Equipment Shopping Stories

[maddrakkett]

Don't know what made me think of this, but I suddenly remembered a true story that happened to me back in the '80s when my wife and I were still dating.

I had put money down on a guitar at a local store and the day had come to finally pick it up. But first, I had to pick my then fiance up from work, which pressed us for time before the store would close.

On the way through rush-hour traffic, everybody slammed on their brakes, except the truck behind me. The hit felt pretty hard, and it bent the hood and front end of the lady's pickup truck that
hit us, so I'm thinking it musta done a number on my truck's rear, plus I'm gonna have to wait one more day to get my guitar. :evil:

Much to my surprise, the impact actually FIXED my rear bumper - it had been bent and the impact bent it back into place! I know I was grinning big and tried not to laugh; I really did feel sorry for the lady who hit us (it was her husband's truck), but I told her we were fine and late for an appointment and didn't need a police report or assistance. She agreed (well, it was her fault, so she was getting out of a ticket...) and we left. I barely made it to the store before closing and got my new guitar After all, it's about priorities! :lol:

I have a couple more to tell later about a former bass player and his gear, but in the meantime, Please add your music shopping stories...

 

[Stroud]

i went on a website

i ordered strings

they arrived 2 days later...

 

[Grgzilla]

Not so much a shopping story but a bass shop story.When I was promoting the Aussie bass fest I managed to get a now out of bussiness bass shop to have our fliers on their counter for people to take.The owners of the shop didnt like Warwick,didnt like the Warwick distributor & went out of their way to not sell anything made by Warwick.One of the shop assistants(G'day Adam & Adge if you're reading this) god love em,thought there was nothing wrong with promoting bass events so they handed them out for me.But when I went back to re-supply them with fliers the boss was there,he wasnt in a good mood coz his bussiness was going broke & I was advised they didnt need anymore fliers.
Pretty arsey eh.

 

[flipper_gv]

i went on a website

i ordered strings

they arrived 2 days later...

wow that's damn fast

 

[Stroud]

i went on a website

i ordered strings

they arrived 2 days later...

wow that's damn fast

stringsdirect.com is always super speedy.

anyway my story was meant to be as boring as possible. i wasnt expecting a reply :wink:

 

[naetog]

Guitar Center is a constant pain in the ass. Sometimes one finds a good deal, but it almost isn't worth the harassment from the salespeople.

If they had a "leave me alone I just want to browse" badge I could put on when I went in I'd be much more inclined to go back.

 

[maddrakkett]

Guitar Center is a constant pain in the a**. Sometimes one finds a good deal, but it almost isn't worth the harassment from the salespeople.

If they had a "leave me alone I just want to browse" badge I could put on when I went in I'd be much more inclined to go back.

Well my own experience has only been that way in one GC, and they weren't pushy, just extra friendly, several different salespeople throughout the store saying, "hello" and "can I help you?" but they left me alone when I said I was just looking.

But in their effects and accessories departments, when I do find something, it seems there's a mob of people ahead of me, or else I can't find a salesperson anywhere to conduct the transaction! :lol:

I have to admit that I've been treated pretty well overall, having bought 3 of my Warwicks, an SWR head, a Behringer combo, and most of my effects from several different GCs between Arizona and Southern California. I even had a pleasant conversation about playing bass in the church with a salesman/fellow bassist at the Lawndale, CA store and I'm on a first name basis with salsemen at the Phoenix and Scottsdale stores now.

 

[ThirdthumB]

i went on a website

i ordered strings

they arrived 2 days later...

wow that's damn fast

stringsdirect.com is always super speedy.

anyway my story was meant to be as boring as possible. i wasnt expecting a reply :wink:

Haha. It is very boring. That's why I thought it was so frukking funny. :lol:

 

[saxonbass]

i went on a website

i ordered strings

they arrived 2 days later...

wow that's damn fast

stringsdirect.com is always super speedy.

anyway my story was meant to be as boring as possible. i wasnt expecting a reply :wink:

Haha. It is very boring. That's why I thought it was so frukking funny. :lol:

When I've ordered strings from Stringsdirect they usually arrive the very next day... even when you order late in the afternoon. 2 days doesn't sound up to their usual standards!

Stringsdirect went onto sending strings in a packet that wouldn't fit through my door, so I had to go down to the post office to pick them up. The packet looked like it was designed for two packets of strings, but it was a bit of a pain when you only ordered one packet!

It was during that time I tried getting strings from Stringbusters - they sent their stuff in a softer envelope so it got through the door, which was better, and they were just as quick as stringsdirect!

They both have a different way of accounting for postage and packing though... so one company seems cheaper at first, but then when you get to the "checkout", when the p&p is added, they are both about the same price. So sometimes it's hard to decide which one to go for, but I think Stringsdirect has gone back to packing that will fit through the door again, so I think I'll give them a try again.

