Free rant: Europe and MM availibility :(

[Pott]

So disappointing... I figured I'd finally start saving for that HH Axis Sport in Pacific Burst, a HH AL with rosewood neck or a HH Reflex in black with maple neck, all hardtails...

But a quick look at Thomann (basically my only source of guitar while I live in Luxembourg...):
Rsultats de recherche - Page 1 - Thomann Luxembourg Cyberstore

There just doesn't seem to be many MusicMen in Europe. Some in the UK, I know, but it means I couldn't ever try any before buying. There may be a few in Paris or Frankfurt/Koln but that's a lot of money in fuel or train to not even be sure of finding anything, and they tend to be a lot more expensive than other dealers, especially France..!

At my local shop there's a custom shop Strat for 2,790. I rarely felt such affinity with a guitar. That's only about 500 euros more than any MusicMan I can hope to find around here that I'd like.

Just really frustrated... for once there's a brand that offers everything I want; a great instrument, pro built, with real features and no useless bling (unless I ask!). And of course all we get in Europe is incredibly limited, not to mention usually more expensive. I guess there's a lot of rants like that round these forums and I feel even more sorry for others who have it worse, who live in South Africa, Australia or Brasil... I dare not imagin.

I console myself saying that I have 5 electrics, two are not working, and apart from my Super Sport all fairly cheap or bitsa guitars, and that I'm nowhere near as good a player to fully enjoy a brand new MusicMan to my specs... but it doesn't mean I don't want one!


[/rant]

 

[Luc]

I feel your pain. The pricing issue is a no-go here, so won't go into that. However, especially the models you name (AL, Reflex) are rare guitars in Europe. Have been to lots of stores by now, but never had the chance to play an AL or Reflex (or 25th). Maybe you could contact the importer of MM for Luxembourg, and ask which shop has one of the guitars you'd like to try in stock.

 

[Pott]

Importer for Luxembourg..? If there were one I wouldn't know, and the EBMM website dealers page returns nothing for Europe at all..!

There are two guitar stores in the country, none cary MM... well, that I've seen so far. We shall see.

Incidentally dude, I bought my only MM in Dirk Witte in A'dam. That silver Axis Sport had been there for 5 years, untouched!

 

[Luc]

Haha played that guitar too, nice one. Now that I think about it, Voerman is the importer for EBMM in the Benelux. Maybe a guitar can be sent to a store nearby. Haven't had good experiences with Voerman, but you can give it a try..

 

[Smellybum]

A fitting gift for Captain SParkle! - Well done Glenn - that looks amazing!

 

[Sweat]

A fitting gift for Captain SParkle! - Well done Glenn - that looks amazing!

LOL Smelly, you hittin the sauce again

 

[Sweat]

Now back on topic, well where did I put my stick!

 

[DrKev]

EBMM support in Paris is disappointing. You'd think that 12.5 million people in Ile de France would mean a reasonable level of support but I have yet to see the coated slinkys in a store here and when I talked to the Paris and North France rep back in May last year, he hadn't even heard of wonder wipes. There is really only one store in Paris that carries any EBMM at all, the selection is poor, and the staff know little. Of course that is because they sell so few instruments but that, as the saying goes, "that street goes two ways".

Seeing as dealers in Europe are allowed to ship to any European country, just order from the UK. Recommended retail Prices in Europe are up to 35% more expensive than in the UK, on both EBMM and SBMM. (Do the calculation the other way, and the UK is 25% cheaper compared to mainland Europe).

We're allowed to post the recommended prices here (though NOT the street/public prices, which are generally lower) so lets have a quick look...

Sterling JP50
UK RRP is £615 = 725€
France RRP is 975€ = 35% extra!!!

Music Man Luke,
UK RRP = £1800 = 2120€
France RRP = 2660€ = 25% extra.

Adding shipping prices into the equation changes things a little but not much. By the way, there is more to life than Thomann. Yes, they're good and their prices are competitive but there are others out there too!

 

[Stephen]

Maybe this is helpful:

According to the Ernie Ball > International ( <- this is a link) page the Importer/Distributor for Luxembourg is Voerman Amersfoort B.V. ( <- another) based in the Netherlands. Their website doesn't hold much information except for a phone number, but it might be worth a try.

Besides that, it took me while to get my head around the way things are. EBMM do export in over 80 countries, but the number of available (i.e. testable) instruments depends on what dealers and/or distributors order. Compared to other - mostly bigger - companies there also seems to be little pressure to stock up huge amounts of instruments, at least in Germany, where an "official" Music Man Store according to the distributor should carry at least four and a "Prime Store" should carry at least eight instruments. These numbers include basses, guitars and as it seems also SBMM products which usually translates into a few JPs, Silos, Stingrays and maybe a SR5, all in black.

