Here’s a continuation of my series of articles on second-hand guitar buying. These points out the nitty-gritty details on the guitar that you should check out when you finally get to in person.

• Scratches, dings, cracks and rust – Paint scratches and dings are common. Wood cracks and rust are no-nos.
• The neck – You’d want a guitar with a straight neck, no warps or deformations whatsoever.
• Frets – No word-down fretwires. It’d cost you much to have a guitar refretted.
• Action and intonation – You’d want a guitar that has low action (strings set close to the fretboard). It should produce accurate sounding notes too. Better get a musician friend to accompany you.
• Hardware and electronics – Make sure that everything works. Fiddle with the tuning pegs. Make sure the switches all work. Plug it in an amp to make sure everything sounds okay.
• Sound – A good electric guitar usually sounds nice even if it’s not plugged in.

For the full article, check it out here.