Music shop fails

[bubinga5]

3 minutes ago, EBS_freak said:

Me - could I take a look at that Sadowsky please?

Them - * 7 shades of stock licks before passing it to me *

Me - first gig of the year or something?

I was waiting for the drummer to accompany the man.  

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, bubinga5 said:

I was waiting for the drummer to accompany the man.  

People like that don't get gigs... or friends 

[radiophonic]

I struggle to think what kind of punter a lot shops do take seriously and even what a guitar shop is for these days. I took the condescension and poor service for granted when I was a kid, on account of looking insufficiently like a member of Guns N Roses, but at this point I've been playing 30+ years and have actual disposable income and play every week in two bands. I buy gear.  I don't want to repeatedly put the boot into PMT, but they seem to be utterly clueless.  If you are demoing a pedal, at least have some knowledge of what the controls do - Strymon El Capistan - dunno, dunno, dunno - it's 300 quid so find out! Provide an amp and bass that can give some idea of what the pedal will sound like (MXR Bass Distortion through a practice amp and dead strings? No thanks). Get the bass guy to help with bass sales, not the trainee who gleefully tells you he knows nothing about bass gear. Read a bit.They had never even heard of Darkglass as recently as last year (blank look). I know there are more guitarists than bassists, but show some imagination and stock more than entry level Ibanez, twenty different Jazz basses and a couple of Musicman. How about not cramming them in the corner at the back of the shop too? With online trading rules guaranteeing returns, there's almost no point going into a physical store unless the store can add value. Chain shops like this have huge economies of scale (although apparently not enough scale to make stocking TC pedals viable. Really?). If they bothered to keep up with where the market is - what players are talking about and what gear people are excited about, shared some of that enthusiasm and stopped pretending that it's still 1989 and the only true music is classic rock, I'd seriously consider being a customer again. Rant over. I should drink less coffee.

Edited February 14, 2018 by radiophonic

[Cat Burrito]

13 minutes ago, radiophonic said:

I took the condescension and poor service for granted when I was a kid, on account of looking insufficiently like a member of Guns N Roses,

Ironically I only got poor service and condescension when I did look like I'd fallen out of Guns 'N' Roses.

[radiophonic]

15 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

Ironically I only got poor service and condescension when I did look like I'd fallen out of Guns 'N' Roses.

If you'd visited Carlboro music in Norwich in 1989, I'm sure they'd have treated you like a GOD (provided you could shred of course).

[EBS_freak]

16 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

Ironically I only got poor service and condescension when I did look like I'd fallen out of Guns 'N' Roses.

Me - could I please take a look at this bass? I'm very interested...

Them - Alright Slash... what's with the hat? Cold head? I would have thought you were more into your Les Pauls... I know you're in a famous band but do you have the money for me to be arsed to reach this down? Or should you be looking at the starter guitars over there? They are a lot cheaper than this bass... maybe they would fit with your budget a lot better?

Me - were you dropped as a child?

[radiophonic]

@EBS_freak It's possible they were just that rude to everyone of course! I say 'were' because I assume they went out of business.

[Lozz196]

30 minutes ago, Cat Burrito said:

Ironically I only got poor service and condescension when I did look like I'd fallen out of Guns 'N' Roses.

I`ve seen the pictures, I would have treated you like a vagrant as well

[Lozz196]

Whilst we`re on this subject, let`s not forget some of the really good shops, with great staff in them, Coda Music in Stevenage, PMT Northampton, Andertons, Gig-Gear in Harlow to name a few. I`ve had great help & service from these, especially from Coda.

[Barking Spiders]

11 hours ago, bubinga5 said:

I used to go into Around About Sound a bit. Was a great shop. Is it still open.? Had a very rare GB Spitfire 4 in there that was being sold by the owner. Bought a great Yamaha TRB 6 for £600. 

Aye it's just about hanging in there. The owner died not long ago and his wife has taken it over but I get the impression trading's tough. Soundhouse was good but they closed down to focus on the Gloucester store. 

[uk_lefty]

12 hours ago, Maude said:

Shop - Need any help? 

Me - Yes, what flatwounds do you stock? 

Shop - No one uses flatwounds. (Then shows me all the rounds) 

Me - I wanted flats to see what they'd sound like on my Precision. 

Shop - They'll sound like stinky poo. 

I'm more than happy to do all my dealings via the Internet. The Internet always has what I need in stock and is usually delivered before I get the chance to drive the 150 mile round trip to the nearest decent shop. 

Re missing the shops when they're gone. You don't miss what you haven't got. 

Reminds me of my local music shop when I was growing up and first got my fretless. 

