A puzzled UK customer writes...

[eliot323]

Hi there
I've just become the proud owner of two new Petrucci's JP6 guitars (Mystic Dream and Black with Piezo).

The only problem was finding them...I know that the UK is a relatively small country but we don't seem to have that many Music Man dealers or many guitars to choose from at these dealers.

In fact, I rang every single one of them to try and find a Petrucci and only managed to find three (yes that's 3) in the whole of the UK and Eire plus 2 at the distributors, the excellent Strings and Things - of which I bought one and I bought the second from Machinehead in Hitchin.

They told me that every single EBMM guitar they get sells almost immediately but there just aren't enough guitars to go round - a custom order from the UK now takes up to 6 months from order to delivery.

My question is why, when these guitars are so good (and I include all the range, Sub and basses), are so few guitars available in the UK? It's easier to buy a Tom Anderson than an EBMM...and EBMM must be one of the industry's best kept secrets.

So, please EBMM - send us some more guitars - Strings and Things, please import more - there is a potentially large market for EBMM here in the UK, especially with prominent players like Jamie Humphries around. Whilst relying on custom orders works for current owners or those "in the know", a lot of potential customers may be lost simply through the lack of available guitars to try out and compare to the competitors.

BTW I love my guitars - I sold my JEM and various others to pay for them and haven't regretted the decision.

 

[fogman]

reply: that situation exist everywhere!!!

 

[brentrocks]

if they were made in the UK , we would be screwed!!!

 

[kompressaur]

Stingray basses are no problem finding.its the rest of the line up that is

 

[roburado]

Stingray basses are no problem finding.its the rest of the line up that is

It's almost the same thing here in the U.S. I'd say Music Man basses are easy to find. The guitars? Much more difficult.

 

[Big Poppa]

Dave B can help you

 

[koogie2k]

BP beat me to it...DaveB is a super cool dude and will be more than happy to help you out. I would vouche for him in a minute.....no questions asked.

 

[Colin]

http://www.machinehead.co.uk/

 

[SteveB]

Indeed, forum member DaveB will be changing all that when he takes the reins at machinehead.co.uk

Meanwhile, just think of it as retribution for the 1770's stamp tax..

 

[Bungo]

Hi eliot323

Believe me we've had several fairly 'lively' threads about this in the past. As you can see though it's not a unique situation for us in the UK.

The simple fact is that demand now exceeds supply and Sterling Ball has made it clear that he doesn't want to step up production capacity (at the potential risk of losing quality I would imagine), to reduce delivery times. I recall him saying in one thread that he doesn't want to be Fender or Gibson.

I agree that there are many potential customers out there who are probably missing out as they have never stumbled across one in a shop.

As a few folk have pointed out, DaveB (regular here) is shortly to take over Machinehead. I believe he intends to keep a substantial number of MM guitars on display in the shop so people will have the opportunity to try them all out.

BTW my Petrucci's are also my favourite guitars now. Good choice Sir!

 

[Spudmurphy]

We have a very good EB dealer here in Cardiff - Cardiff Guitars, who has a fully loaded Pet in stock at this moment.

 

[DaveB]

Sorry for the delay in chipping in - been a busy few days....

Though its great when other people do your promotion for you .

First thing is that Machinehead have been buying EBMMs over the past couple of months at quite a rate - the problem is they dont stay in the shop long enough for people to see (for example a Luke, Pet and Axis arrived on Fri, by Tues all sold).

However when I take over there will be pretty much one of every guitar made available in the shop (my 20+ collection will reside there - including pride of place to Mr Horsepower), so if you want to try a stoptail Y2D against a Floyd model we can do it, a Luke compared to a Rosewood Axis, we can do it. Some of my guitars may be available to purchase and although I cant do anything directly about the lead times for ordered guitars I visited Strings & Things recently and had a very good discussion on how and what stock can/should be held in future.

Please feel free to get in contact via the forum.

Takeover date for me at Machinehead is likely to be sometime in October.

DaveB.

 

[Jimmyb]

I think that one of the problems that we have in the UK is down to the general perception given to EBMM. You can't open a copy of any of the guitar mags without seeing yet another mish-mash of a 50 year old design.

"yeah, but these have got the same paint that was used on an original '59, hence you' ve simply got to buy one"

And similar sorts of nonesense.

