Know Your Gear Podcast with Phillip McKnight
Episode 438.5: "The Harsh Truth About Selling Your Gear Right Now"
Date: November 12, 2025
Episode Overview
In this episode, Phillip McKnight answers a wide array of guitar and gear-related questions from the audience. The episode’s main focus is a candid discussion about the current challenges and realities of selling music gear in a market saturated with used instruments. Along the way, Phil covers topics like amp preferences, guitar maintenance woes, buying and traveling with guitars, the prevalence of counterfeit gear, and the evolving role of musicians in the age of YouTube. The tone remains humorous, honest, and deeply practical—peppered with anecdotes from McKnight’s experiences as a tech, retailer, and professional "bedroom player."
Key Discussions and Insights
1. Amp Choices & Product Lifecycles
[01:44]
- Discussed the continued manufacture of Boss Roland Blues Cube amps and tone capsules despite the popularity of the Katana line.
- Phil shares user anecdotes: “I have a good friend who uses a Roland Blues Cube as his small rig for his Eric Johnson tribute band—and he nails the tone.”
- Points out company philosophy: If a product sells, it stays; if not, it’s discontinued.
- Notes on the “tried and true” strategy during slow markets—old products stay stable in price because R&D has already been recouped.
2. Neck Issues & Guitar Maintenance Advice
[06:43]
- A listener mentions a twisted neck on their Warwick bass; Phil urges getting "a second or third opinion" before panicking or attempting a fix.
- Encourages a mindset shift: “I didn’t approach it like it couldn’t be fixed. That’s the first thing that happens when you start feeling that way.”
3. Traveling With Guitars: Bolt-On Necks & Headless Solutions
[10:25]
- Phil advises caution when traveling with guitars in checked luggage—damage is always possible. Suggests only doing this with affordable instruments.
- Shares his personal strategy: travels everywhere with a headless guitar in the cabin. “Sometimes you gotta be a little tricky, but it gets on the plane every time.”
4. Breedlove Acoustic Guitars & Import Brand Equivalence
[13:30]
- As an ex-Breedlove dealer, Phil attests to the consistent quality of Breedlove’s range.
- Observes that most import acoustics at similar price points and brands generally sound and feel alike due to mass production. Choosing comes down to personal preferences for warmth, brightness, or brand aesthetics.
5. Tone Pots, Capacitors, and Tone Chasing
[20:10]
- On tone knobs acting like on/off switches: suggests swapping out potentiometers and capacitors, encouraging listeners to experiment hands-on.
- Memorable Quote:
"Everything is an accumulation—like a perfect puzzle you’re crafting as an artist. Pickups, potentiometers, caps… all need to work symbiotically. There’s no holy grail and no price guarantee." (22:29)
- Encourages DIY rig building for experimenting with caps and pots, sharing his own “to nauseam” journey into capacitor trends (“There was a capacitor boom, like a pedal boom. Everything goes in trends!”).
6. Are YouTube Musicians ‘Bedroom Players’?
[29:00]
- Listener asks if Phil considers himself a "bedroom player".
- Phil’s take: "I’m absolutely a hobbyist bedroom player. The problem is, I’m a professional bedroom player—and that’s a thing now."
- Explains he never aspired to be a "rock star", but is grateful to work in music his own way—teaching, repairing, and sharing online.
7. DIY Guitar Finishing
[39:45]
- Discusses his approach to basic guitar finishing for DIY projects, referencing his recent Warmoth Moon Pie build.
- Shares repair shop wisdom: Always have skilled techs you can overflow specialized work to if you can’t do it properly yourself.
8. Scams & Counterfeit Guitars in the Used Market
[57:10]
- Highlights the increasing prevalence of counterfeit guitars (“Chibsons” and others), referencing stories from local shops and national retailers alike.
- Recounts a painful personal experience with a fake guitar inadvertently entering the used market, reinforcing the ethical (and emotional) dangers.
- Memorable Quote:
"I have a branding iron that says ‘FAKE’—I’ll brand that sucker deep and hard… If I can, I’ll sand the headstock off. It’s not excessive to the person that got screwed." (1:04:00)
9. Selling Gear in Today’s Market: The Harsh Truth
[1:11:10]
- Main theme: There is no magical marketplace for selling used gear—the problem is saturation and buyer power.
- “If you really want to sell your gear right now, you need to take extra steps—great photos, detailed descriptions, competitive pricing, and wide listing exposure.”
- Emphasizes urgency:
“No one is going to buy anything they’ve seen twice. If it didn’t sell right away, something’s not right. Maybe yank it off, new pics, adjust the price… You gotta work harder than before.”
- Phil shares a real example: He inquired about a guitar’s weight at a well-known dealer; they replied a week later—by then, he’d already ordered elsewhere. “That’s the market in play: you wait seven days, you lost the sale.” (1:20:38)
- Stresses that he practices what he preaches with his own Reverb sales: fast, accurate shipping, reasonable prices, excellent communication.
