an hour in waltons...

fourmations

hi all

i had an hour in waltons today.........(musician inc loyal!)

i hadnt been in their dame st outfit, ever

lots of guitars for sure,
tried a 56 epi LP p90's,..mmmmm.. liked the sound booth, nice crate toob amp, the guy i dealt with was sound, talked axes, amps, etc, nice bloke

a kid walked in and said, "may i try a guitar?" "sure, which one?"
"any of those" points to the far wall, (50 plus guitars)
"so, you just wanna play a guitar?" "pretty much!"
i laughed, good honesty!

nice vibe off the place, and my guy knew his stuff!

incedentally, there was a strange moment where i was doing a bit of guitar i always do when sounding out a guitar, then i left the booth and wandered a bit, the next bloke in started playing it! and its not too common (radiohead)

anyway nice shop, nice staff (based on one visit)

ciao

4

Dord

I presume you're talkin bout the shop on Georges street?

I don't like it tbh. I find the staff a bit on the stupid side and the selection in there isnt the best.

I prefer the Waltons shop on Nth. Frederick St. much nicer and smaller shop with better staff it seems.

-=al=-

i dont mind it, they shud have some nicer stuff tho instead of sx's and some copies and some nicer fricken amps.... has the potiental to do a lot better

Dord

I agree with Al, the thing that lets it down is the lack of good amps. Some nice Gibbo's in there but f**k all nice amps!!

-=al=-

everyone agrees with al

but... how come u got 4 stars and i only got 3!!!

Creamy Goodness

4-stars = subscribers.

3-stars = anyone with > 500 posts.

-=al=-

lovely, thats that chapter sorted.... but i like my 3 stars, its nice and uneven

punchdrunk

always found it a bit overpriced tbh

Dord

-=al=- wrote:

lovely, thats that chapter sorted.... but i like my 3 stars, its nice and uneven

pssh don't deny it, you're jealous of my 4 stars....and they're red too....RED!!

jimi_t

punchdrunk wrote:

always found it a bit overpriced tbh

Students in Waltons school of music get like 15% off or something similar. Just haggle and haggle - a print out from thomann, GAK and musicstore.com usually does the trick.

It wasn't me!

Waltons is about the only shop in this country with the potential to compete with online retailers, by virtue of having huge space. It *could* have a great variety of desirable guitars and amps, but what it *does* have is a huge warehouse filled with nothing particularly worth buying, in my opinion. Sure I've killed many's the hour there blasting away on cheap-ass guitars and such, but I'd never buy anything there, due to staff who're just plain ill-informed and not very friendly, at all. It took me about five minutes to convince them to let me try a Thunderbird, and that was when I got them to actually speal to me. It's over-priced and under-stocked, with staff I could do without. To be honest, there aren't a whole lot of reasons to go there for me.

Duff_Man

their lack of products is the owners fault.the way he sees it, why should he pay high prices for decent gear when he can pay next to nothing and get cheap stuff which he makes a killing on. and it works for him so he has no reason to go out and get any quality brands.

Quattroste

joe robot wrote:

pssh don't deny it, you're jealous of my 4 stars....and they're red too....RED!!

Aaaaaarrrgh! I hate you Joe Robooooooot!


I always found Waltons a bit old fashioned. It's been a while since I was in there..... probably suit me now

Ger the man

After my last experience...... never again.

Keyzer

Ger the man wrote:

After my last experience...... never again.

What happened?

The pricing in Walton's for some of the stuff is a disgrace....

Voodu Child

I remember when i went in looking for a Peavey Wolfgang (because they were Peavey stockists at the time, had lots of amps).

A senior guy told me they couldnt get the guitars in even though they were Peavey dealers! because the Gibson/Epiphone distributer 'didn't like' them stocking comparable (or higher) quality guitars. They had some sort of agreement where they got a better price on Gibson/Epiphone than the other shops, provided they kept them displayed prominently and didn't provide loads of quality alternatives.

True story

Ger the man

Keyzer wrote:

What happened?

The pricing in Walton's for some of the stuff is a disgrace....

I went in with the intention of buying a Gibson LP baritone, an LP studio or
an explorer. The sales guy thought all his birthdays came at once and setup
the sound proof room for me which was fine. So i got the baritone first
which was filthy and dusty and the strings were as old as the earth, the
explorer was way out of tune so i tuned it up and wouldnt stay in tune with
normal bending. The studio had what looked like blood stains all over the fret
board and a nice big gouge on the back,the sales guy tried to tell me that was the natural grain of the wood, the wood type he wasnt certain about either! I asked him to explain the serial number format on the headstock and he looked at me blankley. He kept annoying me every 5 mins asking me what i thought and kept pushing the sale (on the most expensive model) too so I just walked out, oh, and on the way I witnessed the studio falling out of the wall rack because he didnt put it in right, god help the poor chap who owns it now.

Dord

voodoo_child wrote:

I remember when i went in looking for a Peavey Wolfgang (because they were Peavey stockists at the time, had lots of amps).

A senior guy told me they couldnt get the guitars in even though they were Peavey dealers! because the Gibson/Epiphone distributer 'didn't like' them stocking comparable (or higher) quality guitars. They had some sort of agreement where they got a better price on Gibson/Epiphone than the other shops, provided they kept them displayed prominently and didn't provide loads of quality alternatives.

True story

I heard this too. They had Peavey guitars for a short period, but then they all disappeared and they only sold the amps for a while. Such a pity. They have all that space but its going to waste. The lack of good staff doesn't help either.

