TC Electronic Hall of Fame

Stompbox

So I can pick up this sweet little reverb pedal on eBay for around 115 euro incl. shipping from America which is a good deal cheaper than the 144 it'll cost to purchase it from a UK dealer. What should I be wary of if I was to indeed plump for the American stockist, will the voltage difference prove too hassle for myself and my DC power brick?

pinksoir

Nah. 9VDC is 9VDC, regardless of where it comes from. Only matters on 110V vs 220/240V.

You're liable for VAT though which is 23%. Plus a customs handling fee. So if you're stung for that it'll actually be more expensive than buying from UK. Probably won't get stung for it, but it's not unlikely.

Ravelleman

I bought mine from PGS while on sale and it worked out a lot cheaper than any in Europe.

Very nice pedal by the way. So many possibilities.

merlinengine

I know this is an oldish thread but thats exactly what I did for my Hall of Fame. I didn't get stung for the VAT (and I was delighted because I got rodeoed for my Maxon AD-999) but even if you did it would work out a little bit cheaper than the seller you mentioned in the UK, probably only by a fiver or something but thats better off in your pocket than someone elses. I received it in a jiffy bag so maybe that might have had something to do with it (maybe at customs they pay more attention at things packed in boxes than stuff packed in jiffy bags).

Anyway if want the name of that seller let me know and if you have it already then enjoy, because I love my Hall of Fame.

darrenw5094

Anyone download the TC Electronic Toneprint APP for smartphone.
You can change the toneprint with your phone held close to the guitar pickup.

Squidgy Black

darrenw5094 wrote: »

Anyone download the TC Electronic Toneprint APP for smartphone.
You can change the toneprint with your phone held close to the guitar pickup.

If that works, it sounds amazing. Might pick up a couple of these soon, the flashback sounded amazing when I played through a friends through an ac30. I'm not usually a fan of digital delay, but I was blown away by the tape imitations.

darrenw5094

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMt_0WVx9XE

Ravelleman

stetyrrell wrote: »

If that works, it sounds amazing. Might pick up a couple of these soon, the flashback sounded amazing when I played through a friends through an ac30. I'm not usually a fan of digital delay, but I was blown away by the tape imitations.

Indeed it does. They really are fantastic pedals. I have the 'Flashback', the 'Hall of Fame' and the 'Polytune', and all are quite the delight.

I am a fan of digi delay, by the way, so I'm a bit of a whore!

dfkorg

115 + 23% + duty = way more than it costs in X music or most other European dealers.

Ravelleman

True, but that's not what I paid!

merlinengine

dfkorg wrote: »

115 + 23% + duty = way more than it costs in X music or most other European dealers.

Thats not what I paid either. In xmusic its 130 plus whatever costs you incur to get out there (fuel, bus ticket etc.). In my experience, worst case scenario it'll be about the same all in. I'd much prefer to buy online or buy over adverts.ie than go to a music store, their mark up is too much. For example, I bought a mint Mesa Single Rectifier for under 1000 whilst xmusic sold theirs for 2000.

merlinengine

Ravelleman wrote: »

Indeed it does. They really are fantastic pedals. I have the 'Flashback', the 'Hall of Fame' and the 'Polytune', and all are quite the delight.

I am a fan of digi delay, by the way, so I'm a bit of a whore!

I agree 100%. I have the Hall of Fame and Polytune too and I'm extremely happy with them both. I already have a boutique analog delay but I'm really liking the sound and versatility of the flashback (and everything else in this line of TC's pedals) and thinking of buying it and if its a better all rounder I might sell the maxon analog!
The toneprint idea is very clever too and I dig the way you don't have to pay to download the sounds. TC Electronic could have easily decided to be greedy and charge for them but they didn't.

dfkorg

merlinengine wrote: »

Thats not what I paid either. In xmusic its 130 plus whatever costs you incur to get out there (fuel, bus ticket etc.). In my experience, worst case scenario it'll be about the same all in. I'd much prefer to buy online or buy over adverts.ie than go to a music store, their mark up is too much. For example, I bought a mint Mesa Single Rectifier for under 1000 whilst xmusic sold theirs for 2000.

Fair enough, but your point about the tc is a bit odd. It seems to be within a couple of euro everywhere in Europe, thomann, music store, dv. Those businesses have to pay VAT and duty. Congratulations if you get away without paying it on ebay purchases, but if a business didn't pay VAT and duty there'd be serious trouble for them. I think complaining about their mark up is a bit ridiculous when the product being discussed is the same price everywhere in Europe

merlinengine

dfkorg wrote: »

Fair enough, but your point about the tc is a bit odd. It seems to be within a couple of euro everywhere in Europe, thomann, music store, dv. Those businesses have to pay VAT and duty. Congratulations if you get away without paying it on ebay purchases, but if a business didn't pay VAT and duty there'd be serious trouble for them. I think complaining about their mark up is a bit ridiculous when the product being discussed is the same price everywhere in Europe

Its not odd. The point I'm making is that if you have an opportunity to save a few quid by buying on line or otherwise (adverts, donedeal) then do it. Even if you do have to pay VAT etc. by buying online (which in most cases you do) then you still come out on top albiet by a small margin but that extra 10, 20 euro or whatever is better off in your pocket than someone elses, especially these days. 130 might be the going rate for the HoF but if you look around it can be had for cheaper. In a sentence, Stompbox is right to shop around.

dfkorg

merlinengine wrote: »

Its not odd. The point I'm making is that if you have an opportunity to save a few quid by buying on line or otherwise (adverts, donedeal) then do it. Even if you do have to pay VAT etc. by buying online (which in most cases you do) then you still come out on top albiet by a small margin but that extra 10, 20 euro or whatever is better off in your pocket than someone elses, especially these days. 130 might be the going rate for the HoF but if you look around it can be had for cheaper. In a sentence, Stompbox is right to shop around.