Over the last year I have made a lot of calls, exchanged mails nationwide (including the distributor) or simply popped into just about every store within reasonable distance and the reality wasn't quite up to what I thought I could expect. Although one store was quite excellent, most of the stores don't carry as many instruments as they ought to; some even had none at all and except for the mentioned excellent one most stores also didn't know anything about the product line or gave the impression that they cared.

So, yes, these instruments are rare birds over here and the best advise I can give is to find a dealer who actually gives a damn. Then, either be patient or lucky (or both) to have them stock the model you want to try and maybe purchase. Other than that it's pretty much the same situation as it is with custom builders or luthiers: you might or might not be able to test a model, then you place your order with the specifications you prefer, then you wait and finally you get the instrument they built for you ... given their excellent reputation, EBMM is actually one of very few companies of all trades I would trust to do this for me.

...

Disclaimer: This is (again) more text than I expected although I tried not to get carried away, and I fear some points might affect BPs blood pressure. If so, I'm sorry, I merely tried to describe what I have seen and experienced over here. I am definitely not trying to slag on the company or the products. It has just become more than a little frustrating to see the contrast between what great products you guys are doing over in the U.S. and what of that ends up here, with dealers who haven't even heard about last year's stuff (or the year before, as a matter of fact).

 

[ily]

the two best for me in EU (consider UK in EU because no taxes :

CODA MUSIC
KNIGHTON MUSIC CENTER

best price, have stock
and for UK we can see stock of importer of MM

 

[DrKev]

It must be very tough for European dealers. As long as people don't buy, the stores won't stock so we feel compelled to look elsewhere. Even for a store to buck the trend, they'd have to care a LOT about EBMM instruments and products but that's an expensive risk to take on stock that may sit unsold for years and may not lead to extra sales, i.e. not gonna happen.

With global economics the way they are European pricing don't look pleasant either, further pushing customers away. Prices are set by the distributor and that puts a limit on how low the prices can go in the stores. A lot of people over here choose the US for their yearly vacation so they can avail of the US prices while they are there. In the last year, every one of the 5 customers that came to me for set ups on their EBMMs bought them while on vacation in the US. Used guitar prices in the US/Ebay, even for instruments in near-mint condition, adds further mockery.

Of course the basses seem to sell pretty well, based on how many of those babies I see in stores, but bass players are a different breed of animal to guitar players. Maybe guitarists are just more demanding about prices? Maybe bass players just care more about getting a great instrument and they'll swallow the prices?

 

[Pott]

Thanks for the support y'all I'm actually Parisian so it could have been a little better if I had stayed in the city of light, especially since there appears to be a few knuckleheads over there..! Thanks for those UK stockists. I'll save up for now and just wait for th perfect one

 

[DrKev]

I was looking at Andertons in the UK too. They have a great price on a SbMM white Silo30. Not many of those left anywhere right now!

 

[Spudmurphy]

+1 on Knighton Music Centre. I drove 2 + hours to check them out and they carry a fantastic stock of EB guitars

 

[robelinda2]

Smelly you plonker!!!!

 

[Smellybum]

LOL Smelly, you hittin the sauce again

Lol - posted in wrong thread - lol what a tooL!

 

[Pott]

Ah nicely done by a few of the guys in this thread here..!

I was looking at UK prices and it seems an Axis Super Sport is between 1,600 and 1,700 pounds. That's close to 2,000 euros which doesn't seem cheaper than the Axis at all..!
Musicman Axis Super Sport Hard Tail - Musicman - Electric Guitars - Knighton Music Centre

I seem to remember these having been closer to 1,300 pounds a while back... Shame. This would have been great value for what MMs offer but at the much higher price range they now command there's a lot more local options available too... :/

 

[threeminutesboy]

And what about traveling to US to get what you want? Guitar and plane ticket could be cheaper than what you can find in Europe

 

[DrKev]

If I promise to learn how to make shorter posts, will you read what I write?

 

[straycat113]

Wow this is really confusing for me, Okay I am in NY and buy just about every UK guitar publication-Guitar Technique, Guitarist, Guitar and Bass, Total Guitar and I know I am forgetting one. But everyone of them are stuffed with EBMM guitar adds and in the back where they list guitar outlets in the UK they all have EB axes in stock. I think 9 of the last collectors articles in Guitar and Bass the featured player had EB guitars and a lot of guys on Licklibrary use Balls. I thought you guys were stocked better than us over here.