Online Guitar Store Finder (Used / Vintage)

Is there a ‘best’ online guitar store?

There’s definitely some guitar stores that come highly recommended. The more niche sites are located closer to the bottom of the list. Sites like Willcut Guitars, Wild West Guitars and Elderly Instruments are widely appreciated, but our personal favorite online guitar stores are Rainbow Guitars, Chicago Music Exchange, and Cream City Guitars.

Just to make it clear, the website grades may be an important factor in our favorite picks, but the entire guitar community’s recommendations are based on service and stock. So if you see a store with an F- (Archtop.com) or a D (Gruhn Guitars), don’t count them out just yet!

Why would I buy a used / vintage guitar from an online store?

I don’t have any need to sway people one way or another on this matter, but I’ve always preferred the convenience of shopping online. Why would it be any different with a used guitar store or a vintage guitar store?

If you know what you want already, I’d say the internet is your best friend – you can search through a bunch of these sites and make sure you get the best price. A lot of them include free/discounted shipping on orders over a certain amount, and the shipping costs are always factored into the price points to compete against brick & mortar vendors.

If you go to a guitar shop and find something that plays well that you want to buy, hold off and come search around here to get a better lay of the land. If you’re worried about shipping damage or unseen defects, you’ll find many sites have a money-back policy and/or function as a quality assurance authority between you and third party sellers.

In regards to unseen defects – I recommend you read the Used Guitar Buyer’s Guide to learn how to check your purchased instruments for any defects upon arrival.

“The Used Guitar Store / Vintage Guitar Store Had Nothing Worthwhile”

If you still can’t find what you’re looking for, then you may be better off taking a look through the Luthier’s Database for custom guitar builders – that’s where the highest quality instruments are going to be found anyway!