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Guitars at Best Buy

djroge1

By djroge1
in The Gibson Lounge

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djroge1

djroge1

Posted
Posted

I went to buy an mp3 player for my son for Christmas today and I noticed they had an "instrument" section. I thought I'd go check out what they had thinking they may have a few off brands or lower end brands & models. The first thing I saw walking in was a Marshall stack.

 

Turns out they had Gibson, Epiphone, and Fenders haning on the wall. They had a couple of LP studios, standards, explorer and one flying-v. Way more than I expected that's for sure.

 

So I played a couple of small 5-15 watt amps with a Dot. After reading one of the posts here about 5watt amps I began thinking I would like to have a little 5watter. They also had crate, line 6 and a couple of others. They had a few keyboards, strings, pickups, and some recording equipment. Their prices seemed to be lined up with MF. The manager told me that if I went to guitar center or any other place and found a better price they would match it 110%.

 

I don't work for them nor does anyone in my family, but I am signed up with their rewards system so when I earn (buy) enough points that should at least pay for a pack of strings. Besides, I really don't like shopping at Guitar Center.

 

They guy told me it wasn't in every store. There are two in the Denver Colorado area.

:oilpit:

:oilpit:

Posted
Posted

There's one up here in Washington.

Mine has crappy selection, lot's of Squier and Epiphone, 2 real Les Pauls that they won't let a snot nosed kid play with.

I'll stick with GC for playing expensive guitars.

Ian Martin

Ian Martin

Posted
Posted

They have a suprising selection of Gibsons here...nothing AMAZING...but they to have a Robot guitar, SG Diablo and some other limited releases.

 

It's always dead in there (when I stop by, anyway) except for the pimply teenage employees banging on the electric drum kits (not much better that the kids banging away on 'Rock Band' a few aisles away).

 

Long term, I don't think these music sections will go away...but I would think that Gibson won't move enough product to keep stocking them regardless of a franchise deal.

saturn

saturn

Posted
Posted

The Best Buy near me just had their Grand Opening in the Musical Intruments section last Friday. They had a band playing and everything. I think the band was actually playing on Best Buy inventory. One cool thing, they had the Taylor solid body guitar. I don't even see them at GC. I tried it out and it was really nice :-k

Ian Martin

Ian Martin

Posted
Posted

Yeah, methinks they went out of their way to get some nice gems to open the store with.

 

It'll make the real musicians think, "wow, they really are a legitimate dealer."

 

We'll see how long it lasts. No musician I have or will ever know will go to Best Buy when in the market for a new guitar.

djroge1

djroge1

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm wondering how they will last too. In the mean time as I add up points I may as well use them to get new strings.

 

The biggest store around where I live is guitar center and there are 2 of them and I hate shopping at both of them. I wish MARS didn't go out of business I loved that store. Also when I lived in Maryland there was a local store called Bills Music that was awesome.

 

So I'll check out best buy when I go to buy a new 5watt amp or even a new guitar when I can afford another one - its the same price. Oh and besides they did carry a Hannah Montana signiture guitar!

Rocker_Gamma

Rocker_Gamma

Posted
Posted

I read about this on the Fender boards, nobody was exactly happy about it either (I'm not, for sure!). As for finding expensive toys, I'll stick to the "Dexter Music Center" in the next town. =P~

Mark

Mark

Posted
Posted

If you feel that you should not be buying guitars from them, you should'nt buy your other AV gear from them.

There are many small shops that sell the same product, receivers. LCD's Plasmas, speakers and give you

better service and truly understand the product.

 

I know I own one of those shops. There is no difference in someone buying a guitar at BB or buying a

home theater from them.

Ian said...... no one he knows would ever buy an instrument from them .. Bullshit

 

Big box retailers GC, BB, CC, costco, Wal-mart are bad for our ecomomy

Notes_Norton

Notes_Norton

Posted
Posted

Although I sometimes buy at GC or other "big box" stores, I ALWAYS visit my local Ma and Pa store first, and if they can get what I want I get it there, even if I have to pay a bit more. Why? Two reasons, Customer Service and Local Economy.

 

I'll deal with local economy first, since that is going to be shorter:

 

I am a local businessman. My duo The Sophisticats is based in the middle of a 3 county area with 3 "sister" cities. The "do unto others" rule applies here. If I want the people in our area to hire their local band, then I should also patronize local businesses as much as I can.

