Your Time stamping is so valuable to many who can't watch the complete broadcast at once. May the weather and people you meet on your visit to California be warm and bright. Thanks for all you do. \m/
Iam 67yrs old/ young! And I as many others love your show! It's because it is easy to tell that you are genuinely A NICE PERSON! THAT AND THE VERY important information you give is invaluable! Your also honest and it just radiates from you and t h at is refreshing in today's world. I bet your way to hard on yourself! Stop it, you should take a break with your family. We love your show . It's so easy to like you and wish you well. Peace I'm a strat guy! Ha
It's extremely rare to get as much money on a trade in deal as you would do with a private sale. But guitar shops have got to make money at the end of the day, and you could argue that the ease of trading in compared to trying to private sale makes the worse price a bit more worth it
From Leo: On the gear vs player debate; was at a live venue where a great guitar player was in the audience. He was invited to sit in for a couple songs. He did not have a guitar with him and the only left handed guitar available was an entry level Strat looking LTD. Probably a $150 guitar at that time. It took him maybe a minute to find the EQ he liked. The guy Killed it, great tone, great skill, great performance. I was amazed at the blues solos he was performing on a beginner guitar. The magic is in the players ears for the EQ and his fingers for the skill.
I'm really impressed with the closed captioning on this, when Phil starts quickly rattling off pedals like the EVH 5150, nailed it. That is fast talking with words really close together.
The problem with the 10% off is you can get 15%-20% off many times if you just negotiate. Especially if you call the online number. The local sales guy's have gotten to where they don't offer so much of a discount these days, but calling GC works. But then you don't get more. If you call the number and get 15% off, go to pick it up, its not like they give you another 10% if you trade in an item. Also, get an offer from another shop (SW or such) and update it to 20% off and GC will match it.
Great video! The best deals I ever got at Guitar Center were on used guitars and a demo Jackson made in Japan. I've tried to trade with them but we couldn't get together when I know I can get more just selling mine outright.
Hey KYG community ! Great show, missed it live but do enjoy watching with the morning coffee. NGW - was saving for something “special” when I unexpectedly picked up a CV 50s strat- blonde- - played really well at store (def needs a few tweaks) but was amazed at how resonant and how light it was! Took it home- had no choice- and it weighed in at 6.15lbs. Pretty impressed with the weight and just overall vibe of the guitar! Now that money I was saving will go towards tweaking this baby haha! All this to say I’ll be watching backlog of geeky stuff videos cause I’m dont typically do much work on my guitars. Thanks for all the great content and info! Have a wonderful weekend - see you next Friday!
when you rewatch this pod and get to the bit about what pickups are most effective with modelling amps, give yourself a pat on the back,...very informative, super intriguing for the future of players interacting with modelers and the best possible gear combinations 👍
These pods have been invaluable in just learning the industry and making me my own tech, who now techs the other guitar player in the bands gear. Love the show/podcast. Was also a huge fan of the pro conversations. Watched all of Tremonti, Petrucci, and Zakk. As a musician who releases original material and plays live, I’m interested in the pros. I can understand a lot of the hobbyists here who don’t gig etc aren’t into it as much. That being said I would love to see a Nuno Bettencourt interview with Extreme’s new album dropping, plus you have your green swirl N4. Thanks Phil!
Great analogy with the calculator and GPS. My wife is a private pilot, and the pilots who rely on paper maps/charts are a dying breed. Ease of use is the future, even for hobbyists.
I have been playing the guitar since 1959. For me it has always been the guitar. I’ve had a few different amps over the years. There have been a few combinations that I didn’t like. My favorite Les Paul with a vox AC 30 did not excite me. I far preferred my Gretsch or Strat through the AC 30. I had a Tesco Del Ray once that always sounded good no matter what guitar I used. But as I got older and found, I could not carry things, I went to using processors, and even though they may take a bit of tweaking, I thought they sounded pretty good.
Its a nice looking Ibanez but $799 for a Chinese guitar seems a bit steep. I guess prices are just getting up there. Ibanez was making this body type in Japanese production for around $2000 way back in 11979 when I started playing. I remember this, the Good quality Paul Stanley Iceman and the real George Benson model. Their premium instruments.
The last PRS core I bought from guitar center I traded in a CU24 SE and got the 10% discount which was 500$ off. Well worth it, I know they say they exclude PRS on the site, but this was my experience. I will also add that this trade-in deal is not new at all. I have seen this promotion in my local guitars centers for several years now.
Oh and the best boss distortion pedal to get is the OD-200 --> $219 new. You get just about every pedal boss makes. The Klon emulation is really something special and even worth the price of admission. Throw in a excellent noise gate and boost options and this thing is the sleeper in the Boss catalog. One box, all the drives/distorations and costs less than 2 pedals.
When testing a electric guitar use or New I take in a line 6 pocket pod with ear buds and look for a quiet spot often right when they open there so busy with that I'm left alone helps find if a noise problems on used guitair
as someone who buys cheap and expensive amps AND guitars, AND who owned a regional recording studio, IF you're given the chance to pick your cheap guitar amongst a selection, and your amp amongst a selection, I have found your answer to be opposite of mine. AMP matters more than guitar BY A LOT in a recording situation. and there is a CHASM of difference between pickup construction and amp construction. IMHO.
GC has had the 10% deal for years here in Ca. they just don't advertise it much. Bought an Ibanez AZ through GC traded in a pedal got $199 (10% off the guitar.) and $100 for the pedal. Bottom line -AZ 2204 Presige out the door for $1625 new.
Agree with Phil on the guitar center trade ins. A few weeks back I traded my 2019 SG Jr. towards an Adam Jones LP Standard. GC gave me $700 for the SG plus an extra $300 for the 10% towards the LP. After taxes I ended up paying ~$2,200 for the LP. In addition this was during guitar-a-thon while they were running special 10% back in rewards balance instead of the usual 5% if you use your gear card. So on top of everything I got an additional $220 rewards to use at GC. I checked GCs website a few days later to see what they were selling the SG for. They wanted $1,150 while I basically got $1,220 for it.
