Where do you buy your gear?

[MikeT156]

MC:

 

Do you know WHEN he died? I can't seem to find anyone that knows when and what of. I realize you didn't have a lot of first hand contact with the store, I'm just fishing. I'm 57 years old, but if he died some time in the nineties, that still makes him a little young to die. I'm sure he was a little younger than we when I use to go to his store, but because of his injury he didn't get very much exercise, smoked to much, etc.

 

It was a great store even when I use to frequent the place. I bought my Prophet 5, my Arp Odyssey and an Arp Sequencer from him. Some smaller things too. He even shipped me a Conn Strobe tuner when I was on the road. I was in Raleigh, North Carolina playing at the Mission Valley Inn, and I needed to calibrate my Oberheim. He overnighted it to me. Great guy.

 

Anything else you can tell me would be appreciated. It's a small world MC.

 

 

Mike T.

[The Real MC]

My last receipt was August 26, 1991 (yes I still have them) so I believe he passed away in '92. I was in GAS then so I would've had more receipts from the store. I don't know how he died. I remember getting a letter announcing the store closing, but I didn't save the letter. I wish I could tell you more.

 

I'm 42 btw. One thing I wish I had done was to break into the club scene in Scranton, never gigged down there. Binghamton is dried up and the people that frequent bars don't appreciate anything other than what they hear on the radio, which is classic rock (yawn). Anytime we played out of Binghamton, we got better received. Always wanted to play Scranton, never got the chance. I plan on buying a house in PA so I'm looking for someplace in that direction for future gigs.

[ITGITC]

Originally posted by MikeT156:

I was in Raleigh, North Carolina playing at the Mission Valley Inn, and I needed to calibrate my Oberheim. He overnighted it to me. Great guy.

 

Anything else you can tell me would be appreciated. It's a small world MC.

 

 

Mike T.

Bless your heart, Mike T.

 

First of all, I didn't know you are 57. You've got a lot of good stories that you haven't told us yet and I wanna hear 'em!

 

Secondly, you played at the Mission Valley Inn? Holy Cow - did they offer you payment in sweet tea and BBQ? I'm thinking that was a loooong time ago. We've paved that road now (Highway 64 East) and try to keep the donkeys and chickens from getting in front of the traffic! 'course, we've still got some damned-good sweet tea and BBQ. You get yourself down here and I'll buy you a plate in exchange for a few stories, OK?

 

My best to you!

 

Tom

[MikeT156]

Thanks for that info MC. It's too bad about Paul. You're usually better received outside your hometown. Familiarity breeds contempt? Why are you planning on moving to PA, tired of the high prices and NY state taxes? I never went after the Scranton market. For years I played in the Pocono areas, especially during ski season. Lots of people from Phila and NYC hung out in the Poconos, many of them owned second homes there. It USE to be a great place. It's over run now, and even Mt. Pocono looks almost like an extension of New Jersey! God. A lot of the "charm" of the Poconos has been ruined, I think the word is progress?

 

MC, what kind of music do you play? Not interested in classic rock huh?

 

 

Mike T.

[MikeT156]

Tom:

 

You must have posted at the same time I did with my reply to MC. Yep, I'm an old guy. Anytime someone calls me an "old has been", I reply: better to be a has been than a never was! Hey, we got some war stories going on tonight! I was on the road as a solo act from around late 1982 to 1985. I had an agent that had a contract with American Motor Inn's and the Mission Valley Inn was on the circuit I was playing. They had a very large room with a stage that had a black polished ebony Yamaha C-7 piano. I almost died when I started carrying in my equipment and saw that piano! WOW. It was a great club at the time, it use to get packed. I was carrying a humongous KB rig at the time; I used an Electric Grand, an OBX, a Prophet 5, my moog source, Moog Taurus bass pedals, an Oberheim DMX drum machine, and a crappy MXR pitch transposer that was an early version of a harmonizer. I had a great rack case and JBL KB cabinets. I still have everything except the electric grand and the Oberheim. What was funny was that people would hear the music coming from the room and when they'd start to walk in, they were looking around the stage for other musicians! All they saw was ME, a LOT thinner then, but just me. The people were cool. I thought about moving to North Carolina when I quit the road, I liked it there so much. A MUCH nicer climate than Pa, and it occurred to me I might be able to find gigs there until I got established down there and found somewhere to live. But, it was easier to come back to PA cause I had a place to live, and I'm still here.

 

I'd LOVE to come down and visit with you sometime TOM, if I could ever muster up enough money to do it. I've been unemployed 2 out of the last 3 years, so times are tough. I have great memories of playing down there, and often times (like now when there's no work here) I wished I would have moved there instead of back here.