 

Now customer service.

 

When I bought my first BBE Sonic Maximizer I heard it in the store, and asked if I could bring it back if it doesn't do the same to my PA set. The owner told me, take it home, try it on a gig but don't scratch it. If you aren't delighted with it, bring it back in re-salable condition and we'll try something else. They didn't ask for a credit card or any other security, and would not charge a re-stocking fee if I didn't like it. I liked the BBE so I went back next Monday with my credit card and paid a fair price for it.

 

On another occasion, I was looking for a new mic for my saxophone. The owner took a Sennheiser 421MD out of his recording studio and told me to try it on the gig to see if I like it. I took it on the gig, a musician friend came to see us on our Sunday afternoon gig and said she could hear the difference from the parking lot and it was great. I went back on Monday to have him order a new 421 for me, and he told me just keep the one out of his studio until the new one arrives.

 

I know if a piece of gear fails, they would offer to loan me another until the replacement arrives. (but i have a back-up of almost everything so that won't be necessary)

 

You don't get that kind of service from a big box or Internet store. It only happens when you frequent your local store to the point where they know you. And if you have to pay a bit more for that kind of service, it's worth it.

 

If you value the extra service, then it is to your benefit to patronize your local store. If you don't care, then Best Buy or eBay is fine for you.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

djroge1

djroge1

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Although I sometimes buy at GC or other "big box" stores' date=' I ALWAYS visit my local Ma and Pa store first, and if they can get what I want I get it there, even if I have to pay a bit more. Why? Two reasons, Customer Service and Local Economy.

 

I'll deal with local economy first, since that is going to be shorter:

 

I am a local businessman. My duo The Sophisticats is based in the middle of a 3 county area with 3 "sister" cities. The "do unto others" rule applies here. If I want the people in our area to hire their local band, then I should also patronize local businesses as much as I can.

 

Now customer service.

 

When I bought my first BBE Sonic Maximizer I heard it in the store, and asked if I could bring it back if it doesn't do the same to my PA set. The owner told me, take it home, try it on a gig but don't scratch it. If you aren't delighted with it, bring it back in re-salable condition and we'll try something else. They didn't ask for a credit card or any other security, and would not charge a re-stocking fee if I didn't like it. I liked the BBE so I went back next Monday with my credit card and paid a fair price for it.

 

On another occasion, I was looking for a new mic for my saxophone. The owner took a Sennheiser 421MD out of his recording studio and told me to try it on the gig to see if I like it. I took it on the gig, a musician friend came to see us on our Sunday afternoon gig and said she could hear the difference from the parking lot and it was great. I went back on Monday to have him order a new 421 for me, and he told me just keep the one out of his studio until the new one arrives.

 

I know if a piece of gear fails, they would offer to loan me another until the replacement arrives. (but i have a back-up of almost everything so that won't be necessary)

 

You don't get that kind of service from a big box or Internet store. It only happens when you frequent your local store to the point where they know you. And if you have to pay a bit more for that kind of service, it's worth it.

 

If you value the extra service, then it is to your benefit to patronize your local store. If you don't care, then Best Buy or eBay is fine for you.

 

Insights and incites by Notes

 

+1

 

I've not found a local ma & pa music store in my area however. This is the exact reason why I bought my mountain bike at a local store vs. a large retail sports store.

SRV-Zeppelin

SRV-Zeppelin

Posted
Posted

I think guitars belong in MUSIC stores, not BUY-AS-MUCH-AS-YOU-CAN-IN-ONE-TRIP stores.

 

I don't care if it's better for business, Gibson should stick to selling their instruments through music stores.

rjc guitar

rjc guitar

Posted
Posted

Hey,

 

I have been to the "main" store here in Minnesota and was pretty dissapointed. It is a pretty small area, but they did have alot of Gibby's.

 

I was just looking at their add this morning and noticed they are not advertising ANY Gibsons. Do you think they lost their dealer status with Gibson, or can't they advertise them?

Thundergod

Thundergod

Posted
Posted
There's one up here in Washington.

Mine has crappy selection' date=' lot's of Squier and Epiphone, 2 real Les Pauls that they won't let a snot nosed kid play with.

I'll stick with GC for playing expensive guitars.[/quote']

 

 

 

...you are in washington? ... DC?

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