Top three reasons to buy your vintage guitar from us – JGG Vintage Guitar Buyers Guide

1. We won’t sell you a dud
2. We’ll share our knowledge with you up-front
3. We give a 14 day satisfaction guarantee, or return for a full refund

We have written our terms and conditions as questions and answers

What is your returns policy?

We want you to be 100% happy with your purchases from us, and if that means sending the instrument/amplifier out to your home for you to try out for a week or two, then that’s what we’ll do. If you purchase a vintage guitar from us and subsequently decide it’s not for you, then we’ll refund you in full upon receipt of the returned goods.
Of course, we don’t want people to use our stock of vintage guitars like a lending library, so there are some conditions to our satisfaction guarantee: the instrument must be returned within 14 days in the same condition as when it was sent out. It may not be gigged, dismantled, or in any way modified. You may put strings of your choice on the instrument, but please put our strings back before you return it, unless we have agreed otherwise.
We will arrange the return with you if it’s within the UK mainland but unfortunately overseas collection is beyond our returns service and you would be required to organise return shipping to us yourself. You are responsible for the instrument until we receive it, so you will want to insure it during transit.
Amplifiers are not covered for returns from overseas. Amplifier returns are however accepted from within the UK subject to similar conditions as outlined above (i.e. not gigged, dismantled or in any way modified). We prefer not to ship amplifiers whenever possible, and encourage collection / delivery in person.
We always recommend that you seek professional advice on packaging both guitars and amplifiers and are happy to advise you on this.

In summary here is our policy again:

Return/Refund & Cancellation Policy

Customers who wish to return goods are able to do so under the following terms:

Guitars/Basses

• Provided the instrument is returned in the same good condition that it was sent, JGG will refund the purchase price of the instrument in full within 10 working days upon the safe and undamaged return of the guitar. The original outgoing courier/shipping cost will not be refunded by JGG and the cost of returning the instrument (inclusive of insurance) will be met by the buyer.
• Our returns policy applies to all instruments and destination countries unless stated otherwise at time of sale.
• Customers may cancel a purchase at no cost provided the instrument has not been packaged and shipping arranged. If cancellation occurs after this, then the above returns policy applies.

Amplifiers/Electronic Equipment  

• Provided the amplifier is returned in the same good condition that it was sent, JGG will refund the purchase price in full within 10 working days upon the safe and undamaged return of the amplifier. The original outgoing courier/shipping cost will not be refunded by JGG and the cost of returning the amplifier (inclusive of insurance) will be met by the buyer.
• Our returns policy applies to all amplifiers bought and delivered within the UK unless JGG state otherwise prior to sale.
• Customers may cancel a purchase at no cost provided the amplifier has not been packaged and shipping arranged. If cancelation occurs after this, then the above returns policy conditions apply.

Delivery Policy

• Upon receipt of full payment (inclusive of courier/shipping costs) JGG will pack and ship any instruments/amplifiers with 7 working days.
• Customers will be supplied with an estimated delivery time by the courier or shipping agent and will additionally receive a purchase receipt from JGG

Why buy online from JustGreatGuitars.com ?

The JGG Vintage Guitar Buyers Guide – Welcome to our world – ours is an online guitar store. There’s no showroom, no salespeople, and no trying every instrument in the shop. But, there’s also no pressure, no subtle selling techniques and the price you pay does not have to cover rent, rates, staff, and public liability insurance. So that means you get just great guitars, for far less money than you would expect to pay in a shop.

Buying online actually gives you, the customer, significantly more rights and protection than you have when buying from a store. When you buy from a shop the law is “buyer beware” – it’s for you to notice and question things that may affect the value such as overspray and non-original parts.

Goods purchased online must be exactly “as described”, so we will point out all the things you need to know about an item before you buy – both good and bad. We’ll tell you if the tuners have been changed, we’ll tell you about any repair work, we’ll show you close-up pictures of wear and tear, and highlight the dings and bumps. We’ll give you our opinion about why a feature is the way it is because we sell everything in good faith and to the best of our knowledge. Our core value is integrity.

We want you to know about all that stuff, so that when you receive the instrument you’ll have no nasty surprises, and be 100% delighted with your purchase. That way you’ll tell us, and tell your friends about your experience.

Here are a few customers commenting on our descriptions:

“Bass exactly as described. Thank you very much for a really fast and professional transaction. I would certainly have no hesitation in recommending just great guitars to all my friends.” Martin, Cumbria

“THAAAANK YOU!!!!!! This is the tone that makes my heart jump!!! You did a great job, the guitar is exactly how described, and your guitar tech is a professional with love for his job.” Dirk, Germany

“D28 received in good…”excellent” shape…great condition…well “as new” or immaculate for year…I am very pleased with it. Just as described.” Tony, Crawley, UK

“I first hesitated to buy it, because your description was so very lyrical that I did not trust it (it sounded too good). But indeed, it’s all true: it’s a fine & fabulous guitar. A joy to look at and to play.” Guido, Belgium

Can I play it before I buy it?

