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What
kind of guitars are we buying and selling?
Classic Guitars focuses on vintage and classic guitars and vintage
tube amplifiers for players and collectors. We’re interested
in flat-top and arch top acoustics, acoustic/electrics, solid body
electrics, hollow and semi-hollow body electrics, classical guitars,
and electric bass guitars. We are players/collectors who need to
sell some of our guitars we swore we'd never sell, in order to buy
the next incredible guitar that comes along. How many guitars does
a guitarist need? Just one more! That's how we ended up collecting
great vintage guitars (but we constantly have to sell some of our
collection to raise the dough to buy more).
We've just begun donating guitars and amplifiers to
Street Culture, a local community organization that supports youth
at risk and tries to get them back on track. We're hoping that some
of our guitars will get to young players who wouldn't otherwise
get a chance to play and learn.
What
do we mean by vintage and classic?
A broad definition of vintage guitars would be guitars from the
golden age of acoustics (the 1930s) to the golden age of electrics
(the 1970s). Classic guitars may not be that old, but did set a
standard for quality, style or versatility that influenced many
guitar players.
What
have we learned about vintage and classic guitars?
Many vintage and classic guitars were built with rare and exotic
woods or materials (like ivory) that are simply no longer available.
While Gibson, Fender, Gretsch and other big companies made terrific
guitars, smaller manufacturers often paid equal or greater attention
to craftsmanship, wood, hardware and design. Many fine copies of
great Classic Guitars were made in Japan during the 60s and 70s,
with great sound and design.
Great
Sounds!
Ken Burton
(www.kenburtonguitars.com) plays our favorite guitars, and records
most of the clips on the site. Thanks Ken!
How
did Classic Guitars get started?
Classic Guitars is located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada operated
by Larry and Kieran LeMoal, a father-son team. Larry has been casually
playing acoustic guitar since the 70’s, but is currently focused
on electric. Kieran started playing electric guitar (a used Cherry
Red Gibson SG) when he was twelve. As his interest in a wide variety
of guitar styles grew, we began looking for both vintage and classic
guitars.
That’s
when we discovered there was a huge demand among guitar players
for exactly the same guitars we were looking for - affordable and
really playable classic and vintage guitars, so Classic Guitars
was born.
We also
discovered it was a jungle out there, requiring hundreds of hours
of looking at unplayable guitars, or guitars with terminal flaws
where repairs would be worth more than the instrument. We rescue
guitars that need some TLC, but for minor or major surgery we entrust
them to professional guitar technicians.
We don’t
expect to build a large collection, since we do have to sell some
to buy others-all you player/collectors know that rule. We don’t
ever intend to open retail space, since we are both really busy.
Kieran
is teaching guitar full time, and working in the business, and we
plan to manage the growth of Classic Guitars carefully, so that
it doesn’t overtake our lives and our music. After all, playing
guitar is what Classic Guitars has to be about. We are now the only
vintage guitar dealer in Saskatchewan, and sell internationally.
Where
do we find our guitars?
We spend countless hours scouring pawnshops, music stores, classifieds,
garage and estate sales, and even E-bay. We run classified ads offering
to buy guitars. Best of all, we are building a list of guitarists,
including collectors, who have guitars they are willing to part
with for the right price. Join our list by telling us about a guitar
you may be willing to sell.
Why
sell your guitar to Classic Guitars?
Typically, music stores offer used guitar owners about half the
expected retail sale for mid-range instruments, since their real
business is selling their new guitars, and used guitars compete
with that business. Even consignment fees are often 30%.
We will
pay more for your guitar than any music store. Why? We are still
trying to build our inventory-and a list of satisfied buyers. We
are a home-based business with low overhead costs. We are buying
for guitarists who are looking for excellent, unique, or near mint
guitars and know the value of these instruments. So, we will pay
more for premium guitars. Contact us with information about your
guitar that you might part with.
Why
buy a guitar from Classic Guitars?
Anybody with a credit card can buy a great new guitar. But, classic
guitars are really hard to find. We do the looking for you. We believe
we are offering great guitars at fair prices. We fully disclose
any flaws or repairs that we are aware of, and will provide complete
details of any repairs, adjustments or setups that Classic Guitars
has done. High resolution photos of every inch of our guitars are
available upon request. Finally, for those of you with upgraded
computer sound systems, we have posted sound clips for each guitar
so you can hear what each of our guitars sounds like.
Buying
and selling on E-bay.
Some of our guitars may also be listed on Gbase at www.gbase.com,
or on E-bay. We are able to cancel auctions early if we sell the
guitar to non-bidders outside the E-bay system. The Classic Guitars
user name at Ebay is Lorenzo_atclassicguitars. Check out our 100%
feedback there.
http://myworld.ebay.ca/lorenzo_atclassicguitars/
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