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by sj1and0
a very interesting epinion. Very educational. I buy equipment as well, but keyboards. My latest, The Triton LE. You gave really good points, which even for me, is something to think about. Great review.
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Dec 05 '04
8:42 am PST
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some of my experiences (Reply to this comment)
by basshnter1
I dont think all mom & pop stores are alike just
as one of the commenters wrote.
I agree that if you are inexperienced, like a non
musician parent buying your child there first
guitar you are better off buying from a small non
chain store.
Most will provide much more personal attention
than you will ever see at the Walmarts of the music world (guitar center,sam ash).
On the other side a music store in my area which
is a fender dealer was selling squier affinity
strats for $300.00 dollars!
This guitar sells on the internet or at any big chain music store for $150.00 .
These prices did not include a case or gig bag in case your wondering at either store.
I can fully understand that the local store cant
compete on price because of big volume discounts
that the chain stores get, but double the price!
Ive been playing for 20 years and do business with
small music stores and the internet dealers and big chains because price is important to me, but its not the only factor.
Educate yourself and be an informed consumer.
Ed Roman of edromanguitars.com has much info about
the guitar and music retail business on his rants
page.
He is a little over the top sometimes but not many can argue with his opinions.
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Nov 05 '04
12:09 pm PST
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Mike, you've hit the nail right on the head (Reply to this comment)
by Howard_Creech
I don't know Didley about guitars, but cameras evidently work pretty much the same way. I can't imagine Ritz or an on-line store like B&H that would loan a customer a 200/f4 Micro-Nikkor so he could run home and shoot close-ups of a yellow crab spider he'd found on a clump of bright purple flowers in his back yard, but a local camera shop did just that for me.
Local shops may be more expensive, but they care about their customers and they work very hard to make them happy.
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Nov 04 '04
11:33 pm PST
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Who's your daddy? (Reply to this comment)
by hansthemoleman
Sparkospunky, I think that I have to agree with most of what you have to say. For the most part, smaller shops have difficulty competing directly on price with the larger chains. As you point out, the smaller shops need to focus on service and better expertise of the staff.
However, I think that if you can find a small specialty shop, those are the best. There's a shop in Toronto that I visit frequently (www.12thfret.com) and they seem to *beat* the large chains on price AND they have a better selection of quality guitars that people want. I find that larger chains tend to carry middle-of-the-road products and quite a bit of poor quality merchandise.
When I go shopping, I try and ask myself this question: who do you want to earn your buck? Is it some faceless, nameless chain that only cares about making a sale, or would you pay a bit more (the price has to be at least competitive) and be satisfied that you're contributing to a local business-person.
Happy hunting. Just remember that you need to be satisfied wherever you go shopping.
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Oct 14 '04
4:49 pm PDT
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Some "mom & pop" stores are... (Reply to this comment)
by vanwarp
...flourishing by stocking inexpensive gear and staying away from the high end stuff. One of our local "mom & pop" store has become a most popular "pawn shop" for gear junkies wanting cash or just trading one amp (or two) for another. Furthermore, they tend to cater to the budget minded or to the starving musicians of the world...lol
I've purchased gear from Musicians Friend and saved more than $1000 on one deal alone. It's hard for small businesses to compete with those prices (blow out sales) and the internet is really changing the way the world does business - e-bay is clearly proof of that. Everybody is looking to make a buck or save a buck anyway they can...
Anyway, good write up!
~Vanwarp~
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Oct 13 '04
4:16 pm PDT
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mom and pop stores (Reply to this comment)
by cheetah1
I live in a remote area in the desert and there is only one small "mom and pop" type music store for the entire area. They just don't seem to realize that they compete with the internet stores even though they are the only music store in the area. Trying to special order stuff through this small music store was very difficult because they would never bother to keep in touch with me on the status of an order. Their service was so poor I no longer even stop in the store for anything. I think everybody would prefer to shop at a mom and pop type store but I'll stick to the better service I get from guitar center even if I do have to drive an hour to get there.
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Oct 12 '04
4:40 pm PDT
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Funny you should write this!! (Reply to this comment)
by ginzo
I just got through helping my pal out this week moving him out of his corner store where he was a buy/sell musical instrument store owner.
Although he did poorly at the location.he was making a killing on Ebay.
So,....now he'll just sell the stuff he buys on Ebay and avoid paying all that rent.
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Oct 12 '04
9:17 am PDT
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