Applying the modular approach by stacking 3 gain pedals and/or boosts will allow the player to fine tune the result to suite them for a lesser overall cash outlay. The expense of improvement the falls around 1/3 the total - assuming you swap out one at a time.
The trouble with most mom and pop stores, is that they seldom have what I'm looking for so I wind up ordering on line anyways. Now I find that I go directly on-line to start with.
I'm glad you talked about how Modelers seem to respond/sound better with high output pickup guitars. I've wondered what kind of pickup would work best with Modelers. Interesting that you've found it is high output ones. A couple of months ago, I switched to using a single high output Humbucker in the bridge position because I typically use my Modeler to dial in all my settings with the press of one button. My Presets seem to sound better as well. 👍
When you talk about a guitar fighting you , my guitar that’s plays best is my 82 custom , the problem is , it’s very heavy , so I am kinda fighting it at my old age , so I switch to a strat , which I have become use to , and I actually like the sound of the single coils , playing 70s classic rock, but i wish it had the sustain the Gibson has. My worse live show , was outdoors, it was very hot and humid , and my hands were sticky and I had nothing to put on the neck , so I fought that neck for 2 straight hours , there was no sliding into the notes ... what a mess and I was so exhausted at the end and upset that I missed bringing something to put on my hands , just a bit of powder would have saved so much frustration.
Something to mention with the GC trade in, you can trade in something as small as a DS1, and get 10% off a Gibson. You may only get like $25 for the DS1 but then get $300 off a $3000 guitar. You usually will get about 60% of the used value of the trade in value.
i traded in some gear recently to GC and tried to get a new mesa boogie cab, that was not allowed, but i was able to get 10% off an orange TH30 amp head. so yes, its different in-store. you may be able to get away with some of the brands that were on the exclusion list.
I have traded a 1998 mexican strat -- they gave me $300 in trade in value, and I traded it for a Fender Ultra SSS --- $1990 - 10% = 1799 - $300 = $1499 * 1.07 = $1603.93 . I purchased the mexican strat in 1998 for $399 -- so not a a bad deal! walked out $1600 for an ultra strat -- thats close to what they were before the insane crazy price hikes. Plus I got 48 month 0% financing. So if you are trade the right gear you can walk out with an awesome deal. But you have to work the numbers out.
I recently got a used Yamaha LL6M ARE from a reputable company I have dealt with in the past for a really good price. Now seems to be a good time for purchasing used gear. It is in really great condition. Wonderful guitar.
i’ve done the GC 10% thing several times. Its good. I traded and in one case got rid of a boat anchor amp, and ordered a new high end looper not at store. Their trade in run 60% used value, not great but with that discount it became as 80-ish with less tax in mix. The unit was also fair priced. If i recall they converted it to a gift card. my spokane GC has good used prices to, that can be bad for trade, but often beats reverb. I think depends on our local market. another comment: I typically trade what I wouldn’t sell to friend, I like the anonymity.
Ibanez is my favorite brand. They really cover all different styles in their guitars, and the vintage Japanese ones are still quite affordable. I have a 1979 ST100 for $500, 1986 Roadstar II RG525 for $300, a newer AF-55TF and AS-73. Superb craftsmanship and engineering from Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and China.
The comments about people saying they won't ever use modeling amps kinda reminded me that I said something similar when I was still playing regularly and I got told that it didn't really mean anything coming from me because I had gone from amp to DI years ago and my cabsim pedal was already a modeller more or less.
The kicker for trade-in as some know all too well, the majority of items you trade nets about 1/4 of the value because they have to sell it at the used price and make their predetermined markup, while special and /or high end models can get you more if they're willing.
Good amps are a must! But you can buy really good cheap guitars these days, you can’t seem to buy really good cheap amps! Having said that I do go for tube amps 90% of the time.
I played in a band with a guy who played his Gibson Les Paul standard through a peavey bandit. My mid grade Epiphone into vox ac15 sounded MUCH better. I wasn't a better player.
@@scottoleson1997 i find the vox to be most versatile and reliable amp in its price range. Solid cleans and a tube screamer or od in front can push it to marshall territory.
@@investingingeorgia8853 I had Gibson LP with a Marshall JCM800 in the 80’s. My Marshall went into the shop for a few weeks, so I was lent a Peavey Bandit. I went from great tone to sounding horrible. Amp is everything.
I traded a guitar I had on marketplace for months towards a new amp. I was going to buy the amp anyway (I know I could've bought one used; I wanted a new one), and the 10% off the amp for the trade brought the "value" of the guitar a little above what I was asking for it. The tech also found an issue with the guitar that I didn't know about, and still gave me the trade value. I would've felt awful if I sold it privately and somebody got back to me telling me about the issue. The guys working at the Guitar Center near me are excellent. The trade policy worked out great for me!
Yeah, I aways laugh at the fine print of excluded manufacturers from any of the GC promotions, although as you suggested, in my limited experience, GC reps in store did not stick by all those excluded brands.
I always get offers from things I'm watching on Reverb. Also, even if an instrument doesn't have an "offer" option, I've found that making an offer anyway often results in a sale.
What I like to do is put the item in my cart. Remove the item from my cart. That seems to get attention. It is like a girl on prom night. You have to prick tease the sellers.
As long as I remember Guitar Center has always offered 10% off new gear after a trade in of a Guitar or even just a pedal , It’s something that most people fail to mention that feel that they are scamming you by giving you just 60% value on your Trade In , And another thing they don’t mention is that you only pay tax on the price of the new item after the trade in amount is deducted … for example if I trade in a Strat and get 1000.00 and buy a new Gibson LP that’s 3000.00 , I’m Paying Tax for 2000.00 so after the 10% off and that additional 60 - 80 bucks on tax it’s worth it most of the time especially now with Reverb Fee’s rising and rising and dealing with shipping….. minus the Last 4 years have bough and trading up on many guitars from GC and have Leveled Up and Fine Tuned my collection …. Also depending On the manager and inventory , GC has taken 10% off say a Friedman Guitar
I have seen bands that had a bass player who had more than one bass, and on some songs the rhythm or the lead guitarist might pick up the other bass and play a song that had two bases. But that was usually because the song had a very trebly Klickety bass part and a booming bass part. So it was just for a song or two.
