GITA and Squealing Pig

guitarmark

Hi all

Wondered if i could ask of anyones experience with Guitars in the Attic in Mansfield and Squealing Pig in Nottingham?
I am looking at buying something Gibson or PRS 2nd hand so considering both shops as i live in Notts. Does anyone have experience with either or both and how have you found them?

Many thanks

Mark

nero1701

There have been multiple threads on there topics, use the search bar top right ;-)

imalrightjack

No issues with Squealing Pig until their recent flood. Communication since has been poor (commission sales). 

jacksonunited

I've sold a couple of high end guitars to Squealing Pig that I was struggling to sell privately. The guy who runs it - Jack I believe seems like a decent guy. Paid exactly what was promised and arranged collection.

Obviously they sold both guitars for around a grand more a piece but that's the way it goes

timmypix

Squealing Pig seem to be alright these days; even their prices aren't extortionate. GITA I'd be more wary of simply from their mad pricing, though I know nothing else about them beyond them always getting an eyebrow raise out of me.

Whitecat

I’ve sold to SPG but entirely by accident - he bid on and won an eBay auction of mine. No issues at all with that transaction. Interestingly the guitar I sold never did appear on the website - I was waiting to see how much of a markup would be added! I guess he had an in-person buyer early on, or someone in mind - but it does make you wonder where those people are when you are trying to sell it in the first place. 

guitarmark

Thanks all. I have been looking at ES335s, which both have advertised at 2500-2700, and SPG have 2 clean looking McCarty 594s at 2700-2900. I didnt think any of these seemed out of line or unreasonable really

hassleham

I’ve bought a few times from GITA/Sherwood phoenix (same building, same owners I believe) with no problems. Staff are very friendly and helpful! But yes the prices on some things are a bit crazy..

WBT2079

I have used GITA and would again. Some pricing seems a bit high on some items, but I found them reasonable in agreeing a reduced price. They had a Gibson LP Custom I was interested in. Contacted by email, they sent additional photos I asked for, agreed a reduced price, paid £100 deposit to hold the guitar and visited them on the weekend. The showroom is good and they are great people to deal with. When I arrived they had the guitar set up in the room with some pedals etc with various amp choices and left me to myself. They also let me try anything hanging on the walls without asking. No pressure to actually buy if I hadn’t liked the guitar. Fortunately I loved it and it came home.

Tall_martin

I bought a guitar from guitars in the attic on eBay. They seemed perfectly nice folk in the guitar shop for a straight forward collection. 

Price was low as they had had it for years.

I expected a small shop. The guitar bit is genuinely in the attic of an enormous warehouse of pianos. 

The "art" around the place was vintage cars.

I knew pianos were pricey. I knew grand pianos were even more so. 

I did not know Yamaha grand pianos go up to £40,000

https://sherwoodphoenix.co.uk/product-category/pianos/pianos-grand/

Nor was I expecting queen Victoria's old piano.

https://antique-collecting.co.uk/2017/11/30/queen-victorias-piano-for-sale/

The link was from 2017. The piano was still there in 2022. Maybe the six figure price tag wasn't helping it sell. I can't find it on their web site now, maybe the price was right for someone 

If I was interested in one of their guitars I'd allow a good half hour just wandering about the shop going oooooooohhhhh fancy 

On sale with £15,000 off. It is the price of my first house at full price!  I'm glad I'm not a pianist and will never need a good one!

https://sherwoodphoenix.co.uk/product/pianos/all-brands/brand-steinway/restored-steinway-sons-model-d-concert-grand-piano-restored-walnut-34258/

Grampa

Sold a PRS to SPG, very satisfied with their service. Jack is a smashing bloke to deal with, paid quickly and even arranged collection. The main reason I chose to deal with SPG was because they offered 30% more than several TFB experts suggested the guitar's value to be, one of whom even got quite snotty because I didn't sell to him for what he thought it was worth!

guitarmark

Grampa said:

Sold a PRS to SPG, very satisfied with their service. Jack is a smashing bloke to deal with, paid quickly and even arranged collection. The main reason I chose to deal with SPG was because they offered 30% more than several TFB experts suggested the guitar's value to be, one of whom even got quite snotty because I didn't sell to him for what he thought it was worth!

Thanks for this. Do you feel they would be good to buy from?

Grampa

guitarmark said:

Grampa said:

Sold a PRS to SPG, very satisfied with their service. Jack is a smashing bloke to deal with, paid quickly and even arranged collection. The main reason I chose to deal with SPG was because they offered 30% more than several TFB experts suggested the guitar's value to be, one of whom even got quite snotty because I didn't sell to him for what he thought it was worth!

Thanks for this. Do you feel they would be good to buy from?

If you get the same service buying as I did selling then yes, 100%. Personally I'd have no issues buying from them.

paulmapp8306

Gita 

Nice place, friendly staff.   Pianos is their core income, they dont have to rely on selling guitars so price how they want nit necessarily to sell.

Be aware though...  stopped in today as I finished a job not far away early.    Couldn't get in....

For guitars they are now by appointment only, and that is only for pre arranged items.   No walk ins, no browsing, no "while I'm here"s

Shame.

imalrightjack

SPG are fine. Good experience here. Also recommend The Guitar Trade Centre, for selling. 

danny_777

As long as you're happy to pay 1000 quid more than they themselves paid on eBay probably two weeks beforehand, then go for it. SPG are flippers - nothing more. They have no brand relationships, accessories, community contributions, etc etc. They snap up guitars which are priced on the cheap side and do their best to make sure that no-one in the UK can ever get a bargain again. And they scalp a grand or so every time they do it. It sounds like they've bought a few guitars as decent prices too, but I'm of the view that the preponderance of this type of internet dealer is detrimental to the used guitar market overall.

If you're comfortable using eBay/forums/Reverb, why not just cut out the pointless middlemen/flippers and buy it at source, saving yourself 1000 quid? There are no upsides to buying from a flipper.

Offset

I'm not in the market for anything new right now but this place is probably the only web-based sales option I'll use these days.  Always been fantastic for buying and selling.

Bigsby

I had a very bad experience with SPG about 8 years ago, and was thankful I'd paid with Paypal. By the sound of things they may have changed their ways since then, but I'll never buy from them again.