornack]

I need more guitars! I need a Gibson a Fender a Martin a Yamaha a Takamine a Parker Fly a Wolfgang Ahhhh....... did I miss one? I want em all! but i'm poor! so I look for fixer uppers at the second hand store.

[@Nick-qq2nq]

The boutique market is really the only place you have a chance of winning with a guitar investment because there is a more limited market and a greater chance they won’t be as easily available some day. If nacho banos just stopped making teles and Strats, they would skyrocket, if Dennis fano sold novo to fender or something, the pre buyout models would skyrocket. The pedal market is probably a safer place to roll the dice on this. All it takes is for one famous player to start using some unheard of boutique pedal for it to become unobtainable overnight

[@Nick-qq2nq]

@InjectBleach-em9tgwhether you care or not is irrelevant. Not a single factory line fender/gibson or even a custom shop more than likely, is going up in value over time.

[@jonmurphy776]

I never met a guitar I didn’t like! Paradoxically guitarists on the other hand….😵‍💫

[@mark240862]

Limited edition... usually means it's limited to how many they can sell.

[@_NoDrinkTheBleach]

I had Paul Gilbert sign the back of the headstock of one of my guitars. It would have been foolish to have him sign it in a heavy wear area, and I wouldn't want it to be out in the open anyway. I had it signed for me, not for anyone else.

[@chrisgreen2078]

I have a Fender Modern Player+ Telecaster. I think they made them in like 2014. Originally got it in 2015 so I had something with a little more kick than my mexican strat I was rocking at the time for shows in college. Cost me like $450 or something like that. They... Did not sell well. And furthermore when I wanted to sell it when I was on hard times people were so confused on what it was. A three pickup HSS telecaster with a lipstick pickup in the neck? This thing was all over the place. Now though... I upgraded all the electronics on it and have basically kept it in fighting shape all these years. And now suddenly I've got people asking about it and wanting to make me offers. Nope boys this one's off the market. Its weird. Its definitely a funky guitar. And its mine because I got it. Not as an investment but as a player. I don't use it a ton. But when I do it is eye catching and has a quality kick to it that I love. The moral here? If you really want to buy that weird thing? You better go full send on it. Because the odds of reselling it are slim.

[@brendancleary9490]

I have a modern player telecaster and love that thing. I got mine used in mint condition for $150. Mine doesn't have a lipstick pickup, mine is a tele neck pickup, strat middle, and humbucker in the bridge with a toggle switch to split the coil. I love how it has the stomach contour, and i've always loved playing teles but love the sound of a strat so it's perfect for me.

[@benlogan430]

Guitars are for playing Disney glass figurines are for collecting. I don’t know what that means, but…

[@Sams911]

how funny, been bindge watching your guys PRS videos and all of a sudden KZbin recommended this video... and you both look so different that I though this was an old video.. and yes, never buy as an investment... the only guitar (bass) I ever made a killing on was a Wal I bought years ago... I'd never sell it tho.

[@PeterMoore350]

is there a SW Narrow St in Northern Pines ?

[@928Porscheman]

I want an Epiphone Peter Frampton Les Paul Custom Pro because I am a fan of Frampton and the memories that the original Frampton Comes Alive tour brings to me. They are priced at the top tier of Epiphone. Is it bad to buy a signature guitar for that reason? They were limited to 900 guitars worldwide but I don't want it for investment reasons only love for the artist.

[@DonaldMerrit]

Signature guitars are really great but what can happen is your artist of choice may have really big hands and prefers a chunky neck and you might have small hands and prefer a thinner neck. When you buy a signature guitar you're likely to be able to get the artists tone but if you were to buy a Stevie Ray Vaughan signature guitar, not everybody is suited to play 13 gauge strings.

[@dw7704]

Autographed guitars aren’t anything to me, if you like them, cool, but if you sell it it doesn’t mean the guitar is worth 10x the price I once had a chance at a guitar clinic to have one of my favourite guitarists to sign my guitar at a clinic, but I just had him sign a CD. The guitar had no association to the guitarist, but if I had the chance to have Les Paul to sign my Les Paul’s pickguard, then I may have done that

[@Patrick.B223]

The only reason to buy a signed guitar is if all the money goes to charity.

[@robertspreitzer8126]

Brewsters Millions great flick. I buy guitars for both as an investment and to play I don’t gig so they don’t get beat up. Yeah Dean kinda screwed their customers by offering a ML custom shop slime so basically the real Dime Slimes will probably come down in value so whenever I get mine I’m going to sell it and get a V and an explorer.

[@user-vs6kr3cb2i]

The greatest mistake for me is buying a Guitar for Investment.

