Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: Alex on March 03, 2009, 05:16:01 PM
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Ok, first of all, I'm not implying other countries are better - keep that in mind.
Since I've been looking for a new amp a long time I visited many amp stores. Usually they don't have what I am looking for (STRIKE ONE), but ok, I cannot expect stores to stock every product. Instead of a decent quality tube amp I am usually offered a VOX Valvetronix or Line6 spider (STRIKE TWO).
Quite often nobody asks if I need something (there's always some member of staff (!) wailing mindlessly on one guitar however while a DVD plays some different songs - STRIKE THREE). Apparently it could mean work, talking to a potential customer.
They tell me they will get X in stock next week - then they don't. Twice. (STRIKE FOUR).
I asked for a decent reverb and say I don't want the Electro Harmonix or Boss - guess what after a while they offer (STRIKE FIVE).
If you are allowed to play a guitar, there is never a pick. (STRIKE SIX)
They don't have internet apparently in most places as they are usually way overpriced compared to some online retailers. That insults me. Do they believe I am stupid and don't compare prices? Or that I have money to spare as gift because of they are such incredible nice to me? (STRIKE SEVEN).
I am given a cr@p Marshall MG15 to try a pedal that costs way more than the amp. (STRIKE EIGHT).
I know more than the staff about a certain subject (which isn't necessarily much) but am still treated like I'm an idiot. (STRIKE NINE)
And - worst ever - I wasn't allowed to test an amp on the basis that they are only open for 10 minutes more. (STRIKE TEN)
Different stores, granted, but typical.... :(
Sometimes I think I should open a store... it can't be that hard than to do better. :?
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agreed...
I have a few people i know in shops who ive had really good service from, and i go back to them and say hello on a regular basis and even though i may not be buying really expensive stuff, i still try to go and get cables and strings from those places when i need to.
in London, i really like Wunjo on denmark street. stock can vary, sometimes they have loads of awesome stuff, sometimes im not that interested. but its all pre-used stuff. its a bit less arsy than vintage & rare too. Brian at wunjo hooked me up with my first BKP's as they use them in thier own guitars the make.
some other places stock lots of rubbish and over price it massively. like Rockers, on the same street. and LTD EC-1000 was £1000 ish last time i checked. or under £700 from GAK.
Centre of London is always going to be overpriced i guess. im suprised nobody stocks cool amps down there. one shop has Diamond Amps now, but thats it. its all marshall, peavey and orange. some krank rubbish, some mesa stuff.
i guess they just stock what they think they can sell. hence why those places are FULL of tokai's now. people know orange, mesa, peavey, fender, marshall. i guess its easy to sell.
unfortunetly, the best place for amps in the UK seems to be Sounds Great in manc. with Soldano, Splawn, Cornford etc... but i hear they don't have very good customer service or post sales support.
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Before i got my feline i was looking into getting a gibson les paul.
I had my eye on a black one some at some place in south london; its was only £999 which i though was a pretty good deal.
Obviously knowing the continuity issues that gibson guitars have i stupidly asked if i could try it.
The reponse:
"only if you are going to buy it as black guitars leave fingerprints"
WTF??
whats the point in trying it then?
needles to say i did not purchase said guitar.
I do think though that with the advent of the internet music stores in general have gone down hill (generally) in terms of what they stock and the competence of the straff in general. :(
Theres also a certian snobbery you get in some smaller shops where they take one at you and think... this guy cant afford it.
I do agree with the above though, a lot of the shops along Denmark street are more helpful and do carry better stock, and you can always barter them down
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Whenever I'm asking to try a guitar, I'm allways asked if I intend to buy it. My response is always the same.
"$%&# knows, haven't played it yet!"
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Whilst the shops are getting shafted by the internet, there's still no excuse for it.
I only go to Northern and Rockshack here in Leeds, occasionally Big Deal but that's a pawnshop more than anything else.
The other places... screw 'em.
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You should read some of the stories about Guitar Center on US forums.
The only reason these stores exist is because people keep going there.
