Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: nfe on April 30, 2008, 05:36:10 PM
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As of today, administrators closed 13 stores so I think that leaves 12 remaining open, the superstores mostly, 100's of folks made redundant.
http://www.mi-pro.co.uk/news/29485/BREAKING-NEWS-Sound-Control-files-for-administration?comment=0#comments
Guess there'll be an enormous knock on effect for the industry. I've already heard that if debts aren't paid there's a fair chance Headline for one will go bust. Half of the new Gibson UK's forcasted goals were due to be taken by Soundcontrol in the next few weeks...
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Hmmm
I don't really know what to feel here. Yes they were overpriced and some of the staff needed a personality bypass but it's real people out of work.
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Feel the same.
Good the shop's gone - Sorry about the staff =/
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I wonder where all the stock will go, if the remaining stores close?
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wow :o
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it's a shame they're closing, the Newcastle shop is really cool - has some nice stuff in there.
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What do you all think of this dolphin music email I just recieved:
Sound Control/Turnkey go into Administration.
After many months of speculation and rumour it has been revealed today, 30th April 2008, that Sound Control, including Turnkey, have gone into administration.
At least 10 stores have already closed and unfortunately 100+ staff have been laid-off. At this time we have no further information, but what is quite clear is that any new or existing orders are unlikely to be fulfilled.
We take customer service very seriously at Dolphin Music, so in view of the demise of Sound Control, we will be increasing staffing levels this week & this weekend to ensure that we can meet the increased demand.
In view of the serious impact these events could have on customers who have placed orders in good faith, Dolphin Music would like to offer an advice service to any worried Sound Control or Turnkey customers. Anyone seeking advice on how to cancel a Sound Control or Turnkey order and ensure that they receive a refund should call the number below and one of our advisors will be happy to assist.
Any customers planning to make a purchase from Sound Control or Turnkey are equally welcome to call Dolphin Music and we will match or better the price offered by them.
For Sales or Advice please call Dolphin Music Sales: 0844 815 0888
Finally, the Dolphin Music team would like to express sympathy for all the staff that have lost their jobs as a result of these unfortunate events.
Seems a cheap way to take their business away don't you think?
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Seems a cheap way to take their business away don't you think?
It's a cheap shot for sure, but frankly in business high ideals don't last long in the face of a bottom line. Dolphin are taking advantage sure, but if not them then someone else will.
I'm not surprised that Soundcontrol have gone under. My local store (Southampton) really didn't induce me to buy anything, it was cool to look around and see some nice gear, but I never felt moved to buy anything from them. By contrast my will power and bank balance seem to just evaporate when I walk in my local music shop.
The only item I did buy from Soundcontrol was my ValveKing and that only because they were the only ones with one in stock at the time.
Oh well, look out for some bankrupt stock soon!
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Hmmm
I don't really know what to feel here. Yes they were overpriced and some of the staff needed a personality bypass but it's real people out of work.
Thing is, it's the pricing that's caused it.
SC were (are) not overpriced, they're average, it's the internet retailers that are priced vastly under the norm, which forces people into a price-match or lose out situation, it just so happens that as the largest retailer in the country, in Europe in fact, that soundcontrol were in that position more than most, so obviously were forced into price matching daft internet prices more than most along with an egotistical head office trying to expand all the time has forced themselves into bankrupcy, costing people their jobs.
On the surface, for other retailers that could be seen as a positive, but it's going to reduce the selection of gear available country-wide as enormous losses hit distributors.
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It's a cheap shot to Soundcontrol, which are/were nice stores, but at the same time it's a damn smart move from Dolphin!
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What do you all think of this dolphin music email I just recieved
Yeah, I got the same email. I don't know whether to be disgusted by their shameless opportunism or impressed by their enterprise! :lol:
SC were (are) not overpriced, they're average, it's the internet retailers that are priced vastly under the norm, which forces people into a price-match or lose out situation
I don't feel too sorry for Sound Control (apart from the staff). There's no reason why they couldn't run the shops and an internet business - but in fact their website was utterly useless.
The likes of Guitar Village, Coda and Machinehead manage it, albeit on a much smaller scale. And the fact that their shops are in the sticks - with presumably lower overheads - must help. Maybe "high street" musical instrument retail just doesn't work in this country.
