RANT - GOING DIRECT

[@LA.Guitar]

I read the title and thought going direct meant modeller straight to mixing desk! Lol

[@MaxPower-js1sk]

Isn’t that what he talked about?

[@NicoSchliemann]

so did I ;)

[@An2oine]

Me too.

[@RdamplificationUk1]

As a small scale bespoke builder, I can say from experience that supplying other than directly to customer just kills me on pricing. I was in a position to sell through a very well established, high end product shop. They immediately wanted to add 40% to my direct pricing. That just screwed my pricing structure massively. Which left me the options of A. Uplifting my direct prices to match the shop price. B. Sell my product exclusively through that particular shop. That's pretty much untenable as a small scale business.

[@DanielBobke]

Exactly...the Internet has leveled the playing field for smaller builders that don't want all those layers of cost in their product. I would much rather buy direct from a small builder than pay a markup on a larger brand at a local shop, given those two choices.

[@TheOligoclonalBand]

It's so sad that the small shops are hurting and can't win, no matter what they do. These small shops are at the heart of local music scenes. Although I'm not sure if there even are healthy local scenes anymore. So to all of you: Support your small local shops!

[@nekkon1989]

I don't know where you're from, but where I live they kind of brought it on themselves. When you have shops like Thomann, you need to give customers enough of a reason to shop from you. That means friendly attitude, letting customers TRY out each and every product etc. Otherwise, Thomann

[@TheOligoclonalBand]

@@nekkon1989 I'm from Germany. You're right, the shops have to be up to it, but I see shops struggling hard and I know how good they are, how much they care and were an integral part of the local part of the local music scenes until ten years ago. But they can't compete with prices of the Big T and not even with smaller Thomann competitors, so it's often not even worth to try pushing online sales. They don't appear on the first page of a Google search and so can't compete at all. Local sales are down as well because everyone is ordering at Thomann. Soon even some medium sized cities won't have a local shop. It's sad an enraging.

[@nekkon1989]

@@TheOligoclonalBand I agree. But have you looked at guitar stock in music shops in Germany? It's hard to find guitars that are priced more than 1000€ in a shop anymore

[@renebauch9316]

​@@nekkon1989and thomann actually let's you try everything... thats the point, as you said.

[@jarrodhroberson]

I live in a city with 8.5million people. The "small shops" are all dead product wise. They carry strings and cables, but actual instruments hanging on the walls are from 6 yrs ago that did not sell, or they are $149 Squires to sell to students for lessons they give. That is all they do, sell consumables, host a space for lessons and maybe do repairs. HP is off base on this, small shops are dead. Direct done poorly is just that, they are doing it wrong and either will fix it or die. Does not mean, direct done correctly is bad.

[@jetblack7044]

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for explaining this to the mass audience. I'm in the musical instrument industry for almost 8 years. And sometimes when customer asks about the price difference between certain models and brands, it is very hard for me to explain.

[@andresilvasophisma]

**Puts on a happy shirt** **Roasts the industry**

[@LincolnCountyBand-st8yn]

In Australia Fender dont use a distributor, retail shops have to buy directly from Fender Australia. This can also be a problem because Fender will only sell too stores if you buy one of their package deals and with all of these packages you must stock a full range and certain number of guitars.

[@fives.]

Yep, the inverse problem to NZ where we actually have a direct sale Fender Shop while the retail trinity stock them anyway lol

[@steverolfeca]

I don’t know what it’s like now, but in the 50’s and 60’s, those package deals were tough on dealers. Under the “floor plan”, you didn’t just have to carry a wide range of product- you had to buy a ton of undesirables in order to qualify for small quantities of the most popular instruments.

[@LincolnCountyBand-st8yn]

@@steverolfeca Your exactly right Steve. I managed a store that closed down 7 years ago and we got stuck with so much stuff that simply was so darn slow to sell.

