Mesa Potentially not selling through Guitar Center any more.

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DWAKO

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I'm honestly not surprised this didn't happen sooner, but I just received an email that as of today we no longer can take any new orders on Mesas through Guitar Center. I'm pretty sure that's code for Guitar Center no longer dealing Mesa gear, only time will tell for sure. I believe it's result of the hard pricing and not being able to use coupons. Even with my extensive knowledge Boogies are a tough sell to the average consumer, because they look past "hand wired" or "made in America" look at the price and buy an egnater or Blackstar because it's "close enough". Sad day.
 
That's why there are so many price points. If there were no cheap alternatives to "real" amps like Mesa, the customer would just walk out the door. Got to capture those sales.
And good riddance to GC. Mesa started to go downhill when they decided to sell to the riff-raff in regular retail.
 
I feel that Mesa products never really fit the "GC Culture", and I feel people started to not view Mesa as a true boutique amp builder because of the fact they sold through guitar center. Many customers and employees felt Mesa was "pretentious" because of the pro-net pricing, saying how they were over priced. But one of my favorite things to do is take one of those people and actually dial in the amp for them. The expression on their face is priceless. I think Mesa is better off, a little exclusitivity is not a bad thing. Most Boogie purchasers have most-likely done their research and will purchase directly or through sweet water, haggertys etc. verses a "buy on a whim" type mentality.

The market is in a different place right now, indie, hipster stuff is becoming more popular in the mainstream market. I've told way more Vox and Fender amplifiers as of late (they always sell consistently, but it's been a pretty drastic increase). PRS Guitars aren't flying off the shelves like they were 5 to 10 years ago.

I compare this era of Mesa (on a much lower capacity) with Gibson's "futuristic era", a time to try to think outside of it's regular market and expand. Somethings will stick like the Flying V or Explorer, others won't, like the Moderne. Regardless I think they put out the best amps on the market, they'll only continue to do well.
 
True Story.

I was actually considering picking up a new Mark V at GC this past weekend, and my bud there called me this morning and told me that they got the email saying no more Mesa... my friend said it was effective this coming Saturday, but I may have misheard the message.
 
It's kind of disappointing in a way. I bought my Lonestar through GC years ago. A friend of mine that worked there introduced me to the F-series (F30 I think) which blew me away even though it's no my style of music. When my old Marshall Valvestate combo died after 12 years of service, I decided to put on my big boy pants and buy a tube amp that could withstand the test of time. I tried a Lonestar and then I tried everything else; Vox AC30, various Marshalls, but for some reason convinced myself that I needed to pony up the extra cash to get that sound that I couldn't get from the other amps.

Since then, I would stop by to demo a Mark V and a Roadster from time to time and eventually bought my Roadster through Sweetwater, but it was a convenient place to test out whatever stock they had (it's only 10 minutes from my house). I could care less about GC, however, I probably wouldn't have ever bought a Mesa if it wasn't for them and I'd be worse off because of it.
 
The GC closest to me is getting less highend gear and more cheap stuff. No surprise since most there don't know much about Mesa. The chic that was bugging me when I visited last wanted me to upgrade from my old MKIIC to a shiny new MKV. She did not know why, just that is was like awesome and stuff...

GC is in financial straits anyway. They probably figured that on floor space turn time, Mesa did not generate the cash per Sq ft in a given period of time.

Whatever..... If it helps the mom and pop stores, then I'm for it.
 
GC is a terrible sales outlet for high-end gear (except for Gibson and PRS, which sell themselves to anybody with more cash than skill**)

After training their sales force over and over just so I could have a reasonable discussion, I quit going there altogether. Anyway, the only times I ever bought Mesa from GC were reasonable deals on used gear. I'm sure GC will still carry used Mesa gear.

I guess I am spoiled in that there is a really good Mesa dealer nearby (Guitar Showcase), and only one of the 3 or 4 GCs around here even carried Mesa. I do feel bad for folks in towns with no Mesa dealers, and now there will be even fewer. But GC's business model has never been supplier-friendly (or customer-friendly for that matter).

** NOTE: Not knocking all Gibby and PRS players. Just noting GC's particular niche of customers who just want a pretty guitar. Not even knocking them, really. Those things ARE pretty.
 