I just went to GC to try to trade in a guitar today. They had the exact same used guitar in virtually identical condition, on the floor selling for $1,300.00. They offered me $449.00 for it, claiming they would sell it for $659.00. Will never deal with them again.
Your little “trick” of following items on reverb just got saved me $325 of a band new $1299 Martin. I’m thinking of countering lol but will I lose out on the original offer if they decline? It happens to be Chicago music exchange
@@adamziehm-friesen7480 you 100% correct. They came back with a new offer of 24 cents less. At $325 plus tax savings I couldn’t turn it down. Tracking says delivery Wednesday!!!
So as far as the GC trade in/trade up program is concerned. I recently wanted to down size my gear collection I don’t “collect” in the collector way I just accumulate gear that I don’t have space for, I wanted a good grab and go amp for jams as well as a direct to computer recording option. Boss might be listed as a brand the offer was t valid on but I traded an older (not vintage) 20 watt tube amp and a 100 watt peavey solid state for a boss katana artist mk2 they gave me the 10% on the boss and I paid tax on the 30 bucks difference. Here is the weird thing I probably could have sold the tube amp for a little more than they gave me but they offered me about 75 buck more for the peavey than I was expecting. I checked out current prices on reverb as well as GC own used gear listings so I had a good idea of what the market was. Disclaimer the guy who helped me at CG is someone I knew from my days playing in bands I wouldn’t say we were ever “friends” we never played together or even spoke that often but we knew each other I didn’t know he worked there and wasn’t expecting it. I am just wondering if they have a cut off point per piece relative to value so he bumped up the value on the other to make up a little. They say maximum of $500 but they only pay up to 50% of the value. It wasn’t quite 50% on the offer for the tube amp based on my own assumption of its value but the price they gave on the solid state would have been more so he must have assessed it for more. Idk I could have sold outright on reverb but then I am still kind of tied to them as the buyer could blow out the tubes and then try to come back at me or they could be damaged in shipping or be haggled over because shipping heavy amps is expensive I just didn’t want to deal with any of that and I hadn’t used either in over a year. Anyway so yes they did deal on a product they said was excluded and they did offer me a fair price overall.
Last time I traded something into guitar center they were running a similar deal and they wouldn't give me the discount on anything but house brands, I walked out sold the item on Reverb and bought the new thing from Sweetwater, years ago they'd ignore the excluded list (used a Father's Day coupon on my PRS Core Custom 24) but now the ones near me are total sticklers.
Wasn't able to respond live - For live playing, I will pay more or spend more time finding the right guitar. If the guitar does not play well, a Dumble, Marshall, Mesa, etc will not help. My rig goes through the FOH. At that point, I just want to make sure I'm playing/interacting with the other players. I do love to play a really nice amp at home or in a jam (and have a few nice amps), but live - I run through a Headrush to the board and EQ so I am in the mix as best I can be.
This is a timely video for me. I’m looking to trade in 7 cheap guitars for a Martin and then sell off a bunch of amps and bass guitars in London because I’ve moved to the other side of the world and can’t bring it all over. It’s a bit of a minefield with varying consignment rates, valuations for trades or outright cash purchase offers. I can’t rely on friends and family to sell this gear privately for me so a living estate-style sale seems to be the best I can do. 🤷🏾♂️
this Memorial day sale at my local GC did 10% off new AND USED gear! I travel for my job and haunt all the local guitar shops. I typically buy 1-3 guitars a month and I still say GC still has the best prices overall. I bought strat that someone bought online and returned because of wrong color or something minor. Not even a pick scratch on the pickguard that still had the plastic on it, it was pristine condition virtually unplayed. It was reg 1699.00 took it home for 1050.00 after discounts. How do you beat that deal? Most guitars on the wall had more play time on them, an on line purchase is played by only 1 person ever, usually. I snag sooo many guitars from the 80s-90's just as old guitars, not vintage E.G. Cheap!
Yes, i looked at a PRS for $2499 on Reverb and the next day I received and offer from the seller for $500 less,that's 20% off, it happened with another guitar on Reverb.
As a former electrician I stand by Klein tools. Their screwdrivers and pliers are absolutely fantastic lifetime investments. I'm not sure if they make hand tools small enough for guitar work, but if they do you won't go wrong.
Ok, I’m not sure if you have the time to read the comments or not, but I would love your thoughts or opinion on this. I recently purchased one of the “new” Gibson Les Paul Deluxe 70’s. I purchased it because of the mini Humbuckers. I had a 1976 model years ago and loved the sound. I own two Victoria amps (a Golden Melody, and a 45410 “Bassman”) and the Deluxe sounds great through both of them. But I never could get it to sound right (good) running it through my Goodsell Super 17 MK III. It’s the one with the tone control vs a 2 or 3 band (bass, mid, treble) eq. I loved the amp with my single coil guitars as well as my standard humbucker guitars. It sounded fantastic. So, because the Victoria amps are too heavy to lug around, I traded in my Goodsell for a used Dr Z MAZ 18 Jr reverb model. It’s the original version vs the MK-II. It has become a love/hate relationship. The eq, as well as the cut control allows me to dial in a great sound, at the same time it has almost a feedback sound when the volume is turned up, and the cut and reverb are set at the same position as when the amp is turned down. This, along with the weight has me considering trading or selling it. I had no idea how heavy the amp was because the salesperson at guitar center loaded it into my car for me (shame on me). I most likely will have the Dr Z mods (design flaw repairs) done before making a finale decision. Where I would like your opinion or thoughts is this; Are you familiar with the original MAZ 18 amp? What are your thoughts on it. I think the amp is a decent sounding amp overall, but many of the older reviews rate this amp as almost “the second coming”. I just don’t see it that way. They sound great at low volume, and pretty decent sound turned up with the reverb completely turned down…but not worth the price they were sold for. The second thing is the sound of the Deluxe (or other guitars using the mini buckers) as far as matching them with an amp. Sorry this was so long.