[@marcohermans3207]

In the south of holland 60% of all music shops closed and the rest will follow.. Why? Costumers come into the shop, try a guitar for instance, immediately reach for their phones and compare the prices with the big box retailers. Then they demand the same price or otherwise they shop at Thomann who's more then often the cheapest. I work at such a small shop. Customers become rude if you don't give them the same price. This is going on for a few years now. They all will close eventually. Bussiness has changed. People don't wanna pay for service anymore. Please support your local shop because when it's gone it's gone forever...

[@rowbags3017]

That was really interesting. Thanks for an eye-opening explanation of the hidden costs behind every product.

[@madsam7582]

I was in a shop recently and wanted to try a Wah Pedal. All the guitars were locked to the wall, and I was handed one of the nastiest feeling guitar to play, the frets felt like sandpaper, and while plugging it in the guy was telling me what NOT to play, "we chuck you out if you play stairway!" It's just unwelcoming. 50/50 1 Shops bring it on themselves. 2 Online is easier. Shops need to work on being welcoming, the staff need to learn what the tedium of a JOB entails. If I want to buy a premium guitar I wanna be able to sit and play WHATEVER I WANT in order to test it out. Recently, I was considering that when I get enough to buy the amp I want I'd go into a music shop, and then I realised that the joy has gone. Even my local shop has a sign up about NOT PLAYING the guitars. It's silly, if a car showroom didn't let anyone try or touch the cars, they wouldn't sell any.

[@marcohermans3207]

So you think that every small music store is the same? You've had a bad experience and that's a shame but not all shops are like that. At our shop you can play what you want, you are allowed to play the guitars, also the custom shop ones ik you've asked for it. They are perfectly setup. When you buy a guitar we set it up for your liking for free with new strings of choice. After a few months you get a second setup for free with new strings. If a major problem occurs we fix it and you get a loaner instrument for the time being. Try this at a big box retailer....

[@chill29394]

💯👍 if they don't let u try and choose the guitar, what is it exactly that they are offering that an online retailer doesn't offer? Except higher price?

[@louiscyfer6944]

that is an outlier. guitar shops having sign about no stairway and no nirvana, etc is a joke. not supposed to be a real thing. most small stores let you play whatever you want to play.

[@madsam7582]

@marcohermans3207 no that was a sample. I'd LIKE to support my local store, but there is just so much rudeness now.

[@madsam7582]

@@louiscyfer6944 I've had it at a few. I'd like to think it was a joke, but they get very verbal about it.

[@LarryLeiting]

Distributor here. This hit me as been discussing this for years now!.Sadly, with sales mostly done over the internet the days may be over for distributor and stores, reps etc. I have been doing this since before the internet and change is here and could go on for days about this and consider myself an expert on this subject and you sir are 100% on 👏 but 😔 days😊😢

[@dmac3316]

Another solid video, thanks for posting! I’m in Canada and a couple years ago TCElectronic and Behringer pulled their gear from the small stores here as well as the biggest nationwide chain, Long&Mcquade. They only went thru a big seller out of Toronto but a place probably 90% of Canadian Guitar customers have never set foot in though I think they have a very large online business. A few months ago I noticed TCE and Behringer were back in the shelves at Long &Mcquade. Not sure if this ties directly to your vid but your vid gets you thinking and aware of the business side of things. Your insights are appreciated!

[@BeatsAndMeats]

Behringer’s distributor messed up on something and set forth a huge chain of events… it took them years to get out of that deal.

[@JPTRFX]

working with no distro cince day 1 (we tryed a few of cause) its a fight but you can keep anything and build real relation to customers or studios stores vips etc But you have to take care 24/7 of EVERYTHING On the downside we pay A LOT of shipping :D its a long hart way but it was worth it

[@Margilio5150]

We must support moms & pops stores. Here in Mexico (and I’d say globally) It’s already complicated considering the current economic landscape, plus, let’s just all remember, for most of us these are luxury items, for some people these are tools. I try to buy from mom & pops stores at least a couple of times per year. It’s not always possible of course, but it helps to keep the community alive, some stores here in MX make their own “pedalboard day” where you can sell or buy used items, play some riffs etcetera, others have rehearsal rooms, and organize gigs with local bands. All of them welcome you and invite you to bring your pedals to create your pedal board on their store, they give you enough time to test pedals. Of course there are others with terrible customer support… I’m not saying we won’t have any of this without moms & pops stores but the experience would be different, but simply it won’t be the same, some stores have been around since the early early 70s here.