What do you all think?

 

[ThirdthumB]

When I've ordered strings from Stringsdirect they usually arrive the very next day... even when you order late in the afternoon. 2 days doesn't sound up to their usual standards!

Stringsdirect went onto sending strings in a packet that wouldn't fit through my door, so I had to go down to the post office to pick them up. The packet looked like it was designed for two packets of strings, but it was a bit of a pain when you only ordered one packet!

It was during that time I tried getting strings from Stringbusters - they sent their stuff in a softer envelope so it got through the door, which was better, and they were just as quick as stringsdirect!

They both have a different way of accounting for postage and packing though... so one company seems cheaper at first, but then when you get to the "checkout", when the p&p is added, they are both about the same price. So sometimes it's hard to decide which one to go for, but I think Stringsdirect has gone back to packing that will fit through the door again, so I think I'll give them a try again.

What do you all think?

I'm an old fashioned bloke: I don't buy stuff from internet. Instead I drag my butt to a shop that actually sells the strings or whatever I need. 8)

 

[maddrakkett]

I'm an old fashioned bloke: I don't buy stuff from internet. Instead I drag my butt to a shop that actually sells the strings or whatever I need. 8)

Same here. I have The Bass Place near my route and they are the only local dealer who carries Warwick strings, so I just get them from there. Trouble is, they ran out of EMPs and in fact, EMPs are becoming very scarce here in the USA and only few internet dealers like Mike's Chop Shop carry them anymore at present.

Even Tyler at Dana B. Goods was out of stock on EMPs and couldn't get them! :shock:

So I'm going back to Black Label or DR...

Dennis, owner of The Bass Place, told me that D'Addario makes their own ESP strings that are the same process and because people are familiar with D'Addario but not too many know about Warwick EMP, we may be seeing less and less of the EMPs... Is this true, or is that just for their store?

 

[Ian]

3 years ago I went to one of the worst music shop in Lyon, the guys over there are complete idiots. I asked one of the guys "May I try the Stingray over there?"

He answered me "no, sorry, we don't let people play the Stingray, or you have to be sure you're gonna buy it to test it"... WTF ? How do you want me to be sure that I'll at least like it if I don't even play it before... :roll:

Same story months later... "May I try the Fender Jazz Bass over here ?"

"The Squier ?"

"Nope, the FENDER"

"No sorry".

ffs.

Stupid guys I told you. In other shops, I've been able to play almost anything I wanted to...

 

[maddrakkett]

Well my bass player back in the '80s was willing to ride a Moped and then own a junker car just to save the money for his bass gear. Mopeds were not popular for a High School student in those days (very uncool to pick up a chick on a Moped! :roll: ), but one day my friend showed up to school in a body cast almost from head to toe. I asked him what happened and he said he wiped out on his Moped! He said the front wheel came loose and the forks stuck right into the asphalt and he went for a horrendous tumble. When the paramedics came and took him to the hospital, he kept asking them to check his fingers because he was a bass player. That was all that mattered to him was that his fingers were still operational so that he could continue to play the bass! Sacrifice a good ride for good gear and save the fingers first to play said gear. Now THAT's dedication! 8)

 

[Stroud]

When I've ordered strings from Stringsdirect they usually arrive the very next day... even when you order late in the afternoon. 2 days doesn't sound up to their usual standards!

Stringsdirect went onto sending strings in a packet that wouldn't fit through my door, so I had to go down to the post office to pick them up. The packet looked like it was designed for two packets of strings, but it was a bit of a pain when you only ordered one packet!

It was during that time I tried getting strings from Stringbusters - they sent their stuff in a softer envelope so it got through the door, which was better, and they were just as quick as stringsdirect!

They both have a different way of accounting for postage and packing though... so one company seems cheaper at first, but then when you get to the "checkout", when the p&p is added, they are both about the same price. So sometimes it's hard to decide which one to go for, but I think Stringsdirect has gone back to packing that will fit through the door again, so I think I'll give them a try again.

What do you all think?

I'm an old fashioned bloke: I don't buy stuff from internet. Instead I drag my butt to a shop that actually sells the strings or whatever I need. 8)

there are no warwicks or warwick gear in nottinghamshire...period

 

[ThirdthumB]

When I've ordered strings from Stringsdirect they usually arrive the very next day... even when you order late in the afternoon. 2 days doesn't sound up to their usual standards!

Stringsdirect went onto sending strings in a packet that wouldn't fit through my door, so I had to go down to the post office to pick them up. The packet looked like it was designed for two packets of strings, but it was a bit of a pain when you only ordered one packet!

It was during that time I tried getting strings from Stringbusters - they sent their stuff in a softer envelope so it got through the door, which was better, and they were just as quick as stringsdirect!

