TO AUSTRALIANS

[JD]

Pro Audio Quoted me $130AU for a Mark 3 Face plate and they are about $20 from Mesa
They dont call me back when I call them they say there waiting on an email, that was 1 1/2 years ago. Pro Audio suck. They should not be Mesa Distributors.

 

[tom241]

although, they did have a roadster head on there for 4k
so hm

 

[Newysurfer]

hey - you keep bringing this up like Mesa should accept no responsiblity for they're products once they leave the US. I don't buy that view at all. If they're at all concerned about international sales and their reputation Mesa Corp should exert a large amount of control over their distributors worldwide. And if they don't like the practices/pricing of their distributor in any country they can easily sack then anytime they want, or place conditions on pricing. Mesa have not done that and continue to look the other way while Aussies get ripped off. They could fix this any day of the week if they wanted to.

You may be right - no-one would knows for sure who's pulling the strings but I really don't care either way.
It's us punters outside the US who pick up the huge bill.
Either pay the big $$'s or forget it - we all got that choice

Lots of people know for sure. I asked Mesa. This is what they told me. I don't know where the idea that Mesa itself screws international customers came from. They operate like other businesses - just like Diezel's US distributors sucked until earlier this year when they switched to a different company, it's possible for foreign distributors of Mesa gear to suck as well.

 

[shred_nadin]

Its just a iffy matter concerning cause and effect, and need and demand, like i said before.... its rare you'll find a good electric guitarist in australia, like one that actually should be using a 'real' amp. There's not that many people who aren't just going to walk in to a store and buy a $1200 stack, slap some stickers on there guitar and buy a uber cool hoody to just make there whole get up sparkle. So us that live for playing, and want and need to have 'that tone' end up selling kidneys, working years etc. to fund such purchases... and the gov and distributers are obviously dandy with that.
It's the price on all high end instruments that cripple the musical integrity of this country, if the distributers and the government realized this and did something about it there would be more quality musos and more demand on the gear- more sales- more money for all concerned.

honestly the music scene here needs an enema, i study music on the gold coast and i've come to the conclusion that we're fncked...

 

[Newysurfer]

Its just a iffy matter concerning cause and effect, and need and demand, like i said before.... its rare you'll find a good electric guitarist in australia, like one that actually should be using a 'real' amp. There's not that many people who aren't just going to walk in to a store and buy a $1200 stack, slap some stickers on there guitar and buy a uber cool hoody to just make there whole get up sparkle. So us that live for playing, and want and need to have 'that tone' end up selling kidneys, working years etc. to fund such purchases... and the gov and distributers are obviously dandy with that.
It's the price on all high end instruments that cripple the musical integrity of this country, if the distributers and the government realized this and did something about it there would be more quality musos and more demand on the gear- more sales- more money for all concerned.

honestly the music scene here needs an enema, i study music on the gold coast and i've come to the conclusion that we're fncked...

Gee Nadin - if you're studying music maybe you should know there's been a US-Australia free trade agreement for about 5yrs. There is no Govt tax on any product made in the USA. So what's the Govt got to do with Mesa prices here.
And what does this mean - are you serious ???? :lol:
"...its rare you'll find a good electric guitarist in australia, like one that actually should be using a 'real' amp"

 

[shred_nadin]

[

Gee Nadin - if you're studying music maybe you should know there's been a US-Australia free trade agreement for about 5yrs. There is no Govt tax on any product made in the USA. So what's the Govt got to do with Mesa prices here.
And what does this mean - are you serious ???? :lol:
"...its rare you'll find a good electric guitarist in australia, like one that actually should be using a 'real' amp"

Duty...
every product i've ever shipped into the country has been hit with extreme custom duty (duty = tax in my eyes) ... guitars and effects have copped it especially... a jem i once bought for 2au grand ended up 3.3au grand... the stores are too expensive and if we want to try another way to get our stuff we're screwed... i study music... little black dots, semiotics, history, and recording and engineering, the little we have talked about in financial areas is "make sure you have a TFN"... i was using that to say that from my experiences, things i've learnt and seen is that i don't think this country cares about truly great music... just watch the arias...

what i was saying with the "its rare.... yada yada..." is, look if your a 40 something year old businessman (strictly for example) who plays and loves his guitar as a hobby and wants a great amp and will cough up for it, awesome man, power to you and respect for your passion. I though personally find it rare you'll meet a truly gun guitarist here who needs the gear to match his/her chops. The most common thing you'll find is a pub rocker with a cheap marshall stack and a boss multi-effects unit, or a indie rocker with an old tele or sg with a bunch of nasty old stomp boxes... and they're usually beyond happy with their rigs. If however they want the mesa from hell, awesome. I most certainly am not one of those people that say "your sh!t, you shouldn't have said product". Even though i agree with what he himself said, " you need to master your craft to realize your vision"...

 

[Azrehan]

I just ordered a MarkV. I am getting it mid to late next month. Paying $7000 for the MarkV head, a Stiletto slant quad and two DiMarzio pickups installed.

I agree with you on the pricing, but I am paying with compensation money, so money is less of an issue for me in this case. The guitar gear will use up half my cash, but it is worth it to have an amp I am proud of.

 

[scottm]

Ah hell, Ill throw in my 2c cents...

This topic does bug the hell out of me too. The price of boutique amps/guitars in Australia is ridiculous - and any other luxurious import for that matter. But why so? We are a small isolated population, smaller market and sales, smaller number of dealers and less competition (like no competition in this case) so the price stays high. Its a vicious cycle.

