double0blues Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Hi, you all - I'm looking for on-line dealer suggestions - I've read some people on here recommending Fuller's and someone had good things to say about Sweetwater - any others that you've had a good experience with? Anything to say about places like Musician's Friend/Guitar Center or Music123 or those other big sites that always pop up when you Google for Gibson Acoustics? The prices all seem about the same but I'd like to know about things like customer and instrument care, etc. - 'tis a big bad world out there... Thanks... Don
larryp58 Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Fullers, Music Villa are great sites. The thing is with these sites, you can call them and talk to experienced personnel there. Sites like Musician's Friend, Guitar Center, etc., sell Gibson acoustics. Only it's not a personal sale. They just pull a box off the shelf at a warehouse and that's what you get! Luck of the draw! I want to be able to talk to a sales representative who actually played THE guitar I'm going to buy. Someone with enough experience and knowledge of guitars to make a sound decision on whether it's a "keeper" or not! As always, it's best if you can make the purchase having played the instrument yourself.
GotTheSilver Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 I live in Houston and visit Fuller's on occasion. Great selection of guitars there, but I have never found them to be very good on price. I used to live in New York and would visit Mandolin Brothers and The Music Zoo. Mando Bros. has a great selection of awesome guitars and very knowledgeable salespeople. I got the best deal I have ever gotten on a new electric guitar at Music Zoo. Give both places a call.
Pickax Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Musicians Friend has a division that's called Private Reserve. If you order through the Private Reserve, they will go through some of their stock and hand select one. I think you can get pictures from them too. Free shipping, 10 day trial period and price matching. If you want to go with a small shop approach, E.M. Shorts, in Wichita, Kansas, cannot be beat. I think they offer the best prices on Gibson's anywhere you can find. Great customer service and they will set up the Guitar before shipping. They would be my first choice hands down. NFI with either company.
Pittstrummer Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Look at janetdavismusic in Bentonville AR. Very helpful 5-Star dealer . . . reasonable prices. I had a good experience buying my H-bird there. They have some Gibbys pictured on their web site.
BigKahune Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Fullers, Music Villa are great sites. +1 Fullers is great.
double0blues Posted February 7, 2011 Author Posted February 7, 2011 Thanks, guys - I tried Fuller's, E.M. Shorts & Private Reserve - left messages but haven't heard back from any of them yet - I'll see how the day goes...
devellis Posted February 7, 2011 Posted February 7, 2011 I wait with baited breath. I'll be going down this road in the near future, hopefully, and would really like to hear your experience. It's so difficult to know what various dealers have in stock that a slew of phone calls seems unavoidable. But I also want to know who will offer the best price/service balance. Especially in the present economy, I'm not inclined to pay MAP for instruments that have a pretty hefty mark-up. In my experience over the past couple of years, dealers seem well aware that buyers need to be careful about their purchases and have typically offered competitive prices spontaneously. This tells me that a dealer is genuinely interested in my business. I'm not looking to go to the mat over the last nickel and I'd rather pay a bit more for great service than a bit less for cruddy service but I'm not prepared to pay MAP, either. Those purchases from the recent past haven't been from Gibson dealers, so I feel like I'm going into terra incognita here. Any useful insights you (or others) can pass on will be very much appreciated.
double0blues Posted February 8, 2011 Author Posted February 8, 2011 I heard back from both Fuller's & E.M. Shorts today - E.M. Shorts initially gave me the best price but then Jeremy Fuller told me he would meet it - so far Fuller's seems the most helpful and more than willing to work with me on what I want...
uyasgali Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 You could try Wildwood Guitars. They are very good at what they do. http://wildwoodguitars.com/
double0blues Posted February 8, 2011 Author Posted February 8, 2011 You could try Wildwood Guitars. They are very good at what they do. http://wildwoodguitars.com/ Well, thank you much, uyasgali, I just bought a Gibson J-45 True Vintage from them!
uyasgali Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 Well, thank you much, uyasgali, I just bought a Gibson J-45 True Vintage from them! That was quick :)
retrorod Posted February 8, 2011 Posted February 8, 2011 Yep! Buy ALL my guitars at fair vintage-price guide value...You will be happy...!
double0blues Posted February 9, 2011 Author Posted February 9, 2011 That was quick :) Yeah, they had exactly what I wanted at a fair price so I went for it! Seem like good folks there... Is it Friday yet???!!!?? :mellow:
uyasgali Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 I love the simple elegance of the J45. I have a WM45 that I bought for my daughter in 1999 but she didn't play it and somehow broke the headstock off of it so I took it back. After getting it repaired I told her no more guitars unless you buy it yourself. The repair is invisible but I know it is there. I think the WM45 is suposed to be a cheap J45 but it seems to have everything the J45 has. I play it once in a while and I like it for the voice it has. Seems louder than my hummingbird but not as sweet. Maybe it is the way I treat them. I'm sure you will be happy with your J45. Last year I bought an ES-137 Custom from them and about three weeks ago I bought a CS336F in cherry finnish from them. They answered any questions and were pleasnat to deal with. There prices are on par with most everyone else but they seem to be a cut above plus the fact than you select the guitar you want by serial number and they have good pictures. The only thing better would be to go there and play them...I live in New Jersey and I'm not going to Colorado to buy a guitar.
double0blues Posted February 12, 2011 Author Posted February 12, 2011 Hey it is FRIDAY!!! sigh... At the moment the guitar is sitting in Phoenix - UPS doesn't deliver on Saturday so now I have to wait till Monday.... They held off shipping it out until yesterday because they wanted the temperature there in Colorado to at least get above freezing - problem with that of course is that now the weekend has screwed up the delivery time... Oh well... Monday... sigh...
Pickax Posted February 12, 2011 Posted February 12, 2011 I've had that happen to me more than once over the past years and I hate it when it happens. Even if you drove to the UPS location, they would not give it to you. I've had Guitars shipped to me via Fed Ex and they have let me pick up on a Saturday. Same with a local Post Office. Looking forward to hearing your report with pictures of course!
double0blues Posted February 14, 2011 Author Posted February 14, 2011 Oh the agony!!!! UPS: Tracking Information 02/14/2011 ----- 6:46 A.M. ----- Out For Delivery
uyasgali Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 Be sure to let the package warm up to room temperature before you open it.
Acousticologist Posted February 14, 2011 Posted February 14, 2011 Brand spanking new J45 arrived today. It is my first 45. I feel like a new man... And oh my, the beautiful aroma of a new guitar. . I opened the cardboard packaging with my nostrils flaring like a bloodhound and with the ferociousness of a fat kid unwrapping an ice cream on a hot summer day... The reward was unparrelled... The whole room smelled of new guitar smell. . Yum... Think they'd make a guitar cologne?
double0blues Posted February 15, 2011 Author Posted February 15, 2011 Brand spanking new J45 arrived today. It is my first 45. I feel like a new man... Congrats, Acousticologist, I received my J-45 True Vintage today as well - pix and a report will follow as I get to know her over the next few days...
zovanou Posted February 17, 2011 Posted February 17, 2011 while shopping for a keb mo Em Shorts won for pricing and no b.s.
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