I went to a EBMM dealer at the weekend, some distance away from home (you have to travel to find them over here). The shop had several new guitars and a couple of used ones, I took the opportunity to try a MM90 and a Morse as I have never been able to get my hands on either before, both stunning especially the Morse neck. I told the owner that there were no dealers in my city (Leeds), he was not surprised, he also said that the guitars were very popular and usually get snapped up quickly, so I said why don’t you keep more in stock?..he shrugged.
This seems to be the attitude in a lot of UK shops, I think they are reluctant to stock the guitars because they see it as some sort of risk??. Everyone that has seen my guitar has commented that the quality is superb, but the have also asked ‘where did you get it from?. I’ve mentioned this in previous posts, it’s nice to have a ‘rare’ guitar but I just wish there were a few more around.
EBMM adverts have started to appear more in UK mags (there is a good one in Guitar Buyer this month) but the stockists are few and far between. In the UK we have one large chain guitar shop, I have asked the guys there about the guitars and their responses have been ‘do they make guitars?, I thought they only made basses’, and ‘we stock OLP and a couple of Subs’. They don’t seem very enthusiastic at all, I think this would be different if someone put a guitar in their hands.
The guy in the bass department in the shop I visited said that Strings & Things (UK distributor) are very good to deal with and deliver quickly, which adds to my confusion about the dealer’s reluctance.
BP, are there any new plans for marketing over here? I think the UK is a bit of a missed opportunity at the moment, but as you can see on these boards there is strong ‘underground’ following.
Anyway, rant over, I thought the Morse guitar was terrific, it might be a while before I can afford one but it’s definitely next on my list.
This seems to be the attitude in a lot of UK shops, I think they are reluctant to stock the guitars because they see it as some sort of risk??. Everyone that has seen my guitar has commented that the quality is superb, but the have also asked ‘where did you get it from?. I’ve mentioned this in previous posts, it’s nice to have a ‘rare’ guitar but I just wish there were a few more around.
EBMM adverts have started to appear more in UK mags (there is a good one in Guitar Buyer this month) but the stockists are few and far between. In the UK we have one large chain guitar shop, I have asked the guys there about the guitars and their responses have been ‘do they make guitars?, I thought they only made basses’, and ‘we stock OLP and a couple of Subs’. They don’t seem very enthusiastic at all, I think this would be different if someone put a guitar in their hands.
The guy in the bass department in the shop I visited said that Strings & Things (UK distributor) are very good to deal with and deliver quickly, which adds to my confusion about the dealer’s reluctance.
BP, are there any new plans for marketing over here? I think the UK is a bit of a missed opportunity at the moment, but as you can see on these boards there is strong ‘underground’ following.
Anyway, rant over, I thought the Morse guitar was terrific, it might be a while before I can afford one but it’s definitely next on my list.