[@Kur0y4m4]

Guitars as investment vehicles is going to disappoint. Covid prices threw that off and will confused some kids, but they’ll learn soon.

[@jorgeya2036]

Yeah the only way a guitar can be an investment is if you buy 50s or 60s vintage and even then it's a bit of a gamble

[@zebfox011]

Depends on how you are defining the word "investment"! I invest in my musical future with every single musical purchase!😂😂 it has and never will disappoint me

[@rosewoodsteel6656]

@@jorgeya2036 I can't say I disagree with you, Jorgeya, but have you seen the prices 70's Fenders are going for on Reverb now?

[@MackDaddyVic]

Yep. Always a bad idea. Always.

[@kosmonument2682]

LImited editions are made to trigger FOMO.

[@applehead252]

I wish I would have seen this 25 years ago. I’m guilty of it all ! My buddy said it best … this guitar room is your 401k because I got little else but I gots me some fancy guitars ! Around 53 but who’s counting. And amps I can’t afford to retube them so that’s another thing… lol

[@williamtm1965]

Here's another one - paying full price for a new Asian guitar. For example, all these expensive Epiphone guitars they just released for $1300-1500. There's a lot of hype around them, but in few months you will see them selling for 30-50% off in mint condition. I know people who paid $1300 plus tax for Bonamassa Epiphone ES-335 Limited Edition and the best offers he gets are around $600-700. Guitar Center doesn't want to do a trade-in because there are too many of these in their inventory.

[@johnstillwell4353]

Baxter and Jonathan better fly up to my side of the states, round up my friends and get an intervention going because getting smarter about this stuff doesn't sound like it's going to work lol!!!

[@rosewoodsteel6656]

So, do you guys think my 58 Tele, 1960 LP Special, 74 Strat or 85 PRS's are worth anything?

[@josephbenz4913]

Upgrading cheap guitars and speaker cabinets. Only do it if you love the guitar and want to personalize it. Don’t believe that you’re adding value to that Squire.

[@ItsVictoriaG]

The joke with Brian May Guitars is that there’s more BMG Specials in Antique Red signed by Brian May than there are unsigned. 😅 Since there’s a ticket holder signed BMG Special offer with every tour.

[@johnbriggs3916]

The new Victory Amps Deputy uses power tubes that haven’t been manufactured for 50 years...

[@dustinmhill]

What?!?! Between my guitars and baseball cards, I'm going to be rich one day.

[@jjjohny_a5965]

6# the chibson..seen a few of them trust rods that dont do anything to pots that are a joke...sight unseen gibson are cool i like play em first but any china guitar your taken a real risk..next resale spot one a mile away..buy a epi from a dealer get it set if its not already

[@66falcon99]

Buy the guitar(s) you really like to play. Stay away from speculation and odd guitars that seem rare, but are so odd, no one wants them, no matter how rare. Speculating on guitars, is like speculating on wine or vintage cars, etc. The market is up and down over time. Trends come and go. Just get the guitar you really like to play. That's more than enough.

[@robg1996]

What do u think of the 50k double neck Gibson, played by Jimmy Page, including the pick he played with and signed??? I think those may be worth more in 50 or 100 years. I will be long gone. Your thoughts???

[@Nick-qq2nq]

My problem with those is all the “cool factor” is artificial. Gibson paying jimmy page to play the guitar for two seconds doesn’t make it worth 50k imo. It’s not like jimmy page actually owned and played the guitar himself. His connection to the guitar is simply a payday and that’s kinda lame.

[@robg1996]

@@Nick-qq2nq I agree totally. I wouldn’t buy it but I bet they will sell all 50. Once us baby boomers are gone, no one is buying these. Lol

[@robg1996]

And Jimmy has plenty of money so I don’t get it

[@chadb5959]

They sold out of the $50K guitars on the day the guitars were announced. I have 29/50. It's a limited edition, signed guitar. I am so screwed!!!

[@Nick-qq2nq]

@@robg1996 nothing says “rock and roll” more than a clear corporate cash in lol. The guitars are cool sure, but 50k is ridiculous. But if that’s what people will pay for them… I just know I never will.

[@armchairzen]

Gotta watch out for "vintage". As Baxter once said "They're cool, but some vintage guitars are just not that fun to play."

[@kcj5219]

So I shouldn’t buy Todd Snider’s guitar autographed by Bill Elliott?

[@rohnleidigh213]

My two cents... don't buy low budget cheapies to save money either. You'll be disappointed and not play to your potential - and sound like shit to boot... Save just a little longer to get that quality used one or the entry level new one that plays better if you're a beginner or in a financial pinch.

[@victornice858]

If only Norms rare guitars were going out but no..they will always be here sadly

[@daveduffy2823]

You forgot number 6 - manufacturer sponsored gear reviews. They are always finely edited and will never sound that way with your gear.

