Curious if anyone else has run into this before.
I'd run low on strings so went into a music store in the next city north of me. Bought six packs of Ernie Balls Super Slinkies. While at the counter the fella, ring'n the sale thru, and I were chatting it up.
So he says I must be pretty brutal on guitars if I needed that many packs of strings. Told him 'nope, I build CBG's and give'm away. Had to school him on what CBG's were. Then after I tell him what they are he says... "Ohh, ur the guy" then got quiet and finished the sale... Thank you come again...
I was kinda puzzled by the response but after I got back to my truck I figured maybe he'd heard or saw some of my gits and thought I was cutting into his biz... Thats all I could come up with.
So... does anyone else find music stores friendly or a bit.... short, with you when they know you build CBG's???
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I rarely go into the big box git stores anymore. My local (privately owned) store loves CBG's and has sold, on consignment, a dozen or more of my instruments as well as another guys CBG's. So the music store makes their percentage plus I make what I usually do at craft shows. The store owners mom even bought one!
Famous last words... LOL Just when you say it ain't gonna happen.... it happens...
It's probably been 10+ years since I went into a Guitar Center even though there are a few relatively nearby. I've been in a couple of local stores recently and left disappointed with both the selection of merchandise and attitude of the salespeople. Further away in the Atlanta metro area, there are some "Our *Stuff* Don't Stink" stores that have high end merchandise but terrible, snobby, attitudes. So, these days I buy guitar stuff online or from individuals locally.
Local music shops are very supportive of CBG's. GC not so much. Don't shop there anymore!!!!!
Don't spend much time in guitar stores these days. They don't know much about what is in their store, much less anything else.
I have found the people in Guitar Center to be mostly arrogant no matter what I went there for. I wasn't metal shred dude so I wasn't worthy. Strings are a lot better deal online at Musicians Friend, their house brand is really low priced alot of the time (no affiliation).
Last time I visited a guitar shop I asked to see a CBG just to see what they had, none.
"It was just a fad that died out a couple of years ago, nobody wants to buy them anymore"
I just smiled and thought to myself 'yeah because we're building them ourselves and selling them ourselves'
Personally I think these guitar shop guys have their head up their own sales strategy.
I have a little different story.
I got a text from a local used music store saying they would give 20% more for used gear. I grabbed a three string I had sitting around to see if they would give me enough for a set of strings.
The manager was kind of excited and said I would make more money if they consigned my work. He offered to take three guitars. I brought a couple more over later.
They offered me a decent return - 70% of retail. They also set pretty good prices.
That's the good news. The bad news is they haven't sold yet.
They don't sell well when sandwiched between a used plywood 6 string for half the price of the CBG on one side, and a $30 plank-not-a-strumstick on the other side.
And if none of the salespeople know how to demonstrate a CBG, it often looks like an expensive wall decoration like the not-a-real-sword you find at the imports store in the mall.
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