[Pirelli]

That is really great news!

When I was looking for a cab for my VHT you provided me with great information. I think your store will do really well because you are passionate about what you're doing and you really know your stuff.

Best of luck.

[Kotex]

Originally Posted by zimbloth

Yeah we'll have those most likely

A lot of people have suggested the sound clip idea. It's definitely a good idea but it would have to be done right. I've been pretty vocal over the years here about my disdain for unflattering web clips of amps, so I'd have to make sure it would be somewhat representative of the amp.

Yeah, because for some amps it's pretty hard to find even a youtube video of someone playing. And usually when they do have clips it's like a VHT playing bl00z licks or something to that effect. So if you can do something that justifies the amp then that would be awesome.

On a side note, I think it's funny that I've been here for the same amount of time as you and I've never really spoken to you.

[amonb]

This sounds so awesome Nick... GOOD LUCK! I no doubt will be a customer at some stage!

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Pirelli

That is really great news!

When I was looking for a cab for my VHT you provided me with great information. I think your store will do really well because you are passionate about what you're doing and you really know your stuff.

Best of luck.

Yeah no problem man, I sincerely like helping people. That's why I was a tutor for years at my college (it certainly wasn't the measly $8.25/hr). I spend a lot of my time here answering questions from people looking for gear advice, or discussing gear in an opinion thread, whathaveyou. A store would be a good natural progression I think. I used to work at Guitar Center and I hated it. Here I could actually be sincere and passionate about what we were selling. It's hard to get excited over Squires and Epiphones.

Originally Posted by Kotex

Yeah, because for some amps it's pretty hard to find even a youtube video of someone playing. And usually when they do have clips it's like a VHT playing bl00z licks or something to that effect. So if you can do something that justifies the amp then that would be awesome.

On a side note, I think it's funny that I've been here for the same amount of time as you and I've never really spoken to you.

Yeah man I'll definitely figure out a way to get clips or videos up of all our stuff for people. Just have to do it right.

Really we've never chatted? Yeah it's certainly nothing personal, I just post in whatever threads peak my interest

Originally Posted by amonb

This sounds so awesome Nick... GOOD LUCK! I no doubt will be a customer at some stage!

Awesome

[technomancer]

All our monies are belong to Zim

[Xaios]

My two cents:

First cent...

I think, once you've chosen a name, you should pitch it to the community and see what kind of website designs we can come up with. I've been making websites for about 7 years, and have a decent amount of experience with server scripting and databases as well (although, admittedly, I've never worked with e-commerce).

Second cent...

Like everyone here, I find the concept of one of the community's members opening a high end boutique store a pretty damn noble pursuit, but I must stress this point: don't forget the little man. You can't have ALL high end stuff, because lets face it, 90% of guitar sales are cheap beginner guitars. It only makes good business sense to have some cheaper models on hand. Having said that, you will have to strike a balance, as you don't want 12 year old "ZOMG I CAN PLAY SMOKE ON TEH WADER!!!" kids overrunning the store and killing all of your nice stuff. Second reason why, is because almost all of us started small. My first guitar was a cheap mexi-strat, but it put me on the path of righteousness, so to speak. Perhaps you could even talk with that Kurt fellow from Rondo and see if you could get some distributing for some of his cheaper guitars, they seem to be a better value than most inexpensive guitars.

Of course, take everything I say with a grain of salt, because, obviously, I've never opened a guitar store.

Having said that, best of luck to you!

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by Xaios

My two cents:

First cent...

I think, once you've chosen a name, you should pitch it to the community and see what kind of website designs we can come up with. I've been making websites for about 7 years, and have a decent amount of experience with server scripting and databases as well (although, admittedly, I've never worked with e-commerce).

Second cent...

Like everyone here, I find the concept of one of the community's members opening a high end boutique store a pretty damn noble pursuit, but I must stress this point: don't forget the little man. You can't have ALL high end stuff, because lets face it, 90% of guitar sales are cheap beginner guitars. It only makes good business sense to have some cheaper models on hand. Having said that, you will have to strike a balance, as you don't want 12 year old "ZOMG I CAN PLAY SMOKE ON TEH WADER!!!" kids overrunning the store and killing all of your nice stuff. Second reason why, is because almost all of us started small. My first guitar was a cheap mexi-strat, but it put me on the path of righteousness, so to speak. Perhaps you could even talk with that Kurt fellow from Rondo and see if you could get some distributing for some of his cheaper guitars, they seem to be a better value than most inexpensive guitars.

Of course, take everything I say with a grain of salt, because, obviously, I've never opened a guitar store.

Having said that, best of luck to you!

That would be great man (the website stuff). I'd appreciate all the help I can get. I know HTML and some other stuff but I'm not good with advanced programming, coding, photoshop or anything like that. I know I could make a site that looks better than 99% of guitar shops' pages out there, but that's not saying much. I'd DEFINITELY take any help I could get

In regards to the other stuff, I'm not opposed to carrying imports and lower end stuff, but that's really going to be the primary focus of the shop.

Originally Posted by yevetz

no need to ship internationally I have a bussines partner in Baltimore MD

Well I'm definitely cool with working with you on stuff. I have a guy in The Netherlands who I supply stuff too sometimes, it's fun and mutually beneficial. We should probably keep that discussion private from here on out though

[sepherus]

man this is fantastic. as a fairly new forumite, i can say that you have been a consistently cool dude thus far, and would be more than happy to help out by spending my hard earned cash that should be going into my education :-p there are a few brands i am very interested in there and once i get a little extra (as i am sure you will be set up by then) i will defiantely get in touch about which ever gear im gassing on most then.

also side note, Rivera are an amazingly spectacular amp with a wide tonal palette that most people can get into. the prices were pretty fair last i looked too. maybe not right now but down the road? i know ive been gassing for a Knucklehead since my friends bands guitarist got one.

[Xaios]

Oh God no, I would never suggest you stock Epiphone! But perhaps some stuff that doesn't quite crack a thousand bucks. You'll know better than the average joe who walks in what you can get that's both of decent quality and non-bank-breaking. Not at boutique level, but a decent instrument nonetheless.

[zimbloth]

Originally Posted by sepherus

man this is fantastic. as a fairly new forumite, i can say that you have been a consistently cool dude thus far, and would be more than happy to help out by spending my hard earned cash that should be going into my education :-p there are a few brands i am very interested in there and once i get a little extra (as i am sure you will be set up by then) i will defiantely get in touch about which ever gear im gassing on most then.

also side note, Rivera are an amazingly spectacular amp with a wide tonal palette that most people can get into. the prices were pretty fair last i looked too. maybe not right now but down the road? i know ive been gassing for a Knucklehead since my friends bands guitarist got one.

Thanks man, yeah I'd be grateful for any opportunity to get some gear for you. Feel free to PM me about some stuff you may want. Even if you can't buy it now, I'm looking to become more knowledgeable about what products people are interested in.

I did consider Rivera, as well as Hughes & Kettner, but it just seemed like it was getting to be too much too soon. I'll definitely look into carrying Rivera and other kickass brands later on though certainly.

I'm also planning on stocking some used pieces of high-end stuff that we don't deal in but I think would still appeal to people anyways...so who knows I may get a Rivera in at some point even.