How's your local EBMM dealer?

[Junior]

I just stumbled upon this thread searching for a pic of Luke's pedals. I had no intention of writing this, but since I saw it...

Unfortunately, Croatian EBMM lovers always had to and probably still will have to find another way of getting to their desired EBMM. The only Croatian dealer has prices about 2-3 times more than the normal price, plus he has surprisingly terrible service. One time I walked into his store, and the bell rang when I opened the door, he took a look, and nothing! Just contiuned to smoke and watch an Aerosmith DVD with his buddies. I was standing there for about five minutes, not wanting to call anyone for actual service nor to touch guitars myself. He stood up, walked to the cash register, directly by me, took something and went back. Like I wasn't there! Not to mention that people don't have the opportunity to try any EBMM except SUB1's if they don't have the entire money hanging out of their pocket. He treats most of his customers like cr*p, just because most of them (us) don't have enough money to pay for his lousy service. The only ones he actually gives service to are famous Croatian musicians, in whom he sees a bigger profit in. And the prices are sky high! The only thing left for us mortal Croatians is buy abroad then pay taxes, customs and everything else (which is about +33%), or buy used.

I just love all EBMM guitars, but this kind of thing unfortunately makes me look into other brands when planning to buy a guitar. Don't get me wrong! I love EBMM and I'd be the happiest guy if I could get one for a normal price, like most of the customers in other countries that have dealers can, but I just can't pay 3 times the price for an EBMM just because I love it. Even if I had that kind of money, it still wouldn't be fair.

 

[ivanmihaljevic]

Junior is absolutely right!!!
Croatian EB dealer is waaaay too expensive and waaaay too unkind to the customers!!!

The only ones he actually gives service to are famous Croatian musicians, in whom he sees a bigger profit in.

I've actually seen the both sides of the medal as I've earned my position of playing in a bigger band recently. Before I joined that band I was treated like dirt in that store. Now that I'm playing in a band that is somewhat famous and popular, they changed their attitude a bit, but still not enough.

For example:
I ordered a new nut from them for my JP6 since my old one wore out. I've ordered it one month ago, and they told me that it won't take longer than a month to get a new nut. I hoped that I could get the nut replaced before the Paul Gilbert gig, but I couldn't because they still didn't get the new nut. I thought that that was understandable, considering it was a short period after all. But I've still got some major gigging going on in the next few months (including a festival with Scorpions and The Cult). So, I called them yesterday to see if they finally got the new nut for me, but they didn't. And guess what they told me... They told me they'll get it around October!!! So, I just went to a local guitar tech and replaced my worn out compensated nut with a standard one.
And they still expect me to pay for the new nut once it arrives in October (if it arrives at all)...

 

[Sweat]

Man that sucks I feel for you guys, that type of service and trwatment would drive me nuts, guess we americans are just damn lucky.

I love my EBMM dealer even if he is in Conneticut

 

[greenwizard]

I live in kuwait....No EB dealer here.... No guitar dealer here...
Actually to be honest theres a shop were I can buy yamahas... wooot...
So here's my dealer story:
I'm actually a citizen and resident of the US so I went to a GC in the Boston area. I walked straight in and grabbed the closest guy and told him that I wanted a:
"Ernie Ball Music Man John Petrucci Signature Model Six-String Guitar in Mystic Dream finish with Matching Headstock and optional Piezo upgrade but without the optional JP inlays"
...
He asked me to repeat myself.
After I wrote that down on the closest piece of paper he could find he ran off to find the manager. They told me that they didn't have any of that guitar in stock. I expected that. I asked if they had any JP's and he said no. I asked if they had and EB's and he said no. I asked if any GC's in the area had EB's and he said that one about 200 miles away had a used JP.
I wasn't fazed at all.
I asked him to special order the guitar I wanted and he told me I needed to make a deposit right then and there but didn't quote me a price. He simply called in the order to SLO and got retail price and told me how much their discount was.
I thanked him very much and told him it would be more convenient if I ordered the guitar from a GC in Pennsylvania (where my grandmother lives) and then proceeded to make a lot of noise with their Mesa Boogies.
When I ordered the guitar on the phone with the Penn. GC I made a deposit and ordered the guitar.

It wasn't until a later phone call that they told me that their discount was only on the base charge of the guitar and not on the MD, Matching HS, or Piezo upgrades.
I don't know if this is standard practice for dealers, and I wouldn't mind it, but I felt seriously deceived and couldn't back out...

I'm perfectly happy with my JP now, and I applaud GC for their ability to service the masses, but I'm going to college next year in Connecticut and Mr. Dubaldo should be hearing from me sometime in the future (meaning when I have money).

 

[Junior]

Ya I didn't want to complain too much, 'cause I know there's always worse situations than ours. For example, countries with no dealers at all... now, that blows!

 

[Sweat]

Yea my post was only to show empathy to all of you who cant type an email or pick up a phone and get your next EBMM easily, it sucks to find a guitar maker that is the best and not be able to buy one without jumping through hoops or over paying.

 

[Axilla]

I guess from what I read here we are not too bad off here in Germany...

...except for pricings that is.

There are some quite good dealers (plus that superb tech from Landshut ) around and also an easy to deal with distributer as far as I got to hear.

Nevertheless Fing is absolutely right - nothing beats US residents when it comes to feeding the EBMM addiction !

