Mesa now sold (officially) at Guitar Center....any thoughts?

[fluff191]

I noticed that Guitar Center is now officially carrying a few Mesa products (in the latest mailer ad, the website hasn't caught up yet) and I cant help but think two things:

1. "oh hooray."
2. "I wonder if product quality will suffer/change due to sheer volume and quantity...?"

I can't help but think now that Mesa will have products in the McDonalds of music stores all over the globe, that quality and/or the product themselves will change. I'm not talking about reliability, but rather things like switching to plastic input jacks (i.e. Marshall), outsourced customer service departments and things of that nature.

Any thoughts? Opinions? I would love to hear everyone's thoughts.

 

[JohnDNJ]

They've had Mesa at GC for like 10 years here in NJ at least...

 

[soundchaser59]

When I went Mesa hunting a couple years ago, my impression was that Mesa would only allow sales at retailers who agreed to play by Mesa rules...... didn't matter who it was, as long as they do Mesa sales the Mesa way. Has that changed? If not, then I dont see a problem.

It aint enough to get me to buy an amp from GC, though......

 

[Jak0lantern01]

I bought both my Mesa's from GC, never had a problem. Sure, most of the employees are mentally deficient, but and educated buyer can use that to their advantage. I know I did.

 

[xedwinx206]

Mesa has been carried at the Kirkland, WA GC for a while. Anyways the way I understand is that they can't make any sort of deals on the amps. If Mesa finds out they made some type of deal for someone they lose the product line. That's what the guy at GC told me.

 

[Dolebludger]

Mesa has been sold at many GC stores for quite some time now. Some, but not all. This came up on another post on this board concerning transferability of warranty on used amps bought at GC. The answer was, it depends on which GC, as some were authorized Mesa dealers and some were not. As the GC web site is still not showing Mesa, I suspect that only some GCs are authorized Mesa dealers.

 

[Robusto]

Mesa has been carried at the Kirkland, WA GC for a while. Anyways the way I understand is that they can't make any sort of deals on the amps. If Mesa finds out they made some type of deal for someone they lose the product line. That's what the guy at GC told me.

I nearly bought a Roadster combo from that store a couple years ago.
I thought the staff that helped me were very knowledgable.

 

[fluff191]

Mesa has been sold at many GC stores for quite some time now. Some, but not all. This came up on another post on this board concerning transferability of warranty on used amps bought at GC. The answer was, it depends on which GC, as some were authorized Mesa dealers and some were not. As the GC web site is still not showing Mesa, I suspect that only some GCs are authorized Mesa dealers.

Right. I too have always seen a Dual Recto and a Roadster in the Tacoma GC as well. Interesting though. I didn't know about Mesa's policy on no deals. Kinda like the Apple of guitar company's huh?

 

[dylan7620]

^ i used to go to that store a lot just because of mesa. now i work at the lynnwood store. i'm a little resentful we don't carry mesa, haha. you'll usually see me running around in my mesa engineering work shirt. but we've had a loanstar, mark III and a mark iv in the last couple months so i've been ok. the mark iv came home with me though.

 

[MusicManJP6]

My local GC is not a Mesa dealer... bummer.

 

[fluff191]

My local GC is not a Mesa dealer... bummer.

But the national mailer ad that came out says "Guitar Center now carries Mesa...." leading me to believe that all of the GC's will be dealers. Unless for some weird reason the mailer is local? I don't know.

 

[jab]

I really can't imagine Mesa taking a quality dive just because they are at GC. They don't "seem the type" to stray from their niche but who knows - next thing we'll see is a solid state Roadster modeling amp at Best Buy. God forbid.

You know, I had a good experience with Music Power http://www.musicpower.com (they advertise on this site). They stock product, ship a head for $20, no tax if you're out of state, and have a 45 day return policy. Works for me.

 

[Old BF Shred]

My local GC is not a Mesa dealer... bummer.

But the national mailer ad that came out says "Guitar Center now carries Mesa...." leading me to believe that all of the GC's will be dealers. Unless for some weird reason the mailer is local? I don't know.

Apparently Mesa has a "dealers per square miles" limit. An example is in the San Diego area. The La Mesa (suburb) GC store does not carry Mesa. They are only a few miles from me. The San Marcos GC (in north county, San Diego) does carry Mesa, but they are over 40 miles away. :roll:
These aren't real close together, but the La Mesa GC cannot carry Mesa as Music Power (20 miles away) does. They have, in the past, not had as good a selection as San Marcos GC, but that seems to be improving as of late. (yeah!)

