Willie's Painfully (?) Cool Guitar advertising

[PennyCentury]

Has anyone noticed the slightly off-kilter ad copy in those Willie's ads in Vintage Guitar? I'll never have $25,000 for a 1958 Tele, but those descriptions are way out there!

[DustyDave]

Yeah, I've thought his comments were a little strange. Sometimes funny, sometimes a little irritating.
Sense of humor?
Schizophrenic?
A good opportunity to be creative?

[milocj]

I love those ads. I always make sure to read through them in my first sitting with Vintage Guitar every month. It sure beats the ads that some other places run which are twice as long and say nothing more about the guitar than Willie's ads do.

[goldtopper]

I am so lucky. His store is 8 miles from my house.
It's a quirky store, has no attitude and is staffed by great people.
Nate (Willie) is the man!

[teleon]

When reading Willies descriptions, I am sometimes reminded of the tricks one's mind can play on a long drive through the desert, yet at times they recall The great " Peasants War" of 1524-1525, wherein the emerging bourgeoisie (the urban class) failed to assert a sense of its own autonomy in the face of princely power, and left the rural classes to their fate. Nice guitars on his website, too.
http://www.williesguitars.com/index.cfm

[Warm Gums]

I find them hillarious (and a none too subtile poke at the "wordsmiths" at Mando Bros.)
My favorite was the one for a uber power UK "valve" head a few years back (I think it was a HI-WATT, may have been a Marshall..)

"In a perfect world you would own a Supermarine Sptifire or a Hawker Hurricane...since you don't we suggest you buy this.."

I do wonder who DOES buy all those $1000+ guitars and amps and those in all the other shops around the globe, The one guy I know who owns a "real" guitar (mid line Taylor A/E) had been saving for 3-4 years before he came into a small inheritance and was able to buy. This dosen't seem like a sustable business model.....but it must be.

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by Warm Gums

I find them hilarious (and a none too subtle poke at the "wordsmiths" at Mando Bros.)

That's exactly how I take them...and with no Love lost between me and Stan Jay at Mando Bros....I say Kudos to Willies !!

[GopherTele]

Rather typical of the urban hipsters that work there.

Irony and postmodernism rule the day.

[DMace]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

That's exactly how I take them...and with no Love lost between me and Stan Jay at Mando Bros....I say Kudos to Willies !!

You had a bad experience at Mandolin Bros.? I've only heard good things about the place.

[chet]

His ads kinda remind me of PennyCentury posts...Hmmmm...

[tboy]

His knowledge of wartime European folklore is amazing. He should write a book; except it would read like...

In the afternoon of 10th June 1944 a detachment of SS troops arrived in Oradour-sur-Glane, a peaceful town near the city of Limoges in central France. The troops sealed off the entrances to the town and rounded up the inhabitants, in much the same way as some people I know round up all the best guitars in the parking lot, before the show doors even open to the public.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by Warm Gums

I do wonder who DOES buy all those $1000+ guitars and amps and those in all the other shops around the globe....

Collectors.

[Mike Eskimo]

I much prefer Stan's at Mandolin Bros but his web site is sooooo bad it's not funny.

Out of the heavy hitters (Mando Bros, Gruhn's, and Elderly) only Elderly has truly embraced modern times via their website.

I think they have the best mail order/vintage instrument site out there.

Can you get better deals by going into Willie's ? They are usually wildly over-priced.

[jguitarman]

I love Willie's ads so much that I often show them to my wife. His sense of humor is off the wall. I didn't realize the poke at Mando Bros. though. Interesting.

[hollowman]

Love it! It's always the first thing i look for when the new edition comes out. i love his obscure references to Soviet military hardware and WWII history. Of course I even occasionally look at the actual guitars or amps... Always just a FEW bucks short of his inventory prices

next time i get up to St paul, I will surely find time to visit his store, where I will stalk the aisles much like a spy from a John LeCarre novel

[mkorsmo]

I like Willie's a lot, but I always feel clumsy walking in there - I have nightmares of tripping and dragging a couple vintage beauties from their perch on the way down.

[Warm Gums]

Collectors.

Well yes; I understand that.
I'm more interested in the fact that it would seem to be impossible for there to be enough discretionary income to support the regular purchase of all the 1k plus 'luxury' items in the world (even more unlikely when you begin to figure in all the other high end collectibles that are available i.e. cameras, watches, sports memorabilia, cars, art etc. ) I would be interested in what percentage of the populous makes the bulk of these purchases, what their income is (& how they derive it) & how much cross category purchasing goes on (ex. how many people collect vintage Stratocasters & Leicas) & what the long term sustainability of this phenomenon is.