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Yeah, I got the same email. I don't know whether to be disgusted by their shameless opportunism or impressed by their enterprise! :lol:
A little from column A and a little from column B.
The likes of Guitar Village, Coda and Machinehead manage it, albeit on a much smaller scale. And the fact that their shops are in the sticks - with presumably lower overheads - must help. Maybe "high street" musical instrument retail just doesn't work in this country.
I think the margins are just too small to support a large store and a lot of staff. The local one was an ex supermarket (not one of the huge ones), and frankly it didn't have that much stock in it, it was al very well spaced out, which means their income per square foot must have been awful.
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in regards to price - they did a price matching service which was very good.
Could get anything from the shop for internet prices!
Got a line6 toneport the other day from the brum soundcontrol for £37 cuz GAK had it on offer :P
They never offered very good customer service otherwise though, and I say that on behalf of myself and all my friends who ave experienced pain at the hands of a PestControl employee.
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Cant say I'm sorry
Sound controls stock, staff and (mostly) prices were rubbish.
I think dolphin are right on the ball!
A: Its good business practice. Fair play to them
B: Dolphin are great.
C: The 'new staff' will probably come from sound control in at least small part, and hopefully they can teach them some rudimentary information about the stock and teach them to be polite, helpfull and reliable (which I've always found dolphin to be).
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I never found anything I really wanted to buy whenever I was in Soundcontrol, and to have that effect on me in a guitar shop. They were doomed.
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They managed to get me Mesa parts in about 10 days after I'd been waiting months from an indie... That was just after they opened the London store. Never bought a guitar/amp from them but did get a digital recorder and various bits & pieces over the years.
From what I can see they had a lot of expensive floorspace, and a lot of expensive stuff hanging on the wall not really going anywhere. Their lower-end stuff always seemed to be getting shifted.
As for Turnkey. Hm, well for years I didn't know that the 2 were related. For the average shopper (eg me) they didn't advertise the fact. Turnkey were always expensive though.
I suppose we'll wait & see. The interesting thing is that in central London (Denmark St area) there are only a tiny number of true independents, the rest are chains of one description or another. I'd better have a nose round in the next week or so & see what's going on!
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yeah, i'm definitely not annoyed that turnkey is closing, i wasn't too fussed on the staff in there, serves them right if you ask me. the soundcontrol dudes were always pretty nice to me whenever i was in, and being a chain store you didn't feel too bad trying stuff you weren't really thinking of buying.
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I've already heard that if debts aren't paid there's a fair chance Headline for one will go bust. Half of the new Gibson UK's forcasted goals were due to be taken by Soundcontrol in the next few weeks...
I thought Headline were the PRS distributors? Is it Rosetti who will go under if debts aren't paid, or is Headline in trouble too? I bloody hope they're not, I was looking to buy a PRS later this year.
I feel sorry for the staff concerned though, being out of work through no fault of your own is a horrible situation to be in.
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Headline definitely for PRS, Rosetti for Gibson. I think. :oops:
I'd never buy a PRS new and I've had 2, FWIW. There are plenty of case queens around if you look as there's a certain anal streak to some PRS collectors! :D With the financial situation that's going on it's going to be a buyer's market for a while.
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Headline definitely for PRS, Rosetti for Gibson. I think. :oops:
I'd never buy a PRS new and I've had 2, FWIW. There are plenty of case queens around if you look as there's a certain anal streak to some PRS collectors! :D With the financial situation that's going on it's going to be a buyer's market for a while.
Here's hoping that's going to be the case - I could do with a bargain! Sadly I doubt I'll find what I'm after second-hand - its a Tremonti trem (one of the new ones). Still, worth a look.
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Here's hoping that's going to be the case - I could do with a bargain! Sadly I doubt I'll find what I'm after second-hand - its a Tremonti trem (one of the new ones). Still, worth a look.
Haha, well I'd just keep eyes open in the used market and places like the Birds & Moons forum. If you're not in a hurry something should come up sooner or later... and importing guitars has become something of a habit of mine so I wouldn't disregard that as an option. We don't get the greatest selection of PRS in the UK - USA and Japan get most of the killers! ;) Just so you know.
