Dropped the big one today

[BUC]

GC clearance is no joke. I spent more than I wanted to because I doubt that I'll ever see prices like this.

No pics because they haven't arrived yet but today I ordered:

Y2D Purple Sunset, hard-tail
Armada trans-black flame
Gamechanger HSH w/Piezo and trem

That should fill out the stable nicely. Already have an old-school Morse, an early Petrucci and a 25th Anniversary.

My friend at GC is a manager there now. GC is making big steps to reduce inventory as brick-mortar stores become less relevant and online sales are expanding. The guitars I bought weren't even at his store, but they were in inventory at other stores. He actually didn't even know about the deep discounts until I got him on the phone and then he was able to do some good work for me.

 

[xjbebop]

Don't feel bad...we did the same thing last night...
I'll be posting a ngggd tomorrow...

 

[ozzyrules]

I love NGD.......... Bring em on, boys!

 

[Tim O'Sullivan]

That's quite the haul!

So are GC about to close lots of stores?

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

That's quite the haul!

So are GC about to close lots of stores?

It's not going to be just GC. Pretty much all brick and mortar are closing their doors. Most companies are bleeding profits while Amazon continually makes roughly 40% growth annually. How can you compete with that?

With the influx of video guitar reviews or rather, just reviews in general accompanied with internet forums/chat blogs, more and more people are willing to trade the experience of actually trying before they buy for:

•Speed of service: This is the biggest one I think. It literally takes someone seconds to place an order and have everything processed. I understand that salesmen are supposed to be knowledgeable in their trade but if you've been to a GC lately you know this is not the case. There are still a couple of old timers who have passion for what they do but, with todays extreme competition in all markets, corporations are doing worse and worse job training/hiring people (due to budget cuts, lack of training hours, GREED, etc.) on how to relate with other human beings rather than just trying to turn profits. (Literally need to give them all info about me just to buy strings... really bro?)

•Lowest price point: Self explanatory

•Better return policies: They're on par with Costco and thats saying something.

I can't really see a down side to buying something online anymore. If it comes damaged or I just simply don't like I can return it and amazon will pay for the shipping back to them and reimburse me on the spot.

 

[guitarp77]

Congrats Devin!
That's one hell of a purchase!

 

[Tollywood]

Congrats - these multiple guitars NGDs are becoming pretty common due to that big sale. Who'd of thought?!? Enjoy!

 

[kestrou]

It's not going to be just GC. Pretty much all brick and mortar are closing their doors.

I'm in the cornfields of Illinois - closest halfway big town is Champaign/Urbana and had two reasonable music stores with a decent selection of strings, etc. (although neither carried EBMM guitars).

Anyways, both have closed their doors within the last three months.

Blame it on the lingering slow economic recovery or whatever, but the brick and mortar stores are *hurting*...

kestrou

 

[DrKev]

Blame it on the lingering slow economic recovery or whatever, but the brick and mortar stores are *hurting*...

Blame it partly on the internet, partly on the customers, and partly on just the way things go.

Stores are more and more becoming a showroom where people try instruments and then buy online elsewhere. People want better prices, better choice, and minimum waiting time. A big warehouse and a good website is a far more effective way of doing that. Think about it - would you want to pay staff and rent and pay for a wall full of guitars and keep everything up and running to see people constantly come in but never buy? Not enough customers care about personal service and knowledgeable staff, if indeed that exists in their local stores ('cause that's not always the case). They certainly don't want to pay a small premium for it.

The world constantly moves and changes. Business moves and changes with it. Hindsight often turns to nostalgia and tend to be more rose-coloured than was really the case. When we complain about things changing we're being unrealistic and forgetting that what we have known in our short guitar-playing lifetime is just one part of a constantly changing timeline.

Remember, not all that long ago "guitar stores" as we know them today didn't even exist. The first one that was successful was owned by a certain Mr. Ernie Ball. They told him he was crazy for trying to only sell guitars. Just like the told him he was crazy for selling extra-light gauge guitar strings to rock'n'rollers. Not long before that electric guitars were an abomination to serious musicians. Not long before that guitar strings were only made out of animal guts.

Everything changes. The only question is what comes next?

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

GC clearance is no joke. I spent more than I wanted to because I doubt that I'll ever see prices like this.

No pics because they haven't arrived yet but today I ordered:

Y2D Purple Sunset, hard-tail
Armada trans-black flame
Gamechanger HSH w/Piezo and trem

That should fill out the stable nicely. Already have an old-school Morse, an early Petrucci and a 25th Anniversary.

My friend at GC is a manager there now. GC is making big steps to reduce inventory as brick-mortar stores become less relevant and online sales are expanding. The guitars I bought weren't even at his store, but they were in inventory at other stores. He actually didn't even know about the deep discounts until I got him on the phone and then he was able to do some good work for me.

Wow now that's filling out the stable!

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Blame it partly on the internet, partly on the customers, and partly on just the way things go.

Stores are more and more becoming a showroom where people try instruments and then buy online elsewhere. People want better prices, better choice, and minimum waiting time. A big warehouse and a good website is a far more effective way of doing that. Think about it - would you want to pay staff and rent and pay for a wall full of guitars and keep everything up and running to see people constantly come in but never buy? Not enough customers care about personal service and knowledgeable staff, if indeed that exists in their local stores ('cause that's not always the case). They certainly don't want to pay a small premium for it.
<snip>

Yep, times change. Sometimes it makes no sense, though; we regularly have people coming in to try things out who then tell us "thanks, I'm going to go home and order it off Amazon" even though our in-store prices are often lower than what they wind up paying. As far as guitars go, the only reason we have them on the wall is because we have a passion for them. If we had to depend on selling guitars (and other instruments) for a living then we would have cashed out a long time ago.

