Month: October 2017

 Every once in a while, when G.A.S. hits ya hard, you find that, well, there’s just not as much bread in the bread box as you need to scratch that screaming itch.

I teach students music out of my studio, and since many of them are still in school they often have little (mostly… NO!) cash to put towards a certain piece of gear that suits their fancy.

That’s when I suggest to them what I often do myself: GO DISCOUNT! Sometimes a used, reduced, or B-stock piece of music gear might just be the ticket!

The Upsides. The Downsides. The ‘Get-off-your-backside’-s….

If you can afford to buy whatever music tool you want full price, then the world is certainly your oyster.

Heck, it’s an oyster with a kickin’ stereo system, free drinks and stack of new guitar strings! Who we kiddin’?!!

But if not….then you need to consider the other options. The biggest upside? They’re cheaper, of course! And most of the time in just fine condition, believe it or not.

Here’s what to look for:

• “Demo” units
• “No-box” units
• “B-stock” goods (Any unit not new, in unopened box)
• Last year’s model, now reduced in price

There’re all kinds of reasons why you may find a cheaper price on the product in question. You just have to look in the right places.

I’ve bought a couple pro audio gear pieces, for example, that have “road rash”, or slight blemishes on the outside case because of being used on the road. The units WORK fine though.

Do I care about a couple scratches?! HECK, no! If it does the job and still has the same warranty, you can paint it purple, I don’t care. 😉

Also, since you won’t have to wait to save more cash, you get what you want sooner, which is always good.

Is there a trade-off? Sometimes. Nine times out of ten, I have bought demo units and out-of-box units that looked brand-spankin’ new; couldn’t find a scratch on ’em!

Then there were other times when there were issues. They were small, and none of them affected the sound, the navigation or the dependability of the unit. Usually just scratches, dents, dings.

Or, in the case of the Yamaha Motif keyboard I got used, some Chinese writing on the top that I really hope isn’t cursing out everyone who actually can read it (See picture at right).

Most stores won’t sell a unit that doesn’t work, but they’ll be happy to reduce the price for you on one that works fine, but might look a little used.

Finding these types of gear can take some doing tho’; they’re not often put right up on the front page. They’re “marred”, after all, so stores will usually keep ’em in a corner somewhere.

It’s like when you go to supermarket: you won’t find the ‘reduced goods’ placed on an end cap where you first walk in the door!

No strain, no gain. But if you put the work time in…. I betcha you’ll find somewhere across this fine Inter-land of ours the exact piece you want for some dollars off…..sometimes MANY dollars off.

“Awwwwww, Where Do We Go – ooo Now??!”

There are several places I find that consistently have provided me with high quality, working options for a lot less money. Sometimes insanely less.

First up is EBay. It’s amazing when you want a piece SOOOOO badly but it’s hundreds of dollars more than you have, but you type the make and model into the EBay search and find that some blessed saint of a human being is listing that exact unit for hundreds less than the going price, it’s in great shape, and many times it’s listed as “No Reserve”, which means the seller has not set a minimum price to sell on the unit! Yippee!! Whoo-hooo!! Unbelievable!

Now all you have to do….is win the auction. Ah, yes, here’s where it gets a little tricky. I have been successful more times than not by using this method to do just that: sniping.  It’s waiting ’til the last seconds of an auction to make your bid.

First, determine the most that you are willing (or able!) to spend for a product. Then, wait until the last 10 seconds of the auction is up and THEN submit your bid. You’ll have to be quick on the draw, but this DOES work.

It has worked for me maaaaaany times. This means, tho’, that you must know exactly when the auction for this unit is going to end, and you must be there, right in front of your computer, ready to pluck the ripe fruit from the thrumming music tree.

Now, if others have bid higher than you’re willing to spend, then you’re out of luck. Unless, of course, you decide, “Ya know… I think I can scrounge up another twenty bucks…..” and increase your bid. Besides, what are the rest of your family for, if not to be there for you when you’re sick…with G.A.S.!

