Worst Guitars to Resell

Clashman

Top end Freshman from watching ebay they sell for £1,300 plus new and you would be lucky to get  £800 back next dayI even saw one go for £400.At the moment due to a daft mod you would never do on a narrowish neck guitar this one will struggle to sell ..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unique-Freshman-FA500-series-7-string-acoustic-guitar/223865557474?hash=item341f6d51e2:g:9pQAAOSwFN9d5AnI

idiotwindow

Clashman said:

At the moment due to a daft mod you would never do on a narrowish neck guitar this one will struggle to sell ..

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unique-Freshman-FA500-series-7-string-acoustic-guitar/223865557474?hash=item341f6d51e2:g:9pQAAOSwFN9d5AnI

I wouldn't describe it as daft. On the contrary, it looks like a quite clever way of incorporating a seventh string like on the McGuinn signature Martin but I guess it makes the guitar's appeal much more niche than it already is. The description on the ebay listing is more than a little desperate ("She sounds amazing and due to Her build is head and shoulders above the McGuinn signature model" ) but I can imagine that the guitar might be worth a punt to someone (though probably not at £680).

imalrightjack

Schecter must be high up there but a high-end PRS can be a shocker, especially if you've (gasp) lost the tags or dinged it!

crunchman

imalrightjack said:

Schecter must be high up there but a high-end PRS can be a shocker, especially if you've (gasp) lost the tags or dinged it!

PRS are bad, but I suspect that they aren't as bad as a lot of guitars from small workshops that don't have their brand reputation.

I could easily see a £2000 guitar from a small unknown workshop going for £800 second hand.  You should always be able to get £1100 on a £2000 PRS.

It also depends what you pay new.  If you are savvy, you can often find a deal in a sale with PRS.  I bought an S2 Satin Singlecut in a sale that was about £200 cheaper than you would normally find it.  When I sold it on I got around two thirds of my money back.

On the other hand, the last two new guitars I bought were in the Gibson blowouts in 2018/19.  I saw a 335 like mine advertised second hand this week for 96% of what I paid new.

xscaramanga

Higher end Yamahas. I still wince thinking about the hit I took on an RGX820Z.

The people saying "anything but Fender or Gibson" are right, but there are degrees here. You can shift an RG550 quite quickly and not stupidly cheap, but lesser known Ibanezes are impossible to sell. I'd have been better off keeping my SC420.

guitarmangler

jonnyscaramanga said:

Higher end Yamahas. I still wince thinking about the hit I took on an RGX820Z.

The people saying "anything but Fender or Gibson" are right, but there are degrees here. You can shift an RG550 quite quickly and not stupidly cheap, but lesser known Ibanezes are impossible to sell. I'd have been better off keeping my SC420.

Agreed. It took months to sell my 560. If it was a 550 it would have sold for 3 times the price and within a week. Would have got more money if I parted it out. 

Don’t get me started on the Yamaha frank gamble signature I sold ! Yikes! 

MichaelWatts

stuartryanmusic said:

Boutique/hand-made acoustics, you are trying to convince someone else that what's right for you is right for them...

That's often very true... that said, some sole luthier guitars have appreciated in value depending on the success of the builder. If you're looking to make a killing in the investment world then I would look elsewhere. The best thing you can invest in with the guitar is your own time and focus. 

Gassage

Any Cleartone Conversion with a wide neck for beginners.

HAL9000

Funkfingers said:

crunchman said:

My auntie had a Morris Marina 30 or so years ago.  Someone drove into it and the insurance company gave a write off value of £25.

Back in the Eighties, one of my father's work colleagues drove an Austin Maxi. He would leave it with a window wound down and the keys in the ignition, hoping somebody would steal it. Nobody did.

Probably didn’t need to leave the window open - the door shut lines were more than wide enough for a small child to squeeze through.

Nunogilberto

A set neck LP or SG with either a slight crack in the neck somewhere (even if just in the lacquer), or one that has had a neck/headstock repair. Nobody wants to know unless you're giving it away...

CHRISB50

Anything left handed. Especially higher end stuff. 

Ive always ended up PXing as it just doesn’t sell. Even at friendly prices. 

ChuckManual

Warmoth.

Try getting anywhere-near what you paid on a Warmoth build back.

P.S. You won't.

DrJazzTap

High end Japanese Tokai 

longjaw

Stevepage said:

Washburn. People avoid them like the plague.

Someone needs to tell this guy:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Washburn-Falcon-Electric-Guitar-Left-Hand-Japan-with-case/124058288512?hash=item1ce2734180:g:6v4AAOSwB5NeKbp8

Winny_Pooh

ChuckManual said:

Warmoth.

Try getting anywhere-near what you paid on a Warmoth build back.

P.S. You won't.

Yep, which is also another way of demonstrating just how expensive they are as a supplier. 

crunchman

Winny_Pooh said:

ChuckManual said:

Warmoth.

Try getting anywhere-near what you paid on a Warmoth build back.

P.S. You won't.

Yep, which is also another way of demonstrating just how expensive they are as a supplier. 

Warmoth might make sense in the US, but by the time you pay shipping and duty to bring to the UK, they are going to be around 30% more expensive.  They just aren't worth it over here.

dcg

crunchman said:

Winny_Pooh said:

ChuckManual said:

Warmoth.

Try getting anywhere-near what you paid on a Warmoth build back.

P.S. You won't.

Yep, which is also another way of demonstrating just how expensive they are as a supplier. 

Warmoth might make sense in the US, but by the time you pay shipping and duty to bring to the UK, they are going to be around 30% more expensive.  They just aren't worth it over here.

All true, but the very best of the US suppliers (and I include Warmoth) provide an elusive something us in the UK crave.  One reluctantly concludes that although building a partscaster should produce a guitar for life - and not for resale - GAS will usually put the lie to that...).
However, I visited the Warmoth factory in Tacoma 25 years ago, paid a total of $180 for a '52 swamp ash Tele body and a boatneck profile maple neck, and have been playing this guitar ever since.  The guitar now looks fashionably roadworn to the extent that a very well known guitar shop/luthier identified it as an original blackguard Tele...  a good moment.

RonnieHotdogs

New trade deals with USA, China and EU may well push retail prices up, that may help the used market, I am hoping anyway.
Regardless of what happens, or how it goes, manufacturers/distributors/shops will find a reason to use Brexit as a reason to put prices up. 
Not a political post, I am beyond caring. 

Voxman

impmann said:

Anything without Fender or Gibson on the headstock (legitimately).

Or PRS, Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Suhr, or Tom Anderson.  

Guitars that are hard to move on without taking a big hit are boutique makes, particularly where the spec is very bespoke. Regardless of their superb build quality you'll typically struggle to get back 50% of the new price simply because these are not world famous brands and there isn't a big enough used market for them to have a more established market value.  

robgilmo

Any guitar you buy new.