Gretsch G5655TG - really rather nice Jr sized Gretsch, centre block, black top Filtertrons, the one I was looking at is Snow Crest White with gold hardware - lovely.
On the wall in my local shop at £819 (though oddly on their website at £779).
I looked on on the web to gain a bit of traction for negotiation...
various offerings (all reputable) from £799 down to £679. Already I’m thinking that I can’t ask for that price from my local...
Thomann - £517 SHIPPED.
I understand economies of scale and big orders attracting discounts but REALLY? Fender will have no shops to sell to at this rate.
(My wife doesn’t like gold on white so I’m not shopping - but I would have gone Thomann - who wouldn’t?)
Comments
In fact the selection at the above shop is already very limited so most of the time what I'm interested in isn't there to be tried anyway.
I don't know what the answer is. I try and buy all the little things (string, cables, straps, plectrums) from the shop to at least give them some business but as the price gap widens on the actual guitars it becomes impossible to justify handing over a large extra chunk of money to buy it locally. (if they even have it).
In the summer I went with a friend to PMT who wanted a particular USA Tele in blue ... they never had a blue one in stock so we tried a yellow one which was great, very lively, harmonics ringing out everywhere, very even volume of notes all over the fingerboard. Really good guitar so ordered a blue one in which took a few days. Well the blue one was same model as the yellow one and same spec but not half as good.
I tried 11 Epiohone Les paul's before I brought one, in the end I brought a used one with no pickups for more money than a brand new one was in Nevada at the time. It was simply a better guitar and worth the extra and the cost of pickups. These things are made of wood and they are all different ... some bits of wood just sound better or go better with other bits of wood. I don't know the science behind it but some are just livelier than others.
I think with guitars you really do need to try them and that's where the shop beats the online guys. I know you can return them, distance selling rules and all that but what a ball ache.
I can't be arsed to use the box-shifters like a library.
And music shops aren't unpleasant environments.
Plus, I rarely buy new so places like Thomann hold no interest for me.
Or do you mean
"More than I can get it for elsewhere" - and there's a massive difference between those two sentences.
Everyone likes a bargain, but there is a degree of something for nothing here. And yes, its whats killing the high street.
If you are happy to buy a box from a warehouse, carry on. But when (not if) it goes wrong, its a world of pain to put it right.
And if there is a problem later, you can go back and they will help resolve the issue easily and effortlessly.
And the maintenance thing- guitar setups, amp servicing etc
That's what you're paying for and it applies to anything one can buy in a high street store (sports equipment etc)
In theory...used to be the case when I was younger, these days most of the places I have visited are staffed by morons who couldn't give a toss and they don't have decent stock anyway so it's easier to research online and buy from a megastore.
Also aware there's more than one side to it, e.g. folks who might go into a store, try the gear, take the advice and then buy online anyways. I wouldn't, but...
My boss didn't suffer fools well and politely told her to do one!!
I understand their viewpoint but they did rip all of us for years before the internet came along. There was only one place in London at the time to get stuff so they'd rip you off massively. Fortuantely I have half my family in Canada who'd send/bring stuff over for me.
If the pound wasn't tanking it be interesting to see how cheap those Gretsch's got.
There is also a UK distributor for Gretsch and it may be that Thomann import directly so that's another layer of cost gone.
And, yes, I am now thinking about buying a Gretsch. Damn them.