Went to Indoor Storm (Rant Inside)

[Aristocat]

Just surprised to say the least.

This was a piss poor introduction to TA/Suhr for me and I left thinking that TA/Suhr were overpriced and hype.

I just wasn't mind blown to say the least and that left a bad taste in my mouth after hearing such great reviews over the years.

 

[Heritage Softail]

Just surprised to say the least.

This was a piss poor introduction to TA/Suhr for me and I left thinking that TA/Suhr were overpriced and hype.

I just wasn't mind blown to say the least and that left a bad taste in my mouth after hearing such great reviews over the years.

They are solid guitars. I have two Suhrs and one TA. The TA is one from Steve. Complete with whiskey dent, shipped from Saudi. I restrung and have played probably every third day or so. It is a comfortable old leather jacket sort of guitar, a pro am.

This Suhr Tele is just a perfect new version of an old 60's tele. I played a few over the years in the downtown ATL Guitar Center with a Booteek gear room.

Too bad about the cheesy looking Nash guitars. I have played many of them demoing amps at Atlanta Discount Music. Always great players. Maybe the guys there, all solid player salesmen, set things up well.

If you screwed one dead fish chic, not so sure you would write off vag.... Just sayin...

Peace

 

[glip22]

Is this an honest review and bash of Indoor Storm(possibly rightfully so) or is this an introduction facade to trash Suhr and Tom Anderson. I smell something bad here. You must have some amazing guitars for a Suhr or Tom Anderson to be shit to you.

 

[threadkiller]

That's a shame. Indoor Storm was a great shop when they were in Raleigh, before they "merged" with Soundpure. Eddie is a great guy and really knows his stuff. And, he is a natural salesman. Knows how to put you at ease and help you find what you want, and has memory for clients like an elephant. When I saw him at SEGAS last year he recognized me and remembered some stuff about me like where I was from and a little about my band. This was at least a year and a half after I talked to him last. I'm sure this is a salesman thing that he does intentionally, but a least he's good at it. Last I checked, he was still there at the Durham/Soundpure location but I haven't been in since they closed the Raleigh store. Hopefully this was a fluke visit. I do agree, they tend to have a bunch of stuff on the website and not so much in the store. They like to leave stock on the website and list it as sold, giving you the impression it is just flying off the shelves, when in reality it might have sold a year or more ago.

 

[Aristocat]

That's a shame. Indoor Storm was a great shop when they were in Raleigh, before they "merged" with Soundpure. Eddie is a great guy and really knows his stuff. And, he is a natural salesman. Knows how to put you at ease and help you find what you want, and has memory for clients like an elephant. When I saw him at SEGAS last year he recognized me and remembered some stuff about me like where I was from and a little about my band. This was at least a year and a half after I talked to him last. I'm sure this is a salesman thing that he does intentionally, but a least he's good at it. Last I checked, he was still there at the Durham/Soundpure location but I haven't been in since they closed the Raleigh store. Hopefully this was a fluke visit. I do agree, they tend to have a bunch of stuff on the website and not so much in the store. They like to leave stock on the website and list it as sold, giving you the impression it is just flying off the shelves, when in reality it might have sold a year or more ago.

The funny thing is that Eddie was my second salesman. He seemed nice enough but the hard-sell was strong in that one.

I just asked for something specific and he kept handing me whatever he wanted. If they didn't have what I wanted that's cool but I didn't want to go in to bullshit and waste time. Sure the playing aspect had the aforementioned bullshitting covered but I was doing research for something when I graduate next year from school and I left feeling like I could A. find a better spot and B. try different manufactures with better results.

I'm gonna have to check out your Suhr next time we jam to get a second opinion.

 

[threadkiller]

Never felt pressure from Eddie for a sale. Dunno?

My Suhr showed up from the factory with an awful set up. But it was the opposite problem. Action was on the frets. It took me a good while to get the truss rod adjusted which I don't like to do quickly, especially on a new guitar when the wood might still be settling in. Once I got some relief in the neck I raised my action a good bit before I was happy. Once I got it adjusted properly it has been a great guitar and rock solid. And, it is one of the best guitars tonally I've ever played. The fret plecking and overall craftsmanship are top notch. My take on Suhr is it is like getting a custom shop Fender, except it's actually less expensive, and more consistent.

