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R&B's stock??


Al Coholic

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Is it just me or is there something seriously wrong with R&B's?

I haven;t seen any new stock in ages. It's all the same guitars and amps as a year ago and sold items are not replaced for new ones (except for guitar straps, there seem to be loads of these). Credit crunch problems?

I was actually surprised to see a few interesting things in the bass section at the weekend - a Cort Curbow, a second hand Musicmaster which looked quite tasty. Everything else looked pretty much same old, same old though.

But I probably don't go in often enough to notice the stagnation you allude to. The bass selection's a quarter of the size of the guitar wall so I visit it less often accordingly.

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Quite a number of the models are re-ordered like for like as they are what tend to be wanted.

Ah ok that makes sense. Just that i miss the goodies like all the Gibsons, Tokais, Duessenbergs that used to be there.

Does make me wonder what is best for R&B's: selling one 2000 guitar or selling 10 200 guitars?

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Quite a number of the models are re-ordered like for like as they are what tend to be wanted.

Ah ok that makes sense. Just that i miss the goodies like all the Gibsons, Tokais, Duessenbergs that used to be there.

Does make me wonder what is best for R&B's: selling one 2000 guitar or selling 10 200 guitars?

We can't get Gibsons anymore due to distribution fail on their part.

Duesenberg, there's still a couple left. Stock needs replenished on those once the others go (minimum order requirement).

Tokai - we have a BRILLIANT L320 just now. Custom shop built and at a bargain of a price IMO as it's in good condition. Best Les Paul I've played that doesn't say "Les Paul" on it. If I had cash I'd have it in a second :)

Given the people that come in, it seems to be midrange we do best with. If we actually had high end stuff, we could maybe sell them though :p:laughing:

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i think alot of there stuff is overpriced, ive bought a couple of things from there in the past but only cos i got them to come down in price the first was a second hand hotrod deluxe (which iv'e since had modded and is now awesome) which was priced the same as a new one and the other was an fx pedal which was 60 more than everyone else when i pointed this out they knocked the 60 off. but i think inflating there prices must put some people off

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The prices are just marked at book price :)

There's always a degree of flexibility.

If you ask for us to reduce the price to that of Thomann for example, just no. :laughing:

What about the price of secondhand stuff.

When I was looking at buying my DSL50. I was offered a new one from another shop for only 25 pounds more than R&B were asking for a 2nd hand one. When I asked if there was room for a reduction for a cash sale, I was told I'd get another 25 quid off. Need less to say I bought the new one.

Don't mean to have a go at you, but it's not just new prices (I know you could not compare to the likes of Thomann) but even if 2nd prices were better then your stock would turn over quicker. Music folks tend to buy and sell gear on a whim, so if there were good 2nd prices, R&B could probably sell the same thing about 3-4 times over, making a small profit each time.

Of course maybe my business mind is rubbish.:up:

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What about the price of secondhand stuff.

When I was looking at buying my DSL50. I was offered a new one from another shop for only 25 pounds more than R&B were asking for a 2nd hand one. When I asked if there was room for a reduction for a cash sale, I was told I'd get another 25 quid off. Need less to say I bought the new one.

Don't mean to have a go at you, but it's not just new prices (I know you could not compare to the likes of Thomann) but even if 2nd prices were better then your stock would turn over quicker. Music folks tend to buy and sell gear on a whim, so if there were good 2nd prices, R&B could probably sell the same thing about 3-4 times over, making a small profit each time.

Of course maybe my business mind is rubbish.:up:

You won't see me disagreeing regarding this :)

It'd be different if I was in charge :laughing:

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We're in a day and age when most of us (I realise there are exceptions) buy a great deal of our new gear online. Maybe if we showed a little more support to our local music stores they would be able to price stuff more competitively, and I include myself in this.

Aberdeen is a tiny scene compared to most "big" cities, so obviously they are going to have a smaller market, and the market is even smaller with the amount of online music stores who are on the online market.

I know it's easy to have a go at the likes of R&B and Brucies, but if we don't use them of course they are going to struggle to offer great deals and prices.