 

[ivanmihaljevic]

Ya I didn't want to complain too much, 'cause I know there's always worse situations than ours. For example, countries with no dealers at all... now, that blows!

Well, it's actually cheaper to buy a MM in Slovenia and then pay the customs than to buy a MM from the authorized Croatian dealer.
Other music shops in Croatia aren't nearly as expensive. In fact, the prices are similar or even lower than the prices in other European countries!!!

 

[Crewood]

Just called in at guitars4you here in the UK. They were brilliant.

Started off with the offer of a cup of coffee which I quickly took up, the different MMs were explained to me as was the difference in the Ball finishes. I was then given a number of different guitars to try.

Forum members had warned me from an earlier thread that the guitars were good but I wasn't prepared for how good they were. All in all the EBMM guitars were the best I'd tried and they were made even better by a very helpful and knowledgable dealer.

Mike

 

[Axilla]

Just called in at guitars4you here in the UK. They were brilliant.

Started off with the offer of a cup of coffee which I quickly took up, the different MMs were explained to me as was the difference in the Ball finishes. I was then given a number of different guitars to try.

Forum members had warned me from an earlier thread that the guitars were good but I wasn't prepared for how good they were. All in all the EBMM guitars were the best I'd tried and they were made even better by a very helpful and knowledgable dealer.

Mike

Go get some, Mike - you're guaranteed NOT to be sorry !!!

 

[paranoid70]

Guys

'Keep this tread going. I really want your input. Be fair and open and include GC if they are your local. I want a crosssection of knowlegable players thouts and feelings regarding USA retail

OK, since you asked (albeit two years ago). My local EBMM dealer, is no longer an EBMM dealer. You can probably tell what store that is given my location.

I went there in December '06 to order the Silo Spec. When I called a week later, they said that they were not going to rep MM anymore as the basses & guitars they did have didn't sell very well. Actually, they said they didn't sell at all.

It's a shame too because they do great repair work, and are pretty cool guys. Plus, I like supporting small independent shops when I can. I ended up buying the SS completely sight unseen (and unplayed) over the 'net with MakeNMusic in Chicago, IL.

So, I guess my current local dealer is a GC. However, I haven't seen an EBMM 6-string at that store for at least two years.

 

[Crewood]

Hi Axilla,

How's Baveria, I spent many happy years in the small towns of Ashau and Ramsau, hope the spelling is near enough.

Mike

 

[RitchieDarling]

Well, I have dealt with three dealers for EBMM:

Lord Bovine - Do I even need to say it? 110% great guy!

DuBaldo Music Center - Fantastic buying experience! Pete rox! A+++

Pop's Music Shop - Owned and operated by my two favorite grown-ups!

Now, I have tried EBMM merchandise at a couple of other places. GC in Phoenix being one. They were kind, courteous and seemed to want to help.

I've really only ever known one evil guitar shop owner. And he was such an ass that he drove himself out of business. He was so bad that even when he had a going out of business sale, no one came.

R

 

[jeffrey]

I'll have to refine my previous statments about the GC near me in Austin, Texas.

It used to kind of suck, now it REALLY sucks. Every EBMM there was unplayable: broken strings, knobs missing, some had big dings/scratches on them.

Really a shame.

 

[oldmike]

I have to say that my local dealer, The Arts Music Store in Newmarket is excellent!! Great guys, many of whom owm MM guitars!! They usually have at least 5 or so MM guitars in stock at any given time, they change frequently as they sell them!! Was just there today putting more money on my AL I have on order, had the sales guy play a few amps for me to get an idea what I may like, very nice shop!!

 

[kissmyaxe]

It's funny how each Guitar Center treats an EBMM. I have been to quite a few and if they even have them it seems they are either
1.the first guitars you see walking in or they have a nice display. The Seattle store is really good about that.
Or 2 they are just tucked away in a corner getting dirty. The San Fran store was horrible when I was in a few months ago. Those amazing necks were all sticky and gross feeling and they were tucked away in the farthest corner to boot.
Northwest Guitars and GC are Seattles only dealers I know of. When I order my ASS I am just going to go with whoever can give me the best deal.

 

[lord lemons]

Mine is pathetic. Glen Cove LI guitar center. Anybody been there before?


"Do you have any Mesa Mark Iv's I can try out?"
"No, but there are some Marshalls over there"
"How about a John Petrucci signature model"
"No, those are special order, very pricy stuff (while he is standing right below a 4000 dollar Gibby.)"

 

[Larry]

DuBaldo is my dealer.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I'm perfectly happy with my JP now, and I applaud GC for their ability to service the masses, but I'm going to college next year in Connecticut and Mr. Dubaldo should be hearing from me sometime in the future (meaning when I have money).

I am 20 minutes from UConn, Eastern & Central. The other major colleges in CT are about 50 minutes away.

You are more than welcome to stop in any time you'd like!

 

[mcvinyl]

Brisbane - Australia

Our local MM dealers here in Brisbane were so bad that Colin went out and became a dealer himself.

I have just returned from the "largest" guitar store here in Brisbane that is an EBMM dealer, and what do I find? Not a single guitar... 2 bases only.

That's the story everywhere over here. When an EBMM comes up on ebay they generally go pretty quick because they're hard to find.

Simon