[@alexholdenii4946]

Wait until that deal goes down……

[@archer4556]

Yahtzee, a 2 fer Tuesday

[@wikolib6821]

Sunny came home to her favorite room Sunny sat down in the kitchen

[@uweborsch1946]

"Rare" usually means nobody was interested when it was launched.

[@phillippitts6294]

Buying a 100$ Gibson t shirt

[@bottomkitchen250]

999 views (I'm waiting to see it hit 1000, i like how now you can see the numbers go up for the first couple days) edit: actually it jumped right to 1012.

[@Highland_Paddy]

John Lennon's 12 String Gib is going for $800,000. I'm trying to convince my mom it's a good investment for her to get it for me because I don't have a 12 string right now. I mean, I don't really NEED a 12 string right now, but it's a good investment, right?

[@Highland_Paddy]

One of these days I might upgrade my Jazzmaster.

[@Highland_Paddy]

Um, I find that buying dead stock guitars is usually I get an OK discount if I don't mind that it's been sitting around for several years because nobody liked the sticker price and it has a wonky knob or switch or something. I'm not sure if that's what you mean by "The Deal" #4 but I'm pretty sure it's more like I found one I really liked almost by accident more than I was looking for a specific one and just thought the price was too high for too long...

[@Highland_Paddy]

I find myself not sure how flexible I should be about certain colors. Or willing to pay $300 extra JUST for paint job when I already can barely not really afford the reddish pink one I don't really care for [and we're not even talking Nitro Finish here, either. Apparently people will say that's WORTH a thousand bucks more but I'm not there yet].

[@Highland_Paddy]

Well, it seems ANY guitar the music store will act like it's worthless when you bring it in no matter how much you love it because it plays great for a cheap thing or how much you've spent to fix and upgrade the thing, etc.

[@misternobody4786]

Get used to it kids, rare does not equal valuable, valuable does not equal rare, interesting or even good - just supply and demand.

[@user-uo9cy2ep2h]

Your assumption I have money, being your first mistake.

[@Gordini840]

guess i shouldn't have hoarded tubes... or toilet paper 🤔

[@rowbags3017]

For me the worst reason to buy another guitar is the belief that it's somehow going to magically make you a better player overnight. True, you'll improve if you enjoy it so much that you can't put it down, but it's still the hours you put in practising that make the difference.

[@DS-nw4eq]

Number 1: buying another guitar.

[@JT96708]

Don’t buy another guitar. Spend the money on lessons.

[@TeeFetch]

what if it's a guitar that some bearded dude played while proposing to his wife?

[@petersouthwell5971]

70s get so slammed.. Did the guitars really suck that bad? I mean.. A 70s guitar at this point is like what 40-50 years old... I dunno... Not like the 70s sucked for music. Lotta great shit from the 70s am I wrong? So why do the guitars take such flack? Poor 70s strats.. They need some love.. Those instruments are becoming half a century in age.. They deserve respect for simply making it that long... And if the thing still plays.. I mean.. Don't get the hate. But if it makes the guitars cheaper.. Hate away.

[@user-uo9cy2ep2h]

A guitar CAN NEVER BE a relic. The Holy Grail, is a relic, a guitar, is not. EVER It's worn

[@davidwood351]

#1 : buy guitars before you even know how to play a guitar. I’m a much better collector than player. (I’m in rehab) #2 : buy a turd guitar and spend a ton of money restoring/fixing it, and it will never sell for what you’ve spent on it.

[@andrewbecker3700]

There's literally an unlimited amount of pitfalls in the new guitar market. Do your homework. Don't base your decision on KZbin videos. That's probably the best advice I could give someone. Certainly don't use Reverb's best sellers list, with the idea that those must be the best guitars. Just because tons of other dummies bought them, DOES NOT mean they're great guitars. The PRS SE Silversky is a prime example of this seriously flawed way of thinking. Those things are flooding the used market for a reason. If they're so great, why are so many people selling them within 6 months?

[@cageliner]

I'll grab any cheap low end Gibsons when they appear used. They go out of production quickly and then people want one. 2009-2013 Melody Makers, 2014 LP Melody Maker, 2010-2013 Tributes, 2019 Junior Tribute DC. At minimum they hold their value or can double. Used guitars are a good way to get a solid player that won't lose much money, if at all, on resale. Gibson often issues a guitar that only stays for a year i.e. 2019 ES-235, but the J-29 lasted 4 years before being cut. I have a lot of cheap or discontinued Gibsons.

[@scamp7887]

I only buy guitars that I like and that I play. I'm very picky and only have 2 electrics. I could care less about anything else.