Just an FYI to anyone interested, I noticed that there are a few decent guitar brands not on GC's exluded list for the 10% off deal: Ibanez, Schecter, and ESP.
GC has a new blueberry burst Epi Es 335 on sale for $579 and a used tobacco burst Epi 335 for $549. Very strange pricing. Will GC discount a used item further? Ty
Same here... I was playing my SG with a new amp today, and nothing felt right... my Gibson SG 61 reissue that I payed 2400 bucks for... low action, easy to play, but it just didn't sound right somehow... so I switched to my parts fender telecaster (made in mex standard neck, light swamp ash warmth body, fender Yosemite pickups), and everything was there for me... the feel, the sounds, etc. I love Gibson... and I know I could mod this sg to get single coil tones etc... so, I'm not knocking Gibson... they're excellent, and I also own a 2400 buck Gibson les Paul... it all comes down to me being more of a tele guy I guess... bottom line though, I played for an hour with the sg, switching programs, effects, overdrives etc... for over an hour... and wasn't happy with my playing... then I thought, grab the tele and see if things seem better... and low and behold, the feel, sound and mojo was there for me... things seemed right.
Totally get what you’re saying about Guitar being in the front and/beginning of everything and has to feel right, but don’t you also feel like the amp has a huge difference in how the guitar feels? Or do you feel you can compensate for that with peddles?
I think it's easier to upgrade a guitar a bit at a time like start with a set up n fret job as you can afford it on the other hand you can upgrade your speaker n buy pedals for your sound
The Melvins have made an album with 2 bass players, but they have also had 2 drummers. To use dual bass, you probably have to think outside the very traditionel way on using the bass in band music. Like it would work for a band like Royal Blood, that play guitar rock without any guitar players. Mike Kerr' bass are played so it sounds like a guitar.
Does anyone know if I can trade in at a physical Guitar Center and use that towards an online purchase? I want to trade in 2 guitars towards that Gretsch G5627T-P90 Speyside but it's only available online, which sucks.
Used to get a 15-to-20 percent off coupon emailed every month from Musicians Friend, now, it’s maybe twice a year. The brand restrictions applied online but my Guitar Center would accept the coupon on any brand.
Using Amp sims such as Neural DSP’s Tone King Imperial MK II, Logic’s Amp Designer, or ik Multimedia’s Amplitube I run into a clean boost before the interface. Guitar>clean boost> interface. Tc electronic Spark mini boost or EHX Soul Food (Klon clone) as a clean boost. Great tones without waking my neighbors or wife. She scares me sometimes.
After thousands of dollars spent on gear and as many hours making music. I still end up sitting on the edge of my bed playing my mexi strat thru my Blackstar Fly 3. Works for me ! 🙏🎶😎
expensive/cheap being relative to the person, I'm going to call cheap anythin in the sub-$500 category. In that context, cheap guitar/expensive amp or vice/vera isn't really a choice we have to make anymore because there's so much great gear under $500 now.
Ibanez has been very,very good to me. I had a law suit era LP goldtop that was my work horse and travelled to Europe and back with me in the mid 80s. Can’t remember why I sold it but I didn’t get what it was worth. I do remember the shyster I sold it to though. I was a greenhorn kid and was taken advantage of by a crook. Live and learn, right? Other than that Ibanez was always in the mix in one way or another. Even now I still have one that’s a acoustic guitar I won at a show. They where raffling it off and called my number. It was autographed by the Aubrey Collins Band. This was back in 2008 or so.
I wanted a headless guitar for travel an couch play didn’t want to spend too much . Got a GOC headless guitar for under a thousand an it’s in every way an nice an well built as an I have played
Your Time stamping is so valuable to many who can't watch the complete broadcast at once. May the weather and people you meet on your visit to California be warm and bright. Thanks for all you do. \m/
Can't believe you didn't say to be sure he has flowers in his hair.
@@MrScrofulous
He will be wackin' it in San Francisco.
Iam 67yrs old/ young! And I as many others love your show! It's because it is easy to tell that you are genuinely A NICE PERSON! THAT AND THE VERY important information you give is invaluable! Your also honest and it just radiates from you and t h at is refreshing in today's world. I bet your way to hard on yourself! Stop it, you should take a break with your family. We love your show . It's so easy to like you and wish you well. Peace I'm a strat guy! Ha
It's extremely rare to get as much money on a trade in deal as you would do with a private sale. But guitar shops have got to make money at the end of the day, and you could argue that the ease of trading in compared to trying to private sale makes the worse price a bit more worth it
Good point
Wish I had some of that lost money back
Phillip is so informed, I just enjoy him talking on all guitar stuff. His knowledge is endless! Keep doing these open discussions.
Keep these coming Phil. They are not stupid….. we love them. Who else can we have current “ state of gear” discussions with?
Agree!
I love these videos and watch them each week for the commentary.
From Leo: On the gear vs player debate; was at a live venue where a great guitar player was in the audience. He was invited to sit in for a couple songs. He did not have a guitar with him and the only left handed guitar available was an entry level Strat looking LTD. Probably a $150 guitar at that time. It took him maybe a minute to find the EQ he liked. The guy Killed it, great tone, great skill, great performance. I was amazed at the blues solos he was performing on a beginner guitar. The magic is in the players ears for the EQ and his fingers for the skill.
I'm really impressed with the closed captioning on this, when Phil starts quickly rattling off pedals like the EVH 5150, nailed it. That is fast talking with words really close together.
I am an active member of the play electric guitar acoustically at the guitar store club.
For what it’s worth…. I dug the Tremonti interview. 🤘🏼
The problem with the 10% off is you can get 15%-20% off many times if you just negotiate. Especially if you call the online number. The local sales guy's have gotten to where they don't offer so much of a discount these days, but calling GC works. But then you don't get more. If you call the number and get 15% off, go to pick it up, its not like they give you another 10% if you trade in an item. Also, get an offer from another shop (SW or such) and update it to 20% off and GC will match it.