Why? Just stop going to bad stores.
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I've had very mixed experiences down Denmark Street and generally they are way, way overpriced - £920 for a Fender Princeton Reverb I noticed today? Ye gods and little fishes, that's nearly 30% more than it ought to be. I also agree with the lazy, arrogant staff comments above. It's a strange thing that they seem to do their best to make spending a lot of money on gear an incredibly intimidating experience. I actually do not generally enjoy shopping for guitar related equipment much anymore.
On the plus side I do like Wunjo and Music Ground on Denmark Street. Vintage and Rare become much nicer when it looks like you're about to hand over some serious moolah ;) .
One other place that behaved brilliantly was Anderton's in Guildford. I bought my Strat and a Fulltone Deja Vibe from them and they were helpful, really polite and understood what service was all about. For example, they got me several Strats of the same model so I could try a few out and pick the one I liked best. They also have proper demo rooms where you can make a racket without disturbing other punters. Some seem to get it and some will not be in business for much longer I suspect.
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You should read some of the stories about Guitar Center on US forums.
The only reason these stores exist is because people keep going there.
Why? Just stop going to bad stores.
Exactly.
Staff that help you get what you want and generally keep out of your way after that are the best. Go back there, dont go back to the shiteeee ones.
Best I've been too (quality deserves a plug) - Guitar guitar newcastle, merchant city music glasgow. Especially the former. Usefull advice on dialing in an uberschall (the precense nob doesnt do what presence normally does), changing cabs and heads all day for me, giving me a nod when the shop was clear enough for gigging volume, not being stingy with high volume time, made me a coffee and posted the manual for my PB after I forgot it. Sounds great are very helpfull on the phone, never visited though. After sound control closed the worst shop I've been in is dawsons manchester.
I hate being treated like a time waster when I'm in a shop. No, I dont know if I'm going to buy your $%&#ing gear yet, thats why I want to try it, dont assume that because I'm young and scruffy I cant afford your precious stock (you'd think they prefer it being on the shelves), asking me questions like that will NOT hasten a sale and shop assistants assume I dont know what I'm doing with perfectly normal gear at their peril.
Oh, fun game you can (nay, should) play - if you hear a salesman talking some shiteeee too a noob because the noob doesnt know any better and they're bullshiteeeeeeeeting for the sale, call them on it, there and then, and watch them squirm. My favourites so far:
"Only solid state can do metal, valves arent aggressive enough" (Dawsons)
"A marshall MG is all he'll [~13 year old kid, addressing parent] ever need" (Quick glance around and marshall MGs are over half the amp stock, which is dominated by marshall - dawsons)
"If you get that [squire] strat you'll have to bring it in to us to set it up and change the strings" (sound control)
"Anything thats not made in the USA is shiteeee. That japanese stuff is cr@p." (little shop on denmark street!)
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my favourites...
"can i BOSS line selector switch between o/p A, o/p B, and o/p A+B like an AB-Y pedal?"
"why yes! absolutely it can!" NO! it cant. (Soundcontrol, Charing Cross Road London)
"Attenuators cause more stress on output transformers and make them fail" NO (sounds great, manc)
"Soldano do not recommend the use of attenuators with their products" LIE (sounds great, Manc)
"We do not recommend the use of attenuators with amplifier" however you do sell them for £249 a pop with no such information on your website! LIE (sounds great, Manc)
"marshall stopped making the powerbrake they were getting complaints of broken OP transformers, attenuators are dangerous......." "Marshall are making a new attenutor" both statements, (sounds great, Manc)
"this les paul standard is a lot of money" "yes" "its not that old is it" "well..." "this bigsby is an addition isnt it? not orignal i can see the tailpiece holes under it" "erm... yes its been added" (Music Ground, Denmark Street)
"where is X member of staff?" "he left when we became a sound control because we couldnt offer people good deals any more" (sound control, preston)
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PMT in Birmingham refused to take the £33,000 PRS doubleneck out of it's display case for me to try, the bar-stewards!
