And we wonder why the high street is going down the tubes...

RonnieHotdogs

I have only ever bought one guitar (out of about 20) without playing it first, and of course sods law says it was a disaster, returned for a refund and slapped myself on the wrist.
However, I live in SE London/Kent borders. If I want to buy a decent £1k/£2k guitar there is NOWHERE in SE London or the whole of Kent that I know of, that stocks high end Fenders or Gibsons, let alone Rickenbacker or Gretsch pro line.

Given affluent areas like Blackheath, Dulwich, Sevenoaks, Tun Wells, Canterbury etc , you'd think there'd be enough market to justify one decent shop, a GAK/Andertons clone would be great, a Guitar Village clone would be better.

I don't understand anyone spending thousands on a guitar without playing it, so what are SE London/Kent higher end guitar buyers meant to do ? 
Or are there shops I have missed? 

RaymondLin

I still buy from "high street" shops but 99% through their website, at most i would browse online then head in to buy in person.

mattdavis

RonnieHotdogs said:

, so what are SE London/Kent higher end guitar buyers meant to do ?  

Move to SW london /Surrey - it’s much better innit :-)

Lewy

RonnieHotdogs said:

I don't understand anyone spending thousands on a guitar without playing it

I think it boils down to whether you know what you want or not. If you don't, probably best to go to some shops and kick some tyres. A massively time consuming exercise which stands a high chance of failure though. If you do know what you want, I think for a lot of people buying online is a much better experience. I can order a guitar online, receive it, play it, if I don't like, pack it back up and send it back for a refund inside 48 hrs. If I want to go to a decent guitar shop and buy it (assuming they have it which they probably don't) it would be about 2 weeks before I could get time to go.

hollywoodrox

I can’t imagine going to A shop and them letting you try 10 jem juniors to see which is best unless it’s some huge superstore like they have in the states . A lot of people want to buy guitars in the £300 to £600 range or even lower . This still represents a huge outlay for lots of people and they want to get an item that is fit for purpose , a lot of people may feel reticent or embarrassed to ask in store to try a number of different pieces of stock . This is assuming the shop has such a wide array of pieces of stock. Unless it’s an Andertons or Gak type affair. Lots of small shops can only afford to take on smaller brands as they have to commit to a certain number of pieces for the big brands I imagine.  With distance selling laws one can buy from shops with reasonable reputations like Andertons and have the option of returning the item should it have some kind of flaw that makes it unsuitable for playing .

mrleon83

A friend once said people know the cost of everything and the value of nothing .. it’s still hard to pay more though.. 

AlbertC

RonnieHotdogs said:

so what are SE London/Kent higher end guitar buyers meant to do ? 

Get on a train to London? That's what I do

Rocker

In the internet buying age, a lot of people equate price with value.  Which it most certainly is not.  On this forum, there have been many threads on 'where can I get the cheapest strings?'.  Such is the daftness of considering 'saving' a few pounds/Euro on a set of guitar strings!  Without strings a guitar is no longer a musical instrument.  It is a few bits of wood, nicely finished, screwed or glued together.  It does not matter if it is a Gibson, a Fender or any other, the strings make the wood bits into a working guitar.  So why skimp of such crucial parts?

What applies to guitar strings also applies to just about everything else connected to making music.  I believe it is better, if possible, to support your local or not so local bricks and mortar shops.  I have bought items from Thomann, mainly heavy and awkward to carry on the train, - this saves me having to try and find a parking space near one of the music shops in the city of Dublin.  I only bought one of my guitars without playing it first, it was bought from Charlie Chandler and setup by his workshop to my specifications.

The reality is that if we continue to not support the music shops, where will the techs who repair our amps and setup our guitars to be found?  Where, other than at a noisy guitar show, can we call in and try out some FX pedals, if not in a music shop.  Pricewise the shops cannot compete with Thomann and other box movers.  But, as I have argued many times. there is more to value than low prices.  Good advice, guidance on products like pickups, somewhere that music teachers can leave their contact details etc.etc.

When the bricks and mortar shops are gone, they most definitely are gone.  And we will be all the worse off as a result.

GoldenEraGuitars

Rocker said:

When the bricks and mortar shops are gone, they most definitely are gone.  And we will be all the worse off as a result.

But sure, as long as they’re saving 10p per string with their internet purchase that’s the main thing

RonnieHotdogs

AlbertC said:

RonnieHotdogs said:

so what are SE London/Kent higher end guitar buyers meant to do ? 

Get on a train to London? That's what I do

me too, or have a day out in Brighton, still seems crazy to me that the area is so barren 

RonnieHotdogs

mattdavis said:

RonnieHotdogs said:

, so what are SE London/Kent higher end guitar buyers meant to do ?  

Move to SW london /Surrey - it’s much better innit :-)

nah, it's a bit too safe for us. 

bgmartinsbridge

Just becomes a race to the bottom and most people don't see or more importantly care what happens.

Weve got a non music nearby shop that's been around for 15 years and a big low price retailer has been given planning permission to open directly next to him. He said he would have to close. 

One of my neighbours said great, the new shop is cheaper. Ignoring quality, service or history. And the local Councillor said its great for competition (doh).