You get a distributor like Pro Audio who have been importing Mesa for 15 years. So, being the first to sell say a Dual Rectifier in Australia, they get to fix...whoops I mean, set the price for it. Look on their website they talk up the product - even the most die-hard Mesa fan will agree that it is talked up on there. From http://www.proaudio.com.au/imports/mesaboogie.php, "There are certain products in the world that are the pinnacle of quality in their field of endeavour. These products usually hold a special place in the market and are lusted after, dreamt about, saved for and, in the case of some lucky folks, eventually purchased and enjoyed tremendously thereafter." In 2008, The AU to US rate was almost 1 to 1. I would guess not many Mesa products were moved from Pro Audio in this time although that was pre-recession.

I think all music stores and Mesa dealers here in Oz are feeling the pinch because of the recession and to their credit are now discounting Mesa. Go check out Billy Hydes in store for example. If you're interested in a Roadster or Stiletto Trident atm they are heavily discount - priced to sell. But before this year discounting Mesa in store was unheard of in Oz.

Why this rant? Well, I'm bitter if you haven't already noticed. I bought a Dual Recto and paid almost full price $4400 7 years ago. I bought into the f**king hype, how the hell else do you justify a price like that to yourself?

I am very interested in the Mark V and if it blows my socks off in person I will be even more interested. But these prices around $5500 are out of the question for me. If these greedy distributors lowered the price they would make more money in the long run IMHO as they would sell more amps. I would pay AU$3500 for it - but that won't be happening any time soon, unless they don't move - but I doubt that...

...climbing off the soap box now.

 

[JD]

I Agree I own three Pieces of mesa kit none of which I have purchased in Australia
I will get a Mark 5 But it wont be from Australia. I have had 2 mesa heads and a Studio pre shipped from the USA and they are perfect. Whats more is that the money I paid for a Mark 3, Simul Sat and Studio pre and more recently a NOS black shadow evm (thanks JazzGear) for less than a second hand Mark4 here It just does not add up.

 

[Newysurfer]

Ah hell, Ill throw in my 2c cents...

This topic does bug the hell out of me too. The price of boutique amps/guitars in Australia is ridiculous - and any other luxurious import for that matter. But why so? We are a small isolated population, smaller market and sales, smaller number of dealers and less competition (like no competition in this case) so the price stays high. Its a vicious cycle.

You get a distributor like Pro Audio who have been importing Mesa for 15 years. So, being the first to sell say a Dual Rectifier in Australia, they get to fix...whoops I mean, set the price for it. Look on their website they talk up the product - even the most die-hard Mesa fan will agree that it is talked up on there. From http://www.proaudio.com.au/imports/mesaboogie.php, "There are certain products in the world that are the pinnacle of quality in their field of endeavour. These products usually hold a special place in the market and are lusted after, dreamt about, saved for and, in the case of some lucky folks, eventually purchased and enjoyed tremendously thereafter." In 2008, The AU to US rate was almost 1 to 1. I would guess not many Mesa products were moved from Pro Audio in this time although that was pre-recession.

I think all music stores and Mesa dealers here in Oz are feeling the pinch because of the recession and to their credit are now discounting Mesa. Go check out Billy Hydes in store for example. If you're interested in a Roadster or Stiletto Trident atm they are heavily discount - priced to sell. But before this year discounting Mesa in store was unheard of in Oz.

Why this rant? Well, I'm bitter if you haven't already noticed. I bought a Dual Recto and paid almost full price $4400 7 years ago. I bought into the f**king hype, how the hell else do you justify a price like that to yourself?

I am very interested in the Mark V and if it blows my socks off in person I will be even more interested. But these prices around $5500 are out of the question for me. If these greedy distributors lowered the price they would make more money in the long run IMHO as they would sell more amps. I would pay AU$3500 for it - but that won't be happening any time soon, unless they don't move - but I doubt that...

...climbing off the soap box now.

+1 totally agree.
And Mesa Corp obviously have full control over their foreign distributors if they chose to exert it. They simply choose not to.

I've shipped 3 guitars and many pedals from the USA the past 3 years. The FACTS on importing products from the US into Aust are as follows. The Aust/US FREE Trade Agreement provides that if the product is made in the US there is NO customs duty payable onto entry to Aust. If the product costs $1000 or more the only tax is 10% GST on the value of the item over $1000. If the item cost s less than $1000 there is ZERO tax - like zilch, nada.

Shipping costs are the main issue. It costs US$20 on average to ship a pedal sized item via USPS Priority Mail International. They are by far the cheapest shipper. Reliability is excellent. Takes 5-10 days. Electric guitars in a hard case cost $120-150. A Mesa amp head would probably cost around $300. THe USPS website has a shipping cost calculator. You need to insert the weight.

On a US amp you've then got the power conversion issue so you need either a voltage converter - available from Tandy's. Or you get an electrician to change the power supply internally. That would void the warranty no doubt.

Importing gear from the US provides huge savings (like 200-300% cheaper), on made in US pedals & guitars like Fenders, Gibson, Gretsch. Is less attractive the bigger and heavier the item cause the shipping cost kills it. Having said that though you'd certainly get a Mark V here from the US for under $US3000 (do the sums). Then do your exchange rate conversions. If you wait til the A$ is high you'll save a stack of money.

I've bought 12 pedals from the US on Ebay. I've been paying $A80-150 for pedals that are $300-500 here. You're crazy if you buy pedals in Aust - other than an MI Audio one. I also got a Radial DI Box & Radial Big Shot Instrument Switcher for under $100 each. Also bought 3 PUP sets, a bigsby and lots of parts and strings. I've saved literally $1000's. Shipping on all these little items is $20 or less. Zero tax on any of these and so easy to do on the web.

So we got 3 options with Mesa - pay the rip-off prices, import one and save big $$, or buy another brand

 

[shred_nadin]

our mark V's are on the boat :mrgreen: