what to do

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 346 Location: South-West Ohio

I played a few more guitars today and I'm really starting to feel I should switch to the 25.5" scale. I'm also REALLY digging the VMNT series - both of the ones I've played have just fit my hand better and played easier. I'm particulately liking the AOD because of the ebony board, tone pros bridge, and good pickups that all come stock. I'm not super huge on the graphic but it isn't a deal breaker for me, and it plays awesome.

[for referance to where this all began, see;
http://www.deanguitars.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=96771 for more info]

So if my intent is to switch scales, I'm thinking I can lower my cost by using either one or both of my ML's to do that. all of my thoughts on it have downsides though. The question becomes;

Do I sell them here and use the funds to buy one? [but things seem to be slow here]
Do I trade them in at Guitar center towards it directly? [not sure they pay well on trades, but I do have a friend there who might be able to help?]
Do I sell on them on craigslist ?[never used it before - would not care to deal with a bunch of fruitloops but might get beter pay?]

I have a brazillaburst '79 series ML with floyd rose with less than an hour of playng time, and it comes with a harshell case. I also have a fixed bridge '79 that "wyde-open" repainted into a slime - this one I got from revolutionman, and it comes with a razorback hardshell case [which fits it very well as they are basically the same shape]. both have had straplocks installed, and Both have had seymour duncan distortions installed in the bridge. The slime has a distortion in the neck as well, whereas the burst has a seymour duncan '59 in the neck. Both guitars were pro setup/adusted in the last 4 months.

What are my best options to go about doing this? I understand the economy is hard on everyone, and that many don't have expendable income these days but likewise I don't want to gove these away adn pay full price for one guitar either.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 121 Location: Chesterfield, IN

The most I can see Guitar Center giving you is $250. Craigslist can be slow and you'll deal with a bunch of lowball offers. You'll get closer to what you want for the guitar though. It depends on how fast you want the new guitar and if you can live with what Guitar Center offers.

Joined: 21 Sep 2010 Posts: 436

I might work out a deal with you on the slime. PM me and lets see if we can figure something out.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

Sell them privately... Either here on the forum or locally on CL. GC will give you about $200 for each one. That's just how they roll.

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 346 Location: South-West Ohio

ow... I've no problem that someone should get a deal buying used gear but WOW?!?! $200 per? I mean I know they have to resell them and make a profit but what is their proft margin? 100%? I mean, lets figre the guitar is $600 new [could be more depending on where you buy, and this totoally discredits the better pups and work I had done] and you have another $100 in the case - I mean HALF would be $350. they could mark it up $100 to $150 and and still be competitive used. Unless they just think these pointy shapes are hard to sell [I can sort of see that, but not a 20% buy sort of agreement].

I guess if I could get $350 plus buyer pays shipping cost, I'd probably be doing good?

Joined: 25 Dec 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: NY

The problem is most Dean's have a horrible resale value across the board. You may want to work a trade with someone that has what you are looking for.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

pariah2 wrote:

ow... I've no problem that someone should get a deal buying used gear but WOW?!?! $200 per? I mean I know they have to resell them and make a profit but what is their proft margin? 100%? I mean, lets figre the guitar is $600 new [could be more depending on where you buy, and this totoally discredits the better pups and work I had done] and you have another $100 in the case - I mean HALF would be $350. they could mark it up $100 to $150 and and still be competitive used. Unless they just think these pointy shapes are hard to sell [I can sort of see that, but not a 20% buy sort of agreement].

I guess if I could get $350 plus buyer pays shipping cost, I'd probably be doing good?

The real issue that you may not see is that dealer cost on those is about $250-$300. I know this from when I had a deal with Dean because I bought at dealer cost. So GC isn't going to give you near dealer cost for a used guitar that they can just put into a new one and sell at full pop. They don't see it as a used guitar they can buy for $350 and sell for $500. They see a guitar they can buy new for $250 so they will offer you $200. Just a sad fact of dealing with them. I used to be a manager at a GC so I have seen it and people don't seem to understand why they are offered so little.

Joined: 13 Feb 2008 Posts: 121 Location: Chesterfield, IN

Sadly Lanning is right. $200-$250 tops. I wouldn't be surprised if their first offer was $150. Put them on Craigslist or try to work something out with a forum member. Also, GC won't care about aftermarket pickups. The case won't mean anything to them either. They won't even want it.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

thatoneguy12986 wrote:

The case won't mean anything to them either. They won't even want it.

Very true. lol... Even with new guitars the case is built differently into the price. Or least is was. The price on the tag for a Les Paul for example is without a case. They call it "exploded pricing" where they separate the parts that come together and sell them separately. The guitar looks about $100 cheaper than the competition and then you realize that's because there is no case lol... I don't know if Joel will see this and comment as I know he's still with GC but when I was with them that's how we did it.