UnclePsychosis

Not really much to add to the debate because we've been over this a lot but I've always found it a bit strange that people seem to like spending their spare time hanging out in guitar shops just for funsies.

"I'm spending the weekend in one of the world's greatest cities with my partner, what guitar shops should I visit?" will never make sense to me! 

crunchman

jeztone2 said:

I find this interesting.

I was in Leipzig two weeks ago. Next to my hotel was a small mom and pop guitar store and it was really busy. Yet Germany is the home of Thomann? 

Then I walked around Leipzig City centre and saw hardly any homeless people and one empty shop front. The department stores were doing a roaring trade.

I’m starting to think the Mary Portas excuse for the high street is bullshit. I just think incomes have been squeezed since 2008, and it’s created this race to the bottom on price. It’s worrying. 

I suspect that Germany doesn't have our business rates, and that rents are lower.

prowla

bgmartinsbridge said:

Just becomes a race to the bottom and most people don't see or more importantly care what happens.

Weve got a non music nearby shop that's been around for 15 years and a big low price retailer has been given planning permission to open directly next to him. He said he would have to close. 

One of my neighbours said great, the new shop is cheaper. Ignoring quality, service or history. And the local Councillor said its great for competition (doh).

Well, shops exist to sell things to people who want to buy them; if they don’t have the product then they can’t sell it. 

I’ve bought 3 guitars in the past week, none from a shop (2 via FB and one at a guitar fair).

As far as other shops go, there’s a local tool shop I like to try first, but last weekend I took something in which had broke and one of the staff gave me some attitude, so I may revise that. 
I do think you have a point about councils, though - they seem to just want the same chains in every town, with no personality. And so long as they can charge you for car parking they’re happy. 

midlifecrisis

i notice theres a general attitude with consumers these days, not just guitars but other products. If dealer A has a product for sale at £200 and then Dealer B has the same product for £190 its assumed dealer A is ripping everyone off, and dealer B is the honest seller. Then dealer C comes along and offers same product for £180 and makes dealers A and B villains.  Is this what is meant as the race to the bottom.

FelineGuitars

Starting to think that many simply wait for the closing down/liquidation of stock sales (and then moan about there being no shops to look at things in)

OilCityPickups

FelineGuitars said:

Starting to think that many simply wait for the closing down/liquidation of stock sales (and then moan about there being no shops to look at things in)

This ... absolutely.

We are about to start selling strings, pics, etc, and some hardware etc as we have a high street address and people keep finding us on Google as a music retailer. We will make beggar all much on these, but feel, seeing as all the local music shops have closed down, we look at as a service for the local community.

guitars4you

It is obvious that many of us now buy mail order - Be it via a shop, e-bay, FB or Reverb etc - Yet for those that wish to visit a traditional store, to peruse a strong selection of product, that so many good UK stores are not located in the big cities - ie Coda, Peach, Guitar Village, Andertons, Sound Affects, Mansons, World Guitars etc etc - Granted they are easy to get to, for many of us,  as they are easily found just off motorways or major A roads - Thomann adopts a similar format as they are miles from the big major cities - There are various reasons for this format - In fact only Guitar Guitar and PMT are 2 of the main players who adopt the open in a big city format

Yet the way it has panned out, for various reasons, you can't expect to find a Coda, Peach or WG style store in every city and suburb of the UK - Great if they are on your doorstep - But the trade has become so specialized, that a great store in each town is no longer possible - Good job you don't play drums or saxophone, as such stores on the high street are very remote indeed

I think the same applies to so many other products - If I'm open minded and require a car for 3 or 4K then I can probably find one in my small town - If I'm more fixed on a make/model then I'll have to travel 15 miles or so to a larger town - If I want say a used Audi RS6, with less than 5k on the clock, with a nice styling kit, alloys and a specific colour, then I may well have to travel 50 miles - Apply this back to our trade and it appears as though some think this is fine, whilst others, for various reasons, don't require or want this option - The choice is ours

I'm sure many local based stores are fighting to keep a day to day business a float - I'm sure some are better than others, regarding service, stock, price etc - But it isn't easy today

guitars4you

OilCityPickups said:

FelineGuitars said:

Starting to think that many simply wait for the closing down/liquidation of stock sales (and then moan about there being no shops to look at things in)

This ... absolutely.

We are about to start selling strings, pics, etc, and some hardware etc as we have a high street address and people keep finding us on Google as a music retailer. We will make beggar all much on these, but feel, seeing as all the local music shops have closed down, we look at as a service for the local community.

Be careful Ash - the strings, pics, cables and many other accessories are fairly easy to monitor, control, sell etc

Hardware is more of a hiding to nothing these days - Take machine heads - Far to many options - Take nylon strung - 3 on a plate or single tuners - Plain buttons or deluxe - chrome or gold - Then add steel string options and I guarantee that if you have 20 different sets in stock, the first customer request you have will be for something you don't have in stock - 3 a side - 6 a side- chrome or nickel, even gold or black chrome - Vintage style or modern - Tulip or kidney buttons - locking or non-locking - staggered string posts or traditional vintage etc - And that is before having to find the appropriate tuners with the brand name logos on them 

I opened 15 years ago - I still have some spares in stock I purchased almost 15 years ago and have never sold - Yet they are the type of tuners found on many far eastern mid/budget based - You will have some stock that just won't sell