They both have a different way of accounting for postage and packing though... so one company seems cheaper at first, but then when you get to the "checkout", when the p&p is added, they are both about the same price. So sometimes it's hard to decide which one to go for, but I think Stringsdirect has gone back to packing that will fit through the door again, so I think I'll give them a try again.

What do you all think?

I'm an old fashioned bloke: I don't buy stuff from internet. Instead I drag my butt to a shop that actually sells the strings or whatever I need. 8)

there are no warwicks or warwick gear in nottinghamshire...period

Aren't there some shops that can order Warwick stuff for you ??

 

[maddrakkett]

there are no warwicks or warwick gear in nottinghamshire...period

Wow, and I thought we had it bad not being able to get EMP strings, wax, or Warwick amps locally...

 

[boston asphalt2]

Guitar Center near me just let me put a COrvette STD Bubinga 5 string on layaway until I can sell off my stingray bass, and they asked me if I wanted a soft case for it. When I told them that it sould come with one,l they told me it doesnt, and doesnt come with all the ot her shit I mentioned.

SO, I fought them until they knocked another hundred bucks off the bass. Bass price for NEW on clearance Corvette Bubinga STD 5 = 750USD!!!

 

[maddrakkett]

Guitar Center near me just let me put a COrvette STD Bubinga 5 string on layaway until I can sell off my stingray bass, and they asked me if I wanted a soft case for it. When I told them that it sould come with one,l they told me it doesnt, and doesnt come with all the ot her sh*t I mentioned.

SO, I fought them until they knocked another hundred bucks off the bass. Bass price for NEW on clearance Corvette Bubinga STD 5 = 750USD!!!

Now that's a sweet deal! You can always get a case ordered from Dana B. Goods and still have a great deal out of it!

BTW, when I picked up my Dirty Blonde at The Bass Place, they couldn't find the case. In fact, they had three new Warwick basses, plus my used DB, and only two RockBags. The owner asked if I wanted a hard case and I told him I prefer the RockBags, so he gave me one of the two RockBags they had! Thankfully they had the full User Kit and proper certificate, so it was as if I had gotten a new bass, seeing how the condition of it was better than I've seen many times in GC!

 

[Doog]

I'm an old fashioned bloke: I don't buy stuff from internet. Instead I drag my butt to a shop that actually sells the strings or whatever I need. 8)

I buy almost everything off the internet. Especially big dollar items. Save you a ton of money, and you'll get it in days rather than weeks or months. Better selection, lower prices, easy to browse hundreds of shops from the comfort of your computer room, beer on hand.

I will say the staff at the local GC are great guys. Really nice, not heavy handed, though think they know me by now, I'm there all the time.

 

[maddrakkett]

I'm an old fashioned bloke: I don't buy stuff from internet. Instead I drag my butt to a shop that actually sells the strings or whatever I need. 8)

I buy almost everything off the internet. Especially big dollar items. Save you a ton of money, and you'll get it in days rather than weeks or months. Better selection, lower prices, easy to browse hundreds of shops from the comfort of your computer room, beer on hand.

I will say the staff at the local GC are great guys. Really nice, not heavy handed, though think they know me by now, I'm there all the time.

I do agree about the convenience of internet shopping, though you don't get the "hands-on" that's important when buying an instrument. Also, the local shop is the fastest way to get something if it's in stock.


As for not in stock items, GC always asks if I want to order items they don't have. When I ask how long it will take to get it in, they say about 4 weeks! :shock: Funny how the internet version of GC, or MF, or eBay, or whoever, can get it to me in at least half that time.

Also, I always have fun going to local shops (especially GC) when I have specific questions about gear - I end up educating the sales staff every time! :lol: Warwick presents a great opportunity for this because GC's sales staff are not that informed about important details of tone and construction. For the most part, they have a line of Corvettes hanging on the wall amongst the Fender, Ibanez, and Ocean basses they spend their time pushing. Occassionally they'll get an expert salesman (like the Lawndale and Scottsdale stores) who appreciates a good instrument like Warwick, and you'll actually see a Thumb or a Dolphin (Scottsdale store has a beaut of a Dolphin Pro I) in stock. When I was a guitarist, the bass players from my bands used to like going with me to the shops because for one thing, I helped them find better gear than they knew how to find on their own, but more so just to see me mess with the salespeople!

Oh, and BTW, I do remember being in one of the GCs a while back in the "Rumble Room." I was just browsing through the basses and in the background was this poor couple getting absolutely hounded by a "used car" type salesman trying to talk the wife/girfriend into letting the guy buy a particular bass he was trying to push on them. I mean, he was pulling out all the stops and she was fighting him tooth and nail! They clearly didn't have the money to begin with, but he kept insisting on using the GC credit program. The poor husband/boyfirend looked lost and confused - not the joy of what should have been a fun experience. You're about to bond with an instrument and the salesman beats you with it instead... :evil: