i've bought many cheap guitars and I tend to buy strings from 'em...
I used to be a regular, but then I found 'boutique' pedals and haven't been able to fund a guitar in awhile now.
You hear a lotta stories about their customer service.. I personally have never had any issues over the years. Once I did have to call them because I got a speaker cable and no cabinet... but they were pretty nice and got me the UPS trackng # for the cab (came the next day.) On the other hand, one of my cousin's bought a blem 4x10 bass combo... he didn't go for their warranty and the thing ended up having 2 blown speakers. I suppose thats the risk you take at buying used though.
Last edited by iamthesnow on Tue Feb 24, 2009 4:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I've shopped there before in the past. The only time I would place an order is if I could get free shipping or some sorta discount. They're fair with pricing and always run specials... Good thing in this economy :thu:.
Speaking of large music retailers... Did you know that Best Buy has a music store inside about the third of size of a GC where I live? They're planning on expanding it everywhere though. Soon there will be no Guitar Center. They also sell all the same stuff (brands etc as GC)
If I have a family member who wants to buy me a musical gift, but isn't exactly internet-ready, I sent 'em to Musician's Friend. This has happened more often than you might think.
I used to order a shitload of pedals and cables and a couple of amps from there... One year, I spent over 10,000 on Musiciansfriend. But, that was when I had a decent, stable job and didn't have to worry about bills and shit. Never dealt with their customer service. It seemed like they used to have a lot more sales back then (2-3 years ago) as compared to now.
biggest thing i've done is 2 amps from them, only because they were not stocked locally. they arrived promptly and packaged well. otherwise, i occasionally order cables, strings, picks, etc, when i don't think i'm going to have time to make it to the local shop.
they did irk me late last year - i paid for 2 day shipping to get something by a specific date, and it took them 2 days to get it out the door, which f*cked up everything.
I buy from them every now and then if they run a decent deal...cheap guitars/pedals/amps/strings/cables. The deals usually aren't any better than the other big retailers
Never had a problem with shipping or customer service.
Sweetwater gets the majority of my non-boutique business these days. Free shipping and decent prices. They even call the next day (and the week after... )
I've ordered a couple things from them, I think their selection is pretty good for what they are. The #1 I have ordered from them has been guitar cases oddly enough. I've ordered 3 over the years. I guess a couple pedals (prefer to buy used or direct from manufacturer usually). Cables, picks etc. too I think the most I spent in one order was close to $400 for a case for my jaguar, a blackheart mini stack and some other assorted miscellany, and that was only because they had sent me a code for something like 20% off an entire order due to some shipping problems they had (that didnt even effect me but they sent out codes to most of their customers, in a letter). I haven't had any troubles with them but I only order from there maybe once or twice a year.
I order from them all the time- mostly out of necessity since the guitar stores in my neck of the woods don't have the best selection. I've been ordering from them since I was 13 or 14. Never had a problem. Even had to cancel an order once and it took me like 30 seconds on the phone.
I buy picks, and random stuff. (Ebow, Cables, slide)
I dont really feel they have that much stuff and if your gonna buy something big I usually just drive the distance and try and get a better price elsewhere.
I think Sweetwater owns Mf any day. But then again I am studying sound engineering soo idk. Customer service is better at Sweetwater though....but Mf is great also.....
Honestly I dont care if you suck at playing just have amazing tone to make up for it.
i mainly buy pedals from them and some accessories. i dont really have that many guitar stores around my area. there is really only two that are worth going to. we have a guitar center in town but that place is the devil. so i do most of my shopping online.
I bought a Bad Monkey from them with no problems, and even returned an ART Tube pre with no problems. I bought a Verbzilla from them and waited 8 months after being told FIRST it was in stock, then that I would get it in a month, then that I would get it in a month, then that I would get it in a month, repeat; and eventually I just got tired of waiting and ordered it from somewhere else.
If they didn't lie about it, things would be much cooler. Just remember folks, just because they supposedly have somthing in stock, does not mean they actually do.
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