Definitely right to shop around. Every penny counts. My point is that the item in question seemed to be competitively priced locally, but the perception a lot of people have is that it's still better value to buy online, even if it isn't.

Ravelleman

dfkorg wrote: »

but the perception a lot of people have is that it's still better value to buy online, even if it isn't.

It is though. Almost always.

merlinengine

dfkorg wrote: »

Definitely right to shop around. Every penny counts. My point is that the item in question seemed to be competitively priced locally, but the perception a lot of people have is that it's still better value to buy online, even if it isn't.

For this particular item I was surprised to see it for 130 in xmusic actually which is competitive. The problem is if you're like me and live outside of Dublin have to pay for travel (fuel, bus ticket etc.) to get there which has to be included in the cost. I live in Navan and I'd have to pay 10 - 15 euro in fuel and then tolls on top of that to get there and buy the pedal so those costs on top of the price of the item tend to work out higher than the prices including VAT and shipping online especially if the item is over 150.
Then there are those of us who live so far down the country that shopping online is the ONLY option for getting the item that you want. Additionally, sometimes you might want a specific item and sometimes the stores here just don't stock it so again, online is extremely handy.

merlinengine

dfkorg wrote: »

Definitely right to shop around. Every penny counts. My point is that the item in question seemed to be competitively priced locally, but the perception a lot of people have is that it's still better value to buy online, even if it isn't.

130 is competitive on its own but the problem is travel costs which have to be included. If you're like me and live in Navan you are looking to travel to the city to get an item you have your eye on, you are looking at 10 - 15 euros on fuel plus tolls and possibly parking on top of that. With these additional costs factored in it works out more than the web especially when you shop around (online). Then there's the time lost traveling there and back too.

Another reason why it'd be the more suitable option and possibly the ONLY option is for people who live deeper in the country where the costs and effort would be even greater than what I previously mentioned to get to a decent store. Additionally there mightn't be a stockist of the item you want near by, for example, I don't know of anywhere in the Meath or the surrounding counties (or possibly in the entire country?) that stock Maxon gear.

It also seems that the more expensive the item the more you could save potentially. Again, I got my Mesa Single Rectifier for less than 1000 euros all in and xmusic were selling them for 2000, a difference of 1000+ and thats a lot of lettuce.

In the end if its for smaller things (under 100) you could be just as well going local (but look online and adverts.ie first) but for anything above that and if you live outside of Dublin you'll very very probably save on money, effort and time by shopping around online and, the odd time, you may have to be a little patient for the item you're looking for to come around at a good price.

merlinengine

Apologies for the double post.

Ravelleman

If anyone's interested, Pro Guitar Shop have a new exclusive version of the Flashback Delay, called the Alter Ego, which has two extra presets and costs $5 less. It also comes in a sweet milkshake-yellow colour.

Squidgy Black

We're in the middle of a recession, you'd be mad not to shop around.

Fair enough for some people, but the difference of 10-15 euro and travel costs could make a sizeable difference in my week and I'm sure plenty of others, that's 3 or 4 pints, or a takeaway after a gig.

Being a musicians bloody expensive as it is, we might as well try and keep it as cheap as is possible.

Ravelleman

Or 15 cans before the gig.

For me the difference in price for my Hall of Fame ended up being €35. Since I bought the Flashback and the Polytune at the same time, it ended up being a saving of around €95.

Think of the tins and take-aways. Or better yet, more money for the gear fund!

68 lost souls

Yes but these travel costs are eliminated by the fact that you can also buy online from Xmusic so why not just by them online from there.

Also in reference to the comment on the mark up music shops make I completely disagree. I know the margins made by music shops and I know the markup made by clothes shops, pharnacys and other retailers and I find it hard to imagine how music shops can survive on the markups they have.

merlinengine

68 lost souls wrote: »

Yes but these travel costs are eliminated by the fact that you can also buy online from Xmusic so why not just by them online from there.

Also in reference to the comment on the mark up music shops make I completely disagree. I know the margins made by music shops and I know the markup made by clothes shops, pharnacys and other retailers and I find it hard to imagine how music shops can survive on the markups they have.

I wasn't just refering to xmusic I was refering to all music stores in the country, most of which you can't order from online.

But for the sake of arguement lets say Ireland gets nuked and xmusic is the only store still standing in the entire republic, xmusic charges shipping too on items below 150 euro (the odd online/ebay shop even offers free international shipping!) and again, I pose the question what if xmusic doesn't have the item you want? What if you specifically want a Framus amp/guitar etc? Not only is going online the preferable option sometimes its the only option for people who want a specific item.

As for their mark up, even if it isn't that much from the stores point of view, the savings you make as an everyday customer by not going to a store makes all the difference to the recession era, normal, hard working joe. Take Revelleman's example above, thats 95 euro of a saving. Beer and take away aside thats fuel and food for me for a week at least, possibly two or as the man said (and more important than food) it could go back into the new gear fund! 95 euro is almost the cost of another TC pedal!