I'll have to go up to Durham to check them out. Maybe things have changed in the new venue. Indoor storm in Raleigh was a great place. I may be wrong, so if anyone here has any inside knowledge set me straight, but I got the impression that the "merger" was really about Soundpure buying up the existing stock and agreeing to take the employees on from an Indoor Storm that was going belly up. Maybe not true but I got that impression. Last time I went into the Raleigh store the floor stock was minimal and everyone looked down in the dumps. It was so obvious I actually asked Eddie if things were going alright. He assured me things were fine and they were selling stuff internationally online so much they couldn't keep the inventory. About a month and a half later they "merged".

It never looked as bad in there as it looked at Fat Sound before they went out in a blaze of glory. Holy cow, i've never seen such a great store take a dump like that place did. The Raleigh market has lost 2 great music stores. At least Indoor Storm closed/merged, whatever, without screwing over a bunch of people.

 

[rlord1974]

That's a shame. Indoor Storm was a great shop when they were in Raleigh, before they "merged" with Soundpure. Eddie is a great guy and really knows his stuff. And, he is a natural salesman. Knows how to put you at ease and help you find what you want, and has memory for clients like an elephant. When I saw him at SEGAS last year he recognized me and remembered some stuff about me like where I was from and a little about my band. This was at least a year and a half after I talked to him last. I'm sure this is a salesman thing that he does intentionally, but a least he's good at it. Last I checked, he was still there at the Durham/Soundpure location but I haven't been in since they closed the Raleigh store. Hopefully this was a fluke visit. I do agree, they tend to have a bunch of stuff on the website and not so much in the store. They like to leave stock on the website and list it as sold, giving you the impression it is just flying off the shelves, when in reality it might have sold a year or more ago.

The funny thing is that Eddie was my second salesman. He seemed nice enough but the hard-sell was strong in that one.

I just asked for something specific and he kept handing me whatever he wanted. If they didn't have what I wanted that's cool but I didn't want to go in to bullshit and waste time. Sure the playing aspect had the aforementioned bullshitting covered but I was doing research for something when I graduate next year from school and I left feeling like I could A. find a better spot and B. try different manufactures with better results.

I'm gonna have to check out your Suhr next time we jam to get a second opinion.

Sure, his approach might have frustrated you, but he might have been simply trying to give you a varied offering of Suhr guitars with which to form your opinion on them.

Ultimately, if you wanted to move on to TA guitars, why didn't you just tell him this? You're the customer - you should have just politely said to him "Thanks for trying to allow me to experience a few different Suhr guitars, but I am really more interested in TA and would like to try some of those at this point."

It's your money, so you drive the bus.

 

[Aristocat]

That's a shame. Indoor Storm was a great shop when they were in Raleigh, before they "merged" with Soundpure. Eddie is a great guy and really knows his stuff. And, he is a natural salesman. Knows how to put you at ease and help you find what you want, and has memory for clients like an elephant. When I saw him at SEGAS last year he recognized me and remembered some stuff about me like where I was from and a little about my band. This was at least a year and a half after I talked to him last. I'm sure this is a salesman thing that he does intentionally, but a least he's good at it. Last I checked, he was still there at the Durham/Soundpure location but I haven't been in since they closed the Raleigh store. Hopefully this was a fluke visit. I do agree, they tend to have a bunch of stuff on the website and not so much in the store. They like to leave stock on the website and list it as sold, giving you the impression it is just flying off the shelves, when in reality it might have sold a year or more ago.

The funny thing is that Eddie was my second salesman. He seemed nice enough but the hard-sell was strong in that one.

I just asked for something specific and he kept handing me whatever he wanted. If they didn't have what I wanted that's cool but I didn't want to go in to bullshit and waste time. Sure the playing aspect had the aforementioned bullshitting covered but I was doing research for something when I graduate next year from school and I left feeling like I could A. find a better spot and B. try different manufactures with better results.

I'm gonna have to check out your Suhr next time we jam to get a second opinion.

Sure, his approach might have frustrated you, but he might have been simply trying to give you a varied offering of Suhr guitars with which to form your opinion on them.

Ultimately, if you wanted to move on to TA guitars, why didn't you just tell him this? You're the customer - you should have just politely said to him "Thanks for trying to allow me to experience a few different Suhr guitars, but I am really more interested in TA and would like to try some of those at this point."

It's your money, so you drive the bus.

I did tell him that and that's when he handed me another Suhr.

 

[rlord1974]

Yeah, but that's when you say "Oh, no thanks, really. I just would like to move on to TA at this point." If he doesn't listen after your polite insistence, you leave.

I've had similar experiences to yours at lesser music stores, and I have learned to just be very straightforward with them. They'll see that you are ready to walk if they don't start listening.

Anyways, I'm sorry the experience didn't go well. I'm certainly not hear to rag on you!

 

[Aristocat]

Is this an honest review and bash of Indoor Storm(possibly rightfully so) or is this an introduction facade to trash Suhr and Tom Anderson. I smell something bad here. You must have some amazing guitars for a Suhr or Tom Anderson to be shit to you.

No, not a bash whatsoever.

The guitars I played were not solid and they did not play well at all. That being said, doesn't mean I will not give the two aforementioned brands a try again at a later date in time when more attention to detail has been given.

The only one out of the bunch that played nicely and sounded great was the Robins Egg Blue Suhr Relic Strat. Did I say above that it played poorly; yes I did. I also take these things with a grain a salt and I'm not about to write something off altogether.

Think about it this way:

If you heard nothing but rave reviews for two-three years on two different products and when you get the chance to look/play at them and they received the same treatment as a bargain bin Strat, wouldn't you be very disappointed as well?

Add to it when I expressed early on that TA seemed more of my thing and I'm handed Suhr after Suhr being told about how Suhr has been a dealer for them since the very beginning doesn't that seem a tad bit biased? I'm all for a helping hand but I explicitly stated what I wanted and what I was going for.

I also never said they were 'shit'. That's a far cry from what I stated. Saying something plays badly because it does and that it hasn't received any TLC in a good while is an honest assessment. Saying that the intonation is spotty must be me just trying to take a shit on all TA/Suhr guitars.

I would never shit on a product that I knew nothing about or never had first hand experience with. Since this was my firs time Jamming on both brands; this is as honest as it gets.

Even had this talk with Threadkiller last week and told him I wanted to check out his Suhr Tele. Steve keeps his guitars in excellent shape.

 

[Aristocat]

Just surprised to say the least.

This was a piss poor introduction to TA/Suhr for me and I left thinking that TA/Suhr were overpriced and hype.

I just wasn't mind blown to say the least and that left a bad taste in my mouth after hearing such great reviews over the years.

They are solid guitars. I have two Suhrs and one TA. The TA is one from Steve. Complete with whiskey dent, shipped from Saudi. I restrung and have played probably every third day or so. It is a comfortable old leather jacket sort of guitar, a pro am.

This Suhr Tele is just a perfect new version of an old 60's tele. I played a few over the years in the downtown ATL Guitar Center with a Booteek gear room.

Too bad about the cheesy looking Nash guitars. I have played many of them demoing amps at Atlanta Discount Music. Always great players. Maybe the guys there, all solid player salesmen, set things up well.

If you screwed one dead fish chic, not so sure you would write off vag.... Just sayin...

Peace

Looks wise, Nash sucked.

Playing wise they felt like a well worn, well used guitar that you've had for twenty+ years.

 

[glip22]

Is this an honest review and bash of Indoor Storm(possibly rightfully so) or is this an introduction facade to trash Suhr and Tom Anderson. I smell something bad here. You must have some amazing guitars for a Suhr or Tom Anderson to be shit to you.

No, not a bash whatsoever.

The guitars I played were not solid and they did not play well at all. That being said, doesn't mean I will not give the two aforementioned brands a try again at a later date in time when more attention to detail has been given.

The only one out of the bunch that played nicely and sounded great was the Robins Egg Blue Suhr Relic Strat. Did I say above that it played poorly; yes I did. I also take these things with a grain a salt and I'm not about to write something off altogether.

Think about it this way:

If you heard nothing but rave reviews for two-three years on two different products and when you get the chance to look/play at them and they received the same treatment as a bargain bin Strat, wouldn't you be very disappointed as well?

Add to it when I expressed early on that TA seemed more of my thing and I'm handed Suhr after Suhr being told about how Suhr has been a dealer for them since the very beginning doesn't that seem a tad bit biased? I'm all for a helping hand but I explicitly stated what I wanted and what I was going for.

I also never said they were 'shit'. That's a far cry from what I stated. Saying something plays badly because it does and that it hasn't received any TLC in a good while is an honest assessment. Saying that the intonation is spotty must be me just trying to take a shit on all TA/Suhr guitars.

I would never shit on a product that I knew nothing about or never had first hand experience with. Since this was my firs time Jamming on both brands; this is as honest as it gets.

Even had this talk with Threadkiller last week and told him I wanted to check out his Suhr Tele. Steve keeps his guitars in excellent shape.

Got you. I think John should make a call to the store for not representing his guitars well. Setup is extremely important.

 

[Aristocat]

Is this an honest review and bash of Indoor Storm(possibly rightfully so) or is this an introduction facade to trash Suhr and Tom Anderson. I smell something bad here. You must have some amazing guitars for a Suhr or Tom Anderson to be shit to you.

No, not a bash whatsoever.

The guitars I played were not solid and they did not play well at all. That being said, doesn't mean I will not give the two aforementioned brands a try again at a later date in time when more attention to detail has been given.

The only one out of the bunch that played nicely and sounded great was the Robins Egg Blue Suhr Relic Strat. Did I say above that it played poorly; yes I did. I also take these things with a grain a salt and I'm not about to write something off altogether.

Think about it this way:

If you heard nothing but rave reviews for two-three years on two different products and when you get the chance to look/play at them and they received the same treatment as a bargain bin Strat, wouldn't you be very disappointed as well?

Add to it when I expressed early on that TA seemed more of my thing and I'm handed Suhr after Suhr being told about how Suhr has been a dealer for them since the very beginning doesn't that seem a tad bit biased? I'm all for a helping hand but I explicitly stated what I wanted and what I was going for.

I also never said they were 'shit'. That's a far cry from what I stated. Saying something plays badly because it does and that it hasn't received any TLC in a good while is an honest assessment. Saying that the intonation is spotty must be me just trying to take a shit on all TA/Suhr guitars.

I would never shit on a product that I knew nothing about or never had first hand experience with. Since this was my firs time Jamming on both brands; this is as honest as it gets.

Even had this talk with Threadkiller last week and told him I wanted to check out his Suhr Tele. Steve keeps his guitars in excellent shape.

Got you. I think John should make a call to the store for not representing his guitars well. Setup is extremely important.

It would behoove him to do just that.

Especially since they're so proud of Suhr's relationship with them.

 

[Charvel_King]

And man was I disappointed.

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'm not familiar with the amps design but with some amps that have interactive eq, like Mesas Marks, this actually works.

I assumed the same, it's just that it was surprising to hear. I believe it does as well though.

It's the way he said. It was a mixture of I'm unsure of what I'm saying and someone told me this is what it does. No confidence in the product.

I always EQ my amps from zero, both my Marshall and Mesa Mark III. I just find it easier to hear when each control peaks and sounds best.

 

[glip22]

Is this an honest review and bash of Indoor Storm(possibly rightfully so) or is this an introduction facade to trash Suhr and Tom Anderson. I smell something bad here. You must have some amazing guitars for a Suhr or Tom Anderson to be shit to you.

No, not a bash whatsoever.

The guitars I played were not solid and they did not play well at all. That being said, doesn't mean I will not give the two aforementioned brands a try again at a later date in time when more attention to detail has been given.

The only one out of the bunch that played nicely and sounded great was the Robins Egg Blue Suhr Relic Strat. Did I say above that it played poorly; yes I did. I also take these things with a grain a salt and I'm not about to write something off altogether.

Think about it this way:

If you heard nothing but rave reviews for two-three years on two different products and when you get the chance to look/play at them and they received the same treatment as a bargain bin Strat, wouldn't you be very disappointed as well?

Add to it when I expressed early on that TA seemed more of my thing and I'm handed Suhr after Suhr being told about how Suhr has been a dealer for them since the very beginning doesn't that seem a tad bit biased? I'm all for a helping hand but I explicitly stated what I wanted and what I was going for.

I also never said they were 'shit'. That's a far cry from what I stated. Saying something plays badly because it does and that it hasn't received any TLC in a good while is an honest assessment. Saying that the intonation is spotty must be me just trying to take a shit on all TA/Suhr guitars.

I would never shit on a product that I knew nothing about or never had first hand experience with. Since this was my firs time Jamming on both brands; this is as honest as it gets.

Even had this talk with Threadkiller last week and told him I wanted to check out his Suhr Tele. Steve keeps his guitars in excellent shape.

Got you. I think John should make a call to the store for not representing his guitars well. Setup is extremely important.

It would behoove him to do just that.

Especially since they're so proud of Suhr's relationship with them.

After your ezperience I agree 100%. Hes making John look bad by having crap setups on the guitars. Any Suhr I got the action was too low. I like them at 4/64th low E and 3-1/2 64th High E last fret. And a good one will not buzz at all even when jumping on from ope strings to power chords anywhere on the neck or vibrato.

 

[ToneSeeker1969]

Is this an honest review and bash of Indoor Storm(possibly rightfully so) or is this an introduction facade to trash Suhr and Tom Anderson. I smell something bad here. You must have some amazing guitars for a Suhr or Tom Anderson to be shit to you.

No, not a bash whatsoever.

The guitars I played were not solid and they did not play well at all. That being said, doesn't mean I will not give the two aforementioned brands a try again at a later date in time when more attention to detail has been given.

The only one out of the bunch that played nicely and sounded great was the Robins Egg Blue Suhr Relic Strat. Did I say above that it played poorly; yes I did. I also take these things with a grain a salt and I'm not about to write something off altogether.

Think about it this way:

If you heard nothing but rave reviews for two-three years on two different products and when you get the chance to look/play at them and they received the same treatment as a bargain bin Strat, wouldn't you be very disappointed as well?

Add to it when I expressed early on that TA seemed more of my thing and I'm handed Suhr after Suhr being told about how Suhr has been a dealer for them since the very beginning doesn't that seem a tad bit biased? I'm all for a helping hand but I explicitly stated what I wanted and what I was going for.

I also never said they were 'shit'. That's a far cry from what I stated. Saying something plays badly because it does and that it hasn't received any TLC in a good while is an honest assessment. Saying that the intonation is spotty must be me just trying to take a shit on all TA/Suhr guitars.

I would never shit on a product that I knew nothing about or never had first hand experience with. Since this was my firs time Jamming on both brands; this is as honest as it gets.

Even had this talk with Threadkiller last week and told him I wanted to check out his Suhr Tele. Steve keeps his guitars in excellent shape.

I couldn't agree with your frustration more. When I was young, and worked at a large music retail shop in New England, two of the things I was taught early on was that all the guitars needed be tuned and setup properly, and NEVER push people. When someone's looking to drop $2K + on an instrument, don't lose a sale by imposing your own taste on them. I would have apologized for the high action, taken the TA that you like in the back, and lowered the action in 5 minutes for you. Talking up your choice, and validating your taste in the guitar, quite simply makes you that more comfortable, and likely to make the purchase.

I'm like all the other tech geeks on these blog sites....we research SO much that it is more times than not that we know more then the damn sales people, when shopping for high end gear. It can be maddening when trying to get professional input on gear. That is one huge reason that sites like these are so important. Suhr makes some incredible guitars, as does TA, too bad your experience sucked. I also dig the sound and playability of the Nash Strats, but they have THE worst relic jobs. I don't get it. I literally can't even consider them if a guitar looks like that. I like worn, but geez, some of them look like the dragged them for a mile behind a car. So unrealistic. Rant over.

 

[Spaceboy]

I used to live two blocks from Indoor Storm and never had trouble with the guitars there. They typically have a laid back service approach and don't hound guys that come in. I also never encountered none of the amps having speaker cables missing, that's odd. I went down there about bi-monthy for two years, never really bought anything major just pedals. I thought it was an alright place.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds about right to me. I went there ONCE a few years back. They advertise all this great stuff but have very limited inventory. I understand how expensive it is to have all that on hand. Just wasn't my cup o tea.

Shame too as I do not have many boutique shops in my area (I'm two hours away from Durham, NC at college). Back home (MA) I could swing into Matt's Music or Manchester Music Mill (Joe gets killer used gear). I'm taking a trip to Brad's the winter when I drive back home to check some stuff out.

I thought Brad had closed that shop and was living in Cali now?

Steve

 

[Chubtone]

I thought Brad had closed that shop and was living in Cali now?

Steve

This thread's a hundred years old. Why?