Next place that I recommend to my local music students all the time is Music-Go-Round.

This is a real brick and mortar store that you can physically drive to visit OR check out their websites to see the latest gear they’ve bought and brought in. They specialize in buying used music gear and reselling it.

I have one about ten minutes from my house and the owner and I know each other veeeeery well, thanks to my visiting him often. Maybe too often.

Okay, definitely too often. But, lemme tell you, I have picked up some SWEET, SWEET DEALS there.

See this Eddie Van Halen Frankenstrat? Got it there, less than $500. Down on the right you’ll see the Ovation I picked up when one weekend I had to play & sing some alternate tuning guitar songs and wanted a second acoustic all tuned wierd and ready to go. That listed for around $800 but I picked it up for under three! And, by the way, I couldn’t find anything wrong, scratch, ding, whatever, on either of them.

Chris at Music-Go-Round in Troy, MI – he’s MAH MAN!!! In any case, if you see something you like, the price is usually fantastic right on the tag, but it you still don’t have enough, make them an offer. Them saying ‘no’ is the worst that can happen. The best? You could be playing a sweet new instrument and still pay your rent or mortgage tomorrow!

Also, try Craigslist. This is where people who live near you want to sell their stuff privately so they put it on this site, usually with a short explanation of what it is and a picture.

I have hanging on my wall no less than nine instruments that I’ve gotten off of this site, and they’re all in great shape and I use them in the studio or live all the time.

One caveat: you must be more diligent checking out the gear before you hand over your cash (cards aren’t usually accepted). People selling music gear out of their house might not be as 1) knowledgeable, 2) trustworthy or 3) deliberate about making sure that everything on the instrument or gear actually works. Once you hand over the cash, there’re no returns, so….give those units a thorough going-over before you decide.

If it’s electronic, by all means, plug it in, go through menus, test the outputs by bringing headphones with you in the car. Most people are fine with this kind of testing.

And ask questions about the unit: how was it used? For how long? Are you the owner? Was it for live use or only studio? Do you still have the box and accompanying manuals and papers?Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

Finally, I would suggest going to any online music store and, in their search engine, type in “used“.

Guitar Center, for example, has a lot of used gear that goes for substantially reduced rates and is always in working condition, even tho’ it may look beat up a bit.

Personally, if something looks like it’s been gigged with, great. Isn’t that the point with music gear – to USE it for performance? Battle scars just make it, and by association, you look more experienced (and suddenly Hendrix melodies are everywhere….).

“Cello! Is it Meeeee You’re Looking Foooor….?”

About 6 years ago, I was producing a song that I really wanted to have strings on. Nothing major, just a cello and a couple violins maybe.

Now, I play a lot of instruments, and I thought to myself, “The lines I want aren’t hard. I just don’t have the instruments. Maybe I can find some…..”.

With that, I opened up Craigslist, did a search under “cello” and scrolled down the list.

In case you don’t know, buying a cello is no small feat financially; they are priceeeeeyyyyyy! Almost always over a thousand. Unless you want a plastic one. Which, um…..no. Not for me.

Down the Craigslist list soon enough I saw an interesting post that not only showed a cello but dozens of other instruments: violins, violas, guitars, basses, trumpets….a virtual cornucopia of musical exploration. The text was short and didn’t explain much; it basically just said “Instruments for Sale”.

Well, not being one to pass up a rare, awesome thing, I jumped in my car and drove about a half hour to a small, unassuming, little house and met an older lady, Mary, and her daughter who took me downstairs to where the whole basement was taken up by instruments of all kinds – more than I’d ever seen in one house.

When I asked Mary what the deal was with all these, she confided somberly that her husband, Billy, who had wanted to open a music store one day, had recently passed away. She would be moving in two weeks to California to live with her other daughter there and get away from her pain a bit, so all these instruments had to go.