Me: do you have any flatwounds?

Him: I can hit some round wounds with a hammer.

Me: very funny, seriously I want them for my fretless bass

Him: I'm not joking, hit the rounds with a hammer it will be fine

Me: *slowly edging away from the door, leaving him to screw a "fender" neck on to a Tanglewood strat body*

[bassbiscuits]

21 hours ago, LewisK1975 said:

Recently some better shops have opened up in the South Wales Area, but before that it was dreadful.

We got a PMT in Cardiff City Centre, and I hear good things about 'A Strings' which is in Pontypridd.

Before that we had the ridiculously overpriced Cranes in Cardiff/Swansea (now closed), and Gamlins is still there in Cardiff, but they're not the most 'interested' bunch really.  Also GM Music in Cardiff where you literally cannot swing a cat.

I remember back in the day there was Picton Music in Swansea, and John Ham Music nearby, which was run by the brother of the guy from Badfinger.

Bought some good stuff from both of them in the mid/late 1980s onwards (Westone, Charvel and Peavey stuff that got me through my first few years of gigging). There was a place called Rowlands Music at one point too but I haven't been to Swansea in a while and I assume they're all long gone.

 

[bartelby]

21 hours ago, LewisK1975 said:

Recently some better shops have opened up in the South Wales Area, but before that it was dreadful.

 

Newport used to have GM (the overpriced strings example I gave), Speed (the closed shop that had my MP11), Gamlins and Whight Sound (odd place that sold PAs, lights and random stuff. Sold a mint, boxed Roland TB-303 to my mate for £40 because the shop "didn't sell synths")

They've all gone now. 

A few years ago this place opened http://ev-entz.com sells Stagg basses, Stagg amps (with the exception of a couple of Ampegs) and Stagg string...

[chris_b]

First the Supermarkets, now the internet is killing the High Street. Nothing bricks and mortar can do about it. They have high rates and rent, low turnover of stock and much lower foot fall.

The only shops that are going to survive are the one fronting successful online stores.

It's sad but a fact. Don't slag them off, support them, or at least be a little understanding of their predicament.

[radiophonic]

@chris_b  Not treating your customers like mugs or insulting them? Showing some expertise? Just trying to make a sale with knowledge and interest rather than assuming you deserve it? Not telling the customer what they want without listening to their actual needs? Those things cost nothing. I'd rather shop locally, but I'm not going to be treated like a mug in the process.

[bartelby]

A few weeks ago me and a mate went to a couple of gear shops in Bristol. My mate wanted to buy some for of drum machine. He'd narrowed it down to the Roland Aira TR-8, the TR-09 and the Arturia DrumBrute. 

We went into PMT first, they didn't have the DrumBrute in stock. But the guy was mega enthusiastic, without being annoying, he gave a brief and knowledgeable rundown of the workings of the TR-8 and then left us to it, popping back every 10 mins to answer questions etc. We had a quick poke about with the TR-09, but counted it out. Chatted about gigs and stuff with the PMT guy for about 20 mins and then we left. 

We then headed to Elevator Sounds, a synth shop a mile or so away. After being stood in the shop for 15 mins looking at things the owner sighed, looked up from his laptop and asked if we wanted to try anything. My mate asked about the DrumBrute they had on display. Owner sighed again, wandered over, switched it on and pointed at some headphones. He then went back to his laptop. Meanwhile I was looking at all the modular synth stuff. He had a used module I wanted at a decent price. I asked about it, he replied with no enthusiasm "urgh, If you want it that means I'll have to get it out of the rack... "Don't bother" I said I'm not interested now. I asked my mate if he was getting the Drumbrute. In a loud voice he said "F**k this guy, we'll go back to PMT". and off we went.

I'll never go back to Elevator Sounds.

EDIT: The guy lost nearly £600 in 2 easy sales.

Edited February 14, 2018 by bartelby

[T-Bay]

2 hours ago, radiophonic said:

I struggle to think what kind of punter a lot shops do take seriously and even what a guitar shop is for these days. I took the condescension and poor service for granted when I was a kid, on account of looking insufficiently like a member of Guns N Roses, but at this point I've been playing 30+ years and have actual disposable income and play every week in two bands. I buy gear.  I don't want to repeatedly put the boot into PMT, but they seem to be utterly clueless.  If you are demoing a pedal, at least have some knowledge of what the controls do - Strymon El Capistan - dunno, dunno, dunno - it's 300 quid so find out! Provide an amp and bass that can give some idea of what the pedal will sound like (MXR Bass Distortion through a practice amp and dead strings? No thanks). Get the bass guy to help with bass sales, not the trainee who gleefully tells you he knows nothing about bass gear. Read a bit.They had never even heard of Darkglass as recently as last year (blank look). I know there are more guitarists than bassists, but show some imagination and stock more than entry level Ibanez, twenty different Jazz basses and a couple of Musicman. How about not cramming them in the corner at the back of the shop too? With online trading rules guaranteeing returns, there's almost no point going into a physical store unless the store can add value. Chain shops like this have huge economies of scale (although apparently not enough scale to make stocking TC pedals viable. Really?). If they bothered to keep up with where the market is - what players are talking about and what gear people are excited about, shared some of that enthusiasm and stopped pretending that it's still 1989 and the only true music is classic rock, I'd seriously consider being a customer again. Rant over. I should drink less coffee.

