Chubtone
Well-known member
I just finished talking to a buddy about this and thought it might make a funny thread. Keep in mind, I love talking about gear with most customers, and most people like you find on most forums. If you can operate a computer, get on line, register for a forum and type, then this won't apply and I know you aren't this type of customer.
It is many guitarists dream to open a guitar shop. Wouldn't it be cool to work around guitars all day and you can just pick them up and play whenever it is slow? Let me tell you guys this, this will be the majority of your day, every day. This is for fun, by the way, a therapeutic blowing off of steam.
Customer: "How much is that beat up old Cry Baby in the display?"
Me: "That is a 1973, Thomas Organ era Cry Baby. Many people like these old ones better than the brand new ones. We are selling this one for $79. You can get a brand new one for $59 if you prefer."
Customer: "That seems expensive for how beat up and hammered it is"
Me: "Well, we have tested it out and it still works perfectly and sounds great. There's bound to be a little wear on them when they are 38 years old. But if you prefer newer and cleaner, I have this brand new one in the box for $59."
Customer: "Oh no. I have tried the new ones and they don't sound anywhere near as good as the old ones. I have been trying to find an early 70's Thomas Organ Cry baby for a few months now. I bought an even more beat up one off of ebay for $89 but the pot was all scratchy and someone had changed the inductor so I sent it back. They're just really hard to find and I want an old one because of the tone..... Would you take $39 for this one?"
Me: "We really need to get $79 for this one. You might find one for $39 at the swap meet or maybe at a garage sale if you keep looking."
Customer: "That just seems like a lot for an old one."
Me: "Didn't you say you bought a more beat up one on ebay for $10 more? Lets plug this one in and see what you think. You get to hear it. It has a 30 day electronics guarantee and you won't have to wait for it to be shipped to you."
Customer: "What year is this wah pedal?"
Me: "We believe it is a 1973"
Customer: "1973 huh? yeah, man.... in '73 I was in a band with my girlfriends brother and my cousin Don. I had this cool Cry baby. I got it from Al Kalie Music, that used to be over in Long Beach. Do you remember them? The guy from The Tourists used to work there after I stopped taking lessons from Tony Spinner. We did this gig and the wah diidn't work and I was freaking out. It turns out I forgot to put a battery in it and it died right during the solo of Heartbreaker. So my drummer did this solo. He had a Ludwig Octoplus Vista Lite, you know like Bonham used, except he wasn't really into Bonham.... he was more into Billy Cobham. Oh man, have you heard Teaser with Tommy Bolin. I saw him with James Gang at Dodger stadium. I went with my wife, but it was before we were married and had kids. I gave that wah pedal to my oldest son and he is still using it. You can check out his band at thiskidsbandisgoingtosuck.com Go ahead, bring up their web page right now and check them out. I want to see what you think.
That guitar he's using in that video I got from Guitar Guitar in Hollywood, remember them? It was $349 and I had it refretted twice as the first guy screwed it up. Did you know Bill at Joe's Guitar Repair?"
Me: "No. Is that who did the bad re-fret?"
Customer: "No, Bill was great. he played a left handed Tele through an old Twin. he was great. So anyway, I put a new battery in my wah pedal and it worked fine after that."
Me: "Cool. A wah pedal should work for a long, long time."
Customer: "Do you have the bag of 12 Tortex picks for $3.95 like Guitar Center does?"
Me: "I have Tortex picks in that tray right there sold individually. They are 4 for $1."
Customer: " Yeah, but I can get 12 for $3.95 at Guitar Center and they come packaged in a little bag."
Me: "You can get 12 of them here for $3 or 16 of them for $3.95 here and I'll put them in a little zip lock bag for you."
Customer: "I think I'm going to head to Guitar Center because I can get two bags of them for like $8 there.
Me:
"Ok. have a good one."
Two hours later, customer comes back in with a beat up old Thomas Organ era wah pedal.
Customer: "Do you have a tech that fixes pedals?"
Me: "Yeah. Why? What's up?"
Customer: "I just bought this vintage wah from Guitar Center for $119, and they threw in 2 bags of those Tortex picks. But the wah isn't working right"
Me: "uhm..... yeah.......Our tech doesn't fix pedals like that. You should return it to Guitar Center and buy this one that works for $79."