On the subject of Ibanez the discontinued Ibanez SZ models made from early 2000's to late 2000's were good.
Great video! The best deals I ever got at Guitar Center were on used guitars and a demo Jackson made in Japan. I've tried to trade with them but we couldn't get together when I know I can get more just selling mine outright.
Hey KYG community !
Great show, missed it live but do enjoy watching with the morning coffee. NGW - was saving for something “special” when I unexpectedly picked up a CV 50s strat- blonde- - played really well at store (def needs a few tweaks) but was amazed at how resonant and how light it was! Took it home- had no choice- and it weighed in at 6.15lbs. Pretty impressed with the weight and just overall vibe of the guitar! Now that money I was saving will go towards tweaking this baby haha! All this to say I’ll be watching backlog of geeky stuff videos cause I’m dont typically do much work on my guitars. Thanks for all the great content and info!
Have a wonderful weekend - see you next Friday!
Hey Phil: Yes! You need to keep doing this show. I love the humor and insights into gear and the music business.
when you rewatch this pod and get to the bit about what pickups are most effective with modelling amps, give yourself a pat on the back,...very informative, super intriguing for the future of players interacting with modelers and the best possible gear combinations 👍
Last I checked out this deal from guitar center, they charged sales tax on the full price instead of the discounted price. Not a deal in California.
These pods have been invaluable in just learning the industry and making me my own tech, who now techs the other guitar player in the bands gear. Love the show/podcast.
Was also a huge fan of the pro conversations. Watched all of Tremonti, Petrucci, and Zakk. As a musician who releases original material and plays live, I’m interested in the pros. I can understand a lot of the hobbyists here who don’t gig etc aren’t into it as much. That being said I would love to see a Nuno Bettencourt interview with Extreme’s new album dropping, plus you have your green swirl N4. Thanks Phil!
Great analogy with the calculator and GPS. My wife is a private pilot, and the pilots who rely on paper maps/charts are a dying breed. Ease of use is the future, even for hobbyists.
I have been playing the guitar since 1959. For me it has always been the guitar. I’ve had a few different amps over the years. There have been a few combinations that I didn’t like. My favorite Les Paul with a vox AC 30 did not excite me. I far preferred my Gretsch or Strat through the AC 30. I had a Tesco Del Ray once that always sounded good no matter what guitar I used. But as I got older and found, I could not carry things, I went to using processors, and even though they may take a bit of tweaking, I thought they sounded pretty good.
Look forward to watching these in the UK at the weekend Phil, great insights and answers.
New law in Virginia... Trade in value is considered same as cash so you still pay full sales tax on actual selling price.
Thank you governor younkin . A real peach of a human being 🤢
Its a nice looking Ibanez but $799 for a Chinese guitar seems a bit steep. I guess prices are just getting up there. Ibanez was making this body type in Japanese production for around $2000 way back in 11979 when I started playing. I remember this, the Good quality Paul Stanley Iceman and the real George Benson model. Their premium instruments.
The last PRS core I bought from guitar center I traded in a CU24 SE and got the 10% discount which was 500$ off. Well worth it, I know they say they exclude PRS on the site, but this was my experience. I will also add that this trade-in deal is not new at all. I have seen this promotion in my local guitars centers for several years now.
Oh and the best boss distortion pedal to get is the OD-200 --> $219 new. You get just about every pedal boss makes. The Klon emulation is really something special and even worth the price of admission. Throw in a excellent noise gate and boost options and this thing is the sleeper in the Boss catalog. One box, all the drives/distorations and costs less than 2 pedals.
Try some of your smaller shops...you will be glad you did...local shops need your support.
When testing a electric guitar use or New I take in a line 6 pocket pod with ear buds and look for a quiet spot often right when they open there so busy with that I'm left alone helps find if a noise problems on used guitair
What is the sea foam green and cream guitar on the wall behind you. I would like to check that out! Thanks
as someone who buys cheap and expensive amps AND guitars, AND who owned a regional recording studio, IF you're given the chance to pick your cheap guitar amongst a selection, and your amp amongst a selection, I have found your answer to be opposite of mine. AMP matters more than guitar BY A LOT in a recording situation. and there is a CHASM of difference between pickup construction and amp construction. IMHO.
Have to watch on replay this week. Happy Friday all.
GC has had the 10% deal for years here in Ca. they just don't advertise it much. Bought an Ibanez AZ through GC traded in a pedal got $199 (10% off the guitar.) and $100 for the pedal. Bottom line -AZ 2204 Presige out the door for $1625 new.
Agree with Phil on the guitar center trade ins. A few weeks back I traded my 2019 SG Jr. towards an Adam Jones LP Standard. GC gave me $700 for the SG plus an extra $300 for the 10% towards the LP. After taxes I ended up paying ~$2,200 for the LP.
In addition this was during guitar-a-thon while they were running special 10% back in rewards balance instead of the usual 5% if you use your gear card. So on top of everything I got an additional $220 rewards to use at GC.
I checked GCs website a few days later to see what they were selling the SG for. They wanted $1,150 while I basically got $1,220 for it.
Yeah, you can absolutely make the math work out in your favor.
Plus it’s saving you time and headache of selling it yourself.
Applying the modular approach by stacking 3 gain pedals and/or boosts will allow the player to fine tune the result to suite them for a lesser overall cash outlay. The expense of improvement the falls around 1/3 the total - assuming you swap out one at a time.
The trouble with most mom and pop stores, is that they seldom have what I'm looking for so I wind up ordering on line anyways. Now I find that I go directly on-line to start with.
I love my blackstar fly 3 as well such a great little amp! I have the little extension cab as well for mine and it just rocks!
