Sweetwater CEO Reacts To The Industry’s Decline

I went there yesterday for first time ever. It was pretty cool. The music store aspect was fine, but the corp amenities for the employees was very nice. Their customer service was super string and my friend got his Martin D 28 pickup replacement for free. That guitar was out of warranty for years. Impressive to me.
 
legend71 said:
I went there yesterday for first time ever. It was pretty cool. The music store aspect was fine, but the corp amenities for the employees was very nice. Their customer service was super string and my friend got his Martin D 28 pickup replacement for free. That guitar was out of warranty for years. Impressive to me.
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Sweetwater has treated me like gold every time I've dealt with them whether I've spent big or just needed a set of strings. Great company.
 
I don't see a mega store like Sweetwater going under anytime soon. I think they've been able to pivot with the times really well and they make it very easy to purchase online with confidence that they will correct whatever issues arise. I'm sure people have had exceptions, but I expect the vast majority have had a positive experience.

The couple times I've been there it's been really impressive. It's very large and pretty well laid out. Guitar center, Sam ash, and even Mars Music back in the day didn't have such a welcoming atmosphere.
 
Yep, fewer players, fewer venues to play, learning a musical instrument isn't as big as it once was when many of us were kids...

But Wait Theres More GIFs | Tenor


better sell your old guitars and tube amps before the great boomer passing begins...semi-facetious.

In the next several years, many older guitar players will pass on, leaving their gear collections to their survivors, many of whom are not interested in most of it, except for a sentimental / reminder guitar or similar.


I watched a video of a guitar shop owner who was driving somewhere and on the side of the road was a pile of what looked like trash, but he saw what looked to be a guitar case. He pulled over, and there were a few guitars and tube amps, mostly from the 60s and 70s - vintage gear. He guessed the owner died or maybe was sent to a nursing home or hospice, and the family didn't even bother trying to sell anything, likely not knowing or caring what they had.

the used gear market is going to see a flood of vintage and old gear...
 
rsm said:
better sell your old guitars and tube amps before the great boomer passing begins...semi-facetious.

In the next several years, many older guitar players will pass on, leaving their gear collections to their survivors, many of whom are not interested in most of it, except for a sentimental / reminder guitar or similar.
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That happened a lot to WW2 gun collectors starting in the 1990's as veterans passed away and next of kin sold their gear. But that stopped nearly 20 years ago as most of the veterans died out.
 
Music gear is a "luxury" for most people and in a Fucked up economy the first thing to go is the toys.
Trends come & go, so do sales.
If you sell your gear to SW they get a % of your free money. They probably make more doing that then anything else.
I can appreciate what McNight is trying to do but he's asking softball questions and is on thier payroll so not exactly fair & objective.
Like making a video complaining about a dentist and the same dentist does your dental work for free.
And i hardly need a video to tell me how Fucked up music sales are.
 
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shar-vell Dan said:
Music gear is a "luxury" for most people and in a Fucked up economy the first thing to go is the toys.
Trends come & go, so do sales.
If you sell your gear to SW they get a % of your free money. They probably make more doing that then anything else.
I can appreciate what McNight is trying to do but he's asking softball questions and is on thier payroll so not exactly fair & objective.
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Sweetwater doesn’t buy used gear. The gear exchange is just their version of Reverb for the public and it’s not very big yet, so I very much doubt the fees are floating the company 😂
 
Last time I bought from SW I didn't have a good experience.

Maybe they have gotten better, maybe worse, but I do my business elsewhere after being a customer for probably 20 years.
 
TLDW sweetwater not selling as much gear cause nobody is stuck at home anymore, their 55 point inspection is more like a 1/2 point inspection and they have been cheating every sucker that orders from them out of the half dozen bit o honeys they used to deliver. Another out of touch CEO musician. He should stick to strumming G chords on his PRS private reserve and talking about his Dumble collection over at TGP.
 
shar-vell Dan said:
Music gear is a "luxury" for most people and in a Fucked up economy the first thing to go is the toys.
Trends come & go, so do sales.
If you sell your gear to SW they get a % of your free money. They probably make more doing that then anything else.
I can appreciate what McNight is trying to do but he's asking softball questions and is on thier payroll so not exactly fair & objective.
Like making a video complaining about a dentist and the same dentist does your dental work for free.
And i hardly need a video to tell me how Fucked up music sales are.
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Don't worry Danielle. Handtruck collecting will always stand the test of time.
 
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Scrolling thru Sweetwater’s inventory is like visiting the used (junk) area in Guitar Center.

“lightly used” my ass. They take a few bucks off of ruined 4x12 cabs.
People buy their gear, use it on gigs, abuse it for 45 days, or whatever the limit is, and then return it. Then it’s “lightly used”. Get out of here, lightly used.
A few months ago, one of their freaking guys that I’m assigned to, calls me before 9 AM to ask about the case I bought. An empty case. What am I supposed to say to that?
 
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Good morning bro, thanks for calling me before I even had my coffee. The case rocks! The latches are amazing.
 
CarlF said:
Good morning bro, thanks for calling me before I even had my coffee. The case rocks! The latches are amazing.
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Gotta admit, I thought the latches were pretty sweet on the guitar/case I just got 😂
 
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