It's sad to see all the mom&pop music stores going away. The impersonal Big Box and Internet Order stores have taken over. Sure, you can get your strings for $1 less there, but you lose personal service that has been honed by years of experience.
I was looking for a new mic for my sax. The Sure SM58 didn't reproduce it well.
I went to the local store, the owner went to the recording studio in the back and handed me Sennheiser MD421. He said try it on the gig, and if you like it, I'll order one for you. No deposit, no credit card, just the trust of someone who has done business there.
I tried it on the gig, and our Sunday gig was in an open air bar. One of my musician friends came to see us, and she said, "What have you done? Your sax sounds great, I could hear the difference in the parking lot!"
Monday I went back to the store, with the mic in my hand, and he said, I'll order one, just keep using that until the new mic is delivered.
The new mic came, and I just paid what he asked. A week later a Sam Ash catalog arrived in the mail (This was pre-Internet) and the MD421 was in it. Figuring what shipping and handling would have cost me, I actually paid a few dollars less at my M&P than I would have at Sam Ash.
Having that service is why I bought all my reeds, strings, music books, and everything else there. When the Internet arrived, too many people when to him for advice, and then went online to get a better price. Now we don't have him anymore, just a couple of kids at the local GC store that are really not interested in you as a customer, and even if they were, they don't have the years of knowledge required to be able to help you.
In other words, I feel your loss, Shane.
Notes ♫
What makes Barbie more popular? Females. For so many girls, it is a toy they had a deep relationship with.