I had brought with me $530, thinking if I was lucky I just might bring a cello home. Mary & her daughter, tho’, were in such a need to get rid of her late husband’s inventory that she was pricing them at levels…..well, at levels that you just don’t usually find. She just wanted that stuff outta there!

So, that day, I drove home with a cello, a violin, a banjo and a glockenspiel. All of those except the banjo I have used on recordings and whenever I do, I think of Billy and his dream and whisper a private “Thank you” to his memory.

After all, if there’s anyone who understands the hold musical instruments can have over you… it’s me!

Mommy! Look What I Found!

The moral of the story? Make music while you can, my friends, and if you need discount music gear, check out the places I’ve listed above. You just never know what serendipitous options you might find there.

For the History Buffs

One last thing: that cello I got from Tony’s wife? It looked a little beat up so I had it maintenanced by a skilled luthier. I take all my orchestral string instruments to a place in Michigan called Shar Music. Wouldn’t go anywhere else. They are the bomb ‘cuz they know strings like….like Elton John knows altered root chords!

They took their little flashlights and cameras and peered inside its cavernous chamber, then told me that there’s no sign of a company label and that, although it’s got a good sound, the inside is not as sandpapered and filed down as they usually see.

Thus, in their opinion, I am now the owner of a “pioneer-made cello” that probably was fashioned well out of pure love of the instrument by some individual somewhere….in the late 1800s. 

WHOA!! Wow. Now everytime I play the instrument I not only think of Tony, but of the impassioned private citizen who just had to make that cello that year. Probably because he or she didn’t have the money to buy one.

If only they’d had Craigslist. Lol

So, until next time, investigate all those discount music gear pieces and save some money. Then go… make… sounds!

Teaj

In light of the many, many ways we are daily inundated with music gear pictures, ads videos and the like, it’s absolutely harder than ever to keep serious G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome!) from bubbling up and over.

Only the loud survive, which is of course why so many (including YOU, apparently) want to know how to buy music gear online so you can get it in your calloused little guitar/violin/bass/etc. fingers as SOON AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.! Believe me, my friend…I know the feeling.

We’re Not in Brick & Mortar Anymore, Toto!

Finding out how to buy music gear online is easier than ever thanks to HUGE marketplaces on our beloved Internet (I’m aiming my guitar neck at YOU, Amazon!) and all they’ve put in place to ease the suffering of those of us with chronic, unending G.A.S.

But it’s important to keep in mind the differences that set online shopping apart from, say, hanging out in your usual ‘drool corner’ at Guitar Center. Let’s take a look:

• “ARE ALL THESE YOUR GUITARS??!! – Oh man! Oh man! Can you BELIEVE all the dangle-y little gear carrots they’re putting in front of our glassy computer eyes these days?! How can they do that?! Don’t we know how much we SUFFER??!! In any case, ‘virtual cornucopia’ would not be hyperbole now for the sheer vastness of music gear selection we have at our fingertips. Soooooooo many choices!! So little….cash. I think I’ve been there a couple times. The large selection is either a blessing or a curse, depending on your ‘Consumer Character’ – are you a research-driven and decisive tweaky gear-head? Or a site-page-wandering wonderer who’s never quite sure if you’ve found ‘the right one’ (and, no, I don’t mean finding a mate that LIKES you buying gear!)? If you tend to freeze up at all-you-can-eat buffets, well…maybe a local store IS better for you. But if you’re like me and love it…let’s move on.

• 

  WAIT…IT’S HOW MUCH?? – Dude….prices are all over the MAP online, I’m telling you. If you don’t put in due diligence to know what price range any piece of gear should fall into, you can seriously end up spending WAAAAAAY more than you need to on that current ‘shiny bauble’ of equipment you’re eyeing. The same units online can list for HUNDREDS of dollars apart. No joke. So….check it out on several if not many sites. You’ll thank me later.