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33,000?! oh $*%&
OH! here is one i overheard in Rose Morris in london. the jist anyway!
"remember that guy that bought the limited addition Parker guitar through us?"
"yeah?"
"well, he was looking on ebay and he found someone had put the same guitar on their, and it had the same number that he had out of 50, 25 or something, only he didnt have the cirtificate, and the guy using ebay did!"
"so we sold him a guitar without a certificate of authenticity but the guitar came from Parker, to us, specifically for him?"
"yes. now their appears be a duplicate of his guitar with the same number. only they both came from Parker, and only 1 has a certificate and it cost £4000".
"oh dear"
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Whilst the shops are getting shafted by the internet, there's still no excuse for it.
I only go to Northern and Rockshack here in Leeds, occasionally Big Deal but that's a pawnshop more than anything else.
The other places... screw 'em.
PMT in Leeds is pretty good. Electro Music in Doncaster is alright for guitars as well.
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I didn't have the cheek to ask to try the PRS really - scroll down on this page to see it:
http://www.pmtonline.co.uk/news.asp
The guys in PMT Birmingham are pretty good. I usually go in looking like I'm going to rob the place, but they've always been happy to let me try out whatever I want. Hence I've bought my last two amps from there.
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holy £$*%
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i've had most of that stuff in the original post happen to me (not all in the one shop)- i always bring my own picks, though, as i like a weird gauge, really thick.
for me, a shop is good if it:
- lets me try what i want (within reason- if they have a genuine 1959 LP standard, for example, i wouldn't even ask to try that)
- leaves me alone when i'm trying gear, after i've been set up with the right kit (leads etc.)
- lets me turn up (or better yet, has a soundproof try-out room)
- doesn't pester me with sales pitches or asking me constantly if i'm going to buy, and allows me to try stuff for a decent amount of time
- has a decent selection. I realise they can't stock everything, but some nice stuff would be nice.
- actually listens to me if i do ask for advice
- doesn't treat me as an idiot just because i "don't work in a music shop"
- doesn't try to second-guess what i want to try. Newsflash- i already have most of what i need for the main types of music i play, i don't need to be told that a tele doesn't work for 80s shred, because maybe i just want a tele.
- not act like i'm wasting their time if i want to try several different models- maybe i haven't decided what i want yet, or want to try several examples of the same model to pick the best one, etc.
EDIT: the thing which i really don't understand is, that if you really want to try it and they make you jump through a lot of hoops, you can just lie. :?
that being said, there are a couple of really nice music shops here which pass all, or most, of those tests- but several not so good, too. Once a shop here told me, in all seriousness, that marshall tube amps were the only tube amps you could get any distortion out of. o_O
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I've tried to come up with a reasonable reply to this but there's too much to say that I can even structure it correctly.
So I'll sum it up with, I dislike guitar shops.
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that's what i should have said :lol:
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I've had similar experience with guitar shops recently. Living in the North of Scotland there are only 2 music shops in a 50 mile radius and 6 or 7 in a 200 mile radius.
Of the 2 nearest me, one is actually very friendly and helpful, however they only stock guitars by Vintage and Encore, although they are willing to try to order anything you want. They do however tend to sell at or very near RRP regardless of what you buy and will freely admit that they know very little of guitars being more keyboard or folk based.
The other shop is very different, in the window they claim to sell PRS guitars at the lowest price in the UK, I've not tested but I highly doubt this as I was going to buy the Marshall vintage Modern amp only to find they were selling it for £100 OVER the RRP, almost nothing in the shop is less than RRP. They have very limited stock of strings and accessories, unless distributed by JHS. They stock hardly anything they claim to be main dealers for and what they do stock always seems to be the budget instruments or a very few high end items, absolutley no mid range. Worst of all, the look on their faces as you walk in the door resembles that of someone who's just witnessed you disrobe and proceed to leave a stool sample on the desk. Way to go make a customer feel welcome.
As a result, to get any kind of decent service I generally have to either travel to Inverness (70 miles away) which can be helpfull but limited in choice or I have to head south to a major city and hope to find a decent shop. My final option is internet shopping which as we all know is fraught with peril as far as a decent guitar is concerned.