[@RichardsGuitarshop]

So funny. Watcing your video so reminds me of my first blues video I did in lockdown. The light was shining on a white board behind me and I didnt realise every time it camee from behind a cloud it would focus on the white board!!! I nearly didnt put it live because I was so embarrased..... turned out to be my most popular video I ever did - lesson learned - people watch for you - not the lighting :) ..... or in my case.- even the focus!!!!

[@steverolfeca]

BTW, there’s nothing new under the sun. My dad managed local music shops in the UK and Canada in the 1950’s and 60’s, before going out on his own. Floor plans on the big brands were the bane of dealers’ existence. You had to stock tons of undesirable models in order to get a few of the popular ones, and the finance charges were crippling.

[@georgebarry8640]

Here on Long Island,NY for years we have been red-lined for years. Depending on the location of the brick and mortor store...you couldnt get this product or another. I used to drive out of here to try equipment for years. I would drive 200-300 miles out of state every weekend. I am lucky, had the motivation and the means. And I heard so many cool products. Some better than what is made now. Really its true. And I learned so much. I learned with my eyes. So valueable. And ya know what? Lots of the companies really are not interested in making products for professionals. There's more money on making products to amatueurs. Most musicians never get to be professionals. I guess thats ok...but some of Us want (need) something that holds up to transportation. Things that can be updated. Things that are supported. I am fed up with companies that give a big (empty) smile when I ask them to make something (and I will pay them handsomely!)..and they "Sorry , can't help you". Big smile. When I say....your product never did as you promised. (but dude wait for the next update....) ..they answer "So, Buy two of them!!". So frustrating. Buying direct? If they want to make a serious product...we will see.

[@effektboutique5390]

Hey HP, Thank you for bringing light into this (for consumers) hidden area of our business. One comment: i don`t know any dealer who puts a margin of 1.6 plus tax on a product. Is is more like 30-35% plus VAT (19% in our case in germany). The result is a 1.6 from net buy in (excl VAT) -> gross street price (incl VAT). Cheers!

[@EytschPi42]

Thanks for clarifying!

[@spinelldete]

​@@EytschPi42 Net purchase price * 1.6 = retail price including tax. It worked for decades because there was enough demand and "the big T" wasn't yet "responsible" for pricing in Europe. Incidentally, Distis always oriented themselves towards the stores with the highest sales, which were allowed to choose first when making a large order; the shabby remainder was distributed to the small retailers. You can see how seriously distributors take their job in the YT channels of Musik-Meyer and Meinl-Distribution. In the latter case, the latest video is 9 years old, Musik-Meyer has posted one (1) film twice, which is hard to beat in terms of simplicity.

[@musicsurfandrats]

Never once has cutting the distributor made prices lower for the customer, I remember in early 2000's taylor guitars circumvented the german distributor and I thought "great they are gonna be a lot cheaper now" the truth was that from that point on they went more expensive than the local inflation rate, we got nothing from it. I think the world is changing in that way, we are generally made to pay more for less, customer service generally dont mean shit anymore. Now you have to pay for things that have always been free, cant afford housing, or heat for the house or you name it. You know I dont think there is any stopping of this regardless of what specific thing we are talking about. I like to call it "the fuckening" and it is real. BTW. and just for the record, gear prices are fucking insane.

[@tomkelley38]

There are some cases where a manufacturer offering direct has to keep the prices the same to protect their dealers. Fender didn't offer a discount on the direct sales, but your local dealer doesn't have to compete against Fender who is selling for 40% less.

