Emerald City Guitars — Local services in Seattle

I had a very unpleasant experience with Emerald City Guitars. I found a rare model guitar on their website which I had been looking for for years and immediately "purchased" it. The guitar was advertised as being in "ready to play" condition. I received the Paypal receipt immediately. When I hadn't heard anything three days later, I contacted the store and talked with an employee who after asking my name and address, said he was in the process of packing the guitar and he would email me tracking. When after another day, I did not receive tracking, I called again and after some stammering, was passed over to Jay by the same employee. Jay told me that prior to my "purchase" he had already sold the guitar to another person and it was on its way to Hawaii. I asked him how that was possible when I paid for the guitar on the store's website four days earlier. He said the guitar was listed on Instagram and was sold from there. I checked Instagram and there was not any indication the guitar had been listed.

I was not offered an apology or other consideration, only an explanation. I did receive a prompt refund.

Fast forward a year or so. I saw a similar model guitar listed on Reverb and arranged to purchase that guitar. Ironically, the seller was local. As part of his ad, he state he had had the guitar for several years and listed the three other guitars of this type known to exist. He was selling it because as a working musician, he had fallen on hard times. He was very knowledgeable about this particular brand of guitar from that era and intimated he was a bit of a collector. When I told him I was aware of a fourth which had been sold by Emerald City Guitars, which I had tried to purchase, there was a long awkward pause and the subject was immediately changed. I thought that was strange, but I wanted the guitar, so I didn't pursue it. The guitar was purchased without incident.

When I got the guitar home, out of curiosity, I checked it against the photos I had downloaded when I "purchased" the guitar from Emerald City Guitars. The serial numbers matched. A repaired top crack also matched. It was the same guitar.

I am writing this review because I find the following to be extremely sketchy. You can draw your own conclusions.

In my experience, when a one of kind item is purchased through a shop's e-commerce website, it is marked as sold.

There was no evidence that the guitar had ever been posted on Instagram. While there were pictures of guitars, they were arranged in groups so it would be unlikely the photo would have been removed when one guitar from a group was sold.

Why fabricate a story about the guitar already being shipped to Hawaii? And do it after I had spoken to the guy doing the shipping who I presume confirmed my information?

Why during my original call was I told I would be emailed a tracking number only to be told the guitar had been presold when I called the next day?

Why would the seller I eventually purchased the guitar from be so skittish when topic of Emerald City Guitars was brought up and I mentioned in passing that I had tried to purchase it? Why be so evasive about the origins of this guitar and how long he owned it?

According to the seller, the guitar was in poor condition when he acquired it requiring thousands in work by the local pro luthier (a nationally known name). There had been significant work done old the guitar compared to the original photos matching what he said he had done. Although he may have been trying to justify his asking price, if he was being honest with me, the purchase price for the guitar was higher than that I had "purchased" it for before it was not sent to me.

All in all, there are too many unanswered questions for me to believe that the cancellation of the original sale was an honest mistake. You can draw your own conclusions.

Fortunately, karma was on my side in that I eventually acquired the guitar after a first class restoration professionally overseen.

Interested to see what others think may...

I honestly don't know what I would do without Emerald City Guitars. Not only do they offer the greatest collection of used and vintage guitars and amps you can find, they have the most knowledgeable, friendly, sincere, considerate staff members of any store out there. The selection is huge, the shop has a variety of entry level instruments, but they specialize in the used/vintage and collectible guitar market.

On more than one occasion the Emerald City Guitars staff have saved me. I thought all was lost when my Les Paul Classic slipped out of a guitar stand and got a big ding in the back of the neck behind the third fret. I was completely distraught, not so much about the cosmetic damage but the fact that the surface of the neck was rough and uncomfortable and definitely inhibited smooth chord changes. Eric Daw, greatest guitar luthier in all of the land made it look and feel invisible.

More recently Jordan saved my life by going completely out of his way and doing everything he could to expedite my Orange AD-30's speaker repair so that I could have it in time for a recording session. I owe it to him for having that amp's essential vintage tone featured in the recordings I was recently a part of.

Trevor Boone is one of the best guitar players you will ever meet. You can learn something from him every time you see him. Pay attention! Jay, the owner is one of the kindest souls out there. Liz is also extremely helpful, knows everything you need to know, and is there for you every time you go in.

To make a long story short, the greatest thing about this store is that every time you go in you will leave feeling inspired, musically or otherwise. What it all comes down to is that these people love music. They have a deep passion for music and for the guitar, and will gladly share that with you. You don't get that anywhere else. I can't recommend this place...

Going to Emerald City Guitars was the best music shopping experience I have ever had! Been to multiple music stores in multiple states and these guys stand out far above the rest. If you Love music and take your gear seriously, than I would highly recommend you visit this store when making your next major gear purchase. Not only do they have amazing vintage gear, but the quality, knowledge and customer service here really sets them apart. These guys could write a blueprint for the way all music stores should treat musicians. They were courteous and helpful but also gave space when trying things out. There not pushy in any way when it comes to selling, and they don't need to be because the quality of their gear sells itself. My only regret was that is that I waited so long to check them out. If your shopping from them online, trust me these guys take care of their gear, the stuff they sell is high quality and they do business the right way. I was fortunate enough to meet their owner Jay, not only was he a classy and kind person but the biggest compliment that I can give him is that he is an extremely integrous individual in both how he treats people and how he conducts business. This place is truly a music lovers dream. I couldn't be happier with my...