Music shops really need to raise their game and preferably stop hiring jobsworths and guitar snobs.
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Probably shop owners are fed up with demanding customers that come 10 minutes prior to shop closing, know everything better, don't like the brands or models in their stock, and push their prices down because of no-service online retailer dumping prices.
Sorry dude, I was just taking the piss :lol:
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Whilst the shops are getting shafted by the internet, there's still no excuse for it.
I only go to Northern and Rockshack here in Leeds, occasionally Big Deal but that's a pawnshop more than anything else.
The other places... screw 'em.
you tried pmt? i havent played anything in there but they have seemed very helpfull the 2 times ive been in asking for things... they didnt have what i wanted either time tho
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I would echo what has been said about Andertons.hey are consistently good in my experience.The staff seem to know their products and they don't pressurise you. Pretty good prices too and no quibble if there is an issue judging by a friends recent experience.
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I would echo what has been said about Andertons.hey are consistently good in my experience.The staff seem to know their products and they don't pressurise you. Pretty good prices too and no quibble if there is an issue judging by a friends recent experience.
I agree. I couldn't fault Andertons at all when I went there - good, knowledgable service, put me in the demo room and let me turn up the amp I wanted to try, and their after-sales is excellent too. I'd definitely buy from them again without worry or hesitation.
My local stores in Swansea aren't too bad either. Rowlands is pretty good, and staffed by a really decent bunch of guys. Unfortunately they don't really stock anything I'm all that interested in, but still a good place. Cranes in Swansea is good too - bought my Strat from them, and pop in fairly regularly for bits and bobs. Again, good bunch of guys who know their stuff. Range on the guitar front is a little limited - mostly Fender and Gibson - but I won't hold that against them!
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Speaking of music stores, the online retailer director of Dolphin Music died in the Alps.
Dear oh dear..
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I sympathise with the original post and I basically think most (or many) music shops are awful places staffed by tw@ts.... but one of the very few good things about getting OLD is that you do tend to get treated a lot better by music shop staff. Basically because they think you just might buy something expensive.
I like Guitar Village (great website - you don't have to be either a shop or a web business, you can do both! Wow! :) ). And Charlie Chandler's Guitar Experience seemed good although there isn't room to swing a cat in the place.
I agree about Andertons, great little soundproof testing rooms and apparently the staff aren't on commission so they don't have a vested interest in hard-selling anything. And speaking of those Andertons staff, they behave like professionals. Now there's a concept. They actually do the jobs they're being paid for.
Whereas go to Denmark Street and the staff act like they're members of Dragonforce just "helping out" between tours - so really they're doing you a favour by stopping chatting to their mates long enough to take that guitar off the wall and letting you look at it.... :roll:
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Probably shop owners are fed up with demanding customers that come 10 minutes prior to shop closing, know everything better, don't like the brands or models in their stock, and push their prices down because of no-service online retailer dumping prices.
Sorry dude, I was just taking the piss :lol:
You're joking, but there's tons of truth in this, too. For very customer who knows his stuff that's a pleasure to deal with, there's a dozen who don't have a clue but have spent a bit of time on forums and taken someone from Harmony Central's words as fact and thinks they know everything who do come in ten minutes from closing time wanting to try umpteen guitars before they go home and buy it from Thoman.
It doesn't make bad service acceptable, but you can understand shop staff getting a touch cynical.
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There are three shops near me that I use and one of them is absolutely pants.
The good two have great staff, and we call each other by our first names, and I always pop in to ask about new stuff etc. all the stock is great and they have good rotation.
The other is just horrible, and it pissed me off a treat to see it in secret shopper (Which mag is that in again?) And it got a good review. This shop s called City Music in Truro Cornwall.
The guitars? Dry boards and black dirty strings. I don't even want to try them. Not been setup or anything for ages.