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I only go in to RnB to buy strings, picks and look at the Telecasters that I can't afford. They've got a nice selection of Fender guitars. Except for that Avril Lavigne signature model. Srsly.

.

I almost bought that last year. I don't know what came over me, but I saw sense just as I was about to hand over the cash.

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Nobody will just give away money to support a local business man. The only reason R&B's still exists is because, as Britheguy perfectly noted, "Music folks tend to buy and sell gear on a whim" ... (i know exactly what me means!)

So R&B's should cater for that by having a nice stock of goodies and indeed by keeping the second hand market strong. Maybe they should open an ebay shop for second hand items as well?

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That Sum41 chap has a signature guitar? Why the piss does he need a signature guitar to play his powerchords on? It should have been the other fella in that band. He did all the shredding and shit.

They'll give anyone a signature model for doing fuck all. Tom Delonge has two with two different brands and he can barely even play the thing.

Pah.

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Nobody will just give away money to support a local business man. The only reason R&B's still exists is because, as Britheguy perfectly noted, "Music folks tend to buy and sell gear on a whim" ... (i know exactly what me means!)

So R&B's should cater for that by having a nice stock of goodies and indeed by keeping the second hand market strong. Maybe they should open an ebay shop for second hand items as well?

We have an ebay account :)

This is where things like the Gibson Zakk Wylde Les Paul (my old one) and the USA Dean Rust Razorback were sold :)

Out of interest what is the return policy (if there is one) for R&B? I bought a tuner a couple days ago but I'm not 100% impressed with it. Are refunds given, or is it just store credit?

It says on the bottom of the receipt :)

No refund on non faulty goods. Store credit can be given though.

What's up with the tuner? Which one did you purchase?

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R&B stock has been different pretty much each time I go in.

Most people just buy the cheap shit, most the expensive guitars sit for ages. As a result the stock is becoming less exciting. It's really a shame but there's not the demand for it (cause everyones buying their expensive gear for cheap on line I suppose)...Of course it doesnt help that companies like Gibson now make it difficlut for places (especially small places) to even stock their guitars.

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R&B stock has been different pretty much each time I go in.

Most people just buy the cheap shit, most the expensive guitars sit for ages. As a result the stock is becoming less exciting. It's really a shame but there's not the demand for it (cause everyones buying their expensive gear for cheap on line I suppose)...Of course it doesnt help that companies like Gibson now make it difficlut for places (especially small places) to even stock their guitars.

eh i bought my "expensive" guitar off r&b... i did so or various reasons, not least that they were able to source difficult(ish) guitars to find, they know the industry/ importers/ distributers very well and the deal i got was pretty damn good...

gibson have dumped their distributors (rosetti), and as a result of their policy "realignment" there are only two stores i know of that sell gibbos in scotland. i have a feeling they, gibson, are going to regret this nonsense...

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I wouldn't have thought Gibson would regret choosing select dealerships to stock their guitars, if you call that nonsense; it protects their margins and the integrity of the brand (through preventing ridiculous price matching/ trashing, which all retailers state they're dead against even though many do it anyway), ensures a sizeable and impressive stocking profile in each store that is a dealership, as well as stipulating that the dealer must have a good RANGE of their products in stock at any one time, which surely no punter would complain about.

If anything it'll make finding a quality Gibson guitar easier; you'll know where to go, and that there'll be a decent range to choose from. You'll also know that if you have to order a guitar, the dealer will be doing it directly from the manufacturer, essentially cutting out the "middle man" (everyone hates a middle man, don't they?).

I wouldn't buy a Gibson, but that's because I don't think they represent good value for money these days and they don't suit my playing style. But they do suit some people; those people (assuming they actually want to buy guitars and not just run their...... fingers on the internet) stand to gain from this new position. And as for the penny pinchers; doesn't anyone who's concerned about saving money just go to America to buy their Gibson for a fraction of the the price it would be here anyway?