[@dlong7146]

Just recently Vola guitars dropped their price by a big percentage when they cut out the middle man. But there problem now is their return policy is bad.

[@orionz06]

@@dlong7146 Are they direct only?

[@the_leathermushroom]

My local shop about 20 miles away is wonderful because just going in there is an experience itself! Lots of second hand stuff, cool people. The times I have had to return something for damages or that I just don't gel with they always straight up ask if I want a replacement, store credit or a refund. That's the kind of experience and value the customer will lose by going direct to companies. While I am aware it means I could pay £150 for a pedal rather than £200 (which is a big deal) the larger ramifications are a knock on effect that in the end will only harm the consumer more and shut thousands of little business'.

[@marcohermans3207]

@@the_leathermushroom exactly!

[@garethbarlow5278]

There are no local shops in my region. Makes life extremely difficult.

[@CYBERDROiD9000]

The service argument is the strongest for me personally. I'd like to buy a Kiesel guitar but the fact that there is no distributor in Germany and Kiesel just sells direct makes this a way to risky endeavor for me. I'd have to import it from the US on my own risk and if something goes wrong or the guitar didn't turn out the way I wanted it to be, I'm in for a lot of pain.

[@nunolance23]

this was also the reason that put me off from making a custom Kiesel at some point

[@BeatsAndMeats]

Kiesel is 30 minutes from my house so it’s pretty easy for me. And they will do literally anything you ask them… depending on the mood of what’s-his-name when you ask him hahaha.

[@nunolance23]

@@BeatsAndMeats ohhh that’s nice!! I could have that chance haha

[@JonNewquist]

My local mom and pop guitar store sells Yamaha/line 6, Taylor, and Gretsch (but not Fender🤔). But the way they stay alive is consignments. They have the largest inventory of used gear within 100 miles. Their commissions are reasonable, on a sliding scale by price tag. Their margins are much higher on consignments than brand new gear. It's just the nature of the beast.

[@flash7355]

This was way more interesting than I thought.

[@chriscoey6293]

Distributors also used to (and maybe still) do stock rotation/balancing, so that the small shop wasn’t getting stuck with product they don’t sell. This would also allow the small shop to take a chance on new (smaller) brands and if the stock didn’t sell they could ship it back for a credit. I didn’t hear this factor mentioned.

[@ithemba]

There is a global trend which the industry has somewhat produced, somewhat enforced and somewhat embraced after the fact: that is that people expect waaaay less reparability of their stuff. They are way more fine with just accepting stuff breaking, because that's just how things are nowadays, right? Some manifacturers built in planned obsolescence, so: parts that are supposed to break, since it's bad for you if your product just keeps working for 40 years, because then you only sell your product once (like a lot of old kitchen appliances from the soviet bloc for example do, I use a kitchen mixer that is literally 50 years old at this point). Amp techs can sing a song about this, how faulty nowadays amps circuits are, even the reissues of old schematics like the whole Fender tube caraloge: the PCBs get too hot, components fail waaaaaay sooner than they did in the 60s amps. So, with people being fine with throwing broken stuff away (instead of having it fixed) it absolutely makes sense to shrink your repair system with your distribution. With that part of the buisness being less important, going direct becomes more attractive.

[@alexandercorreus6158]

I wanted to give our local shops a chance. I asked about Ibanez guitars, they only have azes or gio, no s or rg series. They don't have fenders, only the big ones get them. They don't have squier, there are too many of them. amplifier only small practice amplifiers up to 30 watt transistor. According to the seller, no one buys modeling devices. If you order a guitar for me I have to pay a deposit and buy it, testing is not possible. It's a shame, but that's not how you win customers.