All stagg and cheap yamaha (which may not be the worst you can do) and the same Ibanez's since ive ever been there, They havent sold anything over £300
The staff? Pretty much just salesmen, could do just as good in a mobile phone shop! Little knowledge of the guitars, they only ever say its good!
However downstairs they have a impressive selection of keyboards, pianos, synths and brass instruments. Very much so not a guitar shop! IMO of coarse!
Modern music just round the corner is awesome and Craigs music in Bodmin is pretty cool. The guy there reminds me of Ricky Gervais lol.
Theres no bottom line here just a rant. And my insignificant opinion.
Even though 2 out of the 3 local shops are good I still generally agree with whats been said.
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Yes there's two sides to this story as nfe has pointed out. I've been in shops where you get an ego on legs walk through the door and make a complete c**t of himself and everyone can see it except him. So the staff of these shops do have to put up with a lot. That being said there, especially in Denmark Street, have been some total w**kers working in those shops. I've mentioned one before, old 'snakeskin fake leather jacket' was the nickname I gave one, strutting around like a peac--k taking a controversial attitude just for the sake of it with everyone. This was about 15 years ago. I tried to run him over on my motorbike when I was a DR once for a laugh! :lol: Well i laughed.
Also as I've got older I've found I get treated better. Grey hair may suggest a larger wage maybe!
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if you want to get the most out of staff in guitar shops, I find it's best wearing a suit to get the best response from them
actually, when in a suit I think most people respond better to you in general
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JDC - I agree completely. I always get treated better when I look like a posh tw@t. Strange really, I'm a c**t to people in suits.
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Whereas go to Denmark Street and the staff act like they're members of Dragonforce just "helping out" between tours - so really they're doing you a favour by stopping chatting to their mates long enough to take that guitar off the wall and letting you look at it.... :roll:
yeah, i noticed that in denmark street too. vintage and rare and wunjo were cool, but the others... o_O
i understand that shops have a lot to deal with- haha, once i was in a shop where someone (who was clearly drunk) asked to try a guitar, proceeded to play (in such a way as to show he couldn't really play) while singing really loudly. Who then proceeded to leg it from the shop, with the guitar. :lol: And I'm sure a lot of customers are annoying too, and timewasters. However, I blame a lot of the shopworkers for tarring everyone with the same brush- when i go in, I'm always polite, ask before I can try, thank them for getting the guitars down, etc. etc. etc. I don't go in with 5 friends for a jam session before my school bus arrives, and it should be pretty obvious when i'm trying stuff that i'm actually interested.
as i said, a couple of shops here are really nice. But I've been treated badly in other shops too. :)
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Whereas go to Denmark Street and the staff act like they're members of Dragonforce just "helping out" between tours - so really they're doing you a favour by stopping chatting to their mates long enough to take that guitar off the wall and letting you look at it.... :roll:
This REALLY winds me up. But I think high ech guys in shops are far far worse. To the point I've made a fool of collegues many a time.
"I use XXX product and I'm a professional sound engineer"
"No you're not, you're a sales assistant who engineers a few local gigs for free"
I really, really hate the "I have one of these myself" sales approach.
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^ yeah, me too. mainly because (a) i don't believe them and (b) even if i did, i don't care.
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The basement of Rose Morris around 1996 had 3 superpricks working in there, surprise surprise they were never many customers though. You could hear them scoffing at everyone and their choices of products to try/buy.
Vintage and Rare are great, its just like going to a mates house.
My local shop Electrohill are really friendly too.
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The basement of Rose Morris around 1996 had 3 superpricks working in there, surprise surprise they were never many customers though. You could hear them scoffing at everyone and their choices of products to try/buy.
Oh god, it was shite in there. Apart from the staff, the selection was rubbish and overpriced. And it was laid out in such a stupid way that you were constantly in danger of knocking over guitars on stands and getting a "domino effect"....
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Thank God for the demise of Soundcontrol, is all I can add.
Apart from a +1 for Andertons
and a +1000 for The Guitar Store (was M&M) in Southampton - ask for Wes. Great service ! Although, again, not an incredible range of stuff.
