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Coach305
November 26th, 2010, 06:46 PM
I've decided of late that diddlin' around on an acoustic would improve my playing generally, so I spent a couple of days looking over my low-cost options. I brought this home earlier today:
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/1/3/0/625130.jpg
I settled on this beauty for a couple of reasons: I had played and enjoyed a friend's Ovation back in my college days (when dinosaurs roamed the earth). It felt and played more comfortably for me than any conventional acoustic before or since...
This particular finish (Figured Koa) has been discontinued on the Celebrity, so Musician's Friend has them priced $100 less than the same model in other finishes (this comes into play when I get to the GC part of the story)...I'll post a couple of pics of the actual guitar I bought as soon as the holiday madness dies down a little, since this is another occasion when the retailer's pic doesn't do the guitar justice...
As for my experience today at the Des Moines Guitar Center, I can't say enough nice things about how I was treated. It was, as you might imagine on Black Friday, a complete zoo in terms of atmosphere. In particular, some fat old tub kept playing the opening lick to "Gimme Three Steps" over and over on a $150 Strat for what seemed like an eternity (not the whole song, of course, just the opening lick, which seemed to be all he knew of the tune), and the number of guys who brought their bored girlfriends along made the store WAY more crowded than it needed to be (I imagine most of those guys traded the visit to GC for the interminable amount of time they'd have to spend with their significant other in Bath and Body Works or some such place later in the day). Still, for all of that, the staff there (especially Harold) covered themselves in glory, and I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge this given all the GC-bashing you hear in these parts...
I had checked the Des Moines GC's inventory online to make sure they had the Koa CC24 in stock (it said they did), but when I got to the store it was nowhere to be found among the 10-12 Ovations they had on the wall. (The only guitar that looked remotely like the right one was hanging at the top of the wall with the tag turned in a way that made it impossible to read. Just to make sure, Harold brought out a ladder--a nightmare for him given the crowded conditions--and checked for me. Turned out it was a significantly more expensive model.) When I told Harold the GC computer said the guitar I wanted was in stock, how easy would it have been for him to say "Well, what you see is what we have" and moved on to another customer? Instead, he enlisted a couple of other guys and they tracked it down for me in the back (even though he already knew they'd have to knock off the $100 because of the MF online ad)...
Once they located the correct instrument, they matched the MF online price without batting an eye (not that I thought they wouldn't, but to hear folks around here tell it they only do so reluctantly). And even though the computer wouldn't allow my 15% off coupon on the hardshell case, they okayed that with a smile as well. I was treated so well that I splurged a little and bought a Fender Custom Shop stool, as well (they'd more than earned a little more of my coin)!
The bottom line: I got a beautiful (and beautiful-sounding) guitar, at a steep discount, and the GC staff (especially Harold) went the extra mile for me on a day when their time was at a premium. Nicely-done, gentlemen...
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/1/3/0/625130.jpg
I settled on this beauty for a couple of reasons: I had played and enjoyed a friend's Ovation back in my college days (when dinosaurs roamed the earth). It felt and played more comfortably for me than any conventional acoustic before or since...
This particular finish (Figured Koa) has been discontinued on the Celebrity, so Musician's Friend has them priced $100 less than the same model in other finishes (this comes into play when I get to the GC part of the story)...I'll post a couple of pics of the actual guitar I bought as soon as the holiday madness dies down a little, since this is another occasion when the retailer's pic doesn't do the guitar justice...
As for my experience today at the Des Moines Guitar Center, I can't say enough nice things about how I was treated. It was, as you might imagine on Black Friday, a complete zoo in terms of atmosphere. In particular, some fat old tub kept playing the opening lick to "Gimme Three Steps" over and over on a $150 Strat for what seemed like an eternity (not the whole song, of course, just the opening lick, which seemed to be all he knew of the tune), and the number of guys who brought their bored girlfriends along made the store WAY more crowded than it needed to be (I imagine most of those guys traded the visit to GC for the interminable amount of time they'd have to spend with their significant other in Bath and Body Works or some such place later in the day). Still, for all of that, the staff there (especially Harold) covered themselves in glory, and I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge this given all the GC-bashing you hear in these parts...
I had checked the Des Moines GC's inventory online to make sure they had the Koa CC24 in stock (it said they did), but when I got to the store it was nowhere to be found among the 10-12 Ovations they had on the wall. (The only guitar that looked remotely like the right one was hanging at the top of the wall with the tag turned in a way that made it impossible to read. Just to make sure, Harold brought out a ladder--a nightmare for him given the crowded conditions--and checked for me. Turned out it was a significantly more expensive model.) When I told Harold the GC computer said the guitar I wanted was in stock, how easy would it have been for him to say "Well, what you see is what we have" and moved on to another customer? Instead, he enlisted a couple of other guys and they tracked it down for me in the back (even though he already knew they'd have to knock off the $100 because of the MF online ad)...
Once they located the correct instrument, they matched the MF online price without batting an eye (not that I thought they wouldn't, but to hear folks around here tell it they only do so reluctantly). And even though the computer wouldn't allow my 15% off coupon on the hardshell case, they okayed that with a smile as well. I was treated so well that I splurged a little and bought a Fender Custom Shop stool, as well (they'd more than earned a little more of my coin)!
The bottom line: I got a beautiful (and beautiful-sounding) guitar, at a steep discount, and the GC staff (especially Harold) went the extra mile for me on a day when their time was at a premium. Nicely-done, gentlemen...