Customer: "Would you take $59 for it?"
Think I'm joking?
It is many guitarists dream to open a guitar shop. Wouldn't it be cool to work around guitars all day and you can just pick them up and play whenever it is slow? Let me tell you guys this, this will be the majority of your day, every day. This is for fun, by the way, a therapeutic blowing off of steam.
Customer: "How much is that beat up old Cry Baby in the display?"
Me: "That is a 1973, Thomas Organ era Cry Baby. Many people like these old ones better than the brand new ones. We are selling this one for $79. You can get a brand new one for $59 if you prefer."
Customer: "That seems expensive for how beat up and hammered it is"
Me: "Well, we have tested it out and it still works perfectly and sounds great. There's bound to be a little wear on them when they are 38 years old. But if you prefer newer and cleaner, I have this brand new one in the box for $59."
Customer: "Oh no. I have tried the new ones and they don't sound anywhere near as good as the old ones. I have been trying to find an early 70's Thomas Organ Cry baby for a few months now. I bought an even more beat up one off of ebay for $89 but the pot was all scratchy and someone had changed the inductor so I sent it back. They're just really hard to find and I want an old one because of the tone..... Would you take $39 for this one?"
Me: "We really need to get $79 for this one. You might find one for $39 at the swap meet or maybe at a garage sale if you keep looking."
Customer: "That just seems like a lot for an old one."
Me: "Didn't you say you bought a more beat up one on ebay for $10 more? Lets plug this one in and see what you think. You get to hear it. It has a 30 day electronics guarantee and you won't have to wait for it to be shipped to you."
Customer: "What year is this wah pedal?"
Me: "We believe it is a 1973"
Customer: "1973 huh? yeah, man.... in '73 I was in a band with my girlfriends brother and my cousin Don. I had this cool Cry baby. I got it from Al Kalie Music, that used to be over in Long Beach. Do you remember them? The guy from The Tourists used to work there after I stopped taking lessons from Tony Spinner. We did this gig and the wah diidn't work and I was freaking out. It turns out I forgot to put a battery in it and it died right during the solo of Heartbreaker. So my drummer did this solo. He had a Ludwig Octoplus Vista Lite, you know like Bonham used, except he wasn't really into Bonham.... he was more into Billy Cobham. Oh man, have you heard Teaser with Tommy Bolin. I saw him with James Gang at Dodger stadium. I went with my wife, but it was before we were married and had kids. I gave that wah pedal to my oldest son and he is still using it. You can check out his band at thiskidsbandisgoingtosuck.com Go ahead, bring up their web page right now and check them out. I want to see what you think.
That guitar he's using in that video I got from Guitar Guitar in Hollywood, remember them? It was $349 and I had it refretted twice as the first guy screwed it up. Did you know Bill at Joe's Guitar Repair?"
Me: "No. Is that who did the bad re-fret?"
Customer: "No, Bill was great. he played a left handed Tele through an old Twin. he was great. So anyway, I put a new battery in my wah pedal and it worked fine after that."
Me: "Cool. A wah pedal should work for a long, long time."
Customer: "Do you have the bag of 12 Tortex picks for $3.95 like Guitar Center does?"
Me: "I have Tortex picks in that tray right there sold individually. They are 4 for $1."
Customer: " Yeah, but I can get 12 for $3.95 at Guitar Center and they come packaged in a little bag."
Me: "You can get 12 of them here for $3 or 16 of them for $3.95 here and I'll put them in a little zip lock bag for you."
Customer: "I think I'm going to head to Guitar Center because I can get two bags of them for like $8 there.
Me:
"Ok. have a good one."Two hours later, customer comes back in with a beat up old Thomas Organ era wah pedal.
Customer: "Do you have a tech that fixes pedals?"
Me: "Yeah. Why? What's up?"
Customer: "I just bought this vintage wah from Guitar Center for $119, and they threw in 2 bags of those Tortex picks. But the wah isn't working right"
Me: "uhm..... yeah.......Our tech doesn't fix pedals like that. You should return it to Guitar Center and buy this one that works for $79."
Customer: "Would you take $59 for it?"
Think I'm joking?
It's pretty cool most of the time. But sometimes you get on a run with a bunch of those guys in a row for days on end. That's what prompted this thread.
at the same time.