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I've seen some killer deals on PRS - if you buy them from US ebay.
The trick is finding the right combination of;
a) A seller willing to ship to the UK
b) The right make/model of guitar in the condition you want/need
c) The shipping/insurance price not to be astronomical
If you can get that together it's sometimes great place for a bargain - even with the import duty, VAT etc
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Yes Headline for PRS, who have been frantically calling round Soundcontrols trying to get serial numbers for all their guitars so as to hopefully get them all back pronto from the administrators.
Rosetti got the sack from Gibson a few months ago, it's now Gibson UK who opened as of April 1st. They could be in trouble too, ex-soundcontrol director Ray Miller is the head of Gibson UK and had engineered deals in advance to cover more than half his annual target with soundcontrol alone. Could have some pretty major impact on Gibsons into the UK. Fingers crossed other retailers manage to pick up enough of the slack to keep the distributors from having to up trade prices substantially.
Hopefully, it might end up lifting prices countrywide and actually letting independants get a decent crack of the whip instead of doing their best to help a customer out with a product only to be presented with an internet print out and "Match that" with dolphin and other internet idiots selling a tenner above trade because they have virtually no overheads and destroying the industry in the process.
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Nuts. I hope Soundcontrol don't end up taking Headline down with them. Last thing all the other PRS dealers in the country need is to lose the bloody distributor.
I'm not sure it's going to lift prices that much to be honest. In the current economic climate, I think spending on luxury items like guitars and amps is going to slow down, and those with money to spend are not going to pay over the odds. Whereas people might have used credit to buy an expensive piece of gear, now they are less likely to take credit, and so might go for a less pricey piece of gear, or worse for retailers, no gear at all.
Personally, I think it's going to be a bit of a buyer's market for a little while.
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Rosetti got the sack from Gibson a few months ago, it's now Gibson UK who opened as of April 1st. They could be in trouble too, ex-soundcontrol director Ray Miller is the head of Gibson UK and had engineered deals in advance to cover more than half his annual target with soundcontrol alone. Could have some pretty major impact on Gibsons into the UK.
Owch. That's ugly...
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I dodn't mind Sound Control really. It was a bit pricey but I found the staff fairly nice.......
........ although they were a lot nicer to me when they saw me walking about in a posh suit rather than looking like a scruffy bugger like ususal. I must have been asked if I needed any help about 5 times.
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So, here's the question - how would you go about finding out about the bankrupt stock? Where does it go? Best way to get a bargain?
Thoughts welcome
Mike
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So, here's the question - how would you go about finding out about the bankrupt stock? Where does it go? Best way to get a bargain?
Thoughts welcome
Mike
If the company is bought over by someone, then they'll keep it, if it doesn't, most of it will be reclaimed by suppliers to help cover unpaid accounts.
It's unlikely there will be a massive sell off at massive discount. If there is, the UK MI Industry if gubbed. However many tens of millions of pounds worth of stock flooding the market at once? Other dealers aren't going to make any money at all until that's gone...And if those dealers are losingmoney at a rate of noughts, then they're notgonna be buying anything new, so the distributors are humped...Big consequences.
So it'd be awesome for buyers in the short term, a disaster in the long term.
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The vast majority will go back to the suppliers, certainly tthe high end stuff (Gibson, PRS, Fender etc). It's the cheap stuff that's already paid for that will be discounted.
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The vast majority will go back to the suppliers, certainly tthe high end stuff (Gibson, PRS, Fender etc). It's the cheap stuff that's already paid for that will be discounted.
Yup. It's the Schecters etc that maybe on the market at a knock down price.
On a brighter note I went to my normal guitar store, which is Guitar Guitar in Glasgow. Staff were as helpful as usual and prices were still lower than Sound Controls ever were - again as usual.
Sound Control is no loss for me but again, I do feel for the decent staff who are now looking for employment.
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...if i get a strat from them with a "don't pay til 2009" policy on it, does that mean I won't have to pay?
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Personally, I think it's going to be a bit of a buyer's market for a little while.
fingers crossed. it's no fun prices being artificially high because eejits are willing to take out credit (at extortionate rates of interest) which I'm not willing to take out.
