Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Personally I'd support the local store.. There really isn't that much of a cost difference, Plus the 'risk' of buying online sight unseen. You already know the one at the store.

As they say, no two cuts of wood are the same... so the one you get from online may be totally different than the one at the store, then you'll pay extra$$ for the setup etc. :o)

My .02 cents.

I said it before and I'll say it again.
No two guitars are exactly the same. I am not saying the mail order one is not as good but you take your chances.
Does the local one include setup?
That is a factor to consider.
How about waranty coverage?
I would certainly give it some carefull thought.
Personally I lean toward the local one myself.
Does American Music Supply have a return policy?
Print out the ad from American Music and take it to the local dealer and see if you can get a better deal? Doesn't hurt to try.

Five words
Suppourt your local music shop

Thanks a lot. I have to say I was leery of ordering via internet. I buy things online but nothing as expensive or precious as a guitar.

It's kinda neat how buying a guitar is like buying a guitar, testdriving, lots of thought, etc.

A sidenote--I was playing and comparing the GSA60 with a GRX40. I read about both models at the Ibanez website. Very similar with the GSA having a slimmer body, no pickguard, and an agathis body whereas the GRX has an alder body. At the store both have good sounds but the GSA sounds richer and fullerwith the 5 way switch in in the upper (closer to neck) positions. The GRX didnt have as much fullness. Never really knew much about the differnce between agathis and alder. Just goes to show that playing before buying is necessary.

Guess I had the answer to my dilemma already hehe.

Thanks a lot for helping a newbie in the awesome world of geetar!

Bert

Uhhhh, I meant buying a guitar is like buying a CAR.

oops, or as Homer would say: "DOH!!!!!!"

I used to own a music store. People would come in and have an ad for somebody else, and most of the time I would match the price - it's better to have a sale at a lower margin than none at all. Your local shop will still make a little money if they drop the price $80, but they won't be making very much.

Sometimes people would come in and play a guitar, and I could tell they just loved it. They'd put it back reluctantly, and maybe check it out again (and again and again). On the days I was in an especially charitable mood, I'd give them a great price.

Other folks would walk in and haggle to the point where I felt like I was selling carpets in Bagdad. They'd usually leave empty handed.

Be nice to the people in the music store, and they'll be nice to you. Tell them you're concerned about the big price difference, but you really like the fact that they're close, and let you check out the guitars. Ask if there's anything they can do. They'll probably drop, although they might not match it. Maybe they'll throw in something with an $80 value (a case maybe) to offset the difference - you get the $80 deal, they spent less than that on the case.

When you make your final decision, think about the value you get from them at no charge - being able to play any guitar that catches your fancy, being able to get strings and stuff conveniently. It comes down to economics on both sides... if rent/heat/electric/insurance/etc. costs the store owner $3000 a month, he has to sell about 5 of those guitars a week before he makes his first cent in profit. If he has to match internet prices on every sale, he'll need to sell about 3 times that. If that's not practical in your market, he'll eventually go out of business.

I agree, this is a case where buying local is better and more fun. My experience buying local and the great service/help I recieved at my local shop made up for the dollar-savings I would have gotten on the net.

As mentioned above, if you go about it the right way, they will likely throw something else into the deal or shave the price a little bit to keep everyone happy. :wink:

There are a few reasons why I would buy locally:

-Kindness: they spend money renting space so you can chck out lal the guitars whenever you like. Trying it there and buying elsewhere is nasty.
-Service: If something happens, you don't want to drive 600 miles to get it fixed.
-Deals: buy enough at a local store and they'll get to know you, and offer better deals. To big online companies you are just a number.
-Fun: it's much more fun to spend days checking out guitars, and then buying the one you like best, then just order from some site.

Try to talk the gap of 80 bucks down to 50 or so, and then go locally.

unless you're really tight for money, buying local will probably feel better.

I agree with NoteBoat, on them being willing to come down on the price. Print out the ad and take it with you to the store. Most guitar stores will come close to any enternet price on their guitars. And don't worry about them making a profit they will. I've had a store come down as much as 30%, and that was on a special order lefthanded model.

It's actually easier to get a store to come down on a special order than it is for a stock item... for the special order, they haven't laid out any cash yet, so they're not financing anything (or paying rent, inventorying it, worrying about keeping fresh strings on it, or anything else). They get your deposit and then place the order... if you don't come in to pick it up, it becomes part of their inventory, and your deposit subsidized it.

Selling stock at 30% off might put them close to break even, but selling special orders at that discount puts money in their pockets.