Because the guitar playing/buying public are always having this rubbish pushed onto them, they automatically assume that F orG are the greates guitars in the world. I used to think that if I wanted to sound like David Gilmour, then I'd need the same kit as him. Now I'm old enough to realise that a) I'll never sound like him b) I don't really want to sound like him and c) you could give him an acoustic fitted with a fishman and He'll still get 98% of the sounds the same.

Music stores exist to make money, the best way for them to do that is to sell lots of guitars that people want to buy. There is a pretty good shop near to me (it's just south of Manchester) that stocks lots of PRS, Anderson, F and G and the like, yet hardly ever gets any EBMM's. I've enquired as to why that is and the response was fairly simple, there wasn't the demand. It's unrealistic to expect the shop to carry a wide range, if they are going to hang around for months, maybe even years.

However, as a guitarist and buyer, I do find it frustrating that I can't walk in there and try out a couple of different types. Fortunately, I know another shop that carries a reasonable stock (comparatively) and also is pretty keen on the pricing.

We have to accept the compromise between having top quality instruments, built with care and expertise compared with mass-coverage in the shops.

 

[azzy_wazzy]

Dave - glad to hear of your plans You guys will most likely be my closest decent dealer!

Will you be stocking a full line of basses too?

Do you mind if I ping you a PM? I'm after pricing for an AL for the other half...

 

[DaveB]

Dave - glad to hear of your plans You guys will most likely be my closest decent dealer!

Will you be stocking a full line of basses too?

Do you mind if I ping you a PM? I'm after pricing for an AL for the other half...

Machinehead already stock EBMM basses, though they have never had a Bongo in (mainly because the current owner doesnt like the shape). I think I may have to change that.

PM away - though depending what you are after you may be joining a very long queue!

Dave

 

[eliot323]

DaveB - Nice to hear that EBMM guitars will be pushed even more at Machinehead and made more available - they really need to be as they deserve a higher profile. I've been a good Machinehead customer in the past (ask Geoff about Dr Simon...) and I look forward to the new direction!

Interesting too to hear that a similar availability problem exists in the US - perhaps EBMM want to maintain a sense of mystique (dream?) and desirability as part of the brand's cachet. But I would have thought that some increase in production could be achieved without compromising quality - look at PRS or Taylor for example - without having to go down the Fender/Gibson route.

JimmyB - I know what you're saying about demand, but to me the fact that the guitars sell so fast when they are available suggests that there is more demand than some of the music stores admit; My feeling is that it is more about brand profile - people often won't come in cold and ask for an EBMM - but if you put EBMM guitars up alongside their competitors and compare features, build quality, playability and value for money, they sell and sell well.

BTW did I mention how much I love my Petruccis?

 

[Big Poppa]

You know this is an age old deal, The thing that confuses some is that we actually make about the same number of instruments as PRS...WE sell basses and guitars about 50/50
so it appears in the guitar side that we are a smaller company. Taylor makes a bunch of babys and big babys and really is a fantastic company with a tremendous amount of automation.

 

[Beth]

However when I take over there will be pretty much one of every guitar made available in the shop (my 20+ collection will reside there - including pride of place to Mr Horsepower), so if you want to try a stoptail Y2D against a Floyd model we can do it, a Luke compared to a Rosewood Axis, we can do it. Some of my guitars may be available to purchase and although I cant do anything directly about the lead times for ordered guitars I visited Strings & Things recently and had a very good discussion on how and what stock can/should be held in future.

Please feel free to get in contact via the forum.

Takeover date for me at Machinehead is likely to be sometime in October.

DaveB.

Dave B ROCKS!!!

 

[eliot323]

Hey Big Poppa
Thanks for the info about the production figures vis a vis certain others - please don't in any way take my comments as criticisms or complaints - I just think your guitars are fantastic and should be played by a lot more people than play them at the moment...

When I think of what I paid for my JEM compared to what I paid for my Petrucci, it makes you think very hard. The JEM is a great guitar but I don't think it's as VFM as my Petrucci.

Great too to hear of the high regard that DaveB is held in here at the forum - Machinehead will be an even better retailer in the future (and it's pretty damn good at the moment). I love the store and all the guys who work there are very friendly, professional and knowledgeable - and I think most of them are Music Man players.

 

[kbaim]

Dave can also play just about any song you call out too!