online gear shops

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orksnork

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what online gear shops do you use??

musiciansfriend.com
americanmusical.com

those are the only two ive ever really used. sometimes these shops don't have all that really good, decent priced gear available though. and sometimes when you have a special request at your local shop, it ends up costing waaaay more than anyone quoted the price range being, and who are you to contend? without something for them to price match...


list it up...
 
No patience for ordering

I never buy anything online. When I want something I go buy it somewhere in town so that I can start using it right away. Plus if it's busted you have the hassle of having to ship it back and can't yell at anyone.
 
oh absolutely...beyond that you don't get to try it out...

but sometimes it's just impossible
and many times ive sat and listened to a bunch of things and said "this sounds like crap" talked to many people online (who i would trust) and they said "oh yeah that's crap get this in that range"

many people agree, i go to hear it, and it's not around
it has to be ordered through the store or online then...and if i'm gonna order it from anyone...i like to get a price match. even for 5 bucks.

i'm in the process of building a new studio and have dropped around 6500 at guitar center...the prices i walked in with wouldve put that stuff at 8500...

gotta be able to work these people!
 
For high end stuff, this is where I go (besides ebay ;) )
soundpure.com
gcpro.com
 
I always buy from local stores and support them wjhenever I can , I buy online only if i cannot buy locally.

Pricing may be slightly more but helping the local stores helps the local economy which benefits everyone.

If something is wrong they always bend over backwards to help me.

I have dropped somewhere in the region of $15k at the local place in the last 9 months , maybe $3k elsewhere.

I could probably have saved around $500 by buying online maybe but there is more to business than the cheapest price and nickle and dimeing someone.

You want service you have to pay for it.

I get great service :D
 
I will buy any "unsensative" gear on ebay. Guitar FX, studio outboard, Amps etc. But i would never buy a microphone or monitors, guitars etc from ebay. The only thing i buy in shops is guitars as you can try them etc. I buy mics etc factory sealed from trusted online stores.
 
I hope this isn't seen as shameless promoting, but since the question was asked, I think it's ok to answer it?

Anyway, me and a producer friend of mine has started a webshop together where we sell Pro Audio gear.

Check it out at: http://www.recordista.com

We can deliver throughout Europe, prices on site are list only. Contact us for better price / availability.
 
I've been gravitating towards Zzounds.com myself a lot lately. I bought a pair of monitors from them recently. A tweeter blew after a couple weeks, and all it took was a 5 minute phone call, and a new pair arrived 4 days later. I also recieved a pre-paid return UPS postage sticker, to return the original ones with. Didn't cost me a thing except a trip to a UPS dropoff site. I commend their customer service. They really took care of me.

That, and their prices always seem good, their webpage is well organized, etc.
 
SonicAlbert said:
http://www.musiccenterinc.com/

Call them up, better prices on the phone. I've bought a ton of gear from them.
Click to expand...

See, for me that's a reason to not shop there. What a pain.

It's like damn Kroger, that gives you a discount on their groceries, if you join their little club and crowd your wallet with their stupid card. If they can make a profit selling a can of beans at $0.35, why don't they just sell it to everyone at that price, instead of listing it at $0.45 (for non-members).

I just don't get it. I don't want to have to work for the best possible price, whether it's joining a club and carrying a card around, dickering and bartering and haggling (a la guitar center), or calling a phone number to get a secret better price than whats on their website.

[/end rant]
 
Sweetwater are great on service for me... Whenever I make an order with them they call me to ask if I need any help, any expert advice, questions and whatnot... I have never waited more than 4 days for anything to arrive, and they always send some candy and an audio magazine with your order... Musiciansfriend is average. Their prices are sometimes good but their service aint too good. I think the place with the best prices I have seen is fullcompass.com:

www.fullcompass.com

You have to call for their prices, but they have great deals on just about everything.
 
I use a custom excite home page and these are the ones have listed under shoping:

Sweetwater <---I guess there knowledgeable, but to me not approachable
Musicians Friend <---they are what they are
Full Compass <---cheap, cheap, cheap, call them last as they will almost always have the best price, and hay they are local to me so I don't wait on shipping, they have two (800) numbers, compass-express is when you know what you want and they just take your order, and the other main line is if you need to talk to a salesman
zzounds <--like musicians friend but different
Front End Audio <--give warren the sales
Mercenary <---Fletchers little gig, if they sell it, it doesn't suck
Vintage King <---cool place to get some good stuff
AMS <---3 months to pay is nice
proaudiotoys <---another cool place
bananas <---smaller operation but good selection

I have not bought from all those, most of my stuff is from fullcompass, MF, little from front end, little from ebay, little from forums like here and gear slutz.
 
You know come to think of it, I bought a few things from Full Compass too. An ADATXT, Valley Audio XGate and a Soundcraft RakPak. Barb Lager was my girl there, she's probably gone now - this was a while ago - always remembered her name...Lager. I second that, they are a good company.
 
I use ebay and classifieds but cautiously. I get a lemon every once in a while but overall it's definately worth the time browsing for used stuff. Other than that I've used Musicians Friend, American Musical Supply, Jack's Music Store, and 8th Street without any problems. I've tried a couple of the other big online dealers and had too many problems.
 
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