Re: Why do you buy new instead of used?
Honestly...paying "retail" sucks....there's an automatic cost savings of going to the "secondary market" for products (in most cases...limited edition collector items aside)...kind of like the depreciation of driving your newly purchased car off the lot.
Also, I like old/used guitars w/some mojo to them, as several others have stated...but...after buying used for a number of years, I resorted to "project guitars" in 2003...so I buy individual parts, piece by piece, to have my guitars assembled exactly the way I want them to be. Usually starts w/one cool piece and then I build around it.
This one started w/the "SRV" Pickguard, which was a Birthday Present from my wife...
This one was a necessitated body replacement when the old one split...but the guitar had been a $250.00 Pawn Shop Purchase to begin with and I scored the body on eBay for $90.00...
This one started with a Kramer E.E. Pro I Neck that I ABSOLUTELY LOVED and was determined to use...NOS Kramer SC-3 Body was another eBay purchase...
And now...I found this Kramer Maple Board Neck on CL, picked up the One Piece Ash Body on eBay...and I'm off and running on this project...
This one...well...I played it once and it was THE LES PAUL that I'd always wanted...so I lucked out on finding it on eBay a week after it sold from my local MGR before I could purchase it...and at a time when I could actually afford it and "mentally justify" the purchase!
so...there you go...that's my take on it all!