But, Where Do I Waste My Income Now?

July 13, 2010 11:39 AM

Where are the best places to buy used music gear online?

So, after Harmony Central was hacked and then re-hacked, and then awkwardly reprogrammed in some combination of Ruby on Rails and coldfusion or something, its classifieds, which used to be home to a decent community and some killer deals, have been abandoned. I'm sad! I got some great stuff there.

Does anyone know where everyone went? I'm in a city, so Craigslist is an option, but it's very limited, and prices, experience, etc. I kind of prefer paying shipping and having the ability to return something politely if it's totally busted, rather than being essentially stuck with it.

And, Musicians Friend has used gear now, but it tends to be expensive and their ability to do business appears to be nil. No other company has shipped me more broken or incorrect products.

So... where to acquire new stuff? Mainly I'm in the market for pedals, a pedalboard, and, not now but eventually, predictably, guitars and basses.

posted by tmcw to shopping (5 answers total)

It's all about Craigslist where I live (Los Angeles). I don't understand what you mean by "being essentially stuck with it" if something's totally busted.

Always buy gear in person and check it out thoroughly beforehand. And haggle the price down. If it's busted, don't buy it.

I have a ton of Craigslist music gear success stories, including the best Strat I've ever played - an early-80s one with great pickups that I got off Craigslist from someone who hadn't played it in 20 years and thought it was a bass - which I bought for $150 and then spent $25 and 30 minutes repairing and restoring. Yeah, there are deals.
posted by The World Famous at 11:50 AM on July 13, 2010

Mr. Geek used to use Harmony all the time as well, but now does a lot of buying and selling on eBay. He's actually had really good luck with both making a profit on items sold, as well as finding good deals on new (used) items. He also has a group of musician friends from around the country who he's met over the years in various message boards and chat rooms, and they're constantly buying, selling, and trading equipment.
posted by LolaGeek at 12:16 PM on July 13, 2010

I've used eBay exclusively since 2000 and have never had a problem. There are better controls in place to prevent any fuckery from happening so I feel comfortable with that more than CL.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 1:24 PM on July 13, 2010

The Gear Page emporium. It's a great source for guitars, amps, and a wide variety of effects from Boss to Boutique. Works on the same word of mouth / community rep that most forum classifieds do. Not for everyone, but considering all the Ebay horror stories, it's never seemed any more or less risky to me. Especially after you become a member of the international guitar pedal cartel and are pretty much dealing with the same 25 players time and time again :D
posted by domographer at 2:56 PM on July 13, 2010

You can also try Daddy's Junky Music, which also has stores around the Northeast.
posted by holterbarbour at 6:21 PM on July 13, 2010