I'm glad you talked about how Modelers seem to respond/sound better with high output pickup guitars. I've wondered what kind of pickup would work best with Modelers. Interesting that you've found it is high output ones. A couple of months ago, I switched to using a single high output Humbucker in the bridge position because I typically use my Modeler to dial in all my settings with the press of one button. My Presets seem to sound better as well. 👍
When you talk about a guitar fighting you , my guitar that’s plays best is my 82 custom , the problem is , it’s very heavy , so I am kinda fighting it at my old age , so I switch to a strat , which I have become use to , and I actually like the sound of the single coils , playing 70s classic rock, but i wish it had the sustain the Gibson has.
My worse live show , was outdoors, it was very hot and humid , and my hands were sticky and I had nothing to put on the neck , so I fought that neck for 2 straight hours , there was no sliding into the notes ... what a mess and I was so exhausted at the end and upset that I missed bringing something to put on my hands , just a bit of powder would have saved so much frustration.
Nice Job !! I’ve done a few myself and it really does make a big difference to the noise. Excellent video 👍👍😃
Something to mention with the GC trade in, you can trade in something as small as a DS1, and get 10% off a Gibson. You may only get like $25 for the DS1 but then get $300 off a $3000 guitar. You usually will get about 60% of the used value of the trade in value.
I do the same thing man. I keep cheap pedals just for trade in purposes
No thanks
i traded in some gear recently to GC and tried to get a new mesa boogie cab, that was not allowed, but i was able to get 10% off an orange TH30 amp head. so yes, its different in-store. you may be able to get away with some of the brands that were on the exclusion list.
I have traded a 1998 mexican strat -- they gave me $300 in trade in value, and I traded it for a Fender Ultra SSS --- $1990 - 10% = 1799 - $300 = $1499 * 1.07 = $1603.93 .
I purchased the mexican strat in 1998 for $399 -- so not a a bad deal! walked out $1600 for an ultra strat -- thats close to what they were before the insane crazy price hikes. Plus I got 48 month 0% financing. So if you are trade the right gear you can walk out with an awesome deal. But you have to work the numbers out.
I recently got a used Yamaha LL6M ARE from a reputable company I have dealt with in the past for a really good price. Now seems to be a good time for purchasing used gear. It is in really great condition. Wonderful guitar.
i’ve done the GC 10% thing several times. Its good. I traded and in one case got rid of a boat anchor amp, and ordered a new high end looper not at store. Their trade in run 60% used value, not great but with that discount it became as 80-ish with less tax in mix. The unit was also fair priced. If i recall they converted it to a gift card.
my spokane GC has good used prices to, that can be bad for trade, but often beats reverb. I think depends on our local market.
another comment: I typically trade what I wouldn’t sell to friend, I like the anonymity.
I saw Spinal Tap with 5 Bass players, including Andy Scott from Sweet and Justin Hawkins from the Darkness.
Ibanez is my favorite brand. They really cover all different styles in their guitars, and the vintage Japanese ones are still quite affordable. I have a 1979 ST100 for $500, 1986 Roadstar II RG525 for $300, a newer AF-55TF and AS-73. Superb craftsmanship and engineering from Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and China.
they are the copy cats of the music industry, Lol......they rarely innovate, just Copy, Period.
The comments about people saying they won't ever use modeling amps kinda reminded me that I said something similar when I was still playing regularly and I got told that it didn't really mean anything coming from me because I had gone from amp to DI years ago and my cabsim pedal was already a modeller more or less.
The kicker for trade-in as some know all too well, the majority of items you trade nets about 1/4 of the value because they have to sell it at the used price and make their predetermined markup, while special and /or high end models can get you more if they're willing.
Exceptional episode. I always enjoy, but for some reason I really enjoyed this one in particular.
Thanks Phil!
Coming up on a year's worth of daily KYG episodes!
I'm getting offers from items "like what you're watching"...crazy.
Good amps are a must!
But you can buy really good cheap guitars these days, you can’t seem to buy really good cheap amps! Having said that I do go for tube amps 90% of the time.
Oh man! I had a Series 10 when I was a kid and I loved that thing. It has a real floating trim & locknut and it was just great!
If possible a review of harley benton ported cab please and thank you 🙏
A cheap guitar through an expensive amp can sound great but an expensive guitar through a cheap sounding amp will sound cheap. Always
I played in a band with a guy who played his Gibson Les Paul standard through a peavey bandit. My mid grade Epiphone into vox ac15 sounded MUCH better. I wasn't a better player.
*speaker
@@investingingeorgia8853I have a 90’s bandit but I would like the contrast between that amp and the Vox.
@@scottoleson1997 i find the vox to be most versatile and reliable amp in its price range. Solid cleans and a tube screamer or od in front can push it to marshall territory.
@@investingingeorgia8853 I had Gibson LP with a Marshall JCM800 in the 80’s. My Marshall went into the shop for a few weeks, so I was lent a Peavey Bandit. I went from great tone to sounding horrible. Amp is everything.
I traded a guitar I had on marketplace for months towards a new amp. I was going to buy the amp anyway (I know I could've bought one used; I wanted a new one), and the 10% off the amp for the trade brought the "value" of the guitar a little above what I was asking for it. The tech also found an issue with the guitar that I didn't know about, and still gave me the trade value. I would've felt awful if I sold it privately and somebody got back to me telling me about the issue. The guys working at the Guitar Center near me are excellent. The trade policy worked out great for me!
lastly, I bought a brand that was on the "excluded" list, no questions asked 👏👏
100% the guitar dictates my playing or mood. Love your channel.
Guitar center has been doing this for years, I don't understand why evereyone is so angry. I've traded in pedals for money off of guitars many times.
Yeah, I aways laugh at the fine print of excluded manufacturers from any of the GC promotions, although as you suggested, in my limited experience, GC reps in store did not stick by all those excluded brands.
I always get offers from things I'm watching on Reverb. Also, even if an instrument doesn't have an "offer" option, I've found that making an offer anyway often results in a sale.
What I like to do is put the item in my cart. Remove the item from my cart. That seems to get attention. It is like a girl on prom night. You have to prick tease the sellers.