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I wouldn't have thought Gibson would regret choosing select dealerships to stock their guitars, if you call that nonsense; it protects their margins and the integrity of the brand (through preventing ridiculous price matching/ trashing, which all retailers state they're dead against even though many do it anyway), ensures a sizeable and impressive stocking profile in each store that is a dealership, as well as stipulating that the dealer must have a good RANGE of their products in stock at any one time, which surely no punter would complain about.

If anything it'll make finding a quality Gibson guitar easier; you'll know where to go, and that there'll be a decent range to choose from. You'll also know that if you have to order a guitar, the dealer will be doing it directly from the manufacturer, essentially cutting out the "middle man" (everyone hates a middle man, don't they?).

I wouldn't buy a Gibson, but that's because I don't think they represent good value for money these days and they don't suit my playing style. But they do suit some people; those people (assuming they actually want to buy guitars and not just run their...... fingers on the internet) stand to gain from this new position. And as for the penny pinchers; doesn't anyone who's concerned about saving money just go to America to buy their Gibson for a fraction of the the price it would be here anyway?

rod, you don't seem to be making a whole heap of sense... here's why (imo)

1. choosing select dealerships is one thing but 2stoes for 6 million people is just plain dumb.

2. as regards range, a lot of the stores that used to stock gibbos had very comprehensive ranges, now as a result of this nonsense policy, they stock none.

3. two stores in scotland stock gibbo's. i have owned four (gibbos not stores), currently own two. i tried 16 different standards before buying the one that worked for me (from r&b funnily enough). the difference between a good one and a not so good one was considerable. spending the sort of money that buys a gibbo at least justifies trying one first. if there are very few stores stocking them, you don't try one, you wont buy one.

4. Exposure, yep the name could become exclusive, but it's a dangerous game, no first hand exposure, no sale.

5. i'm guessing a lot of this had to do with the strong pound. first gibson cut off the us internet sales path by making state side dealers aware that foreign internet sales would not be tolerated. now the pound is almost unity with the latvian butnik, gibsons, and to a lesser degree strats, are going to go up in price, coupled with credit crunch shock, gibsons sales are going to take a disproportionate hit.

6. you think it's smart i think its dumb, we could exchange views and pontificate eternally, i believe gibson themselves will prove me right. in six to nine months they will change their policy considerably and they will be making the rounds looking for a new uk distributor and trying to pedal their wares to as many guitar stores are remotely interested.

time will tell...

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eh i bought my "expensive" guitar off r&b... i did so or various reasons, not least that they were able to source difficult(ish) guitars to find, they know the industry/ importers/ distributers very well and the deal i got was pretty damn good...

gibson have dumped their distributors (rosetti), and as a result of their policy "realignment" there are only two stores i know of that sell gibbos in scotland. i have a feeling they, gibson, are going to regret this nonsense...

The Sloth worked in R&B for about 6 years. He knows what's going on :)

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1. choosing select dealerships is one thing but 2stoes for 6 million people is just plain dumb.

There are six million human beings in Scotland; not all of them are guitarists, less still guitarists serious enough to spend serious dough on an instrument. The ones that are serious don't mind travelling a wee bit to get a good instrument/ choice, in my experience. Particularly those from Aberdeen/ further north.

3. the difference between a good one and a not so good one was considerable. spending the sort of money that buys a gibbo at least justifies trying one first.

I know that, believe me. However, half this thread is about buying on the 'net; where there is extreme "buy without try".

4. Exposure, yep the name could become exclusive, but it's a dangerous game, no first hand exposure, no sale.

The name is already prestigious enough that people seek it out. The idea of having a couple of Scottish Gibson supercentres rather than a bunch of part- timers organised by a shambles of a farce like Rosetti makes a huge amount of sense.

5. gibsons, and to a lesser degree strats, are going to go up in price, coupled with credit crunch shock, gibsons sales are going to take a disproportionate hit.

That's possible, although the concerns about the credit crunch will be offset by "Gibbo" lovers' excitement at getting to try a bunch of interesting, unusual (?) and brand new guitars all in the one place, for the first time in.... years? And instruments are one of those curious things where people will always somehow find/ make/ steal/ borrow the means to get the one they want.

time will tell...

Fact.

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