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The vast majority will go back to the suppliers, certainly tthe high end stuff (Gibson, PRS, Fender etc). It's the cheap stuff that's already paid for that will be discounted.
Yup. It's the Schecters etc that maybe on the market at a knock down price.
On a brighter note I went to my normal guitar store, which is Guitar Guitar in Glasgow. Staff were as helpful as usual and prices were still lower than Sound Controls ever were - again as usual.
Sound Control is no loss for me but again, I do feel for the decent staff who are now looking for employment.
What's going to happen to Jimmy Egypt's though? They are based in the city centre and west end Soundcontrol stores. A dark thought for Glasgow's set ups...
Oh and their website was shocking, they made it utterly useless to navigate and find anything.
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I'm sure Jimmy will relocate to a suitable location.
The tech at Guitar Guitar has a decent reputation and is less expensive as well I believe.
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Just read that M Audio group will not support any in warranty items bought from Sound Control. If that is the case they will get no more purchases from me and are probably in breach of the Sale Of Goods Act
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Just read that M Audio group will not support any in warranty items bought from Sound Control. If that is the case they will get no more purchases from me and are probably in breach of the Sale Of Goods Act
Ultimately the manufacturer of any goods has to honour the warranty period. Normally this would be through the retailer, but if that is not possible then the manufacturer has to deal directly with the customer. At least that's how I think it works.
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i was under the impression in this country that your contract was with the retailer and not the manufacturer... makes it easier most of the time, but not in this situation, i guess.
though i'm not sure if MI is allowed to do that i.e. completely disavow any sales through a certain retailer.
I could be wrong, by the way.
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I went into the London SoundControl and Turnkey the other day.... it's a very sorry sight, i have to say. Neither have any high end guitars at all- only the SE PRS series, and Epiphones where all the high end stuff used to be. Remember that corner in SoundControl that had PRS's on the one wall, and the wall next to it covered in Gibson LPs and SGs? Now it's got a few PRS SE's on it, a couple of nasty looking Deans, and some Epiphones. Round where all the acoustics and the keyboards are, there's a big space where some other stuff (which i can't remember off hand) was.
Turnkey was just as bad in the guitar dept, and the area where the monitors and the rack stuff was was closed 'for refurbishment', and there were no keyboards or stuff like that out. They've taken out the counter that was on the right as you went in, so it looks really bare- they'd set up a console with some monitors and a computer to fill the space, but it didn't look good.
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:D Yer i liked sound control i think there`s one here in Milton Keynes i used. The customer service was ok but i order a triple headed guitar stand of them. One of the Samson ones, they where more than happy to take my money but every time i went in to see if it had arrived they would say it`ll be here in 2 weeks mate. I had this for 6 months ! In the end they had to give me my money back because they were also sick of waiting as well ! but what really pissed me off was they never phoned me to tell me what was going on. There was always a pissy excuse of some kind. That was very discourteous in my books. There selection was ok but again spaced out a bit.
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I went into the London SoundControl and Turnkey the other day.... it's a very sorry sight, i have to say. Neither have any high end guitars at all- only the SE PRS series, and Epiphones where all the high end stuff used to be. Remember that corner in SoundControl that had PRS's on the one wall, and the wall next to it covered in Gibson LPs and SGs? Now it's got a few PRS SE's on it, a couple of nasty looking Deans, and some Epiphones. Round where all the acoustics and the keyboards are, there's a big space where some other stuff (which i can't remember off hand) was.
Turnkey was just as bad in the guitar dept, and the area where the monitors and the rack stuff was was closed 'for refurbishment', and there were no keyboards or stuff like that out. They've taken out the counter that was on the right as you went in, so it looks really bare- they'd set up a console with some monitors and a computer to fill the space, but it didn't look good.
I visited them as well on Saturday - all looked and felt very depressing.
I had a chat with one of the guys in the Turnkey guitar department about it. Sound Control bought Turnkey 2 years ago apparently, and he moved there from Sound Control. He's not allowed to order any new stock, etc, and he's scrabbling round warehouses looking for stuff to put out.
Down at his level, they're waiting it out hoping for a buyer to emerge. No-one's jumped ship though, because if it does go down there are possibly big commission opportunities when there's a closing down sale.
