EBMM guitars at Guitar Centre

[lchender]

Hi There,

I'm wondering if there is anyone who can shed some light on this for me. I was checking out some used EBMM guitars on guitarcentre.com and encountered an odd issue.

When I search on EBMM, a very large selection of guitars pop up. As soon as I indicate shipping to Canada, a bunch of guitars disappear from the menu. In particular, I was checking out a few used Axis Super Sports that looked like a great deal. As soon as I select Canada, they change to being "unavailable" or disappear altogther. Has anybody else encountered this? Maybe guitar centre isn't allowed to sell into Canada to prevent US dealers from competing with the Canadian dealers?

My problem is that the selection of EBMM guitars in Canada seems somewhat limited. Most stores seem to bring in mainly the Petrucci, Luke, or Sterling models, with a very small smattering of other models. I'm unable to find any dealer locally in Toronto (or even in Canada from looking at the websites of the Premier Dealer Network dealers in Canada) that has any of the Axis Super Sports in stock!

 

[AySay]

Yeah I don't think US dealers are authorized to sell EBMMs to Canadians. You can order any EBMM you like from L&M if you don't mind waiting. Their pricing is strangely reasonable too. If you realllly want one from the US though, there are places at the border you can have guitar shipped to, and then drive down and pick it up.

 

[Jack FFR1846]

Dealers can't sell and ship outside of the US until the guitar has been in their shop for 2 years. So whatever you're seeing is either used or has been there for 2 years. I would not be surprised to find that Guitar Center probably has some brand new EVH's lost in the warehouse. They seem to have no control over their warehouse inventory. I was at my local GC and they had an exclusive guitar from another manufacturer that came with no warantee and was 3 years old. GC had the guitars made for them but then lost all of them. When they found them, the warantee period (that company went by the build date) was expired.

 

[KazJY]

I'd call the store to inquire about the piece. Every time I have, they've been helpful with info.

 

[matty76]

I recently bought a Tangerine Pearl JP6 from an online retailer in San Diego, and they were willing to ship to me in Hamilton, they had an already great discount and on top, offered 15% off coupon code at checkout...amazing, I saved nearly $400. Guitar arrived safely and in a timely manner (bout a week) and only had to pay the taxes when it arrived. PM if you would like some info on the place.

 

[beej]

I'm a bad Canuck shopper myself ... I've bought just about all of my guitars in the US, either shipped up or in-person on trips.

 

[matty76]

I do have to give credit to L&M, I pre-ordered the Luke III when it was first announced, took 6 months to get it but the price was over $200 less than LA Music sold it for, and they were outraged that I got it that cheap. LA told me that it would probably never show or I would end up owing more when it arrived...a week later I got the call that it was in and picked it up with no extra charges.

 

[grumpyoldman]

I'm a bad Canuck shopper myself ... I've bought just about all of my guitars in the US, either shipped up or in-person on trips.

I'm in a similar position - although my only two BRAND NEW EBMMs came from Canadian dealers, it seems that a lot of the used EBMMs I have purchased have originated State-side...including some deals with fellow Forumites here. Of course, that doesn't includes the deals we have had, beej....

 

[beej]

Hah ... yes, you've been a pretty good pusher for me John

 

[JDguitar]

I do have to give credit to L&M, I pre-ordered the Luke III when it was first announced, took 6 months to get it but the price was over $200 less than LA Music sold it for, and they were outraged that I got it that cheap. LA told me that it would probably never show or I would end up owing more when it arrived...a week later I got the call that it was in and picked it up with no extra charges.

It's too bad that LA Music is a PDN dealer because I find it not a very good place to shop.

 

[lchender]

Thanks for the replies guys. So, it's not just me. The EBMM guitars I'm really interested in don't seem to be regularly stocked by Canadian dealers. I'm not that crazy about special ordering a guitar, especially if I just want to check it out to see if that particular model is a good fit for my needs.

I managed to pick up a Silhouette Special with Piezo recently from L&M in Oshawa and I'm pretty sure it had been sitting there for YEARS. It was absolutely FILTHY when I got it. I had to take soap and a toothbrush to the entire neck to get all the filth off, but it cleaned up nicely.

A major frustration of mine is that I haven't been able to find any canadian dealers that actually have an Axis Super Sport in stock. Of course, they all tell you that they can order it for you. As nice as EBMM guitars are, I don't commit to buying ANY guitar without playing it first.