Aristocat
Well-known member
And man was I disappointed.
I went in with the intent to try out some TA and Suhr stuff as I've played very little from both camps and I was disappointed from the instant I walked in.
I pulled a used Suhr off the wall (floyd; no finish-basswood looking body) and the action was to the ceiling with the strings feeling as though an Italian had his way with them. I said, what the hell and decided to give it a try anyway. Looked at the amps (no staff to be seen) and noticed that not a single combo/head was plugged into anything. I can understand trying to keep the tire kickers at bay but damn have at least one or three plugged and ready. Finally noticed a PT100 and as I looked around for staff: nobody home.
Finally, my savior, a scenester in nuthuggers decided to come help. I said, "Can I play this?" he said sure. I said, "I need a speaker cable." He then proceeded to say, "Uhh, you mean an instrument cable, right?"I said "No, the cable you need to hook a head up to a cabinet". Oh yeah, yeah right was the response from the dumbfounded man. After fumbling about for several minuets, low and behold he's back with the cable.
What flies out of his mouth next is something I've never heard even in a Guitar Center. I get this may be his of way of trying to be knowledgable/helpful but damn was he off base. He said: If you start with these knobs here (EQ) at zero and work up slowly, you can find something pleasing to the ears! I stared at him with both an equally look of disdain and bewilderment as I tried not to laugh and say thank you instead.
I didn't dig the Suhr through the amp so I chaulked it up to high action (not my preference) and overall discomfort in being there. I grab a used TA off of the wall (Plain, non bursted body with a rosewood neck). The TA had really high action and dead strings too. For some reason the pickups were nicer and albeit that the action was high; it was comfy. I decided to grab another Suhr off the wall. It was a greenish finish with a tag labeled "Matte Finish Series" or something to that effect. It was nice too but not what I expected.
When I almost walked out the door, their resident expert popped out to help. I was cordial and told him why I was in and what I was doing there. He said he had a bevy of Suhr and TA out back. I told him what I was looking for (H/H and Hard Tail and maybe Floyd as I'm not crazy about them) and he proceeded to fly into salesman mode. He gave me a little backstory of TA and Suhr which is cool in an attempt to mirror company history with what I was looking for. He even went as far as to say that all Suhr guitars have an inherent Strat like charaisctic to them (shit, even the Teles
) while TA can cover more ground. After chatting for a bit, he decides to pull of a Suhr in a S/S/H configurations (although I told him what I was interested in) and attempt to sell me on aesthetics alone.
The flame had no movement or bounce to it although it was a very pretty burst. It was a used piece, and all of the pickups were set way too high (I know they can be lowered too ). The intonation was iffy but that's an easy fix too once you get you home. As I played, I was not impressed so I asked to see a TA in H/H if possible. He said, "I have some of those, but let me grab you another Suhr".
At this point I'm livid. I get that you run a business, but if the customer doesn't gel with three-six different guitars both used and new from a manufacture, just bring him/her what they're more interested in.
He brings out a Suhr in Robin's Egg Blue with S/S/H configuration. Again, the action/intonation was iffy and it was reliced. I'm all for a beat to shit guitar (look at my LP) but damn earn those scars your self! I put the guitar down and said thank you anyway and walked out.
Before I hit the door though, I looked at the Nash LP guitars. Damn do those look so poorly/methodically processed at you can tell it's fake wear from a mile away. My girlfriend has a great eye for detail and said that it looks like he took a razor blade for fake weather checking. I know Murphy uses a blade too but at least he tries to make it look random/realistic. The Nash relic lines were perfectly and I mean perfectly straight to the T across the body while matching deviations on both sides in the same spot (U shaped spread pattern both left to right on the same adjoining line).
One thing I will about the Nash LP (Goldtop) is that it played itself. Fat, LP neck and the action was perfect as was the intonation. If that thing were a straight GT non reliced I would've jumped.
Back to it though:
I know that not every store can spend the day setting up and maintaing both new and used inventory. I worked in both corporate and privately owned stores long enough to know this. But if you're a shop specializing in all boutique and high end gear, pay a little extra attention to detail with your stock. I made sure that even the lowly Squire Affintiy Strats in my shops received a set up for two reasons. One, it doesn't have to be done later on and people are happier playing something set up and two, the customer has further incentive to buy something that plays itself.
There were no name branded instruments/amps/pedals there. It was all Suhr/TA/3 Monkees/Strymon/Nash etc. you get the idea.
And if your customer was adamant about specific things and you don't have it, don't try to bullshit your way into a sale when the customer can see the put on.
Never walking back in there and very much looking forward to King Guitars and Manchester Music Mill this Winter.