Why do I feel like I'm in " Ted and Bill's Excellent Adventure " every time I set foot in a GC . Don't get me wrong and don't let me HiJack the thread I've actually meet helpful, capable and knowledgeable sale help in a couple of GC's I've been in at Beaverton, Or. and Paramus , NJ But, My last experience in a GC in Clackamus Or.made sure it's my last experience in a GC ever. I went in looking for a Les Paul Intent on trying everything they had available and made it clear I was serious and had $400,000.00 to play with. I asked for a clean type fender to use to try them and a private Booth and was given a room with some high end amps in it with a Fender Dual Professional and he than brought me an Epiphone LP and after a few minutes of me playing that and a comparatively cheap LP with Gibsons name on it he put a young kid in the room with me who plugged into a Mark V and proceeded to set up some low volume high gain supper distorted Death Metal tone and riff out some nonsense till I thought I would go mad and left. Could have sold me a Les Paul Custom or a custom shop guitar and blew it royally. I . won't be seeing the inside of a GC any time soon And anything that they do that will help there eventual demise will please me immensely.
 
I don't think I would carry the pedals, either (If I were somehow a buyer for a store). I get the impression of "me too" and "too little, too late". I think it would be expensive inventory to carry, and how would you sell it over names like Keeley and Xotic. And you won't find it on any guitar hero's pedal board just yet.

For Mesa, maybe the hope was "gateway drug". But I don't think they have anything in their skill set that makes them a better source of solid-state gear.
 
Nice to see someone close by, allphorous!
This GC thing is really a bummer for me because I am considering an Express 5:50+ and neither of the 2 remaining dealers in the area have these in stock or even on order. I play Carvin guitars, so ordering sight-unseen has worked out well for me in the past. :wink: In this case though, I'd really like to check out all the features and perhaps compare to the 5:25+ before ordering (more compact/less weight would be welcome if the output is reasonable and tones are similar enough to the 50).
 
Good news though - they're discounting the boogie gear - I got a call from my GC letting me discounts and coupons and such can now be used on mesa gear.
 
exbest182 said:
Good news though - they're discounting the boogie gear - I got a call from my GC letting me discounts and coupons and such can now be used on mesa gear.

I might have to buy a mini-rec with one of those 20% off coupons that I've never been able to use for anything.
 
Guitar Center is a good study of what happens when you try to sell high-end products with a low-end sales staff. If they would invest in better qualified and more experienced employees, they would be in a position to sell more than just Schecters and Line 6 Spyders.
 
:roll:

I buy plenty of high-end gear, almost exclusively at GC.

The GCs here are quite good, staffed with knowledgeable personnel. I suppose that the people that work at any given GC are a direct reflection of the town/city where they live. :wink:
 
I bought my dual rec used from Sam Ash. I can't even remember if they sold them new at the time nor do i remember if the sales person knew anything about Mesas. All i know is i tried it out and loved it. I guess what i'm saying is i don't really listen to sales people at any kind of business, even car dealers. I just look around, test stuff out and get what i need.
 
It really depends on which GC you go too. I worked at the Central Dallas store with some incredible salesmen (I'm now helping open the Mesquite TX store). One has been with GC over 20 years, another had owned his own mom and pop shop and is probably the most knowledgable person I've ever met in regards to Martins. Hiring on their really made me step up my game. The metal kids "salesmen" are always going to be there, but that usually don't last long because they aren't willing to learn much past line 6's and Schecter/Ibanez. But when one leaves, another one comes in. You just have to find the right store with the right people. I've walked into stores before and was not happy with some of the staff that interacted with and I work for the company.

Not to deviate to far from the topic... But you can now use standard promos and coupons on Mesa stuff because they are trying to move stuff out inventory. I much I hate to see Mesas leave, I think their better off as a more exclusive bigger scale boutique amp company.
 
I went into the Towson, MD GC last night to look at a Mark V. I was surprised when the salesman told me that they would no longer carry Mesa. I bought my Single Recto from them in 2010, and was hoping to buy another one. He said, from what he's heard from management, that Mesa wanted them to up the amount of amps that they've been ordering. His example was "Say we order 100 Triple Recto's, they want us to order 400 instead". That doesn't make much sense to me, but that's just want 1 salesman told me.
 
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