What do YOU want from a small brick & mortar store?

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  • NikcNikc Frets: 627
    coffee have coffee even just a vending machine - I pop in to my local shop have a chat and pretty always buy something - and have a coffee ;)
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  • AlvinAlvin Frets: 412
    edited July 2018
      The main two things that put me off some shops are having things all over the floor with hardly any free space to walk , so you have to step very carefully to avoid knocking things over (one shop in Birmingham is/was terrible for this) .
     And a constant barrage of noise at 110db of someone trying a guitar out .  I know everyone who wants to try a guitar needs to hear it but you can tell an awfull lot without having it plugged in .  When Musical Exchanges was trading i don't think i ever visited once without being able to look around in peace , which considering the size of the place they could have easily had a seperate test area away from the shop floor .

       It is difficult for a  retailer nowadays knowing what market to cater for but you don't need 50 different versions of a strat or Les Pauls in 100 different colours  , just a few choice ones would be better at different price points but that is a problem when the manufacturors insist you stock every model they make .  And making so many different versions is unnecessary and confusing anyway . 
         At the cheaper end a brand like Vintage would be a better bet you get more bang for your buck than from many other brands , i think their bold logo puts people off but they are decent . 
       Something different and superstrat like , Palmbay  , not that well known but quality guitars and originally a British made guitar .  I am sure they would welcome another dealer as they don't seem to have many and sell online which must put people off , difficult to beat them for the price.    
       Then stock a couple of high end brands , but something different where you can try and order to customer specs so you don't need to stock every version . If you are the only dealer they can't go elsewhere  - thinking Keisel but i don't know if they have dealers anymore , not in this country as far as  i know .

     
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    @JamesSGBrown ; Congratulations on starting a supplier thread which gets so many useful contributions. We’ve got to the end of page 2 without some silly sod expounding his belief that any supplier is the spawn of a capitalist devil.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • jeztone2jeztone2 Frets: 2160
    edited July 2018
    A comprehensive selection of accessories. I won’t be buying a new guitar every month. But cables, power leads, midi leads, strings, picks, straps, strap locks, tools, tuners etc etc. Set ups too! Well priced with a speedy turnaround. 

    Back in the mid 2000’s I remember the most used phrase I used to hear in Sound Control Derby was “Out of stock til Thursday mate”. Usually I had a gig on the Wednesday so I’d hop over to Nottingham and go to Hot Rox. Who are still in business, whereas Sound Control are not. 
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  • JamesSGBrownJamesSGBrown Frets: 233
    Roland said:
    @JamesSGBrown ; Congratulations on starting a supplier thread which gets so many useful contributions. We’ve got to the end of page 2 without some silly sod expounding his belief that any supplier is the spawn of a capitalist devil.
    Ha, I’m genuinely pleasantly at the range of replies here! 
    Thank you everyone, lots of thought fodder. 
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  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10337
    Alvin said:
      The main two things that put me off some shops are having things all over the floor with hardly any free space to walk , so you have to step very carefully to avoid knocking things over (one shop in Birmingham is/was terrible for this) .
     And a constant barrage of noise at 110db of someone trying a guitar out .  I know everyone who wants to try a guitar needs to hear it but you can tell an awfull lot without having it plugged in .  When Musical Exchanges was trading i don't think i ever visited once without being able to look around in peace , which considering the size of the place they could have easily had a seperate test area away from the shop floor .

       It is difficult for a  retailer nowadays knowing what market to cater for but you don't need 50 different versions of a strat or Les Pauls in 100 different colours  , just a few choice ones would be better at different price points but that is a problem when the manufacturors insist you stock every model they make .  And making so many different versions is unnecessary and confusing anyway . 
         At the cheaper end a brand like Vintage would be a better bet you get more bang for your buck than from many other brands , i think their bold logo puts people off but they are decent . 
       Something different and superstrat like , Palmbay  , not that well known but quality guitars and originally a British made guitar .  I am sure they would welcome another dealer as they don't seem to have many and sell online which must put people off , difficult to beat them for the price.    
       Then stock a couple of high end brands , but something different where you can try and order to customer specs so you don't need to stock every version . If you are the only dealer they can't go elsewhere  - thinking Keisel but i don't know if they have dealers anymore , not in this country as far as  i know .

     
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    I think the majority of guitar players want a selection of fender or Gibson when they go to a shop. There is a reason why they are the big two
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • fretfinderfretfinder Frets: 4978
    miserneil said: For me, Chris at @ampguitars in Macclesfield has it pretty much nailed, the decor (as mentioned above), stock selection and just general customer care is A1. I've been in perhaps only 5 times (we've since become pals on Facebook) and he greets me by name, offers a cup of tea straight away and we sit and chat about music, what's come in, what's coming in, what's gone out, he understands what I like and suggests some stuff, all in a no pressure environment. So much so, of the 5 times I've been in, only once have I not come out with a new guitar which were mostly unintentional purchases! 
    I’ve just looked at the ampguitars website and he has some reasonably nice stuff. But for the vast majority of all the second hand guitars for sale there’s no price shown, it just says ‘call for asking price’, even on bog standard stuff like a used AVRI Strat and Gibbo 339. That’s such a huge turn-off for me, I won’t call unless there’s something I’m gagging for and so I’ll just move on and look elsewhere. Next time you’re in there Neil maybe you can get him to see the error of his ways in this!

