You've all been to an Apple Store I'm sure. Imagine a MUSIC MAN store!

[ohdamnitsdevin]

How awesome would that be? Instead of a Genius bar there would be a Lutherie Bar where you can have your guitar looked at for diagnosis, repair and set up, Instead of having creatives teaching you about your computer and software, have something like Guitar Gurus who can teach you stuff about your guitar. How to properly use piezo or the Game Changer, etc.and of course they'd have every model of every guitar there to play with. I'd seriously live at the music man store. I seriously could see one of these being a big hit. Especially with how JP's guitars have turned somewhat into the iPhone of guitars (not a bad thing!)


One can dream.

 

[Hourglass1117]

It would probably do pretty well on Hollywood Blvd. I couldn't imagine many other places it being too successful though.
Sweet idea though!

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Well if the culture of the stores were right and the service was exceptional they'd do well in many places. Why wouldn't Ernie Ball want people switching over to one of their guitars? It'd be a great way to increase their market share. People pay premium price for Apple Computers because they've got great design, Apple innovates often and above all else has the best customer service and customer attention out there. They ARE the standard when it comes to costumer satisfaction. Music Man guitars touch on many of these qualities. Word of mouth travels quicker than you know. People are willing to pay more money for services now more than ever. We're a service based economy now.

I think it'd be more appealing to people like myself who are ignorant when it comes to choosing a guitar, amps, etc. I got my music man solely because it was JP's signature model. First guitar I've ever owned. I had issues at first with it but after owning if for almost a year now I know it was all due to user error. I wasn't an experience enough player to know how the chambering in a JPX makes a lot of notes ring (Even if you don't want them to) and to just learn to palm mute. There was a lot of frustration on my end and I ended up shipping my guitar back to the factor basically for nothing. All in all it would be nice to have the great folks at Music Man represent their guitars and explain each guitars features and such in comparison to the guys at guitar center. Just saying.

 

[Hourglass1117]

I'll have respectfully disagree with you a bit here on this.

Apple paved the way for many new innovations along the way since their beginning, the ipod, the iphone, the ipad, as well as their computers. No one else has products like these. Yes, there are laptops, but none of them run on the mac operating system. Yes, there are other mp3 players, but theirs led the industry. Their phone was really the first "smart" phone which hit the market as well. They've developed their name because they have products and innovations that no one else have.

Don't get me wrong here, I love musicman guitars and swear by them. But I do not believe that they have developed anything that is truly groundbreaking (though the gamechanger is close!). Yes, they are amazing guitars, yes they have amazing customer service. But they did not reinvent the guitar nor develop any other products which are leading the guitar industry. They are purely nice, high end guitars. The apple store exists because apple has set itself so far apart from the other products which are similar to theirs that there are the debates of Mac vs PC, iphone vs. smart phones, ipod vs. mp3 players. I don't believe that EBMM has set themselves apart from being just "another guitar company." Yes, I love them, and I mean nothing against EBMM by this, but they do not lead the industry for the development of the guitar (yet, that is).

If there was an exclusively EBMM Store that would be sweet, but only true guitar fans who swear by EBMM would take interest in it. Yeah, there would be a few guitar players who would come in and check things out, but I cannot see that there is enough demand in the guitar market for an exclusively EBMM store. Otherwise, why would any average joe guitar player want to walk into a store with only one brand to choose from when he can walk into the big box guitar store that provides many choices and price ranges for him to choose from.

I could only see it being successful if EBMM guitars were not already accessible through the numerous dealers around the world.
I just cannot imagine the demand for EBMM guitars to be high enough to have exclusive stores around the country, when they are already available through dealers.

I apologize for the rant!

PS. I am PC guy, anyway.

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

"PS. I am PC guy, anyway. " Well that explains it all. You've just got to think differently! haha jk

You have many valid points. I simply wish the guitar industry had better stores then guitar center or sam ash. A store where you can get the complete solution. More of a service based store rather than revenue based, workers who are non-commission. Take care of the customer and the revenue will follow, along with brand loyalty. Maybe this isn't the best idea for music man guitars however, if any guitar company were to do it, it'd be Music Man. We just need better guitar shops in general. The mom and pops always give me that warm fuzzy feeling like I'm the center of the universe, problem is they have none of the good toys to play with(most of the ones i've been to that is)

Maybe BP can have the company develop an app with product descriptions, video tutorials, etc. I know a lot(if not all) of that information is out there online but to have it on a mobile device and nicely organized for me while I'm playing around with my guitar would be ideal and more convenient, especially on something like an iPad that way it can be everywhere my guitar and I go.

 

[paranoid70]

If you want a complete solution, Music Man would have to go back to building amps. I don't think that will happen.

There is another music company that does have it's own store... and it's on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. Not exactly sure how successful they are, I guess they do ok. However, I usually go to the Guitar Center across the street as they have more selection and more things to try out.

 

[SteveB]

We've got a Music Man store already.. it's called DuBaldo's!

 

[R and R]

Go to NAMM. That's a great EBMM store!

 

[paranoid70]

Except you can't buy anything at NAMM

 

[telemike]

That San Diego company has the mail order direct sales system and a few company stores. No other sales model. Not sure if EBMM could make it going to direct sales and not selling thru the GC's and other dealer network. That other company competes in a similar price category $1000+ for most of it's offerings. The appeal there is the high number of affordable options for wood, neck shapes, etc.

 

[Serps]

Except you can't buy anything at NAMM

Uh, yes you can. I got two Caparison's there back in '09.

 

[paranoid70]

OK. You are right, some companies do sell stuff to the general public at NAMM, others don't.

 

[guitarp77]

Go to NAMM. That's a great EBMM store!

I did.

Now I´m broke...