Imports

It wasn't me!

I was talking to Roger in Musician Inc. the other day aout buying guitars from German websites like Thomann and he told me that I'd have to get it set up when it arrived as the neck would be slightly warped and there would be various other problems. I hadn't heard this before and I thought I'd ask here:

How true is this?
How much will it cost to solve any of these problems?
Would I be able to do it myself?

The guitar in question is an Ibanez SZ520QM in Black Berry. It's Eu535 on Thomann and Eu699 in Musician Inc. I want to know will there be any savings worth the hassle after all's said and done. I also intend getting a moulded hard case for the SZ for Eu85 from Thomann with it. Is that a good deal?

Thanks guys,
Dave

Eoin Madsen

I had a similar conversation with Roger actually. I disagree.

If it arrives damaged (and neck warpage definitely constitutes damage) you can send it back and get a replacement or refund. Thomann allowed me to return an item just because I decided I didn't want it. Guitars often need to be "set up" after shipping due to changes in temperature or humidity. This is just a change in neck tension that alters the action and intonation. It's not "damage", and is something that will always need to be corrected over time anyway. They'll do that for you (incl new strings) for €40 in Perfect Pitch. I assume the cost is much the same in MusicMaker or Musician Inc. You probably shouldn't do it yourself as you could damage the neck or truss rod by making random truss rod adjustments. I bought a guitar in MusicMaker years ago that wasn't set up properly by the shop, so I don't think buying online is really putting you at much of a disadvantage.

A friend of mine bought a Les Paul Studio from Thomann at the start of the year. It arrived in perfect condition and needed no adjustments. He saved €500 on it.

Doctor J

Indeed, I think Roger just wants you to buy from him rather than Thomann and shouldn't really be scaring you into thinking the guitar will come with a warped neck. Very dodgy. As Eoin correctly pointed out, it may need to be set up if the place it was previously set up has a vastly different climate. Either way, you should be able to set up a guitar easily in less than half an hour. Read this for information on how to do it. Also, knowing how and why your guitar is set up is invaluable knowledge which every musician should know thoroughly.

I bought a new 6 string bass from the states late last year, had to do a minute set up job initially (the last time it had been touched was in the factory in Japan), took about 10 minutes, saved me €900. If you buy second hand chances are the guy selling it to you will have it set up anyway, if they're a decent seller. Until the shops here get realistic about prices I say buy from abroad, why should you get ripped off when you can easily save big €€€?

Paladin

The last guitar I got was an Epiphone Les Paul Standard. I could have gotten it from Thomann, but I went to my local music shop, offered him the chance to match Thomanns price and he did. When I went to colletc it he said the guitar was set up fine, and it kinda was, but not well, and certainly not to my tastes. My previous guitar however, a fender strat artist series, was almost perfectly set-up after delivery from Germany.

Moral of the story: Its a bit of a lottery, but even if a guitar shop guy sets it up you will eventually want to change little things to your own taste anyway. Nothing wrong with Thomann though.

And I personally know nothing about Ibanez so I dont know if youre getting a good deal. Dont think Thomann will rip you off though.

HusseinSarhan

I bought a new 6 string bass from the states late last year, had to do a minute set up job initially (the last time it had been touched was in the factory in Japan), took about 10 minutes, saved me €900. If you buy second hand chances are the guy selling it to you will have it set up anyway, if they're a decent seller. Until the shops here get realistic about prices I say buy from abroad, why should you get ripped off when you can easily save big €€€? [/B]

I'd say it's alright to buy stuff like electronical stuff (ie. fx, P.A. etc) and to a lesser extent electric guitars from abroad, but I definately think that if you are spending serious cash on an acoustic it is essential that you hold and play it beforehand. It is an organic thing. It is a piece of wood that was once living. Even though there are differences in tone between, say mahogany and rosewood, there is also a lot of variation in those two types as well. Two of the same models can sound very different when compared and you may prefer one over the next. I think it's much more important to play the ACTUAL guitar you are buying and not just one LIKE it. It's a game of chance. As far as set-ups go it's all much the same as buying in Dublin except you can have a shop set it up to your spec (mostly).

Their are obviously financial benefits from buying abroad but are they really that good?

For instance:

Getting it repaired, even under warranty, costs much more (ie. shipping it back to germany)I had a friend who bought a bass amp of thomann and after about two days it needed new speaker (I think it was just a bad one, normally quite dependable quality) and he ended up sending it to MusicMaker instead of back to Thomann as it cost less!! (all together around €100)

Will Thomann accept it back in later years on a part exchange? I think not.

Thomann is a big company with litterally thousands of customers, not so in the case of Musician inc. If you regularly buy stuff there they will get to know you as a buyer and offer a little more off than Joe Bloggs cause they know you'll be back.

There is a much more personal service and you can get advise quickly and easily.

It is faster than waiting for something to ship.


There are loads of benefits to buying from a "real" shop and I think that if people continue to buy on the internet, smaller retailers will be forced to raise their prices on little things like strings, leads, straps etc. to compensate somewhat for a dip in sales and eventually they may have to close down. And where would we try out guitars then? (O.K. I'm exaggerating but I think you get my point)

I believe that music stores do an O.K. job at keeping prices low as possible (always haggle btw.). They have to pay very high rent, staff wages, electricity+phone bills, insurance etc. They just don't get the customers like thomann does and they can't order as many guitars in bulk likey do.

Personally I'd only order stuff like pickups, fx, hi-fi, p.a etc. over the internet or mail order.


I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do, but I'm just trying to balance the argument a bit. I guess you decision will be based on your priorites and thats cool.

By the way
www.musicstore.com is in my opinion better than thomann as they have an Irish rep you can ring up with any questions with about your purchase or other stuff like that.