I've been involved and interested in guitars for all of six months now and in the time I've been observing things the prices haven't really changed. I haven't really seen guitar sales, unless you count the Christmas Squire and Ibenez starter pack beginner guitars. I'll check the same guitar at the local music instrument store and then check the same model online at Musician's Friend or other places and the price will be the same. Both will say the price is marked down but that's from the manufacturers retail price which is never really the price. I haven't been to that really big guitar chain store, Guitar Center I think, and I would think they might have sales occasionally but I'm not near one right now so I've no idea. I remember Mike had a link to a guitar retailer he orders from that had excellent sales on offbrand guitars. Ah, that's like two questions now. Um, local stores - in your experiences, do the ones you shop at have sales on guitars that are or were enough to get you to buy something since it was such a good deal. Am I wasting my time thinking that I should be waiting for deals like that? And online, in your experience, who has the best sales, quality and dependability I guess for guitar sales. I'm very leery about even considering buying guitars online as it is. Anyways, any thoughts would be welcomed. Here's Mike changing out a plate on a Strat, looked very scary to try. :lol:
Enjoy your karma, after all you earned it.
http://www.gadlaw.com
GC is now owned by MF, pretty much hafta wait for the sales on particular guitars anymore there.
since i live close to the KC MF i pretty much just go down there every few weeks to check the scratch and dent stuff, also since they know me now i have a manager that turns me on to deals when they come along
#4491....
The only way to get a bargain on guitars is to haggle.The only guitars you ever heavily discounted are odd one offs or guitars with weird paint jobs.Your best bargaining tool is either find a scratched or slightly damaged guitar or get as much free or cheap accessories as u can.I've always managed to get a hard case for at least half price and they'll usually throw in a cheap lead and some plectrums if you ask. I recently saved £130 ($200) on a Fender Toronado because it had a small scratch on the back.Took it home and polished it out.Got the guitar and Hardcase for £395 instead of £525. Bargain.
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GC green tag sale is usually pretty good. MF is usually pretty decent in the Outlet department. Their ratings of B stock often leave you wondering where is the damage? You can get a couple of hundred off sometimes for an open box. I think that is nuts because I'm going to open the box anyway. C stock isn't for the weak of heart because they won't describe the damage to you. But you can get something for $1000 off retail that costs you $100 for your local luthier to fix.
For used http://www.craigslist.org is fantastic.
Buying a guitar is like buying an automobile. The price is negotiable. Every store I've ever been in from large to small mom&pop would negotiate the price. And not only are guitar prices negotiable so is all the other gear in a music store. Just recently I bought a pair of condencer mics at GC that where on sale for $99. I got them for $69. That same day I got a mic stand that was priced at $39 for $19. On another note, MF is owned by GC not the other way around. Anything you see at MF you can get at GC for the same price and some times less. I got the $39 stand for $19 by mentioning that I could get one for $19 at MF. The one GC sold me for $19 was much better quality than the MF stand, GC didn't have any of the cheap MF stands.
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
Like Bobblehat said; get them to throw in as many accessories as possible. Everytime I buy a guitar amp, or guitar, I get cables, strings, picks, guitar cleaner etc etc. If you are buying an expensive guitar, get that case for free!!
Also, if you dont mind buying guitars on the floor (the ones everyone has gotten their grubby hands on), then you can negotiate the "floor model" route, citing that the price for that guitar is for a NEW guitar. You can almost garuantee that a guitar will have a scratch or dent on it somewhere if its been out on the floor for sometime, save for maybe the PRS guitars they have that are unreachable without a ladder...
Last but not least; find a place you like and build a repoire with them. You dont have to buy a guitar or amps from them to do this either. Just everytime you need something, go there and buy it, spend some time talking with them and get to know them. Soon enough, when everyone knows you by name, they will feel happy to give you a discount :D .
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I stand corrected.
I knew they had merged or whatever. either way it's the same company selling the same stuff.
#4491....
In the words of Johnny Carson, "I did not know that" The fact that MF and GC (I'm trying to be cool and stick with the acroynms) are the same company was something I did not know. And the information about the GC green tag sales and the Outlet department at MF is golden. I don't know if I'm brave enough to look at a guitar that is somewhat damaged and be able to know what it would take to get it fixed. I do haggle after a fashion so that's not a problem. But what I'm hearing is that there doesn't seem to be a big time for sales but that you just have to be watchfully waiting for something which may or may not be something you're looking for. I was hoping for some magical knowledge, you know, like in the second week of June it's half off on all guitars at MF or something like that. :-) Oh, and if I sound a bit off I am going up and down with the flu and fever and all of that.
Enjoy your karma, after all you earned it.
http://www.gadlaw.com
when i was buying my electric, a guitar store had it here (NYC) on sale for around $600. i think it retails for around $750. then i saw the exact same guitar in the same color on ebay for $400 including shipping so i got it. i thought it was ok because i called the place and it turned out to be a guitar store and not an individual. i think you need to be careful when buying guitars on ebay because there's so much counterfeit stuff there. this guitar, though, is a genuine PRS Santana SE bought new not used. check e-bay but be careful.
You should be able to get about any guitar at most stores for about 30% off retail. There's a huge mark up on them.
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
go to flea market. I bought a nice used guitar - acoustic at 30$.
very playable and good sound. I attached to it a pickup for 20$.
now I have an acoustic-electric guitar which I like a lot for - 50$ !!!
Closeouts happen...
http://www.music123.com/Washburn-HB30-Exclusive-Finish-i263689.music
Temping to buy one. Just 'cause its $200
a lot of people get those HB-30s and upgrade the heck out of them. You end up with a very nice guitar.
Oooh, sounds interesting. By upgrading, what do they do? pickups I would imagine, but what else? I would be interested to know as I don't have a hollowbody and its not a huge priority, but if the money is right....
Also, having never played a hollowbody before, do they have decent volume unplugged?
also by washburn, http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Guitar/Electric?sku=514013
i have had one now for several years and see no reason to upgrade it. 
$149 and from what i've read MF has a better return policy then 123
do a search here at GN for OE-30, there are several threads
#4491....