So I have to go at least 20 miles to test drive any Mesa, sometimes 40. But that's not as bad as some parts of the country where one may have to go 3-4 times as far (or more) to try a Mesa amp live. So not all GC's are likely to carry Mesa, depending......

Take care!

 

[xedwinx206]

Yea I have always gone to the Kirkland GC because I feel that most of the Lynnwood staff that tried to help me don't know anything about most of their products. I also find the people to actually do their job at the Kirkland store like talking to me about what I'm looking for and having some knowledge on the products they carry. I do have a friend that works at the Lynnwood one, but most of the staff just kind of ignores the customers. oh well. I might go to Kirkland store and see what mesas they have in stock.

 

[xedwinx206]

Yea I think that it is completely ridiculous about the price policy between mesa and GC. That is probably why I have bought most of my stuff used. I heard from a friend that if you make a deal on a mesa for a customer you get fired. Seems a little intense to me.

 

[Old BF Shred]

Yea I think that it is completely ridiculous about the price policy between mesa and GC. That is probably why I have bought most of my stuff used. I heard from a friend that if you make a deal on a mesa for a customer you get fired. Seems a little intense to me.

As it was explained to me, by the good folks at Music Power, the price policy is designed to protect the re-sale value of the amps as well as their customers from paying more than anyone else did for the same amp.
There are exceptions: If the amp model line is discontinued or the amp has a cosmetic defect or some sort of damage (shipping, perhaps?). Otherwise a new Mesa is guaranteed to cost the same where ever you buy it (tax and shipping charges excepted, of course). 8)
When you think about it, that really does seem OK. After all, if you add up build quality and features, Mesa is kinda hard to beat, for the money, even at full "list" price.

P.S. If you have a trade in, Mesa has no way of really knowing how much you should get for what you trade in...that's between you and the dealer! :lol: Good luck!

 

[fluff191]

As it was explained to me, by the good folks at Music Power, the price policy is designed to protect the re-sale value of the amps as well as their customers from paying more than anyone else did for the same amp.

That actually makes complete sense. And so does the square-miles thing. I have never heard of a company thats actually worried about over-saturation.

 

[screamingdaisy]

As it was explained to me, by the good folks at Music Power, the price policy is designed to protect the re-sale value of the amps as well as their customers from paying more than anyone else did for the same amp.

I believe the policy is actually to protect the retailer.

Most small retailers can't afford to stock something as expensive as Mesa, then have some other nearby store turn around and discount them out of business.

However, since Mesa offers set prices and no retailer is allowed to discount, any small retailer can buy Mesa amps knowing that everyone else is being forced to sell at the same prices. This means that more stores will be willing to carry more of their product on the shelves, since they're not worried about the store across town being able to price them out of business.

If you want a good example of this in action, look at Marshall. How many Marshall dealerships have you been to where they actually stock their better amps? Unless you're going to a large chain store or a high end guitar shop most of the time it's MGs and AVTs.... you're lucky if you see a single tube head or a 1960 cab. On the other hand, go to a small Mesa dealership and you'll usually see a selection of heads, combos, and a couple of different cabs as a minimum.

 

[fluff191]

If you want a good example of this in action, look at Marshall. How many Marshall dealerships have you been to where they actually stock their better amps? Unless you're going to a large chain store or a high end guitar shop most of the time it's MGs and AVTs....

...........and the soon-to-be-released Solid State Recto Jr. *cough* Krank *cough* :lol:

 

[dylan7620]

Yea I have always gone to the Kirkland GC because I feel that most of the Lynnwood staff that tried to help me don't know anything about most of their products. I also find the people to actually do their job at the Kirkland store like talking to me about what I'm looking for and having some knowledge on the products they carry. I do have a friend that works at the Lynnwood one, but most of the staff just kind of ignores the customers. oh well. I might go to Kirkland store and see what mesas they have in stock.

thats also why i used to go to kirkland, lol. there have been seasons of really high turnover rate. we just lost a few really knowledgable guys simply because they weren't "big time sellers." too bad, most customers liked them and we actualy got more stuff done.

as far as "mesa now arriving at guitar center". this means that some stores will carry them (like kirkland) but stores like mine (lynnwood) can now order them.