[@steverolfeca]

This is a complicated subject. In the early 1970’s, distribution was WAY more than 30% of guitar prices. Around the time Guild moved to Rhode Island, they lost patience and went direct to dealers. Great West, the Canadian distributor, retaliated by dumping their existing inventory at fire-sale prices, probably in attempt to flood stores and slow sales in the short term. Still, it was a huge opportunity for small dealers like my dad. We grabbed an incredible F50R Navarre for $600, and I’ve never seen a J200 that could compare- it was incredibly responsive for such a large-bodied instrument. Sadly, we couldn’t meet Guild’s volume requirements, and had to stop selling them. I don’t know how that situation compares to today’s market, but it’s still very hard to lay your hands on a Guild for a test-drive. Although they currently have quite a few Canadian dealers, most don’t keep them in stock.

[@cechichan]

I should really start to learn to build my own guitar for the future haha, its very interesting to get a little better understanding about the final price

[@GuitarsZnuff]

Nice work sir. These are slowly becoming my favorite weekly video.

[@manintheboxxxX]

Same goes with record companies and the whole industry in general. I personally buy mostly online because it's cheaper. I can buy music vinyl record like 5 euros cheaper online than what costs in local shop. That's quite a difference. Capitalism and globalisation rules, that's it.

[@theprisonier]

Support your local shops. Price is not the only thing

[@HarrisT.]

That's really a seminar video! Congrats!

[@DanielBobke]

The market is driven by consumer behavior at the bottom line. Consumers are comfortable buying online, not having to drive anywhere to a local shop - it just comes to their door in a few days, quite often for a cheaper price than any mom and pop music shop. I know what guitar I want to buy - I can pick it out at Sweetwater or on the manufacturer's direct sales site. The reality is that I don't care where I buy it, what channel it flowed through, or whether they are down the street or in Germany. I want a good price and a good return policy. Sweetwater offers that, most manufacturers offer that. I am not going to "support local" if they don't offer me anything of value. I can generally fix my own guitars (and I do so for myself and others), and with KZbin and other online resources so can most guitarists, so the value-add of a local shop is diminished. As a consumer, price is the primary driver and the choice of where to buy is driven primarily by that. The COVID times put a giant spike in the retail stores that did not embrace online sales - look at Sam Ash. Retail in general is dying - not just in the music gear space.

[@Jesterpec666]

It is not a good Sunday if there isn't a Henning rant. I find this topic incredibly interesting and informative. Thankyou.

[@Jamman610]

We have a local shop that he can’t sell. His kids don’t want it. It’s a gold mine of students and repairs. We have lock shops with the same problem their kids don’t want to be locksmith & safe technicians.

[@GingerTomRed]

Well, dear Henning, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here. Every manufacturer has to decide for themselves what the best path is and what their goals are. Both approaches have their pros and cons (I’ve worked with both); of course, you can go directly to a large German retailer and cover a significant part of Europe. But that’s only half the battle because aspects like marketing and artist relations tend to fall by the wayside. These are things you get with a distributor, along with a large warehouse, and you completely overlooked them in your post, not to mention the financial aspect. One invoice goes to your distributor, rather than 150 to different retailers. But as I said, there’s no universal solution. Everyone should act according to what suits their products. We are taking the route through distributors, and that will remain the case.

[@EytschPi42]

Thanks! Great to hear opinions from all sides! What brand are you with?

[@enlat2003]

Pop and Mom Shops need to offer something other than the big box retailers do not have... that is the human face to face interaction experience. I go out of my way to find a small mom and pop shop that carries what I'm looking for however often times they do not carry it so I end up wasting my time. Small local shops need to start thinking outside the box sort of speak.

[@marcohermans3207]

@@enlat2003 small shops have limited space and can not store everything you desire. What we can do is giving you maximum service during and after the guarentee period. It's not only the small music shops who are closing but small shops in general are dissappearing. For us it's impossible to compete with online stores so we are trying to find other income. Think of Renting PA's, provide music lessons, take care of all the setup problems customers encounter when buying online instruments, building our own instruments, etc. This "online world" is gonna stay. We know that. What do you mean with thinking outside the box?