Once you know what guitar you want, you really should try it out, compare it with your others, and play it through your own amp, sitting in your own kitchen. Buying online simply doesn’t support browsing and touching things so we are committed to making your buying experience feel as comfortable as possible.

We encourage customers to contact us to ask anything and everything. We’re happy to help and can give you subjective and professional views of all items. We can tell you how the neck feels, what it’s like to play, whether it’s a hound for the blues or a picker for the country set. We do this most often by email, or phone, YouTube and sometimes Skype or FaceBook.

This is what our customers say:
“I have decided to keep it [the L-50]! It’s rather grown on me, so please cash the cheque and thank you for your patience and fair dealing — it’s been most enjoyable.” Garry W, London

“I need to return your [’54] 175, as lovely as it is, it is not for me.” Michael A, Cambridge

“Completely loving the 175. I’ve been smashing out the Kenny Burrell licks non-stop! [Want to] settle my bill and also have a look at that 335.” Tom S, Oxford

Is there a VIP list?

Yes. Our customers are our VIPs. We have a good relationship with them and they often recommend us to friends, or send us updates on their guitar collecting and trading.
Drop us a line, ask a question, send an email, join our mailing list.

Are all your amps and guitars listed on the Website?

It takes a while for gear to go through the workshops, be photographed, written-up and listed.
Quite a few items get sold long before they make it to the website. See also Is there a VIP list? above.

We specialize in instruments that are 10 to 60 years old. Most of them have been played in that time and will have gathered signs of wear and tear. Some will have had work done. This is perfectly normal and to be expected. In every case we undertake to give you a fair and honest description of an instrument, including its condition, playability and repair history. We can’t know everything, but we’ll tell you everything we can.

Each guitar is inspected, re-strung and set-up by one of our highly experienced luthiers, who will do any and all work necessary on each guitar to bring it up to a good playable standard, whilst retaining the instrument’s originality.

Graham Noden has been our Chief luthier since the start of the business, when he was still operating from a basement below Andy’s Guitar shop in Denmark St. These days Graham, and son Lowell operate from the same basement in Denmark Street, but the shop is no longer Andy’s! Check out their site at Noden Guitars.

“THAAAANK YOU!!!!!! The guitar has arrived early in the morning, and I can’t stop playing, it’s 100% what I’ve been searching for, this is the tone that makes my heart jump!!! You did a great job, the guitar is exactly how described, and your guitar tech is a professional with love for his job.” Dirk, Germany

What’s the story with vintage amps?

Each amp we sell has been professionally serviced in the UK.

In every case the original two core power leads are replaced with three core leads so that the amp chassis is earthed. Capacitors, resistors and valves that have collapsed are replaced. Otherwise, we preserve all original features, including 110V power transformers. This means you may need to purchase a step-down transformer.

Original speakers are rather fragile, and in our experience are not compatible with bulk parcel delivery. We prefer amps to be collected in person if possible.

Do you inspect the individual parts to check for authenticity?

We don’t take our gear apart for the sake of it. We buy from reputable sources, sometimes from the original owner or a relative. We buy them because they work well as musical instruments, great instruments in fact.
Dismantling them can disturb the mechanics that make it a good instrument, as well as flaking off the finish, stripping old screw heads and more. Early Fender guitars are particularly easy to fake and high values make them very attractive to the counterfeiter. This is the main reason we don’t feature those instruments.
Besides, what does it matter if the tone and volume pots have a different year code? Inventory management and quality control in the factories of old were nothing like the standards we expect today, and it is folly to judge a vintage instrument in that way. Gibson’s attempts at serial numbering show how even that simple process could become inconsistent and obscure.
The history of the piece, the smell, the memories it holds of another time, whether it be a smoky New York jazz club, a California beach bar, or a church in Nebraska; knowing that the guitar was actually there at the time is incredible. This is not a pastiche, this is the real deal. These are not tributes: these are the instruments that defined the sound.

What about packing and delivery?

We know how to pack a guitar for shipping, our customers tell us this a lot.

We have standard insured rates for UK mainland and most European countries. For all other destinations, including The Americas, we will get a quote for you based on delivery address.

“I’m very satisfied with my newly purchased guitar. I took a while to remove thanks to the extreme use of bubble wrap, but it was worth the effort. :-)) Thanks jgg.staging.wpengine.com” Martin K, Netherlands

“The guitar arrived safely! It was wrapped more carefully and thoroughly than I could ever have imagined and is every bit as wonderful as you described! I’ll not be sending this one back;-) “Thanks for just a great guitar!” Patrick, Essex

What an amazing surprise on Valentine’s Day! The guitar arrived safe and sound – it was wrapped carefully and with love – and it is everything you said it would be! You were a joy to work with. I’ll be watching your site diligently from now on for another hidden treasure”. Dalis, Texas