I've traded a berhinger pedal towards a PRS which was about 400 bucks for a 30 dollar pedal 🤘
As long as I remember Guitar Center has always offered 10% off new gear after a trade in of a Guitar or even just a pedal , It’s something that most people fail to mention that feel that they are scamming you by giving you just 60% value on your Trade In , And another thing they don’t mention is that you only pay tax on the price of the new item after the trade in amount is deducted … for example if I trade in a Strat and get 1000.00 and buy a new Gibson LP that’s 3000.00 , I’m Paying Tax for 2000.00 so after the 10% off and that additional 60 - 80 bucks on tax it’s worth it most of the time especially now with Reverb Fee’s rising and rising and dealing with shipping….. minus the Last 4 years have bough and trading up on many guitars from GC and have Leveled Up and Fine Tuned my collection …. Also depending On the manager and inventory , GC has taken 10% off say a Friedman Guitar
I have seen bands that had a bass player who had more than one bass, and on some songs the rhythm or the lead guitarist might pick up the other bass and play a song that had two bases. But that was usually because the song had a very trebly Klickety bass part and a booming bass part. So it was just for a song or two.
Hey phillip, what are some good tunning pegs for acoustic guitars
I just went to GC to try to trade in a guitar today. They had the exact same used guitar in virtually identical condition, on the floor selling for $1,300.00. They offered me $449.00 for it, claiming they would sell it for $659.00. Will never deal with them again.
When I traded in for a Player Series Fender that was on sale I got 10% off the sale price 6 months ago.
Your little “trick” of following items on reverb just got saved me $325 of a band new $1299 Martin. I’m thinking of countering lol but will I lose out on the original offer if they decline? It happens to be Chicago music exchange
CME is fantastic, just call them or deal in chat.
Usually if you counter and they don’t like what you offered they will still give you the original discount(I buy from reverb a lot)
@@adamziehm-friesen7480 you 100% correct. They came back with a new offer of 24 cents less. At $325 plus tax savings I couldn’t turn it down. Tracking says delivery Wednesday!!!
I love my Boss Katana 100W but the Blackstar Fly is far superior to the Katana Mini.
So as far as the GC trade in/trade up program is concerned. I recently wanted to down size my gear collection I don’t “collect” in the collector way I just accumulate gear that I don’t have space for, I wanted a good grab and go amp for jams as well as a direct to computer recording option. Boss might be listed as a brand the offer was t valid on but I traded an older (not vintage) 20 watt tube amp and a 100 watt peavey solid state for a boss katana artist mk2 they gave me the 10% on the boss and I paid tax on the 30 bucks difference. Here is the weird thing I probably could have sold the tube amp for a little more than they gave me but they offered me about 75 buck more for the peavey than I was expecting. I checked out current prices on reverb as well as GC own used gear listings so I had a good idea of what the market was. Disclaimer the guy who helped me at CG is someone I knew from my days playing in bands I wouldn’t say we were ever “friends” we never played together or even spoke that often but we knew each other I didn’t know he worked there and wasn’t expecting it. I am just wondering if they have a cut off point per piece relative to value so he bumped up the value on the other to make up a little. They say maximum of $500 but they only pay up to 50% of the value. It wasn’t quite 50% on the offer for the tube amp based on my own assumption of its value but the price they gave on the solid state would have been more so he must have assessed it for more. Idk I could have sold outright on reverb but then I am still kind of tied to them as the buyer could blow out the tubes and then try to come back at me or they could be damaged in shipping or be haggled over because shipping heavy amps is expensive I just didn’t want to deal with any of that and I hadn’t used either in over a year.
Anyway so yes they did deal on a product they said was excluded and they did offer me a fair price overall.
I still use an original roland micro cube as my around the house and easily portable practice amp. Runs on batteries. Sounds are fine for what it is.
Last time I traded something into guitar center they were running a similar deal and they wouldn't give me the discount on anything but house brands, I walked out sold the item on Reverb and bought the new thing from Sweetwater, years ago they'd ignore the excluded list (used a Father's Day coupon on my PRS Core Custom 24) but now the ones near me are total sticklers.
Wasn't able to respond live - For live playing, I will pay more or spend more time finding the right guitar. If the guitar does not play well, a Dumble, Marshall, Mesa, etc will not help. My rig goes through the FOH. At that point, I just want to make sure I'm playing/interacting with the other players. I do love to play a really nice amp at home or in a jam (and have a few nice amps), but live - I run through a Headrush to the board and EQ so I am in the mix as best I can be.
Remember when you did a shootout between that Fender Strat and a Dinner?
This is a timely video for me. I’m looking to trade in 7 cheap guitars for a Martin and then sell off a bunch of amps and bass guitars in London because I’ve moved to the other side of the world and can’t bring it all over. It’s a bit of a minefield with varying consignment rates, valuations for trades or outright cash purchase offers. I can’t rely on friends and family to sell this gear privately for me so a living estate-style sale seems to be the best I can do. 🤷🏾♂️
this Memorial day sale at my local GC did 10% off new AND USED gear! I travel for my job and haunt all the local guitar shops. I typically buy 1-3 guitars a month and I still say GC still has the best prices overall. I bought strat that someone bought online and returned because of wrong color or something minor. Not even a pick scratch on the pickguard that still had the plastic on it, it was pristine condition virtually unplayed. It was reg 1699.00 took it home for 1050.00 after discounts. How do you beat that deal? Most guitars on the wall had more play time on them, an on line purchase is played by only 1 person ever, usually. I snag sooo many guitars from the 80s-90's just as old guitars, not vintage E.G. Cheap!
I traded in an old pedal I was no longer using towards a Taylor GS mini (taylor is a listed exclusion), and they gave me the 10% off.
Yes, i looked at a PRS for $2499 on Reverb and the next day I received and offer from the seller for $500 less,that's 20% off, it happened with another guitar on Reverb.
its worth mentioning again that SW Gear Exchange credit also can't buy another Gear Exchange item- only SW retail.
As a former electrician I stand by Klein tools. Their screwdrivers and pliers are absolutely fantastic lifetime investments. I'm not sure if they make hand tools small enough for guitar work, but if they do you won't go wrong.
