If you are in the market for a good guitar, but don’t have the equivalent of a spare house payment in the bank, do not despair.  Just as with cars, you can get much more guitar for your dollar on the used market.  Even if you are not ready to jump into those waters with the sharks, consider NOS guitars.  NOS (New Old Stock) guitars are new guitars that have not been previously sold.  Most often they are no longer the current year’s model and are usually discounted as a result.  For a an even bigger discount, also keep an eye out for older NOS guitar models, especially models that have been discontinued.  Some of these guitars may have been on display, but at the bigger dealers especially these are just brand new guitars that did not move enough units.  The more remote the model year, the longer the guitar has just been sitting in inventory not making money.  Sellers will likewise be motivated to clear out discontinued models that are no longer promoted.

Sellers now have a perfect place to liquidate such NOS inventory in eBay where they at least have a chance to sell above liquidation value to a national and even international market of private buyers.  Meanwhile, this is a great chance for you and me to find more guitar for fewer bucks.

This is why I flagged an eBay listing last week for a beautiful new Guild GAD-JF48 ASB (Amber Sunburst) selling for below retail with free shipping – two signs of a motivated seller.  Turns out the GAD-JF48 was discontinued back in 2008 – another good bargain hunter’s sign.  The final clue that the seller was motivated was the “Make an Offer” option on the listing.  So I submitted a low, but not unreasonable bid, signaling that I was well aware of the value of the guitar in the used market.  While my initial offer was not accepted, the seller counter-offered at a further significant discount from retail.  Because it was still more than I was willing to pay, I too counter offered, raising my initial bid by $25 and indicating it was my last and best offer.  I was pleasantly surprised when the seller accepted.  A motivated seller indeed.

One week later, I’m sitting here admiring my brand new, immaculate all solid-wood Amber Sunburst Jumbo Guild acoustic guitar, safely delivered courtesy of UPS.  The pickguard and the Guild logo on the case still have their protective plastic film overlays.  The Guild Acoustic Design (GAD) models are solid-wood Guilds made in China.  They come with an attractive archtop hardshell Guild-branded case with a distinctive tweed body and brown leather-like trim.  I had already been favorably impressed with a GAD-25 guitar last year and was pleased to discover that this GAD-JF48 is also a well-made guitar. The dimensions and feel are consistent with US-made Guilds, and these cheaper Chinese-made models come with some premium appointments that are well executed, including wood binding around the body and MOP (Mother of Pearl) snow-flake fret marker and headstock logo inlays.  The top is solid Spruce, the back and sides are richly grained solid Mahogany, the nut and saddle are bone.  My only complaint is that the frets on this particular guitar sit a bit high and could use a good dressing.  This would probably also address the slight buzzing when played aggressively, without the need to adjust the nice low action.  Overall, the intonation is good and the guitar has a nice full jumbo sound evenly distributed across all registers.  With a new set of strings, this instrument should really sing.