Most guitars lose even more of their value when you take them away from the dealer's premises than automobiles do. If you're shopping for anything but a high-end model, you might find what you're looking for at 50% or more off of the store's price, but you have to know what to look for. Unless you already play well and know something about guitar construction, you may need to take someone along who knows what to look for.
Here's a confession, I've been playing guitar since about 1967, and have owned quite a few, but I have never bought a new guitar, and I have never missed the experience. In two cases, I've gotten pro guitars for the price of a good intermediate, and in one case I got a pro guitar for the price of a student model, all because I knew what I was looking for. I've also avoided some "train wrecks" that might have tempted less experienced shoppers.
Now that Craig's list and eBay have taken over the role that classifieds used to play, it's harder to get a "steal" - resellers check the pages out constantly looking for great axes they can buy cheap and resell. But it's still possible.
Here is a link to our article on shopping for used guitars.
http://creekdontrise.com/acoustic/used_ ... uitars.htmYour comments in this thread are very welcome, of course. If you haven't signed up already please use our form at the following link to do so:
http://www.creekdontrise.com/creek_forum_signup.htmPaul