10. Dealing with Fake Guitars & Ethics of Replicas
[1:35:00]
- Discusses again the fine line between replicas and fakes, referencing high-end replicas (Chris Derrig and Max Les Pauls) and how even pros like Slash still play such guitars knowingly.
- Memorable, funny moment:
"Slash told Gibson to their face his favorite Gibson isn’t a Gibson." (1:38:30)
11. Why Guitarists Swap Speakers & Bassists Don’t
[1:47:20]
- Explains why swapping speakers is more common among guitarists. Bassists have embraced lighter cabinets and heads, so tonal customization via heavy speaker swaps faded out with the shift to Class D and neodymium tech.
12. Boutique Builds, DIY Parts Guitars, and the YouTube Economy
[1:57:40]
- Responding to whether Warmoth-style builds are a "boutique alternative": Phil argues anyone can assemble a high-quality instrument—many “boutique” brands also use outsourced bodies or necks.
- Main message: If you want to do it, you can; and it’s a valid, inspiring path—not competition for $10k bespoke builds.
- Shares behind-the-scenes on video production vs. build costs—honesty over hype.
13. Instrument Neck Construction: Is Overbuilding Redundant?
[2:12:00]
- Debates whether carbon fiber rods, roasting, quartersawn, and multilaminate necks are overkill.
- Key insight: “All that stuff is excessive, but companies like Kiesel do it so they almost never see warranty issues. It’s like paid insurance. But really, any one of those things alone—done well—usually suffices.”
14. Recommendations on Affordable 7-Strings
[2:17:42]
- Suggests Ibanez as the best starting point for budget-friendly, reliable 7-strings, but also points to Schecter, Kiesel (used), and Sterling as solid options.
- Promises to look for a true bargain 7-string ($300 range) for a future review/experiment.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On the Trend Mentality in Guitar Gear:
“Everything goes in trends... Right now, we're still on the roasted neck thing. Roasted neck guitar with oil paper capacitor. They try to sell you: ‘You’ve made it! You're a real guitar player now, you can call your mom and be like, yeah, I made it. I got paper and oil capacitors and my roasted neck guitar.’” (25:22) -
On Professional ‘Bedroom Playing’:
“Am I a bedroom player? I'm absolutely a hobbyist bedroom player. The problem is, I'm a professional bedroom player. And that's a thing now...” (29:14) -
On Fake Guitars and Ethics:
“I have a branding iron that says ‘FAKE’... and if I can, I’ll sand that headstock off. I did a video and got so much hate for that. They're like, ‘this is so excessive.’ And I'm like, it's not excessive to the person who got screwed!” (1:04:00) -
On the Current Used Gear Market:
“If you really want to sell your gear, you need to work a little harder... The best thing I can tell you: no one is going to buy anything they've seen twice. If it doesn't sell, maybe yank it off, new pictures, adjust the price.” (1:19:56) -
On Finding Happiness in Music:
“I've never wanted to be a professional musician and play for a living. But this is the perfect world for me. Repairing guitars was amazing, teaching on YouTube is amazing... but you better like it more than you get paid, or else it doesn’t make any sense.” (32:58)
Important Timestamps
- [01:44] – Why Boss/Roland still makes Blues Cubes & capsule philosophy
- [06:43] – Twisted neck discussion & second opinions
- [10:25] – Traveling & packing guitars
- [13:30] – Breedlove acoustics & import parity
- [20:10 – 25:22] – Tone capacitors, potentiometers, and DIY tone chasing
- [29:00] – Is Phil a bedroom player?
- [39:45] – DIY finishing and project approaches
- [57:10] – Counterfeit guitar surge; stories of scams
- [1:11:10] – Selling gear in today’s oversaturated market
- [1:20:38] – Dealer slow response = lost sale story
- [1:35:00] – High-end fakes/replicas and their ethics
- [1:47:20] – Speaker swapping: guitarists vs. bassists
- [1:57:40] – Boutique/DIY strategy and honesty in content
- [2:12:00] – Is multi-reinforced neck building redundant?
- [2:17:42] – Affordable 7-strings & advice for beginners
Tone & Style
Phillip keeps the tone conversational, light, and occasionally self-deprecating—emphasizing practical advice with real-world stories. He balances technical guidance and warmth, consistently reminding listeners of the enjoyment in music and the importance of ethical conduct in the gear world.
Takeaways for Listeners
- Selling used gear is tougher than ever—presentation, pricing, and timeliness are critical.
- Be wary of fakes; ethical reselling matters. If in doubt, destroy or clearly mark counterfeit guitars.
- DIY and "boutique" aren’t mutually exclusive. If you want a custom guitar, building is a valid, attainable route.
- Trends and hype will always come and go—enjoy experimenting, but don’t expect magic from any single component.
- Happy gear hunting, but don’t forget: play for fun, connect with community, and “know your gear!”
For more nuanced technical advice, check out the Q&A portions and Phil’s video clinics (as mentioned around [50:56] and [2:05:00]).