Hi

I have my favorites when i comes to buying especially hardware online, and the first one that comes to my mind is:

Thomann! Nice prices and a hell of a good service in all aspects! NB: I live in europe!

Where do you buy your things online .... and how about prices and service??

Just curious thats all. I/we might get to know a few other alternatives to where we usually buy our stuff!!!

Give us some education, please.

 

Thomann, even though that choice is killing the local and national music gear business here (and in many other european countries).

Among musicians here they are simply just referred to as The German.

 

Last edited: Nov 21, 2015

I totally agree with you Baxter..... all other shops here in europe set their prices after they´ve had a look at Thomanns website! But what can you do??

 

sweetwater here. good prices and specials, but the main reason I go there is the training and education. my sales/tech guy has actually kept my number for 15 plus years, and drops me an email from time to time. you don't find that much anymore

 

Used them a few times, and you´re right they have nice prices and great backup on the things you´ve bought - problem buying from the US if you live in Europe is the whole tax circus and having your stuff being held back in the customs!

 

Can't speak to European sellers, but here in the States, Sweetwater is the way to go.

I worked for Musicians Friend like 13 years ago--and they sucked then. My cousin works there now--and they're even worse. Guitar Center is Musicians Friend. So they're a no go too.

I don't buy as much gear as I used to but American Musical Supply was also good. But Sweetwater is the best I've done business with. Definitely.

 

Ah... a chance to rant!

I used to live near the Musician's Friend store out on the highway between Medford & White City Oregon [before they went online] & bought obscene amounts of gear from them. They had the best prices in all of Oregon. I then moved back home to my birthplace & found they had printed a catalog. For maybe 15 more years I spent many thousands of $ through them. Loved them. Still have the T-Shirt they gave me once for being a regular in their store.

Then... about 6 or 7 years ago I had an order in to them for about $4,800 [Speaker cables, Floor Monitors, a bass guitar, Microphones ...] They kept delaying the shipment. After about 4 months & countless phone calls I asked for a refund so I could buy the NEEDED gear somewhere else. They said that their 'policy' was to hold everything till they could get it to ship and not provide refunds till then. Crazy, I thought. No excuse, I thought.

Turned out that they were merging their company with Music123. That was their excuse.

After a total of 7 months I got a partial shipment and the rest in refund. They could have done that from the start. But they didn't and I will never let either Musician's Friend or Music123 [same company] have another penny of mine.

All that said, American Musical Supply and Sweetwater are now my go-to companies. Never a hic-up or delay from either of them. American Musical Supply has lower prices but Sweetwater seems to never be out-of-stock on the things I want.

EDIT:
@Army of Ninjas - Did you work in the store or on a telephone?

Weird that we posted so close together & said such similar things.

EDIT 2:
One good thing... when that order finally did come, the packages of Dunlop Tortex picks [2 thicknesses - should have been 12 in a pack] were boxes of 144 picks. So I got 288 picks! So far it has been a lifetime supply. Some cool person tried to help me feel better about the fiasco.

 

Last edited: Nov 22, 2015

Oh I should mention Sweetwater employees work in an office with a small studio setup. If you need technical support those guys will actually grab your gear from the back room, set it up, and walk you through it. I nearly moved to PA to work there haha! They pay their employees well. And they contribute to charity. They've earned my business.

 

Dude, you dont even want to know the stuff I've seen. Not telling people their blue Gibson ES335 was backordered for 2 years, not shipping correct items, damaging every other order, etc. The call center was a joke. The warehouse was a joke. There's another, far more horrible story I could tell you via PM (yes it is THAT bad). Oh and I worked on the phone and in email technical support.

 

As an UK dwelling citizen I have to say that Andertons are always helpful beyond belief and have never received anything other than perfect service.

 

thoman is just the best, they have everything u need, they r very kind and professional, if u r in europe they r your #1 choice

 

Never heard of them (my bad I guess) ..... I´ll have a look - thanks chippy33!

 

Andertons prolly have a great support, but their prices are .... hmmm pretty high if you ask me.

 

QUESTION: Which of all the online stores are willing to give the kindest discounts on hardware gear in the U.S based on your experience?