The Electra Forums

1) "plays like butter"...as opposed to margarine?
2) "part of a herd that needs thinning"...to lessen the threat of a guitar stampede?
3) "from a smoke free home studio"...everyone has one next to the kitchen, right?
4) "never been gigged"...will not stay in tune long enough to play on stage.
5) "must be sold due to financial reasons"...seller has a serious drug habit?
6) "best action ever"...my other guitar is a Fender Squier Starcaster from Costco.
7) "neck is straight"...seller is probably as crooked as James Brown's tour manager.
8) "obtained from the original owner"...borrowed and never returned, in other words - stolen.
9) "part of an estate sale"...paid neighbor hauling it to the curb twenty five dollars.

...and finally,

10) "sure to become a collector's item"...it just did not double in value right after maxing out the credit card on it at Guitar Center like the salesperson said it would last week.

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Electra 2236 Flying Wedge
Electra X330 MPC

I have a few...

"I HAVE SEVEN LES PAULS AND THIS ONE IS THE BEST." And that's why you're selling it with no reserve and there's no photo of the headstock. Because it's the very best one you have.

"THE FAMOUS LAWSUIT GUITAR." It's not a "lawsuit" when your child's mother finally finds out where you're living and you get a five-thousand-dollar bill from Children's Services, dude.

"PHOTOS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES." Yes, they say "The guy who took us used a cellphone camera, turned all the lights off, stood twenty feet away, and used a Sharpie to cover up the crack in the headstock.

"THE CRACK IS VERY STABLE." Well, of course it is. It happened two days ago when you dropped it off the stand and it's hardly doubled in length since.

"THIS WILL BE EASY TO FIX UP." Actually, the three luthiers you took this nightmare project to all told you, "It will be easy for you to f*** off."

"I PACK CAREFULLY." Yup, you'll write "FRAGEL" on the side of the box that doesn't have any stuffing material in it.

"CHECK MY FEEDBACK." Okay, the last two buyers BOTH called you a "worthless c***sucking thief" and the one before that is no longer a listed member of eBay because he killed himself when he saw what you'd done to that Ibanez JEM.

"I WILL REPORT NONPAYING BIDDERS TO EBAY." And you'll wait until the Paypal grace period is up before you stop sending out fake shipping numbers with deliberate typos, kind of like Jerry Lundegaard in "Fargo".

"NIIIIIICE!" And screwed up.

You guys are cynical today.

Good stuff guys, thanks. Jack, you sound kind of bitter, are you still smarting from that white Futura that got away? There'll be others, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

Actually, I've had a few lousy eBay transactions...

I bought a Gibson ES-137 Premier at the beginning of this year on eBay from a pawnshop in (ironically) St. Louis. The photos were taken in the most flattering manner possible and they deliberately avoided photographing the veritable spiderweb of finish cracks at the neck joint. The electronics were not right, the bridge pickup didn't work, so I had to have that fixed... and nobody wants to work on Gibson semi-hollows, as you all presumably know.

I was so annoyed with the guitar that I sold it "on payments" to a friend of a friend. He never made any payments. I went to get it and found out that he'd pawned it. I ended up having to loan him $100 of the $400 he needed to get it out of hock. After that I listed it on HarmonyCentral and interacted with a dozen no-hopers and timewasters. Finally I sold it on Craiglist for $75 less than I'd paid for it originally.

I paid top money for a Phoenix pickguarded active bass in April only to find, when it arrived, that the neck had a serious bow in it. Still waiting to get that fixed.

I bought another Gibson brand-new from an "authorized dealer" on eBay only to find out that the neck had twisted. Luckily my local shop was able to sort that out.

Many of you know the story on my highly sketchy X150 deal that ended up with my FBI agent friend picking up the guitar in person.

I bought a one-of-a-kind Godin that had been photographed in such a fashion as to not show the heavy wear on the pickup covers and massive scratching all over the top.

Oh well, every time I get ripped off I learn a little more about not getting ripped off in the future, eh?

Yikes. I guess I'll quit complaining about the few minor snafu's I've had, and sorry for your bad run of luck man. My worst experience was a guitar that took the guy three weeks to ship it, the Auction said Jackson, so I figured he was located in Mississippi, but it was in fact Jackson, Michigan which is like 30 miles away from me.

I agree that the photography can sometimes be purposely misleading, and often start wondering whenever I see blurry or poorly lit pictures now. On the other hand, I've never been too picky about condition, and without question most of my guitars I am attached to have been well played and have plenty of 'character'. Cheers, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

I always ask for additional pics until I see what i am looking for and I am happy with it. Still pics on the bay are also touched up sometimes.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Mike, I had a guy insist on shipping a guitar to me. He lived fourteen miles from my house. I think his $55 shipping fee had something to do with that.

...

Yeah; I'm with that, too.... I ALWAYS pay as soon as the auctions finished if I'm buying, and ALWAYS send a (probably over-) well-packaged item as soon as funds clear! I've been burned too; bought an APII and had a bloke in California do the middleman stuff but he never even saw it, and then on my behalf he went for the sellers throat!! No result, but not for the lack of trying!!

I've got to say, though, that 99.9% of my eBay experiences have been positive overall; there are some very nice people out there, eh!! You just can't let the bastards make you too cynical...

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

This JMM guy completely ripped me off. He said the X185 he sold me was a "9.2" but my non-guitar-owning neighbor rates it a "9.1" at best, based on seeing it though the window and a gauzy curtain!

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"... and on the eighth day, God created New Zealanders.

Because even the Australians need heroes."

I have only had one bad e-bong transaction, my Vantage 790. I could see from the pics it had one bent tuner. When I got it it had one frozen one two. The bridge was missing some saddles which were all there in the pictures. Not a major problem. I contacted the seller who acted all shocked to here about the problems and offered to refund the cost of a new bridge and tuner. Sounds good right. Well after weeks no refund and they stop responding to e-mail. I give a bad feedback and they flamed me back. I had their feedback pulled but I had to pull mine too which I did not like.

All in all I like the guitar and it was still worth the money. It sounds like I have gotten of lightly compared to some.

...

If only someone would please sucker me into a 7.5 rated X910 by listing it as a 9.5. I am just dying to lose my money just to see one!

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Electra 2236 Flying Wedge
Electra X330 MPC