Music Maker carry Peavey now, they're the only one that seems to have steered clear of Gibsons. They have a pretty good selection now.

Ger the man

Ger the man wrote:

I went in with the intention of buying a Gibson LP baritone, an LP studio or
an explorer. The sales guy thought all his birthdays came at once and setup
the sound proof room for me which was fine. So i got the baritone first
which was filthy and dusty and the strings were as old as the earth, the
explorer was way out of tune so i tuned it up and wouldnt stay in tune with
normal bending. The studio had what looked like blood stains all over the fret
board and a nice big gouge on the back,the sales guy tried to tell me that was the natural grain of the wood, the wood type he wasnt certain about either! I asked him to explain the serial number format on the headstock and he looked at me blankley. He kept annoying me every 5 mins asking me what i thought and kept pushing the sale (on the most expensive model) too so I just walked out, oh, and on the way I witnessed the studio falling out of the wall rack because he didnt put it in right, god help the poor chap who owns it now.

So I ended up in a big music shop on exchequer st with four floors and bought a US Deulxe Fender Tele instead.

-=al=-

music make has a nice few amps in there now, theres a nice 2nd soldano in there ive been lookin at for a while!

Dord

Haha me too, thats been in there about 6 months I think? The purple one

-=al=-

id love to try it out but theres no nice lefties in there at all, and yeah the purple slo50, it looks cool and fruity its marked at 1200 i think, shud i tade my tsl100


nah prob never gona happen, but i wanna try it at least!

Voodu Child

Its an avenger 100.

1 channel and no effects loop is why it's been there 6 months.

Gorgeous amp though.

Dord

Just stick a Hot Plate on it and crank that b*tch!

-=al=-

thought it was a slo50, oops

its a funy lil amp, but i bet it sounds great

bright

joe robot wrote:

I prefer the Waltons shop on Nth. Frederick St. much nicer and smaller shop with better staff it seems.

I'll drink to that!

So Glad

I love Waltons....friendly guys in there, chat with them no probs

That's all that makes a good shop.....well....that and good instruments of course....

-=al=-

instead of a bunch of 5 year old rusty stringed gibsons u cant touch and sx guitars

tubedude

Waltons stock the biggest load of crap ive ever seen!! lol! They have these big walls filled with the entire SX back catalogue!! And then they have these other cereal box brand pieces o'crap that no ones ever heard of!! And as regards amps, CRATE or as i like to call them CRAP, are the best they have.
They seem to have a decent enough selection of gibsons and epiys though,(and the other guy wasnt joking when he said rusty!) and of course theyre all very much over-priced!! They have good pleques though! And who cares if the staff are nice! Id rather deal with an automated website than get ripped!!

Ger the man

Its a wonder they are still in business? Are the other instruments (piano etc) the cheap end of the market too?

Rigsby

Ger the man wrote:

Its a wonder they are still in business?

Good point ! Going by the negative opinions of the majority of posts here, you'd think they'd have closed down long ago. Instead they extend and renovate their premises in Sth Gt Georges St. What does this tell us ?....... that there is money to be made selling "5 year old rusty stringed Gibsons and SX guitars".

Girrrrseach

Waltons is the Aldi of Music Shops I think....

They're all about the money... I'd never purchase anything in there again, after I bought my Bodhran.

Not to colour your views in any way now.... :P

Johnny Storm

Rigsby wrote:

Good point ! Going by the negative opinions of the majority of posts here, you'd think they'd have closed down long ago. Instead they extend and renovate their premises in Sth Gt Georges St. What does this tell us ?....... that there is money to be made selling "5 year old rusty stringed Gibsons and SX guitars".

I heard (from a guy who works in another music shop - so it must be true ) that Waltons made ****loads of money in the pre-Thomann days. They're probably still cruising on that money.

nij

Yeah I've been in the Walton's on George's Street. Nice people, but overpriced goods. Fender Mexican Standard Strat on thomann: €409, Waltons: €599! Almost 200 bananas!

Rigsby

nij wrote:

Nice people, but overpriced goods.

Nothing new there ! What is n't overpriced in Ireland But maybe if they stocked a good cross section of brands (especially in guitars and basses) some people might not mind paying extra to avoid the hassle of sending back a "damaged enroute" item bought on mail order. Though as I said above, they seem to make enough profit from their present stock.

Dord

Rigsby wrote:

Nothing new there ! What is n't overpriced in Ireland But maybe if they stocked a good cross section of brands (especially in guitars and basses) some people might not mind paying extra to avoid the hassle of sending back a "damaged enroute" item bought on mail order. Though as I said above, they seem to make enough profit from their present stock.

I have to agree here, recently I got GAS for something. Went around all the guitar stores in the city. The response I got in each of them was. "We normally have that but we don't seem to have any now".

The response I got in Waltons was, a little rude f*cker running up to me when I walked in the door. He blatantly ignored two other people standing at the counter in front of me. His answer was the same as above and to finish he told me to buy it from Thomann! :rolleyes:

Now, I wouldn't have minded paying a bit extra for it. It can be gotten online for about €150, I was willing to pay €200~ that day just because I wanted it there and then.

Ger the man

Has anyone ever witnessed any of the Gibsons or good Fenders being actually sold there? Judging by the amount of dirt and grime on them I'd say they are making a fortune selling cheap rubbish and dont have to worry about selling Gibsons/Fenders too much? Would this explain the crappy customer service?

feylya

This has just turned into a staff bashing thread.