[ac15]

Originally Posted by Warm Gums

I do wonder who DOES buy all those $1000+ guitars and amps

$1,000 is not a lot for a guitar or amp nowadays, especially considering it cost about $ to buy a Les Paul over 30 years ago.

[DougF]

It seems often when I go to Willie's they really don't want anything to do with me unless I have a couple of thousand to spend.

[Warm Gums]

$1,000 is not a lot for a guitar or amp nowadays, especially considering it cost about $ to buy a Les Paul over 30 years ago.

I keep hearing that, but I don't know any one who spends that kind of $ on hobby items on a reguar basis ( I would expect you would need to sell at least one high end item a day to cover your expenses) & judging from the enthusasim for items like CV Squiers, sub $200 tube amps on the boards I don't think that's unusuall; nor do I see anyone looking at much less purchasing big ticket items when I'm in GC, Ritz Camera etc.

It seems often when I go to Willie's they really don't want anything to do with me unless I have a couple of thousand to spend

.

Usualy when I'm in a "vintage" shop I'm the only one in the place...Me & dozens of pricey..of what ever is being "sold" .

30 years ago, "professional guitars" were not availabe in the numbers being stocked to day, shops were smaller & usualy the only people you saw with a high end guitar were folks who played out on altleast a semi pro basis, most players only owned one or two guitars & amps.

It just dosent seem that there is a large enough pool of buyers to keep all of these places in business. I suspect that much of this "inventory" is generating income thru tax loopholes, or perhaps Verizon stock credits form all those "call" items ..But at least the Willies ads are fun to read

[rand z]

Originally Posted by mkorsmo

I like Willie's a lot, but I always feel clumsy walking in there - I have nightmares of tripping and dragging a couple vintage beauties from their perch on the way down.

i was just at daves in lacrosse and there were new guitars leaning up against amps on the floor! brand new guitars sticking right out from the small amps into the aisles. all over the place!!!!! i was terrified to walk anywhere in the store!! and if you were looking UP, cause a lot of em that are hanging high... and werent looking DOWN, where you were walking...........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

these guitars were not in stands... they were leaning against the top of small amps and extended out across the floor into the aisle on a 15 to 20 degree angle!!!!

i think they have a new store policy going on there to promote sales:

IF YOU STEP ON IT, YOU BOUGHT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

strange.

rand z

[Strat God]

I love those ads - the humor is a breath of fresh air......BUT......the best ads in VG are those hand-drawn girls at Miami Vintage. Very similar to the Vargas girls of Playboy magazine from years ago.

Having said that, I didn't see the MVG ad in the latest issue with J.Giels on the cover. Hmmmmmmmmmm.

[pbenn]

Originally Posted by Warm Gums

But at least the Willies ads are fun to read

From this very fact there is much to be learned, IMO. Plus the prices.

The idea of boutique marketing is interesting. It's almost a curatorial edge you bring to the equation.

[Groovey Records]

Originally Posted by DMace

You had a bad experience at Mandolin Bros.? I've only heard good things about the place.

Don't believe everything you here.

They are not giving anything away> Service is mediocre.
They do have a great store with a great reputation.
They've been resting on their laurels too long.


They shipped my Collings 290 special ordered custom to the wrong address after calling to speak to Stan, Alison and the shipping Dept wile I was at the NY Amp show. I t was an important piece for our Demo.

Shipped to the wrong City. Huh??

Can't fire your daughter.

Jay's reaction I'll knock 10% off your next purchase.

I was looking for a r9 flame only $6000 cash price after his discount

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by DMace

You had a bad experience at Mandolin Bros.? I've only heard good things about the place.

Yep...same here...I had heard Great Stuff also, that all went to Hell dealing w/ Stan Jay and his daughter directly...never again for me...YMMV...Happened two different times, once on a Vintage Martin consignment I had there...and a few months later on a Brand New purchase...can you say "HYPE"......

[RodeoTex]

Dang, this is the second time I've been sucked into a Willie ad thread that is not Nelson.
All other Willies are false.

[Groovey Records]

Originally Posted by RodeoTex

Dang, this is the second time I've been sucked into a Willie ad thread that is not Nelson.
All other Willies are false.

YES we know