The Search Continues

As I'd mentioned previously, I'm on the lookout for a Fiesta Red Squier Classic Vibe Stratocaster.  L&M sold them for dirt cheap awhile back, and they're starting to come up on Kijiji at around the $300 mark - not great, but given that most of these were purchased new for less than that, an offer of $250 should seal a deal.

Seal, because obviously.

I missed out on an early deal because I was gun shy on selling something before I had a deal in place, and making a stupid attempt to get a set of transactions in a particular order, for your benefit, pretty much never works out.

Yes, I could have fronted the money and worried about the sale later, but I dislike doing it, and these guitars aren't unique enough for me to jump like that.  Plus, motivation to sell either evaporates or insistance on getting maximum dollars does - you'll settle for covering costs.  In either case, not a great move.

In any case, one of the sellers got back to me, willing to deal at $250.  Great, but his ad made mention of a replaced bridge.  "Upgraded" was the term he used.  No qualification.  No brand name.  Just "upgraded".

Sigh.

In my first message, I politely asked what the nature of the upgrade was.  Hey, maybe it was Callaham, and I was super lucky.  This is the response I got:

Previous owner replaced it with something of higher quality, the stock bridge on these guitars is the weak point. Give me a text at XXX-XXX-XXXX

A couple of flags here.  Previous owner?  OK, a guitar changing hands before it gets to me is typically not a big deal, but in my experience the condition of the guitar takes a hit for each owner who has had it.  For a guitar that is going to get played occassionaly and hang among the collection the rest of the time, I want great condition.  Doesn't have to be perfect, and I'm all for character, but...

Something of higher quality?  Could we be a little more specific here chief?  The stock bridge is the weak point?  Thanks for your expert assessment of a far east Stratocaster.  Here's a tip: The bridge material is the weak point on every single factory Stratocaster produced - Squier to Custom Shop.  It's why Callaham and others exist.

I hate people like this.  I could be wrong, but I get the vibe that this guy hasn't sold his guitar yet because he's trying to fleece someone.  In all of my years of dealing on Kijiji, I've only dealt with one person who I could honestly say blew me away with the stuff they knew.  Everyone else clearly reads too much Guitar World.

This guy is preying on those people.  Upgraded?  The good folks on Kijiji get specific when asked.

I'm not going to waste my time looking into specifics.  He doesn't want to answer the question, and I don't need to ask it a third time.  If I had to bet, the body had to be modified to accommodate a bridge that wasn't the correct string spacing.

I noticed afterwards that there was only one pic of the guitar, and no close ups...

Buyer beware I guess.

In the meantime, I've turned my attention to other things - A Squier HM Stratocaster.  This time, I'm not waiting.  Just hope the seller gets back to me.

Still red, so basically the same thing, right?