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No Tom Guitars: A Complete Buyer's Guide
Buying vintage or used is different from buying new off the wall. Here is exactly what to check, and what to ask, before you spend a penny at No Tom Guitars.
Buying a used or vintage guitar is a slightly different game to walking into a chain shop and picking a new one off the wall — and buying from a Denmark Street specialist like No Tom Guitars adds its own particular flavour. This guide is the practical companion to that purchase: what to decide before you look, what to check on the instrument itself, and what questions to ask if you are buying without touching the thing first.
Decide What You Are Actually Looking For
Before you get swept up by anything shiny, it helps to be honest about what you need. Are you after a first proper guitar, a specific vintage model you have been chasing for years, or simply the best-sounding thing in your budget regardless of brand? A specialist retailer's stock is broad and always shifting, so going in with a clear sense of your own priorities — tone, playability, history, or straightforward value — will save you a lot of second-guessing.
In Person on Denmark Street, or Online?
If you can get to London, visiting in person lets you plug in, hear the instrument through an amp, and feel the neck and action for yourself, which no amount of photography quite replaces. If you are buying from further afield, you are relying on the shop's description and images, so ask for more of both before you commit — a good seller will not mind the questions.
What to Check on Any Used or Vintage Guitar
This checklist applies whether you are buying in person or asking for it to be checked remotely:
- Neck: look for relief, back-bow, twists, and any signs of past repair.
- Truss rod: confirm it still functions and has adjustment range left.
- Frets: check remaining height, uneven wear, and whether they have been replaced.
- Body and repairs: ask about headstock breaks, cracks, overspray and any refinishing.
- Electronics: pickup originality, potentiometer dates and wiring changes all affect both tone and value.
- Hardware: tuners, bridges and tailpieces are commonly swapped — find out if yours has been.
- Finish: original finish is generally worth more than a refinished or "relic'd" surface.
- Structural condition: on acoustics especially, check bracing, bridge lift and neck angle.
- Serial number and provenance: confirm it matches the claimed model year and specification.
- Setup: action, intonation and nut condition tell you whether it is playable as it stands.
Questions Worth Asking Before You Pay
If you cannot handle the guitar yourself, a short list of direct questions covers most of what matters:
- Ask for high-resolution photos of the headstock, neck joint, bridge, electronics and serial number.
- Ask for clear disclosure of any repairs, refinishing or replaced parts.
- Ask for neck measurements and the action height at the twelfth fret.
- Confirm whether the instrument has already been professionally set up.
- Get the return policy, import taxes and insurance arrangements in writing before you pay.
None of this is unique to buying from a Denmark Street shop — it is simply good practice whenever a purchase cannot be reversed easily, and it applies just as much to any specialist selling vintage or used stock.
Returns, Shipping and Buying From Abroad
Because No Tom Guitars trades internationally as well as from its Denmark Street shop, it is worth settling the practical details before you pay rather than after. Ask exactly how returns work for a vintage or used instrument, since policies here are often stricter than for new gear. If you are ordering from outside the UK, factor in shipping costs, import duty and insurance on top of the guitar's price, and confirm who is responsible for the instrument if it is damaged in transit.
None of this should put you off — it simply means the homework happens before checkout rather than as a nasty surprise afterwards.
Understanding "Investment Grade" Language
You may see certain listings described as investment grade. Treat that as a description of desirability — rarity, condition, originality — rather than a promise. It is not a regulated classification, and a guitar's future value depends on far more than a label on a listing.
Where to Look Next
If any of the language above — relic'd finish, potentiometer dates, back-bow — still feels unfamiliar, our overview of what the shop actually is is a gentler place to start, and our beginner's guide slows things down further still. Once you know roughly what you are hunting for, our value picks by budget narrow things down by price.
The Bottom Line
Buying well from No Tom Guitars, or any specialist like it, comes down to the same fundamentals as any used or vintage purchase: know what you want, check condition properly rather than trusting a brand name alone, and ask direct questions when you cannot handle the instrument yourself. Get those right, and a Denmark Street find can be one of the more satisfying purchases you make all year.
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