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hey yo!
i went in music ground denmark street today. they had 'shop soiled' gordon smith graduate in. single cut.
£749!!!!!!!!
there is one on the GS website for 730 that has a smudge in the paint above 1 tuning peg. the one in music ground had a HUGE dent smashed into the bottom of it with the finish all cracked up, and it was £749. you could by the same thing second hand for £400 i reckon. easy.!
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Thank God for the demise of Soundcontrol, is all I can add.
and a +1000 for The Guitar Store (was M&M) in Southampton - ask for Wes. Great service ! Although, again, not an incredible range of stuff.
Soundcontrol were really awful when it came to buying my drumkit, they were trying to convince me that £4,000.00 for the flagship roland kit would be the best idea, especially if i bought the misc amps etc to go with it. I still ended up spending £2600 on thr nxt kit down tho (because i am a tool!) and am now selling it, because its still too much kit for me.
another +1000 for the guitar store in Soton, i contacted Wes a couple of days before i had to go and lay down some leads for a mates CD, but wanted to test out some boutique OD's, he said he'd dig out as many as he could find in the store and idrove down from salisbury to test them out at full roar at 10am, played for 45mins with no sales pitches and left with an MI Audio Tube Zone
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The basement of Rose Morris around 1996 had 3 superpricks working in there, surprise surprise they were never many customers though. You could hear them scoffing at everyone and their choices of products to try/buy.
Oh god, it was shiteee in there. Apart from the staff, the selection was rubbish and overpriced. And it was laid out in such a stupid way that you were constantly in danger of knocking over guitars on stands and getting a "domino effect"....
I have to say that the basement in Rose Morris is where I got my Black Custom Tele last Saturday and I was very impressed with the young guy in there at the moment.
I went in a few weeks back and tried the Roadworn 50. He let me try no questions asked, didn't press me, seemed actually quite disinterested, wasn't up for any chat. But that was cool - I didn't want any full-on attention.
Then last saturday I went back to see if the MIJ Custom was still there. Completely different experience. Tried it, and then with me cradling it in my arms and playing occasional county/blues licks, we had quite a conversation about the Roadworn concept, grey-imports on the Fender Japan non-export stuff, he was even on the internet looking up the stuff I was telling him. We discussed Bare Knuckles, talked about his guitars, etc, etc... A couple of other customers came in, he dealt with them and then carried on chatting. Eventually, I decided, we did the deal and I was outta there...
Both visits he engaged with me in exactly the way I was looking for. My missus (who was there both times) pointed out that from the sidelines, first time I obviously wasn't buying, but he was polite, answered direct questions, but otherwise got on with his whatever. Second time, I looked and came across as someone who might well be spending that day if I got the service/gear I was after. We were well impressed with him.
BUT - one of things I do find on Denmark St (this guy might be different, don't know yet), NOT ONE OF THE B*GGERS REMEMBERS YOU A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER after you've bought something from them. For me this now applies to Regent Sounds, their friends across the road (can't remember the name :lol:), and Vintage and Rare. We've spent a fair bit in each of those over the last year or two, and not one of the people who served me recognises me as a "buyer" afterwards - I kinda miss that from the old days when I lived outside London and had a local music shop... but I do understand why they're like that, it's a completely different dynamic there than those shops were.
The exception to this was the guy in Wunjo on Saturday. I went in wondering if they had a particular type of slide in stock, and after a moment it was obvious he knew who I was - turned out he'd sold me an earlier one from the same company 6 years or so ago when he ran the London Resonator Centre in Islington (sadly gone now...). Now I realise why he always seems to say hi as if we know each other when we go in there :lol:
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Wunjo is the first place i tried out BKP's
they use black dogs and emeralds in their BJ & Bryne guitars. (think that is the right spelling)
thats why i got emeralds as my first BKP's. Brian called Tim while i was in the store and ordered them for me. did me a deal on me. I also bought my les paul from them. as a result ive stuck with BKP's and i pop back in for bits and bobs from time to time, check the stock and see if they have any wacky pedals i fancy. Brian always says hello.