Not sure how big those opportunities might be if there's no stock that anyone wants to buy though?...
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...Remember that corner in SoundControl that had PRS's on the one wall, and the wall next to it covered in Gibson LPs and SGs?...
This isn't even actually much to do with the administration situation.
Gibson ditched Rosetti 5 or 6 months ago, deciding to take over their own distribution, so no Gibsons were being sent to the UK until Gibson UK was established on April 1st. When they started they set up with an inventory of 40 guitars. FORTY! All of which were bought by soundcontrol and sold through in a week or so. Since then, no more Gibson deliveries have come into the UK. So virtually no one is getting any new stock (bar GuitarGuitar probably, with all their grey imports and others who do the same).
Major fuck up on Gibsons part. Which is probably just gonna get worse now that they've lost three quarters of their entire first years sales projections with Soundcontrol going down the pan.
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no Gibsons were being sent to the UK until Gibson UK was established on April 1st.
Is this how you spell.. IRONY? :lol: :roll: :wink:
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yeah soundcontrol had there place..and was nice for competition in Hull...some of the blokes at soundcontrol in Hull had'nt been in the job long since williams went under and some had worked in goughs before that..so 3 times in a shop that closes...now that is bad luck
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THIS (http://www.guitarrepairshop.co.uk/news.html) is an interesting read- As I mentioned earlier Jimmy Egypt's is a guitar repair shop based in the glasgow sound-control, hope they land on their feet.
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:D Yer guys have to agree with `ya. The article from the guitar repair guy got the rough end didn`t he. Good explaination though.
:D 8)
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yeah soundcontrol had there place..and was nice for competition in Hull...some of the blokes at soundcontrol in Hull had'nt been in the job long since williams went under and some had worked in goughs before that..so 3 times in a shop that closes...now that is bad luck
SG keep forgetting that your in Hull SG. Do you know any of the lads in Bad Dog?
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yeah kinda know them to say hi...am regular in most Hull guitar shops...although Andy still hates me for making him fork out for a case for my bluesbird
You in one of the local bands?
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Just to get back into it again I'm playing in a 60's cover band called Brock. Andy's still pissed, damn! What happened? He's one of the calmest dudes I know
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He had a guitar...old stock he had to sell from williams(a while ago) which there was no profit on as sellin half price should be...I traded a line6 (ahhh) against it....but he couldn't find case....so had to buy one on top....and these arn't cheap..so made loss alround....then they went under and and and other guy set up BADDOG
you been in lately
and need a band to get back in it as well am so far off the scene
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SG, we should talk, what sort of music are you looking to play?
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Like most music..not much I don't like (short of doing a Britney cover band) but am kinda at an age were all the pretentious cr@p I went through when younger (like don't listen to that cause it's too comercial etc)has gone.
And hey just practicing with another guitarist sounds like fun
Also isn't it you with the Hiwatt.
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that's me...I'll PM you
Now back to topic...anymore news on what's happening with the remaining stores that are open?
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12 of the 16 that are open have been bought over by a Norweigen holdings group, Birmingham is definately one of them, don't know which others, at a guess, I imagine the ones not being taken will be Dunfermline, Dundee, London and another one, for various reasons.
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ahh so Hull misses out again
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that'll be like the football team this weekend then
you watch leeds go up!
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that'll be like the football team this weekend then
you watch leeds go up!
I hope they don't. Nothing against Leeds really, but I hate Ken Bates - horrible mean-spirited old gobshitee. He's like the Anti-Santa Claus.
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that'll be like the football team this weekend then
you watch leeds go up!
I hope they don't. Nothing against Leeds really, but I hate Ken Bates - horrible mean-spirited old gobshitee. He's like the Anti-Santa Claus.
:lol:
That reminds me of a professional beach bully
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that'll be like the football team this weekend then
you watch leeds go up!
I hope they don't. Nothing against Leeds really, but I hate Ken Bates - horrible mean-spirited old gobshitee. He's like the Anti-Santa Claus.
Well done Donny Rovers!
I wonder how Andy Robinson is feeling right now, having just left Swansea for Leeds?
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I wonder how Andy Robinson is feeling right now, having just left Swansea for Leeds?
