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Comment by larrik | Hacker News Reader

Right when this all was starting, I had finally chosen a bass guitar I wanted. I decided to try and support a non-Amazon business in GuitarCenter (the local music shops focus a lot more on school band instruments). So, I order online, and pick the "pick up at store" option, since it says they are in stock.

I show up, and an hour later they figure out that they don't have it in stock, they only have the floor model (which I can have for a whopping 5% off...). Apparently, the system (a green screen app, no less) can't tell the difference between "new in stock" and "floor model". I got the rundown of their logistics chain (which is basically just UPS), and I lost confidence that even ordering ship-to-home online again would even work. So, I bought it from Amazon for the same price and got it later that week...

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Check out Sweetwater next time. They are significantly better. Their site actually shows you each guitar/bass they have in stock and they have an entire gallery Of photos for each. If you order one they’ll send a zip or the whole collection of photos.

If you call and talk to the sales rep for you (you’re assigned one) they can usually knock 5-15% off.

They also make sure each guitar/bass is setup to factory spec before sending it out.

I second this recommendation. Sweetwater is great and their sales reps know what they are talking about.

I third it! Every guitar I buy from them has come with personal images of the exact guitar, you can even view everything before you buy it!

Sweetwater reps are also really competitive on pricing. I like reverb for hard to find used gear, but I always end up shooting over prices from there to my Sweetwater rep, not once have they not beat it.

I fourth it! I came across sweetwater years ago and can't remember buying music gear anywhere else. I'd get amazing deals from my "sales engineer", from bundling guitar and case at the price of the guitar alone to just cutting 10% of the price just because I asked. Their shipping is next day and free if you are relatively close to IN, but never more than 2 days (even to Puerto Rico!)

Never really heard of them before. Looks like everything I bought is out of stock anyway, but it's good to know there are alternatives.

All pro musicians know and love Sweetwater

My dad used to have a recording studio before he passed away. Our Sweetwater rep (the same one the whole time)called every couple months for 13 years just to see if I need any other equipment, and to tell me when older gear I had was going obsolete due to driver support etc. fantastic experience, and one of the best companies I’ve ever bought from.

I imagine a lot of gear is tough to get unless it’s high end stuff right now. There has been a ton of people picking up instruments during the shelter in place orders.

Sweetwater is significantly better than GuitarCenter though. Better customer support, better site, better warranty, better everything.

ordered a single speaker once and they contacted me to make sure i didnt want two, which i actually did... really next level customer service

Their YouTube channel has some good reviews of equipment and Mitch on there does some interesting informed interviews with musicians. I live in the UK so can't order from them but they look to be very good sellers.

Sweetwater is good. BHPhotoVideo is also excellent for music stuff (as well as tech in general). Free shipping, great service, affiliated payboo credit card that covers sales tax, saves me 10% on every order.

Of all the guitars and basses I've bought at Guitar Center and other places, it was always the "floor model" I bought. That seems pretty normal. I don't think "floor model" is the right term. You're trying out the exact ones you're buying off the floor.

Good point. Unless it's a super generic entry-level guitar. I bet you can find a new Squier Strat in its original box.

I've definitely bought floor models before, and for the guitar it was fine. I was worried about what abuse the floor model amp may have been through, though, and neither item would come with all of the extra stuff (manuals, tools, etc). The 5% off felt like an insult after the BS I went through, and I didn't want to stand around waiting while they wrestled with the system to apply it, either.

Yeah. I phoned an implement dealer, to buy a mower I saw advertised in their online store. Wanted to make sure he had set actually eyes on recently, because we've all had online listing be wrong. "Yeah we have that. I saw it … yesterday?"

So I rent a trailer and drive 4 hours, and guess what? Just a square of yellow grass on the lot where the mower used to sit.

Home Depot and Lowes do this same thing with certain items like dishwashers. It's obnoxious. Their website will show that they have "1 left in stock" but it's the demo model that's installed in a rack of cabinets and not for sale.

And I got a used managed switch from Amazon. It was neatly packaged, but no plastic, strips etc, and the IP was different, and default user/pass didn't work. Factory reset worked though, so I didn't want to send it back and wait for another one as I needed it now.

reverb.com is a great option for music related equipment.

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