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+1 on the dude in wunjo being cool, i went in there after being almost chased from all the other denmark street shops (bar V&R), and it was a breath of fresh air to be told, "try anything you want"- in fact even getting me to try stuff which I hadn't asked to try. :)
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Probably shop owners are fed up with demanding customers that come 10 minutes prior to shop closing, know everything better, don't like the brands or models in their stock, and push their prices down because of no-service online retailer dumping prices.
Sorry dude, I was just taking the piss :lol:
No problem, you can always see a problem from both sides.
However, just keep this in mind: it's still them who want to sell something and want the money from the customer. Putting up with customers, including annoying customers. It's just part of the trade.
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BUT - one of things I do find on Denmark St (this guy might be different, don't know yet), NOT ONE OF THE B*GGERS REMEMBERS YOU A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER after you've bought something from them.
I know exactly what you mean. Of course, in a busy London shop they see a lot of people every day, so there's no reason anyone should stand out (unless they think hey, it's that bloke who looks like James May... :wink: ). BUT... if you go in fairly frequently, occasionally they'll let some little comment slip which shows they do remember you, but they're too busy or maybe just not interested in being friendly/chatty.
Which is OK, we all do it - I see the same people passing in the street or waiting for the bus a few times a week and never acknowledge them, and I assume they wouldn't know me from Adam. Whereas in fact, if I recognise them there's a fair chance they recognise me too.
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BUT - one of things I do find on Denmark St (this guy might be different, don't know yet), NOT ONE OF THE B*GGERS REMEMBERS YOU A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER after you've bought something from them.
I know exactly what you mean. Of course, in a busy London shop they see a lot of people every day, so there's no reason anyone should stand out (unless they think hey, it's that bloke who looks like James May... :wink: ). BUT... if you go in fairly frequently, occasionally they'll let some little comment slip which shows they do remember you, but they're too busy or maybe just not interested in being friendly/chatty.
Which is OK, we all do it - I see the same people passing in the street or waiting for the bus a few times a week and never acknowledge them, and I assume they wouldn't know me from Adam. Whereas in fact, if I recognise them there's a fair chance they recognise me too.
Interesting point
I think one of the key factors in the success of my own business is remembering people and having an interest in them and their guitars.
It becomes like a friendship - the relationship you have with regular customers
You take an interest and help them out with stuff and loyalty is created as a result.
I find that that is extended even further with guys that I chat to on here and get to know
The friendliness goes to the next level - you're as likely to put the kettle on or go for a beer (work hours permitting)
It's maybe one of the few reasons I regret not doing the London Music Show this year (and last year) - not hanging out with people you know, although the show can be a bit frantic
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I find that that is extended even further with guys that I chat to on here and get to know
The friendliness goes to the next level...
I've been waiting to take our friendliness to the next level for ages but you keep turning me down... :( :lol: :lol:
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another +1000 for the guitar store in Soton, i contacted Wes a couple of days before i had to go and lay down some leads for a mates CD, but wanted to test out some boutique OD's, he said he'd dig out as many as he could find in the store and idrove down from salisbury to test them out at full roar at 10am, played for 45mins with no sales pitches and left with an MI Audio Tube Zone
I'll give them another +1000, Wes is top notch and the other guy I spoke to was sound as well, not pushy at all. Both were happy to get down the guitars for us to play with, even when we were A / B'ing guitars to see which was best. They got our business too. (NGD post coming soon). The only thing they insist on is that they take the guitars off the wall for you to play, as Wes said "I'd much rather I ding this than you", which is fair comment on £1800 Les Paul's.
Edit: Oh and to take Johnathan's point, The Guitar Store actually sent out one of the guys to buy us coffee's while we played. That's the kind of service that gets my money even if I can find it cheaper on eBay.
Another Edit: Wes also delivered a guitar we bought previuosly from them. We'd tried it at the weekend, decided to buy it when we got home, I called up on Monday, paid over the phone, and he delivered it that evening.