 

Later,

 

 

Mike T.

[Ed Coury]

I have been buying and selling almost exclusively online. You know, the big name on line retailers; the "Friend"...the place on "8th", etc.

 

When I walk into local music stores I do not see the Hammond XK3, or the Nord Electro, or the complete line of Roland and Korg....so the notion of being able to touch and feel doesn't apply anymore.

 

I can touch and feel by buying online, and returning with full refund if I don't like what I got! Love it -- free shipping to my door and no tax? I admit I miss the days of the old music store, walking in to find the latest stuff all lined up, but those places don't exist much anymore.

[BluesKeys]

QUOTE: Ed Coury

When I walk into local music stores I do not see the Hammond XK3, or the Nord Electro, or the complete line of Roland and Korg....so the notion of being able to touch and feel doesn't apply anymore.

==================================================

It is unfortunate that the local stores have had to limit thier inventory. I am also in the Raleigh, NC area and know of the stores Tom (Gas) is talking about. I do have a buddy with a music store in Durham, NC (used to be part of a small chain) who I have bought all my lastest major purchases from. The only problem is I have to go to the Chain stores to try out whatever I am looking for. I do give the Chain store a shot at it, particularly the one where the guy is nice, knowledgable and doesn't presure you. And I buy all my little purchases from him. But I do shop around online as well as by phone. I bought in the past from every one of these methods and have been happy. I do prefer to buy locally if I can get reasonably close to the best price.

[boose44]

The quality here in O'ville between same retailers varies greatly in each of their locations. I find that the knowledgeable, helpful (non-pushy, judgemental) salespeople I tend to gravitate to usually aren't around long.

 

Most of my equipment has been 2nd hand except for my Ion, and some Synth.comm stuff. I also found a Moog Voyager online last month for 500 less than the going rate.

 

You can find great deals on the net if you're willing to buy used and/or are patient about it.

 

-bruce

[Erlic]

In my area, there are two major competitors, "A" and "B". I used to go to "A", and when "B" opened up a new place started to go there. Both places basically offered the same type of equipment, with the same prices. The online store that I have frequented offers usually free shipping, and no tax, and by now (only because the slaes rep knows me from past purchases) offers pricing below the two local stores in my area.

 

With that, I get the free shipping, no tax, and still valued service. True, I have to depend somewhat on the local store to "try" out the instrument, but in most cases, the service provided by the online store is much more valued to a certain point.

 

I purchase from both the local store "A" and online as well, just to spread the wealth. Store "A" seems to have more basic knowledge than store "B", and it also seems that store "B" has too much of a turnaround in employees, which makes shopping, and getting information, even harder.

[The Real MC]

Originally posted by MikeT156:

Why are you planning on moving to PA, tired of the high prices and NY state taxes?

Tired of taxes, fees, high prices, NYC, and dysfunctional government I lived in PA for a short while, it was SO much nicer.

 

MC, what kind of music do you play? Not interested in classic rock huh?

Oh I like classic rock. I also like blues, R&B, funk, jazz, fusion. It's just that the folks here only want to hear classic rock, might as well rig up a radio and pack up the gig they wouldn't notice the difference. The bars don't pay well either.

[MikeT156]

Where I live, there have been no stores that carry KB's, at least the pro line KB. There are a couple of exclusive guitar shops/amps, and one established locally owned dealer that has a few minor KB's, lots of guitars, amps, does band instrument rentals. The thing about the "local" guys are they really don't offer any service that I can "use", their price is usually MAP plus sales tax, so that leaves them out. So, I primarily shop on line. Most of the gear is very reliable anymore, so service is not a big issue for me. That being said, I do some business with a regional dealer that has a top notch tech that works on all my vintage gear for me. Their prices are actually very competitive these days, they've been beat up a lot by Internet stores. So I have started doing business with them again. One problem is, they don't carry everything I want. They only have two major lines, and that's where it stops. I can understand that though, with a limited market area, can't carry everything. They don't have to be the lowest price on everything, I'm far more reasonable than that. This particular store DOES service what they sell. They get hurt on the big ticket items because the Internet dealers always undersell them by quite a bit on the more expensive gear. Too bad.

 

MC: you posted at the same time I did. If you can find a place somewhere in NE PA to live, like one of the more rural areas, you could probably find some work in the Pocono resorts for what you want to play. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take a weekend or two and hit the ski areas and surrounding clubs to see what kind of entertainment they are running. Ski areas typically pay much better than local bars. Although the "local" bars have a bigger crowd so can pay a little more. We made a small fortune working those ski areas, but that was 20 years ago, so things have changed. It's worth checking out.

 

 

Mike T.