Hey,

I'm about ready to take the plunge and buy a relatively high-end acoustic guitar from Musician's Friend.  

It's a Gibson that I've had my eye on for a long time.  It just recently had a price-drop and along with a promo code I have, I can get a deal on it that's really hard to beat.

I'm a little nervous about buying an acoustic guitar without seeing, hearing or playing it first.  But they seem to have a pretty good return policy.

Anyone have any good or bad experiences with this?

Thanks.

They have a fantastic return policy.

After spenidng 10 years looking for a Jazzmaster on my road trips and never finding one, I bought a Jazzmaster from them. I wasn't 100% fond of it, so I ordered a 2nd and played them both for a month. I kept the one I favored and they paid to have the 2nd one returned to them and they balanced out my account.

It wasn't the best way to buy a guitar but they certainly gave me much more opportunity to make a good selection than any other store.


Good luck.


best regards,
mike

Musicians friend is owned by guitarcenter..   And!!  Their main warehouse is down the road ( 9 miles? ) from where I live.   Its a massive complex, and a very well kept and expensive looking operation...

I buy my strings and picks from them..   LOL!! I get free shipping, and next morning delivery!!

Musicians Friend's primary distribution center and warehouse is in Kansas City. 


best regards,
mike

Thanks for the input.

I will be saving in the neighborhood of (at least) $600 if I buy from them.


Hard to pass up! 

Dave King

It's a Gibson that I've had my eye on for a long time.  It just recently had a price-drop and along with a promo code I have, I can get a deal on it that's really hard to beat. 

Make sure the ridiculously vast exclusion list (which includes Gibson) doesn't apply to your promo code!

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pages/special-offer-details

mike_mccue


Musicians Friend's primary distribution center and warehouse is in Kansas City. 


best regards,
mike

That's guitarcenters mega-huge main hub.  It houses all the subsidiaries..   There's still a huge distribution center by me..    I guess..  I'll be on that highway tomorrow afternoon, so I will look to see if its still there...

I bought a guitar from MF once. 

I kept it because I liked it, AND because I would have taken too much of a loss on the return - 25% IIFC, on $700 would have added up.
I'm quite happy with it, and although it is my go-to guitar, I still would suggest trying it out first if at all possible, although saving $600 IS pretty hard to beat.

Can you try the same one out at a store near you?

With 10s of thousands of guitars for sale, I feel that choosing a guitar is a very personal experience & it should be held & played for a while first, which I've always done with my 5 other guitars, except as noted above that one time from MF.

You can always take the quoted price and call sweetwater they will match in a heartbeat (as will everyone)... the one benefit from sweetwater is that you get to see pictures of the actual guitar and the second one benefit is that they are all checked and setup...

yes, thats two..but i havent had coffee yer!

Linear Phase

mike_mccue


Musicians Friend's primary distribution center and warehouse is in Kansas City. 


best regards,
mike

That's guitarcenters mega-huge main hub.  It houses all the subsidiaries..   There's still a huge distribution center by me..    I guess..  I'll be on that highway tomorrow afternoon, so I will look to see if its still there...

I'm sure that you are correct that Guitar center has a big distro warehouse down in the metropolis. That makes perfect sense.


The primary Musicians Friend distribution center in Kansas has been there for just a little less long than I can remember. It used to be on the west coast but moved to Kansas a long time ago. They did it for the same reason that the original core of the USA music instrument distribution business centered in Chicago. You have all the trains and highways and it's about equidistant to everyone.


I have seen that in the past they make their stock available to some smaller vendors. 


For example; I bought a drum kit from a specialty drum shop in Arizona once. It shipped directly from the Musicians Friend warehouse. It didn't say Musicians Friend but I recognized the address.


I have UPS radar... I can actually see my stuff crossing the country in my head.


If Musicians' Friend is actually fulfilling orders from a Florida warehouse and sending you stuff to Ft. Liquordale, they are either charging you sales tax or they are creating a sales tax problem for them selves with our revenue department. I'm pretty sure they are still doing business without operating a warehouse in Florida. I'm guessing it is a Guitar Center warehouse.






I've never had to pay a restocking fee with the Friend and I always get a call tag for prepaid shippng return when I need to return something.



all the best,
mike