    Oh and for all guitar shops on their websites (personal beef alert!) they should list accurate weights for any decent guitars they’re selling - like Coda, Peach, World Guitars, Oasis Music and a few other enlightened purveyors already do...!  :)
    250+ positive trading feedbacks: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57830/
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  • Phil_aka_PipPhil_aka_Pip Frets: 9794
      
    I think the majority of guitar players want a selection of fender or Gibson when they go to a shop. There is a reason why they are the big two
    I think you are right, but there's a caveat.

    Despite me saying before now that you can't have too many Gibsons, I have an LP, SG and an ES-335. If money were no object I'd probably have more than one of each, but unless I came across another LP/SG/335 that I liked enough to trade an already-loved instrument for, I'd be looking out for the less-common instruments eg ES-330 or ES-175. Whereas a lot of the Fender or Gibson dealers I've seen just have walls full of Strats or LPs. Maybe I'm not the kind of punter they're after ...
    "Working" software has only unobserved bugs. (Parroty Error: Pieces of Nine! Pieces of Nine!)
    Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
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  • FezFez Frets: 499
    Some great comments worthy of any retailers attention in this thread. I doubt TLGS will have room for toilets and coffee machine but these are very good things to have. When we were in GG Epsom a couple of weeks back the lad doing his best to sell me a PRS made Mrs Fez a coffee which went down well with her. If we are spending any length of time in a guitar emporium the chances are one of us will want a comfort break.
    Don't touch that dial.
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  • richardhomerrichardhomer Frets: 24793
    edited July 2018
    miserneil said: For me, Chris at @ampguitars in Macclesfield has it pretty much nailed, the decor (as mentioned above), stock selection and just general customer care is A1. I've been in perhaps only 5 times (we've since become pals on Facebook) and he greets me by name, offers a cup of tea straight away and we sit and chat about music, what's come in, what's coming in, what's gone out, he understands what I like and suggests some stuff, all in a no pressure environment. So much so, of the 5 times I've been in, only once have I not come out with a new guitar which were mostly unintentional purchases! 
    I’ve just looked at the ampguitars website and he has some reasonably nice stuff. But for the vast majority of all the second hand guitars for sale there’s no price shown, it just says ‘call for asking price’, even on bog standard stuff like a used AVRI Strat and Gibbo 339. That’s such a huge turn-off for me, I won’t call unless there’s something I’m gagging for and so I’ll just move on and look elsewhere. Next time you’re in there Neil maybe you can get him to see the error of his ways in this!
    I agree with @miserneil about Amp - I think what Chris aims to do is provide an ‘old school’ bricks and mortar experience - rather than being ‘on-line’ with a shop front.

    Whenever I’ve been in, he seems to have a steady flow of regular customers passing through - and the first name/tea treatment is all part of the experience. The CS Strat and Musicman combo in my profile pic were both ‘accidental’ purchases from there.

    In a world of stores that all look like a branch of Dawsons - this place really stands out.
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    Fez said:
    Some great comments worthy of any retailers attention in this thread. I doubt TLGS will have room for toilets and coffee machine but these are very good things to have. When we were in GG Epsom a couple of weeks back the lad doing his best to sell me a PRS made Mrs Fez a coffee which went down well with her. If we are spending any length of time in a guitar emporium the chances are one of us will want a comfort break.
    Although it's a tiny shop as I mentioned earlier there are some nice facilities around it. There's a jewellery repair place we've used there and they give you a voucher for the coffee shop across the road if you are waiting for a job to be done or contemplating a purchase. Don't know what it costs them but it stops you leaving the area. 
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • fretfinderfretfinder Frets: 4978
    edited July 2018
    miserneil said: For me, Chris at @ampguitars in Macclesfield has it pretty much nailed, the decor (as mentioned above), stock selection and just general customer care is A1. I've been in perhaps only 5 times (we've since become pals on Facebook) and he greets me by name, offers a cup of tea straight away and we sit and chat about music, what's come in, what's coming in, what's gone out, he understands what I like and suggests some stuff, all in a no pressure environment. So much so, of the 5 times I've been in, only once have I not come out with a new guitar which were mostly unintentional purchases! 
    I’ve just looked at the ampguitars website and he has some reasonably nice stuff. But for the vast majority of all the second hand guitars for sale there’s no price shown, it just says ‘call for asking price’, even on bog standard stuff like a used AVRI Strat and Gibbo 339. That’s such a huge turn-off for me, I won’t call unless there’s something I’m gagging for and so I’ll just move on and look elsewhere. Next time you’re in there Neil maybe you can get him to see the error of his ways in this!
    I agree with @miserneil about Amp - I think what Chris aims to do is provide an ‘old school’ bricks and mortar experience - rather than being ‘on-line’ with a shop front.

    Whenever I’ve been in, he seems to have a steady flow of regular customers passing through - and the first name/tea treatment is all part of the experience. The CS Strat and Musicman combo in my profile pic were both ‘accidental’ purchases from there.

    In a world of stores that all look like a branch of Dawsons - this place really stands out.
    Sounds good. Do all the half-decent pieces of gear in the shop have a card on them saying ‘£please ask’, instead of an asking price?  :)
    250+ positive trading feedbacks: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57830/
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