• THE FLANGING INTAGIBLES – So, the fact that you can’t actually touch or see the product you’re wanting might make you nervous about a potential purchase, and with good reason. But there again, if you put in the right amount and the right quality of research, you can definitely be assured that at least the piece is SUPPOSED to work fine with whatever system or rig you currently use. Just know that you’ll never reeeeeally know how any piece of music gear is going to sound until it’s actually in your system. That’s true with local stores too, to some extant, but I’ve taken parts of my system in to a local shop before to verify connections and such. With Internet stores, that’s not an option, so be very sure that the SPECS of your most recent beloved will play nicely with your other studio hardware friends.

• 

  “DUDE – WHERE’S MY DUDE??” – Often in the past, many of us have worked with a specific person (could be dude OR dudette – no haters please) that knew us, knew our gear, knew our preferences, knew if we would or would not play “Stairway to Heaven” in the store…in short, it was our go-to person in a particular gear store. Online, you may fine that to be an option….or you may not. In fact, most times, sorry, you’re just gonna get whomever is not on their 3rd lunch. Now, that doesn’t have to be an issue, especially if you’re exactly sure of what you need. But if you prefer that, you’ll definitely be limited online to which site will provide that service.

If none of these differences deter you, and you still want to march onward, techie soldier, then let’s look at how to train for your imminent guerrilla sound-fare….

How to Prep a G.A.S. Attack!

There are things you can do to make your online music gear shopping experience one you’ll want to repeat, rather than one you’d like burn (you know, like those thousands of copies of Mix magazine in the basement that you still can’t quite bring yourself to toss?). Before you buy you’ll want to:

• 

  INVESTIGATE YOUR SUSPICIONS – If you don’t read reviews, look at detailed pictures, consult online or paper gear catalogs and verify connection specs..dude…you are doomed to failure. Unless of course you are working with the rare store that will do that for you. Especially important is all those little CONNECTION points:: the ins, outs, jacks, dongles, ports. You may think everything’s compatible, but until you research and confirm it you’re really just playing piano in the dark. And not everybody can really do that without, uh…sucking.

• CONSULT YOUR HOMMIES – If you’re wanting music gear, then chances are you have played and created music with other people. Ask them about your potential purchase. Their insight might even take you in a different direction. They might show you how “this li’l beauty is really what you want.” After all, G.A.S. attacks aren’t really that picky about the objects of its affection. It just wants. And wants. And wants….

• HOLD TH’ PHONE! HOLD TH’ PHONE! – When you think you’ve confirmed that the unit will fit nicely into your set-up, do yourself a favor and make a quick, painless (usually) call to the online store of your choice and confirm it with a real human being. If you can’t reach one, go to another one. Two heads are better than one, remember? And since they work with gear for a living, they’re going to be a lot more familiar with”h a lot more gear than you. Use that to your advantage and have ’em confirm that this will work for you. This also defends your return if you end up having to send it back. “Raphael told me I didn’t need a SCSI port!” “Oh, well then we’re sorry, sir. Here’s your return authorization number…”. Yes, this has definitely happened before, and probably will again. So get a 2nd opinion.

• WAIT…IT’S HOW MUCH AGAIN?? – If you have a local store, give them a call and ask them if they have the item you want. If so, ask their price. If it’s higher (and it almost always is) ask them if they price match. If they do, you could potentially have your much-desired piece of equipment in minutes rather than days. Just make sure you can show them on your phone the exact ad you want them to match.

• I personally like to support a couple of local shops near me if they price match, because these are people that love music like I do but their business has SO much more overhead cost than online stores and I want to reward them for actually stocking instruments and gear I can pick up and play, or test run. That’s definitely worth supporting. Also, if you’re REALLY tight on cash, search for your new beloved on EBay or Craigslist and see if she makes an appearance. I personally have gotten two guitars from Craigslist that I now play all the time and sound GREAT. You just never know what’s out there ’til you look.