Ok, I’m not sure if you have the time to read the comments or not, but I would love your thoughts or opinion on this. I recently purchased one of the “new” Gibson Les Paul Deluxe 70’s. I purchased it because of the mini Humbuckers. I had a 1976 model years ago and loved the sound. I own two Victoria amps (a Golden Melody, and a 45410 “Bassman”) and the Deluxe sounds great through both of them. But I never could get it to sound right (good) running it through my Goodsell Super 17 MK III. It’s the one with the tone control vs a 2 or 3 band (bass, mid, treble) eq. I loved the amp with my single coil guitars as well as my standard humbucker guitars. It sounded fantastic. So, because the Victoria amps are too heavy to lug around, I traded in my Goodsell for a used Dr Z MAZ 18 Jr reverb model. It’s the original version vs the MK-II. It has become a love/hate relationship. The eq, as well as the cut control allows me to dial in a great sound, at the same time it has almost a feedback sound when the volume is turned up, and the cut and reverb are set at the same position as when the amp is turned down. This, along with the weight has me considering trading or selling it. I had no idea how heavy the amp was because the salesperson at guitar center loaded it into my car for me (shame on me). I most likely will have the Dr Z mods (design flaw repairs) done before making a finale decision.
Where I would like your opinion or thoughts is this; Are you familiar with the original MAZ 18 amp? What are your thoughts on it. I think the amp is a decent sounding amp overall, but many of the older reviews rate this amp as almost “the second coming”. I just don’t see it that way. They sound great at low volume, and pretty decent sound turned up with the reverb completely turned down…but not worth the price they were sold for. The second thing is the sound of the Deluxe (or other guitars using the mini buckers) as far as matching them with an amp. Sorry this was so long.
Just an FYI to anyone interested, I noticed that there are a few decent guitar brands not on GC's exluded list for the 10% off deal: Ibanez, Schecter, and ESP.
Fly 3 and a sea foam green bullet strat. Life is good. Cheers!
GC has a new blueberry burst Epi Es 335 on sale for $579 and a used tobacco burst Epi 335 for $549. Very strange pricing. Will GC discount a used item further? Ty
Same here... I was playing my SG with a new amp today, and nothing felt right... my Gibson SG 61 reissue that I payed 2400 bucks for... low action, easy to play, but it just didn't sound right somehow... so I switched to my parts fender telecaster (made in mex standard neck, light swamp ash warmth body, fender Yosemite pickups), and everything was there for me... the feel, the sounds, etc. I love Gibson... and I know I could mod this sg to get single coil tones etc... so, I'm not knocking Gibson... they're excellent, and I also own a 2400 buck Gibson les Paul... it all comes down to me being more of a tele guy I guess... bottom line though, I played for an hour with the sg, switching programs, effects, overdrives etc... for over an hour... and wasn't happy with my playing... then I thought, grab the tele and see if things seem better... and low and behold, the feel, sound and mojo was there for me... things seemed right.
Totally get what you’re saying about Guitar being in the front and/beginning of everything and has to feel right, but don’t you also feel like the amp has a huge difference in how the guitar feels? Or do you feel you can compensate for that with peddles?
I think it's easier to upgrade a guitar a bit at a time like start with a set up n fret job as you can afford it on the other hand you can upgrade your speaker n buy pedals for your sound
The Melvins have made an album with 2 bass players, but they have also had 2 drummers. To use dual bass, you probably have to think outside the very traditionel way on using the bass in band music. Like it would work for a band like Royal Blood, that play guitar rock without any guitar players. Mike Kerr' bass are played so it sounds like a guitar.
Does anyone know if I can trade in at a physical Guitar Center and use that towards an online purchase? I want to trade in 2 guitars towards that Gretsch G5627T-P90 Speyside but it's only available online, which sucks.
Good all around metal - blues is the caddalin bread RAH. I gig with it all the time and I love it.
reverb still calls the items "your watch list" but the icon you click in order to watch an item is a heart, maybe that was the confusion..
Even though i do not listen to those artistes,i did enjoy the interviews and their views on the gear
GC did the trade in plus 10% off until Covid. Glad it’s back
They charged me sales tax on a ts9 that I traded 3 older pedals in on to get the other day.
Used to get a 15-to-20 percent off coupon emailed every month from Musicians Friend, now, it’s maybe twice a year. The brand restrictions applied online but my Guitar Center would accept the coupon on any brand.
Using Amp sims such as Neural DSP’s Tone King Imperial MK II, Logic’s Amp Designer, or ik Multimedia’s Amplitube I run into a clean boost before the interface. Guitar>clean boost> interface. Tc electronic Spark mini boost or EHX Soul Food (Klon clone) as a clean boost. Great tones without waking my neighbors or wife. She scares me sometimes.
After thousands of dollars spent on gear and as many hours making music. I still end up sitting on the edge of my bed playing my mexi strat thru my Blackstar Fly 3. Works for me ! 🙏🎶😎
expensive/cheap being relative to the person, I'm going to call cheap anythin in the sub-$500 category. In that context, cheap guitar/expensive amp or vice/vera isn't really a choice we have to make anymore because there's so much great gear under $500 now.
I really really want a Firebird just like the one you have.
Ibanez has been very,very good to me. I had a law suit era LP goldtop that was my work horse and travelled to Europe and back with me in the mid 80s. Can’t remember why I sold it but I didn’t get what it was worth. I do remember the shyster I sold it to though. I was a greenhorn kid and was taken advantage of by a crook. Live and learn, right? Other than that Ibanez was always in the mix in one way or another. Even now I still have one that’s a acoustic guitar I won at a show. They where raffling it off and called my number. It was autographed by the Aubrey Collins Band. This was back in 2008 or so.
I wanted a headless guitar for travel an couch play didn’t want to spend too much . Got a GOC headless guitar for under a thousand an it’s in every way an nice an well built as an I have played
The trade in 10% policy worked for me because Ibanez isn’t on the exclusion list. Got a sweet deal on a bass and gig bag.
I got the fly combo years ago for really cheap. Easy to use, sounds great. Still love it