Well, according to the guys on the sports desk in work (I work for the local paper), he's probably not feeling too good. He tried to postpone his decision until after today's game apparently, but Swansea were having none of it.
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He tried to postpone his decision until after today's game apparently, but Swansea were having none of it.
And quite right too. He had a bloody cheek trying to hold Swansea to ransom like that - "I'm fecking off to Leeds, but only if they're in the Championship".
It's like telling your girlfriend you're only staying with her until you find somebody better.
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He tried to postpone his decision until after today's game apparently, but Swansea were having none of it.
And quite right too. He had a bloody cheek trying to hold Swansea to ransom like that - "I'm fecking off to Leeds, but only if they're in the Championship".
It's like telling your girlfriend you're only staying with her until you find somebody better.
you mean you haven't tried that? :wink:
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He tried to postpone his decision until after today's game apparently, but Swansea were having none of it.
And quite right too. He had a bloody cheek trying to hold Swansea to ransom like that - "I'm fecking off to Leeds, but only if they're in the Championship".
It's like telling your girlfriend you're only staying with her until you find somebody better.
you mean you haven't tried that? :wink:
Ah, the bravery of forum-speak! :wink:
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damn right, it's the one place our lass won't get me & batter me!
she isn't here....right :o
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Transpires I heard wrong about the Norweigen folks, they bid but didn;t end up with anything, at this point anyway.
PMT have bought 2 stores, Arbiter have bought 6 and Pat Kelly has managed to keep 3.
You wonder what's gonna happen to other stores that currently buy from Arbiter...
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yeah she just came in
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www.reverb-store.co.uk
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And the Souncontrol in Glasgow have a 20% off everything sale to shift stock. If they had in a Gretsch pro jet... Hello and goodbye overdraft...
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"Reverb-Store" eh?
Rubbish name, wonder if that means they're keeping the magazine, fingers crossed, cause that means I'll still get all my guesties for gigs. 8)
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www.reverb-store.co.uk
Bigger and better! Looks like they've not learned anything from the failure of the business model. Oh well, how long do we give them folks?
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I feel bad for the folks who lost their jobs, but as a whole I won't miss the store. I had a very bad experience with them - they sent me the wrong product, then I had a huge hassle returning it and getting my money back.
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The Reverb thing is the stores that Arbiter have bought. Will be interesting...
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It was very sad to see the sound controll in Manchester to be open one day and closed the nxt, I was literally in there 2 days before it closed, and then I came back and saw the shutters, expecting to look around. PDT_041
I miss it!
bar-stewards: :shock:
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It was very sad to see the sound controll in Manchester to be open one day and closed the nxt, I was literally in there 2 days before it closed, and then I came back and saw the shutters, expecting to look around. PDT_041
I miss it!
bar-stewards: :shock:
I thought both the shops in Manchester were fairly shite to be honest, the large one was impressive but it had no personal feel to it. I prefer Musicground just up Oxford road, it has nicer shiny things.
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Walked past the Nottingham SC today, was sad to see a music shop so dead, shitee shop or not.
However it was nice to turn the corner and see the drum centre :) so nice and sparkly new.
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was sad to see a music shop so dead, shitee shop or not.
Yes it is sad when music shops die. Unfortunately there is a lot of competition from the internet/ebay etc and many people will try equipment in the shop and then look for it cheaper elsewhere.
I remember when I was very young and first visited a music shop. It was Bill Greenhalghs in Exeter and was crammed full of Marshall Plexis - I remember a window display they had of three white Fenders side by side - a Precision Bass, a Strat and a Tele (which I subsequently bought) - I walked around with my eyes popping out and my jaw dragging the floor. I would say at that time it was as good as any of the big London shops. Bill himself was a real character and drove a hard bargain. Unfortunately he died a few years back and the rest of the family took over running it. The shop had a 'rock' area and a 'traditional' area (violins, brass etc) and his family seemed to treat 'rock' customers as a nuisance. Other shops opened in Exeter (including Mansons) and, predictably, Greenhalghs closed. As you know Mansons also make their own custom guitars (e.g. Matt Bellamy) but I did overhear the staff commenting that they had noticed overall sales seemed to have suffered because of the internet.