Good place to buy used music equipment?

[Alex Fields]

Where is a good website to buy used music equipment? I am thinking mostly of things like sound equipment, pedals, samplers, speakers, etc., rather than specifically mandolin related things like straps or strings or whatnot. Thanks.

[EdSherry]

eB*y or Craig's List. I'm fortunate to live in the SF Bay Area where there's lots of stuff for sale on the local Craig's List; YMMV depending on where you live.

For used equipment (especially PA gear), I'd strongly recommend buying locally so you can check it out in person. Shipping costs on used PA gear can add up pretty quickly.

[Tim]

Not a great option for Alex there in TN but other people read these threads. #In the DC area there is a store called Atomic Music that sells this sort of stuff. #I took my son there a few times when he was doing the garage band thing.

[Tim2723]

Sound advice there (no pun intended!). #Buying used gear is a real crapshoot at best. #Try before you buy is more important there than with many things. #To a great extent, by the time a working band sells off sound gear, it's often WELL past its prime. Very often too when someone is selling a piece of kit it's because it didn't do the job for them. #It likely won't do the job for you either. #Lastly, sound gear is HEAVY and shipping costs can be real bargain killers. #The very few times I've bought used gear it turned out I was just buying someone else's troubles.

[f5loar]

Best source is your local big city tradeing post type news paper. The sellers list for free until it's sold, it's local for easy pickup and you get to see it or try it before you buy it. The web is a dumping ground for unwanted junk.

[Mace]

Elderly Instruments. Call them toll free and ask questions. In 30 years of business I believe I have sent 2 instruments/equipment back with no problems on returning. Quality, professional and trustworthy transactions.

[EdSherry]

I love Elderly, but in my experience they rarely have "used equipment" in the sense that Alex seems to be suggesting. Used instruments, yes (lots). Used effects, sometimes. Used PA, not in my experience. But YMMV.

[Treblemaker]

I have had decent luck just using google (provided I am looking for a specific piece of gear and know the product name/number). Google archives Craigslists from all over the place.

I live in San Francisco and using Google searched for and subsequently bought a vintage Ibanez Electric guitar I had been looking for for a number of years. The Craigslist where it was posted was in Toronto.

-Treblemaker

[gregjones]

The weekly vintage list from Elderly now says that they no longer ship used amplifiers. They're available as store pick up only.

[mandroid]

If you can make the cabinets there is abundant speakers and such at PartsExpress.com

[steve V. johnson]

There's even a Craig's List here in Bloomington, Indiana, and it's a pretty good resource for all kinds of stuff.

In Indianapolis there's a classifieds paper called The Trader, but it has shrunk quite a bit, probably due to online trading.
There's a similar paper in Louisville, tho I don't know what it's called, but I suspect that they're around. Check your local
gas/convenience stores for racks of 'em.

And, there's an online shop called Daddy's Junky Music (www.daddys.com) that's been around a pretty long time, and has shops in the NE of the US.
I haven't traded with them in a while, but as I recall, they have shop warranties, trade-up policies, other safeguards for shoppers and a wide array of
all manner of music, recording and PA gear, in many conditions from real junk to real gems and priced well.

There used to be an open classifieds page at Sweetwater Sound's page, but I haven't looked at that for a while.

For pro audio stuff, find a copy of Mix Magazine or EQ magazine and look in the back where there are display ads for a whole
bunch of companies who sell both new and used gear, take trade-ins and so on. These dealers will handle pretty serious gear,
and not "pedals, samplers". Sam Ash and Manny's Music in NYC used to have good and vital used gear sections, as did Chuck Levin's
Washington Music Center in Silver Spring, Md. Bananas At Large in San Rafael, California, used to have a great used gear section
online.

There used to be a place called Nashville Music (or Gear?) Exchange that was a great shop for used stuff and for a time they had a really
nice, simple-to-use website, but I don't find them in my notes, now, so maybe they've gone.

I'm not fitting out studios like I used to, so I've fallen out of touch with a lot of the used retailers and now I just find stuff on eBay or buy it new.
I sort of follow the notion that I shouldn't buy anything I don't know how to fix, or to have fixed easily (by someone I trust and do business with
regularly), but then... I started trading audio and music gear before there was html and the web, so ... I have a sort of twisted perspective.

I hope some of this is useful for you, Alex. If there are specific things you're looking for, especially audio stuff, feel free to contact me.

stv