What Guitar Brands Are Sold By FirstGuitar?
We received a very good question from a customer via email this week. They wanted to know why it was difficult to find the brand names of the guitars that we carry on our site. At this point in time we haven’t listed the manufacturers of our guitars for several reasons beyond the fact that at this price point, brand names are made irrelevant by our detailed inspections and customized set up jobs for each instrument.
First is product availability. With the changing global economy, a single supplier cannot guarantee delivery of product as we need it on a regular basis. As a result, we try to stock brands from several different suppliers.
Some products, like childrens guitars, have nearly identical technical specs and visual appearance across multiple brand names. Suppliers sometimes remove or discontinue products with no prior notice. Unless we have another brand available, we are left without a product for our customers. For example, the AU334S is not being manufactured at this time while the AU336S is available. Our solution is to have several brands available to fill the void of the 3/4 size guitar.
Sticking with this example --having a separate image and product code on our web site for all the different brand names that manufacture a 3/4 size acoustic guitar would be confusing to our customers because the selling price is the same with no real reason to prefer one over the other. For example, we have substituted the 334S with the 12RS which essentially has the same specifications and price point.
Most importantly, our primary service is not selling guitars right out the box. It is setting them up to exacting standards in order to weed out the bad guitars and make the remaining ones easy to play and learn on. After we are done with them, the instruments are in better-than-factory condition and in fact play better than guitars that are much more expensive and have more popular brand names. Therefore a guitar that you purchase from us -- an Austin electric, for example -- is not the same guitar that you would receive from another retailer, even if it is the same model Austin. It is our inspection and adjustment process that greatly increases the playability of the guitar and is our main selling feature, not the brand name.
To understand the importance of the inspection alone you need to realize that most guitars go from the manufacturer to wholesaler, to the retailer and finally to the customer without being opened once! The guitar is packaged by the manufacturer and opened by the customer with no check points between manufacturer and customer. In the meantime, the guitar has travelled across the Pacific Ocean by boat and has been warehoused and shipped several times in different parts of the country before reaching the customer. Guitars are made of wood. Wood is sensitive to temperature and humidity changes. Think about it!
At FirstGuitar, our specialty is inspecting and then adjusting every guitar to exacting specifications so each instrument is very easy to play, which is especially important for the beginning player as their initial technique is being developed from that instrument. Playability is also important for pro musicians who want an inexpensive secondary instrument to have around the studio or practice pad.
The inspection helps us determine which guitars to adjust and which ones to return to the supplier as defective or unacceptable instruments. The return rate has been unusually high over the past several months for various reasons.
The intermediate brands we currently stock include Austin, J Reynolds and JB Player guitars. The intermediate to semi professional brands include Austin, JB Player, Luna and Dean guitars.
All guitars carry a full manufacturers warranty which run from one year to a limited lifetime warranty in addition to the FirstGuitar 100% money back guarantee. If you aren't satisfied, you send it back for full refund.
http://www.firstguitar.com/FAQ.html (under the return policy)
First is product availability. With the changing global economy, a single supplier cannot guarantee delivery of product as we need it on a regular basis. As a result, we try to stock brands from several different suppliers.
Some products, like childrens guitars, have nearly identical technical specs and visual appearance across multiple brand names. Suppliers sometimes remove or discontinue products with no prior notice. Unless we have another brand available, we are left without a product for our customers. For example, the AU334S is not being manufactured at this time while the AU336S is available. Our solution is to have several brands available to fill the void of the 3/4 size guitar.
Sticking with this example --having a separate image and product code on our web site for all the different brand names that manufacture a 3/4 size acoustic guitar would be confusing to our customers because the selling price is the same with no real reason to prefer one over the other. For example, we have substituted the 334S with the 12RS which essentially has the same specifications and price point.
Most importantly, our primary service is not selling guitars right out the box. It is setting them up to exacting standards in order to weed out the bad guitars and make the remaining ones easy to play and learn on. After we are done with them, the instruments are in better-than-factory condition and in fact play better than guitars that are much more expensive and have more popular brand names. Therefore a guitar that you purchase from us -- an Austin electric, for example -- is not the same guitar that you would receive from another retailer, even if it is the same model Austin. It is our inspection and adjustment process that greatly increases the playability of the guitar and is our main selling feature, not the brand name.
To understand the importance of the inspection alone you need to realize that most guitars go from the manufacturer to wholesaler, to the retailer and finally to the customer without being opened once! The guitar is packaged by the manufacturer and opened by the customer with no check points between manufacturer and customer. In the meantime, the guitar has travelled across the Pacific Ocean by boat and has been warehoused and shipped several times in different parts of the country before reaching the customer. Guitars are made of wood. Wood is sensitive to temperature and humidity changes. Think about it!
At FirstGuitar, our specialty is inspecting and then adjusting every guitar to exacting specifications so each instrument is very easy to play, which is especially important for the beginning player as their initial technique is being developed from that instrument. Playability is also important for pro musicians who want an inexpensive secondary instrument to have around the studio or practice pad.
The inspection helps us determine which guitars to adjust and which ones to return to the supplier as defective or unacceptable instruments. The return rate has been unusually high over the past several months for various reasons.
The intermediate brands we currently stock include Austin, J Reynolds and JB Player guitars. The intermediate to semi professional brands include Austin, JB Player, Luna and Dean guitars.
All guitars carry a full manufacturers warranty which run from one year to a limited lifetime warranty in addition to the FirstGuitar 100% money back guarantee. If you aren't satisfied, you send it back for full refund.
http://www.firstguitar.com/FAQ.html (under the return policy)
posted by Jim Thomas at 7:48 PM
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