Ask Doktor Dave

June 2008

JR asks: Ok, here’s my questions: When buying a stringed instrument online (ie: Banjitar, guitar, bass but mainly Banjitar): Which is better to buy from, guitarcenter.com or musiciansfriend.com? Should I purchase a warranty or not?

Doktor Dave Answers: Regarding Guitar Center vs. Musician’s Friend – There is virtually no difference between them. I believe they are owned by the same parent company and are separate, but equal. They carry the same products and have very similar pricing. They have sales on different items at different times though.

Take a look at Music 123.Com too.

I have personally purchased a couple of guitars from Musician’s Friend without problem. They were NOT “quality” instruments that I felt I needed to handle first. I was basically experimenting with them.

I’ve also bought a couple of semi-quality used instruments off of eBay with success.

I’ve only bought gear from Music 123, but was VERY impressed with their sales dept. and quite satisfied with my experience.

I have NOT had a bad experience buying from any of these companies.

A tip: Check the “Scratch n’ Dent/Clearance” sections…good deals on items that may have imperfections that you may not care about.

Buying Instruments Online – There’s always a risk involved. You might not get what you ordered, it might be damaged in shipment, or it may just not work at all. Personally, I have not had this happen, so I can’t say one service dept. is better than another. The risk remains.

I WOULDN’T buy a relatively expensive instrument that I would expect a good degree of quality sound and playability. I need to hold those, play and listen to them.

When I bought from eBay, I spent a lot of time examining every aspect of the instrument as well as the seller. I asked questions. I also had friends that were more experienced in using eBay to look the auction over.

I HAVE had problems with one seller and eBay was no help at all. It wasn’t over an instrument though.

The Benefits Of Buying Locally – Believe it or not…pricing is often very similar to online prices, plus you get to actually hold, play and listen to the actual instrument you’ll be buying. If they don’t have what you want in stock, they can usually get it for you fairly quickly. You also get the benefit of experience from the store/salesman.

At smaller, non-corporate stores, you get more personalized attention and develop a relationship that benefits both you and the store. If you do have a problem, you usually don’t have to worry about shipping the instrument, waiting a month or so, hoping it gets there in one piece…the store will handle it. That’s a lot good stuff to consider.

Banjitars – Dean makes a cheap one for about $250. Dean, in my opinion, isn’t high quality. But, on average, it’s decent quality for the $$$. If it doesn’t play nicely out of the box, you can still (usually) afford to get it properly set-up and tweaked as needed.

The same goes for cheap Strat’s, Squire’s, Yamaha’s, etc…

Warranties – Personally, it’s not worth the price vs. the quality of instruments I would buy online. There’s really nothing to say beyond that. It comes down to how comfortable you feel having, or not having a warranty beyond the manufacturer’s warranty.

I think that’s it for now. If you have further questions, you know where to find me! [SMILE]

Remember…comments are good. Yes, they are.

Vaya con musica!

>Doktor Dave<