Anyone ever buy a guitar to find out soon after the instrument had major issues after bringing it in for a set up?
It's got some sentimental mojo , (American made about  15 years ago)  but I'm afraid it needs a neck reset and a small crack repair required along the
center from the bridge to the back where the two pieces of sitka spruce are joined.
I got about a grand into it,and can't decide whether to cough up the repair cost or sell ?
How do you sell a compromised instrument?  :?
Any thoughts ???

What kind of guitar?

I wasn't going to disclose the brand but on second thought and after the first response ,I guess brand name will make a difference .
Gibson. (Not my SJ )

Sorry your Gibson has problems. That seems pretty young for a neck reset.
I had to do one to my Goya, but it wqs 50 yrs old.

I assume you can't back out of the deal?

Anyway, I would think you could have a good luthier evaluate it and see if the cost is worth it to you to fix. To sell it, ethics demand you disclose. That's another reason to get an evaluation.

My guess is you have + - $500 repair work. That might result in a git you can get your costs out of, or make it one to keep.

If you think you can replace it with one thats in better shape, or if it just doesn't do it for you, then you should probably sell it for whatever you can get for it and find that other guitar.

But if it is one you really like and want, then if you get all the work done, you should have a really nice guitar in really great shape!

Its a hard call - but ulitmately, its all about what the guitar means to you. I recently bought an older handmade instrument, knowing that it needed a neck reset, and other cosmetic work. But it looked gorgeous, and everyone who picked it up and tried it rolled their eyes back enjoying the sound of it, and it is also unlikely I will ever find another guitar by this gentleman, so it is definitely worth it to me. I also figured the cost of this work into the purchase price though, so there were no real surprises -

It also helps to have full confidence in your tech -

So  -  mistake/opportunity  -  judgement call -

Tad

Pretty much what Tad said. I bought a great sounding guitar over internet and when it got here I loved it, but it needed a neck reset. I had it done and didn't regret it a bit. Now it plays great
and sounds great.  The crack most likely is no big deal. Probably a 5 minute job of running a bit of glue in it. Neck reset 300-400 depending on where you are. If all the crack needs is a little glue put in it, maybe they throw that in.  So what's it sound like? What part of the country you in.  The selling a compromised intrument? Well there's only one question there right?  I think I'd step back a minute and learn all you can about neck angles, what caused this one to go a little early, who does good repair work at what price in your area. Good luck.

My questions start with your "recent" purchase of the guitar.  From your words it does not sound as though any issues were brought to your attention at the time of purchase.  Was the guitar listed to be sold somewhere "as is" or was there a general description of condition?  While it is easy to think of a seller as obligated to disclose any problems, reality is that there may be problems that jump out as obvious to a luthier that the average strum and bumbler does not notice when staring at them.  You are left guessing where your seller's knowledge was between those two.  If you think the there was an awareness of these issues, and the guitar was advertised in good health, then you have a case to make with the seller.  If the deal was done "as-is" then it's a case of caveat emptor, and as others have mentioned you get to do the math on whether it's worth the repair investment as a keeper, or with full disclosure are you better off cutting your losses.   The last piece I'm curious about was putting together the facts of this as a "recent" purchase but also described as having "sentimental mojo."   What is the sentimental connection to the newly acquired Gibson?

There's another way to repair it without it costing so much.The method isn't liked by most but I've done about 50 of them without a problem.Please PM or call me{which is best} and I'll explain it to you.

Quote from: BlackDogJazz on March 17, 2010, 09:25:53 AM
My questions start with your "recent" purchase of the guitar.  From your words it does not sound as though any issues were brought to your attention at the time of purchase.  Was the guitar listed to be sold somewhere "as is" or was there a general description of condition?  While it is easy to think of a seller as obligated to disclose any problems, reality is that there may be problems that jump out as obvious to a luthier that the average strum and bumbler does not notice when staring at them.  You are left guessing where your seller's knowledge was between those two.  If you think the there was an awareness of these issues, and the guitar was advertised in good health, then you have a case to make with the seller.  If the deal was done "as-is" then it's a case of caveat emptor, and as others have mentioned you get to do the math on whether it's worth the repair investment as a keeper, or with full disclosure are you better off cutting your losses.   The last piece I'm curious about was putting together the facts of this as a "recent" purchase but also described as having "sentimental mojo."   What is the sentimental connection to the newly acquired Gibson?

It's a reissue of a guitar that I yearned for in my youth. It was made in the mid 90's but is suppose to be a reproduction of a 60's era instrument.
    Caveat emptor indeed . I was probably just blinded by the excitement of finding this on craigslist, thinking "Just a setup" will get it to where I want it.
I've pretty much gone through all the great suggestions posted so far and will indeed get an assessment from a luthier I trust, who sets up all my other instruments .The one who suggested the neck reset was someone conveniently located ,but never used by me before.
  I just have to decide whether it is indeed a keeper or not and go from there. :?
Thanks for all the input.
I
     

Hope all works our for you, and know that a number of us will have related stories.  While not at the same investment level, mine was an Alvarez RD8 that I bought on the street for about $50 thinking all it needed was a minor truss rod adjustment.  Took it to the luthier I trust and he said when I was ready to learn a lot more about repairing guitars this would be a nice starting project.  That was a couple of years ago, and it's still gathering dust in its' old case, likely to end up hanging on a wall as a piece of 3D musical artwork.