I saw similar things over the past 2 decades while working in retail pharmacy, the insurance carriers push the customer to mail-order to save money, yet want the local pharmacy to be open when baby Joey needs some liquid penicillin.

Some questions to ponder:

When most of the brick and mortars are gone how will people handle any needed repairs?
Do they attempt the repair themselves, and risk damaging the instrument further?
Do they ship the instrument out to a central repair facility for evaluation and then wait a few weeks, or even a month, before getting a quote, let alone having the repair performed?
What happens when Susie Soloist suddenly needs a pad replaced on her clarinet before her big school performance tomorrow night?
Do they simply scrap the instrument and buy another?

 

[BUC]

Wow now that's filling out the stable!

Well, I had an insurance settlement that unexpectedly settled in my direction and two checks from the IRS due from previous years amended returns show up this week. Gone before the money hit the bank.

There was some method in my madness:

Love my old blue-burst Morse but no amount of practicing could get me used to the switching in a live situation. Love the tones but can't really gig with it, so I'm really hoping the Y2D with it's more conventional 5 way will work it's way into my gigging bullpen.

The GC is a backup or sub for my 25th anniversary, which is my main gigging axe. I love most everything about it but was interested the piezo and some additional tones that the 25th doesn't quite get. Hoping that the GC has all the Mojo of the 25th in terms of sustain and stability and brings me some new sounds.

The Armada I got because it looks awesome and my wife liked it...

My daughter looked at the pictures and has already named them Midnight, Black Flame, and Sunset. She names all my guitars for me.

Leaving on a biz trip tomorrow and hoping they're all in by Fri. The Y2D will definitely be at the gigs this weekend.

 

[kbaim]

... the insurance carriers push the customer to mail-order to save money, yet want the local pharmacy to be open when baby Joey needs some liquid penicillin.

Talk about a good theme for a concept album. Get on it pete.

 

[guitarp77]

This is a very interesting topic. Eerything is constantly changing. It's sad when these trends put out small stores / family owned business.

But everything flows and adapts. I love CDs but (while I loved to go to the stores and have fond memories of it) have found a way to enjoy music and purchase it elsewhere...

Just hope this trend doesn't affect MM as a manufacturer. It would be interesting to see how much of the sales are done in stores and how many are made online...

 

[faris]

I thought I was crazy for buying my guitars online without even testing them. I personally did it because the guitars weren't available in my area so I took the risk. Every purchase turned out great for me, the guitars I bought really suited my needs which made me feel that I was REALLY lucky.

But, for US residents that have all the access and exposure to all kinds of guitars through stores there to just try and buy online? That's kind of weird for me. If my country had tons of EBMM guitars at the normal retail price it'd make things easier for me: look up online for a guitar I want, look at the reviews, go to the store, try one out, inspect every detail, pay up & bring it home with a big smile on my face. That for me is what makes up for a guitar purchase.

 

[Eilif]

Talk about a good theme for a concept album. Get on it pete.

Album? Do people buy those anymore, after they are done being jerks by going to Dubaldo's to waste his time and try out their instruments just so they can go home and get them mail order instead of supporting their local store?

It's a sad world nowadays, in some respects, and the record album--like bricks and mortar mom & pop stores--is going extinct. As a result, we can in many cases kiss good customer service goodbye, and I think the world will rarely again see the likes of the great bands and artist that arise in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

 

[kbaim]

Album? Do people buy those anymore, after they are done being jerks by going to Dubaldo's to waste his time and try out their instruments just so they can go home and get them mail order instead of supporting their local store?

It's a sad world nowadays, in some respects, and the record album--like bricks and mortar mom & pop stores--is going extinct. As a result, we can in many cases kiss good customer service goodbye, and I think the world will rarely again see the likes of the great bands and artist that arise in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Please press "1".
If you're a vendor, please press "2"

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Please press "1".
If you're a vendor, please press "2"

Great track names!

 

[Miqueas92]

"Just hope this trend doesn't affect MM as a manufacturer. It would be interesting to see how much of the sales are done in stores and how many are made online..." guitarp 77

I think Sterling and Company have to be looking into online sales, as a business. It seems that almost anything of value can be had online. While start up costs could be very high, the middle man would be cut out and all profit would go to MM, or, the costs could come down.

 

[Dr. Rock]

I'm not sure that affects the maker as much as the dealers. Seems MM would negotiate whatever prices to each of their dealers, and then GC or MF/SW/etc. choose an appropriate method to get it to the customer. Apparently few companies do militantly control the final sales price as well.

The middle-man discussion is about whether to go "factory direct". The upside is as customer you get a ought to be significantly lower "new" price and the ability to interface directly with the builder (e.g., Carvin, and now even Fender has a limited direct "semi-custom" option). But resale value is low and you can't try them out. Whereas with Music Man, G&L, many small makers, and even the big-brand custom shops, the dealer is the contact point (read, middle man).

I suspect BP alone can accurately explain why the MM vision is to not go direct. He maybe already has, if one were to scour past forum postings.