• “UMMM….THAT’S A KOHL’S RECEIPT.” – Before you sign on any dotted line, know all the ins and outs of the store’s RETURN POLICY. Do they accept gear back regardless? Does it have to appear brand new? Is it only returnable in the first week? First 30 days? 60 days? 90 days? Do you need the receipt or do they keep a copy for you? Do they pay shipping back or do you?? If it’s not in its original packaging, does it matter?? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, you may end up with a very expensive paperweight that looks….and awful lot….like an amp!

• “OK, FIRST….IS IT PLUGGED IN?” – You may really want to invest in a piece of gear, but have no idea how huge of a learning curve there will be to use it, or how temperamental it might turn out to be linked with other pieces of equipment….or both. You may need a lot of help to save that session, or gig, to help you get on with earning more money so you can…uh…buy more….gear.

Most stores won’t help you after a purchase with HOW to use it or PROBLEMS you might have integrating it into your system. But there are a couple.

Before you pull the whammy bar, decide if this is beneficial to you or not and choose your online store accordingly. If anything seems awry after you buy, consulting experts often is the difference between working it out and keeping the product or sending it back and starting all over again.

Just know that not many stores have the expertise OR the department in place to assist you in product support. The manufacturers might, but they will be experts only in the product you just bought from them, not in the rest of your studio gear and how it must integrate.

READY? SET? CLICK!!

If you’ve jumped through all the above safety hoops, then you are ready to go! Buying online is usually pretty easy. If you’re working with an online store for the first time it’ll take a little longer while you type in all your billing info, but usually after that it’s saved so you can just click and go next time a bad G.A.S. attack rears its beautiful circuitry.

Make sure at the time of purchase you get two things: your online receipt to file AND the tracking number of the shipment, if available.

I enjoy the whole tracking of new piece of gear; the excitment is almost like a NASA lift-off – especially now that a DRONE might fly it to my door soon!!

I would also call the delivery company and find out if they need a SIGNATURE to leave your package, if you can’t find that information in the shipping info. If they need a signature, and you’re not home, well, then you’ll have to wait another day or LONGER for the newest member of your recording family. Who wants that? It sucks.

Welcoming the New Object of Your Affections

Once the delivery is made, try to stop doing your happy dance long enough to do these things (I know. It’s hard.):

• BOXING DAY – Open your gear boxes as if you want them to look new. Because…you do. For two reasons: first, if you have to return the unit, the store won’t give you grief, and second, if you ever want to SELL your new gear one day you can actually get more money for it if it looks new in the new-looking box it came in. Not much, mind you, but some.

• DOWNLOADS, MANUALS AND FILES, OH MY! – Put the manuals and all paperwork together and file them in a place that’s just for that. Organization of this kind will help you when frustration during the learning curve causes you to mutter things that are not mixed-company-appropriate. Many manuals will solve the problem without a call to anyone. Then again….some will not. Also, if there is a Registration or Warranty card to send through the mail, do so. Most companies now want you to sign up online for that though. Either way, make sure you do. It’ll bless you down the road if problems arise, plus often the manufacturers will send you special offers since you bought one of their products. They’re always gonna hope for more!

• NOW WHERE’S MY FINE TOOTH COMB….? – Get your new toy plugged in as soon as possible so you can verify that there was no shipping damage and that it’s working as it should. If there’s a problem you’ll want to jump on it quickly…and without question before the last return date (which you DO know, right? RIGHT??).

G.A.S. passed, sir!

And that’s that! For the moment anyway. Now that you know how to buy music gear online I’m sure, if you’re like me, you’ll avail yourself of its wonder any chance you get. Saves you gas. Usually saves you money. And is close at your fingertips when a new attack becomes joy-threatening.

But, hey, in the end we know G.A.S. is our friend, because every time we improve our sound with more blessed gear, we get closer to being that next Sting, that next Stevie, that next….ah, you fill in the blank. We’ve all got somebody riffing in our dreams. And don’t worry…..THEY probably have G.A.S. …just like you.

Now, go…make…sounds!

Teaj