Mail Order vs. Pro Store Experience

[Son of Mixerman]

Ive had mixed results from both mail-order and retail pro shops. Back in the late 80's there was only a handful of stores in the pacific northwest, so most of them were ripoffs. Especially American Music, I used to carry around this add of an sm-57 I got in the mail, its list price was higher than other resources and the "sale" price was actually list, the old mark it up first than mark it down. Well when MF and GC hit the south side of Seattle, American Music shut down the closest store because nobody trusted them. There are somethings you might use them for...they usually had decent techs for set ups on guitars, but unless your buying strings its gonna cost ya. GC on the other hand, Ive had wannbe's and actual professionals both, its frustrating somedays, but Id rather mail-order things below a certain price range that Im familiar with. But like littledog said, most of the time these places will be cheaper than mail-order because they are competitive nationwide and carry alot of purchasing power from manufacturers. I wish it was easier to find knowledgable people at these places, without the egocentric crap. Im not very comfortable asking about a product and the sales guy flips over the box and starts reading the official propaganda.
Oh well, it never really matters anyhow..Garbage in and garbage out!


SoMm

 

[jgourd]

I got the Sweetwater letter last week. I did a little digging around and found that the one item I wanted was indeed cheaper on the accomodation price. So now I am waitng for the last piece of my mobile rack to arrive from Sweetwater.

A Frontier Designs Tango 24 for $600. Not a bad deal overall.

I have an office in Brighton, where is that GC pro shop you guys mentioned?

 

[JFogarty]

Sweetwater may carry alot of stuff but their prices blow. The stuff that they have that almost anyone else has will be more expensive. I bet if you looked up the same stuff on musiciansfriend or 8thstreet, you'd find much better prices.

 

[Kevzmusic]

Everybody here seems to have drifted away from the original issue discussed......It's not about certain 'indivdual' items or our own individual great buys, etc.....

BUT....

Does MAIL ORDER shopping (in general) provide a better service and experience than our local MUSIC PRO STORE down on mainstreet USA or Canada??????

Overall - I think NOT....because there's nothing quite like personallized human contact & service...and your local store will always offer more 'flexibility' than some far off warehouse...that's way out of sight, 1000 miles away or wherever.

After all, it's certainly not always about just PRICE - right?

KEV

 

[JR#97]

Everybody here seems to have drifted away from the original issue discussed......It's not about certain 'indivdual' items or our own individual great buys, etc.....

BUT....

Does MAIL ORDER shopping (in general) provide a better service and experience than our local MUSIC PRO STORE down on mainstreet USA or Canada??????

Overall - I think NOT....because there's nothing quite like personallized human contact & service...and your local store will always offer more 'flexibility' than some far off warehouse...that's way out of sight, 1000 miles away or wherever.

After all, it's certainly not always about just PRICE - right?

KEV

For a lot of people, it's the option NOT to get personalized human contact and service. I for one, would rather walk in, ask for or better yet, pick off the shelf exactly what I want, try it out, pay for it and leave without some dumbshit trying to tell me what I already know about the item. I do my research before hand because I learned the hard and expensive way that salespeople don't always know what they're talking about and have financial motives to push certain products/brands on you.

I've had better results finding stuff online than I ever have in a brick and morter. For me, you just have to know what you want, know everything about what you want, and be willing to look for it.

 

[UZZA]

I have only 1 experience with a larger mail order purchase,
but I already knew what I wanted. I did the research and knew that their price was good to go. It was Full Compass, and the only problem was waiting for the product to reach me. I guess it wasn't in stock and so they had to order it from Ann Arbor Michigan and then mail it to me. If you already know exactly what you want and the mail service can beat the prices you are finding, I say go for it. If you are not sure about what you want, it may be better to go into the store (if you have that option). This is on gear, right? Instruments are a different story, IMHO. You must be able to pick that guitar up and play it a bit, just remember not to drive anyone crazy with "Stairway".

 

[littledog]

For me, you just have to know what you want, know everything about what you want, and be willing to look for it.

Wow! ... must be nice to know everything!

 

[littledog]

A Frontier Designs Tango 24 for $600. Not a bad deal overall.

I have an office in Brighton, where is that GC pro shop you guys mentioned?

a) I bet you could have found at least two places in Boston that would have done better.

b) Fordham Rd. between Brighton and Comm Ave. But better call the regular store for specific address and hours, because there is no signage either inside or outside the building, and I'm not sure of their hours. Once you do get through the doors, though, there is an impressive selection of gear, none of which is available at a "regular" guitar center.

 

[JR#97]

Wow! ... must be nice to know everything!

it is... c'mon.. Some people dont' want to do all that stuff and would rather go and have the stuff shown to them by a sales guy. Great.. that's what the sales guy is there for. I've made plenty of bad purchases in my day. I'm not made of money, so I try and research every product I'm interested and find out whether it fits my needs or not. I don't do it to be a know it all... I do it because I can't afford to get stuck with shit I don't need or doesn't fit my specific purposes. If I need to talk to a sales guy in my research, I'll do it. I just find that most of the time, I can get stuff on the internet somewhere cheaper than my local stores. Trust me, I wish I had great local stores like you do that have great prices without haggling and going through the BS.

 

[jeap]

yeah!!!!

they may be givin it away in boston but they sure as hell aint givin it away in sidney ohio!!!!

youre lucky if you can find something here that looks remotely like it!!!!

sidney is the biggest town in the whole county and has a population of around 20,000. we buy our recording supplies at wal-mart and those assholes aint gonna deal!!!!

 

[littledog]

Where is Sidney, anyway? In my younger days i gigged in Toledo and Akron...

 

[jeap]

south of toledo on I-75.

north of dayton.

 

[JR#97]

south of toledo on I-75.

north of dayton.

anywhere near Fremont?