To be fair to PMT their Birmingham branch has a couple of guys who are very knowledgeable on bass and fall over backwards to be helpful. The range of basses is limited to what I would like to see, but then reading on here it seems most people want twenty different fenders. One of the guys spent over an hour with me when I messed about with three overdrive pedals, he knew it was an £80 sale at best but was still as helpful as he could have been. My only major issue with PMT was an online purchase which turned into a nightmare and the muppet on the end of the emails obviously had no idea of why I was even asking him what I was asking him.

[NJE]

PMT in Bristol were really friendly and they do have a good bass section. Happy to let me play and always chatty when I go in there.

Unfortunately it is often how you present yourself that affects how you are treated in my experience. When I was 17 a friend and I went to Cardiff with £900 to buy him a Fender amp. Went to Gamlins and said outright we were there to buy, the guitar department guy was decent and let us play and test it out. 5 minutes later another member of staff (an old woman that owned the shop maybe) came over and rudely instructed us to stop using the amp and that “that was enough, there is a boy over there with his dad who want to look at something”. They looked at £120 guitar starter kits and we left very annoyed. To be fair how could she know two teenage boys had £900 to spend, but that’s not the point, people grow up and earn more money and that needs to be remembered sometimes.

On the flip side I went to London for the weekend with my wife a couple of years ago and we were dressed very smart for dinner and the theatre. Usually I look like a scruff but it was a special occasion. The welcome and service I got in the music shops was phenomenal, so polite and couldn’t do enough for us (wife was with me). I obviously looked like I had money and that must have affected their behaviour, it’s only natural.

Saying that I have been into Wunjo in normal attire and the guys in the bass dept have always been genuinely decent and friendly people happy to chat gigs and kit and they didn’t slap the living stinky poo out of any bass I wanted to play.

[EliasMooseblaster]

I've just remembered a particularly daft one...when I was first taking an interest in getting a valve amp, the Orange Bass Terror appealed for the obvious reasons of its size. One shop didn't have them in, but helpfully directed me to one up the road, who they said were the main dealer for Orange in the area. They even took the trouble to tell me about the isobaric 12" speaker that Orange were experimenting with at the time.

"Do you have those little Bass Terror heads?"

"No, but we've got the combo."

"Ah, OK, I was looking for a head as I already have a cab. May as well give this a spin though - do you know if it's one of those fancy isobaric speakers in the combo?"

"I don't know."

"Fair enough. May I try it?"

"Erm..."

The guy's face drained when he realised there wasn't a bass guitar anywhere in the shop. He quite literally ran to the shop across the road and begged to borrow a bass from them. Of course they'd lent him the cheapest thing they had, with the deadest strings. By the time I'd tuned the thing and found a sound I was halfway happy with, he was looming over my shoulder again to ask what I thought of it. Presumably he'd promised the other shop he'd only be five minutes with their bass. You won't be surprised to hear I left the shop empty-handed.

[stingrayPete1977]

People always knock PMT and guitar guitar etc for only stocking the boring stuff but they are the shops that are surviving aren't they? 

I wanted a burst and rosewood Fender Jazz a few years ago, I bought one from PMT and it's a great bass that gets regular gigs even though I could have chosen something more exotic. 

They stock what sells plus a few bits the distribution company have made them hang up gathering dust. 

[T-Bay]

4 minutes ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

People always knock PMT and guitar guitar etc for only stocking the boring stuff but they are the shops that are surviving aren't they? 

I wanted a burst and rosewood Fender Jazz a few years ago, I bought one from PMT and it's a great bass that gets regular gigs even though I could have chosen something more exotic. 

They stock what sells plus a few bits the distribution company have made them hang up gathering dust. 

They do have gaps though, look how many epiphone thunderbirds of various types are knocking about but PMT in Brum doesn’t stock a single Gibson/ epiphone bass but have loads of six strings. I am sure there is an economical reason in their minds but they also have a range of seriously expensive basses there, surely sticking a £300 epiphone in one of those slots would get more sales from the proverbial spotty teenagers?

