Ethical Question

[Canard]

Quite a number of years ago, I got very badly burned with an online purchase of a high-end bigish-name luthier-made acoustic guitar.

It is absolutely beautiful to look at, to hold, and to play, as well, as long as you were deaf. It suffers from the most horrific broad spectrum unfocused wolf-tones. I have taken it to various reputable luthiers who all say more or less the same thing, "Hang it on the wall. It looks nice. It should have gone through the luthier's bandsaw and then into the wood stove."

It has sat in its case for many years. It has made shy of ever buying a guitar again that I cannot see and play.

What do I do with it?

Absolutely dead, grimy, notched strings mask the problem a little or at least provide a more plausible explanation than that the guitar is total garbage. If I were an evil bastard, I could sell it on, but the fact that I haven't already done so suggests that I am not such.

I have thought about just dropping it off at thrift shop. The case at least is valuable.

 

[walrus]

If you give it away for free, that's a pretty good solution to your ethical dilemma. Are you giving away the case, too?

walrus

 

[davismanLV]

Sell the case for whatever it's worth and list with "comes with free guitar". That should give you something and you're not scamming anyone. Right?

 

[fronobulax]

If you do anything other than destroy it you run the risk of it (eventually) getting back into circulation. "high-end bigish-name luthier-made" is going to entice someone to try and sell it and there is no guarantee that a future buyer would properly assess the quality.

So if the goal is to prevent the instrument from ever deceiving anyone else then destroy it and sell the case.

If you can sleep at night knowing that the next owner might not have your scruples than you can sell it or give it away being honest about why you are doing so.

Dropping it off at a thrift shop is not a good idea because you lose your chance of informing the next owner about what they are not getting in spite of the bigish name.

As an aside is "high-end bigish-name luthier" still in business? Perhaps giving it to them, for the cost of shipping is the best solution since it is their reputation at stake. Maybe they would like to get it out of circulation or maybe they have learned things and could make it usable again?

 

[West R Lee]

Or, you could list it and simply tell the truth. "Beautiful and valuable guitar that to my ear sounds like caca, best offer".

West

 

[GAD]

If you give it away for free someone else will sell it for a big profit.

 

[jedzep]

I think returning it to the builder is a great idea, Fro. I'd explain why you dislike it the way you did here, and see what goes down.

 

[twocorgis]

If it were me, I would get in touch with the luthier, assuming they're still building, and explain the situation. I don't know of any reputable luthier that would want their name on such a bad guitar, and there's a chance they'd do something to make you happy. Certainly worth a try, and they worst they could say is no.

 

[Canard]

As an aside is "high-end bigish-name luthier" still in business? Perhaps giving it to them, for the cost of shipping is the best solution since it is their reputation at stake. Maybe they would like to get it out of circulation or maybe they have learned things and could make it usable again?

Very much so. I will try contacting them.

 

[geoguy]

Contacting the person who built that guitar sounds like a great idea.

Also, I've previously heard of "wolf tones" being caused by string vibration behind the bridge saddle. That can be reduced by placing neoprene grommets between adjacent pairs of strings.

It looks goofy, but works at least with some archtop guitars.

 

[awagner]

If it plays nicely and looks good, how about adding an acoustic pickup and just playing it plugged in?

 

[West R Lee]

If you give it away for free someone else will sell it for a big profit.

So true. And I've sold so many guitars trying to give the buyer a fair deal, only to see them listed for much, much more later down the road.

West

 

[Roland]

You've had it for a number of years. It still vexes you but you don't feel right moving it on to someone else. So you sit every day with this guitar mocking you. Simple, take it out and smash it on your driveway until it is all gone out of you, obliterate it, throw the pieces in the trash and move on past it. Ethics aside, that is what I would do and I know I would feel so much better. But don't do it just because I would, do it because you think it will make you feel better.

 

[davismanLV]

And I really agree you should contact the builder and see if you have any options or they can help in any way. Also, other than destroying the guitar, you can only control what YOU do with it. Once it's out of your hands, you have no more control or obligation to do anything. That's just a fact. Let us know what happens with the builder!!

 

[chazmo]

 

[spoox]

Encase the thing in clear epoxy and exhibit it in a museum of modern art. Title it "THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED".

 

[Westerly Wood]

You got anyone you can gift this guitar too?
I have gifted a few guitars over the years and it always works out grand.
Richard on LTG in fact gifted me a nice all hog dread a while back and I was able to gift it to my friend Tim who is a rocking bass player but was starting to play acoustic. He was playing a crappy old yammie with terrible action etc. He was so happy.

 

[Canard]

That one looked like an Ovation/Applause, and it didn't look like it suffered much for the ordeal.

 

[richardp69]

Or, you could list it and simply tell the truth. "Beautiful and valuable guitar that to my ear sounds like caca, best offer".

West

That's exactly what I was thinking. It may not sound good to you but it might to somebody else.. I just hate the thought of destroying musical instruments. I hate it, I really do.

 

[Canard]

You got anyone you can gift this guitar too?
I have gifted a few guitars over the years and it always works out grand.
Richard on LTG in fact gifted me a nice all hog dread a while back and I was able to gift it to my friend Tim who is a rocking bass player but was starting to play acoustic. He was playing a crappy old yammie with terrible action etc. He was so happy.

The problem is that (if it were perfect, which it looks like it is) it would have an easy resale value of up to the vicinity of $3,000 US. There is a lot of temptation there to sell it on unscrupulously.