I went in with the intent to try out some TA and Suhr stuff as I've played very little from both camps and I was disappointed from the instant I walked in.
I pulled a used Suhr off the wall (floyd; no finish-basswood looking body) and the action was to the ceiling with the strings feeling as though an Italian had his way with them. I said, what the hell and decided to give it a try anyway. Looked at the amps (no staff to be seen) and noticed that not a single combo/head was plugged into anything. I can understand trying to keep the tire kickers at bay but damn have at least one or three plugged and ready. Finally noticed a PT100 and as I looked around for staff: nobody home.
Finally, my savior, a scenester in nuthuggers decided to come help. I said, "Can I play this?" he said sure. I said, "I need a speaker cable." He then proceeded to say, "Uhh, you mean an instrument cable, right?"I said "No, the cable you need to hook a head up to a cabinet". Oh yeah, yeah right was the response from the dumbfounded man. After fumbling about for several minuets, low and behold he's back with the cable.
What flies out of his mouth next is something I've never heard even in a Guitar Center. I get this may be his of way of trying to be knowledgable/helpful but damn was he off base. He said: If you start with these knobs here (EQ) at zero and work up slowly, you can find something pleasing to the ears! I stared at him with both an equally look of disdain and bewilderment as I tried not to laugh and say thank you instead.
I didn't dig the Suhr through the amp so I chaulked it up to high action (not my preference) and overall discomfort in being there. I grab a used TA off of the wall (Plain, non bursted body with a rosewood neck). The TA had really high action and dead strings too. For some reason the pickups were nicer and albeit that the action was high; it was comfy. I decided to grab another Suhr off the wall. It was a greenish finish with a tag labeled "Matte Finish Series" or something to that effect. It was nice too but not what I expected.
When I almost walked out the door, their resident expert popped out to help. I was cordial and told him why I was in and what I was doing there. He said he had a bevy of Suhr and TA out back. I told him what I was looking for (H/H and Hard Tail and maybe Floyd as I'm not crazy about them) and he proceeded to fly into salesman mode. He gave me a little backstory of TA and Suhr which is cool in an attempt to mirror company history with what I was looking for. He even went as far as to say that all Suhr guitars have an inherent Strat like charaisctic to them (shit, even the Teles
) while TA can cover more ground. After chatting for a bit, he decides to pull of a Suhr in a S/S/H configurations (although I told him what I was interested in) and attempt to sell me on aesthetics alone. The flame had no movement or bounce to it although it was a very pretty burst. It was a used piece, and all of the pickups were set way too high (I know they can be lowered too
). The intonation was iffy but that's an easy fix too once you get you home. As I played, I was not impressed so I asked to see a TA in H/H if possible. He said, "I have some of those, but let me grab you another Suhr".At this point I'm livid. I get that you run a business, but if the customer doesn't gel with three-six different guitars both used and new from a manufacture, just bring him/her what they're more interested in.
He brings out a Suhr in Robin's Egg Blue with S/S/H configuration. Again, the action/intonation was iffy and it was reliced. I'm all for a beat to shit guitar (look at my LP) but damn earn those scars your self! I put the guitar down and said thank you anyway and walked out.
Before I hit the door though, I looked at the Nash LP guitars. Damn do those look so poorly/methodically processed at you can tell it's fake wear from a mile away. My girlfriend has a great eye for detail and said that it looks like he took a razor blade for fake weather checking. I know Murphy uses a blade too but at least he tries to make it look random/realistic. The Nash relic lines were perfectly and I mean perfectly straight to the T across the body while matching deviations on both sides in the same spot (U shaped spread pattern both left to right on the same adjoining line).
One thing I will about the Nash LP (Goldtop) is that it played itself. Fat, LP neck and the action was perfect as was the intonation. If that thing were a straight GT non reliced I would've jumped.
Back to it though:
I know that not every store can spend the day setting up and maintaing both new and used inventory. I worked in both corporate and privately owned stores long enough to know this. But if you're a shop specializing in all boutique and high end gear, pay a little extra attention to detail with your stock. I made sure that even the lowly Squire Affintiy Strats in my shops received a set up for two reasons. One, it doesn't have to be done later on and people are happier playing something set up and two, the customer has further incentive to buy something that plays itself.
There were no name branded instruments/amps/pedals there. It was all Suhr/TA/3 Monkees/Strymon/Nash etc. you get the idea.
And if your customer was adamant about specific things and you don't have it, don't try to bullshit your way into a sale when the customer can see the put on.
Never walking back in there and very much looking forward to King Guitars and Manchester Music Mill this Winter.