[chris_b]

Over the years I have had good experiences in music shops and bad experiences. On the one hand it seems idiots are drawn to working in these shops like moths to a flame, IME it has been a familiar situation for the last 50 years. I have also experienced very good service from helpful and knowledgeable people.

I know a couple of guys who used to work for a chain of local music shops in the SW London area. To even things up a bit, it seems that the idiot behind the counter is all too often matched by the idiot in front of the counter.

[EBS_freak]

I kinda feel sorry for the staff in music shops. I also feel enraged about the staff in music shops.

I remember having a good chat with one of my friends (somebody who has worked in the one of the music shops in the midlands for many, many years). I said it annoyed me that whenever you go into a music shop and ask to try something out or be shown how something work, 9 times out of 10, the staff are clearly winging it. They have no idea how or what the device/software does... and even start telling you a load of horse shizz in the hopes of selling you something. His response to me was that the guys in shops cannot possibly know everything about everything they sell - and it looks worse because customers have often done research before getting to the shop (who would have thought eh?). I said that I agreed - but even the nominal level of understanding is rarely displayed. What angers me is that these same shop staff are usually sitting on their derrières - they could be learning about the products that they are selling in the times where the shops are quiet. I understand that not every member of staff can not be clued up on everything - so how about divvying up the products so there is at least one member of staff that has some understanding. I would have a lot more respect for a member of staff that says to me, "I can't help with the product in depth - but if you wait for xyz, they will be able to take you through it all in detail...."

It's funny - the desire to be clued up seems to have vanished. A guy I knew, sadly no longer with us, could never afford any of the equipment that he was interested in but had a real passion for synths. This was back in the day before all the information was available to download on the manufacturers websites. He would often contact the manufacturers and purchase the operating instructions and tech manuals just so he could learn about the products that ultimately, he could never afford. Anyway, cut a long story short, he used to go into shops to play on this gear - and his knowledge of everything blew the shops away - especially when they found out that he was showing them all the advanced and deep editing features. Before long, he had given up his job of fruit machine repairs and went into music retail. Within 6 months, after the synth reps came in and saw what this guy was capable of, they were fighting over him to join them. Shortly before his death (very sad botched appendix operation), he was consulting on the embedding programming aspect of much of the stuff found in modern DSP. I often think about him - and his passion for learning - compared to the guys selling stuff that they haven't spend 30 seconds looking at or even having a brief look through the instruction manuals. It's though it should be a given that anything should be instantly usable to the nth degree with zero learning curve. Very sad.

So yeah, it upsets me that the selling staff are mostly clueless about what they are selling...

Edited February 14, 2018 by EBS_freak

[radiophonic]

57 minutes ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

People always knock PMT and guitar guitar etc for only stocking the boring stuff but they are the shops that are surviving aren't they? 

I wanted a burst and rosewood Fender Jazz a few years ago, I bought one from PMT and it's a great bass that gets regular gigs even though I could have chosen something more exotic. 

They stock what sells plus a few bits the distribution company have made them hang up gathering dust. 

I knock them for the reasons stated. Wrongly pricing strings for an entire year seems pretty basic! When challenged they drop the price, so they are even aware of it. Not stocking TC pedals in the store, even though you can buy them online seems bizarre . Maybe Flashbacks and PolyTune's just sell themselves so they don't need to bother? Unfortunately they have no real local competition. I've never had any issues with online sales from Andertons or GAK. I used to live in Cardiff and always found Cranes helpful too.  They even had a room where you could crank up an amp or try pedals under realistic conditions. I paid a bit extra for an MXR Envelope Filter from them because I got to try it loud there and then. Ditto Cookes in Norwich. On the subject of stock, I'm not sure stores do stock what sells given the slow turnover I've seen here. I'm guessing they have to hold an agreed minimum stock for major brands like Fender and maybe don't have a choice if they want to stock them at all. 

[EBS_freak]

1 hour ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

People always knock PMT and guitar guitar etc for only stocking the boring stuff but they are the shops that are surviving aren't they? 

I wanted a burst and rosewood Fender Jazz a few years ago, I bought one from PMT and it's a great bass that gets regular gigs even though I could have chosen something more exotic. 

They stock what sells plus a few bits the distribution company have made them hang up gathering dust. 

PMT have got it right. They cater for the mass market... the people that want a Fender. PMT in Birmingham for example, know that locally, their only competition is only really Guitar Guitar. If you want anything without a mainstream brand on the headstock, you are going to be going down the road to see Mr Stickley.