[@studiobischof]

Thanks for giving some perspective on the backside of how gear is going to the customers. Fascinating times with all the new strategies of distribution. I think next to the topic of repair services, a lot of gear will be just presented nowadays on KZbin & Co. It's the new main exhibition and workshop space. With that said, it's crucial to test the gear at home yourself with the possibility to send it back. Without it, you need a good place to test hardware elsewhere.

[@retrodig]

Love the dark background! So easy on the eyes. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@gammanickify]

This was very constructive video. I never really thought about it in deeply.

[@Ontariosound]

Tube retailers have doubled the retail price in recent years. They blamed COVID. Guess what ? Tube factories in Slovakia, China and Russia stayed at 100% operating capacity.

[@jotwea]

Our local music store is in a small town with a catchment area of ​​around 30,000 residents. The store is owner-managed and has one or two temporary employees. If I need something, I first try to get it from the local shop. Some things are in stock, others have to be ordered. To make this worthwhile for the store, I sometimes have to wait until the store gets enough orders because the stores have a minimum order value with the manufacturers or wholesalers. Because I really value the quality of the advice and the workshop, I sometimes wait several weeks until I receive the parts. Unfortunately, some manufacturers do not supply such small retailers at all because the store is not able to fulfill a minimum order in the five-figure range for a few guitars. Then there is no other option than to drive to other cities or order from a mail order company. Sad but true.

[@landonbailey]

Im watching this next Sunday

[@ldfox11]

Here across the pond in the States, it's bad. I wanted to order the NEW Epiphone Joe Bonamassa 1955 Les Paul Standard (P90s!). So Sweetwater was sold out. So I looked online and found one being sold on Reverb by a small music store in Pennsylvania. I will get it Wednesday in California. Glade I could help the little guy, and the candy from Sweetwater is always stale anyway.

[@jvin248]

All the middle services getting guitars in front of consumers is and will change. Gear buyers are watching youtube videos instead of magazine articles and local shop demos to learn about brands/gear and then buying off Amazon that has a narrow sales fee direct from the guitar factory. The perfect example is the brand Glarry, selling direct via Amazon the equivalent of a mid to high-mid tier constructed bass guitar for under $100 including shipping. The bass forums were going crazy ordering them and amazed at how good they were. Buyers were protected by Amazon's too easy "don't like the fretboard grain"/etc return policy. Amazon monitors sales and once high enough the vendor can bulk ship to Amazon's warehouses and Amazon ships in two days for lower shipping costs. Guitar factories like Glarry have front row seats on consumer ordering trends while consumers can bookmark products in their 'wishlist'. It's all a game changer but the ability to do all that really comes down to buyers being able to see youtubers use/comment on the products. It's all your fault EytschPi42 ;)

[@riffsandmelodies]

Local shops: I went to a big local shop and wanted to buy a stringset, they once recommended to me as an alternative to a special ghs set, they didnt carry. They didnt carry those anymore too, wich is "okay", and I asked to order them. They said "it's not worth it" and the conversation ended. Don't know the problem behind it (might be connected to distribution), but my thoughts were: 1. Look up how much it costs 2. Tell me 3. Try to make me a good price, we both can live with 4. Sell me some kind of string suscription to keep me comming in, so I will by other expensive stuff, when I collect the strings. Now I buy them online, wherever they are cheapest.

[@TheOligoclonalBand]

One more thing about the logistics of direct: As far as I know Soldano doesn't have a distributor in Germany. I bought a Soldano SLO pedal at one of the dealers cited on their website. After three months the pedal broke. I sent it back and after a month away I inquired where my pedal is. The shop told me it was in Italy for repairs. It took over one month after that until I had it back and after two weeks it still developed major issues. I left it at that because warranty was fading out anyway and getting it repaired the first time was so time and energy comsuming that I didn't want to do it a second time. I bought a SP-77 used a few months after that and it hasn't disappointed me yet. Direct is great and cheap and everything as long as nothing happens and the gear is cheap enough that you can write it off as a loss without too much pain. My SLO pedal was right at the threshold of that. It hurt, but that whole odyssey was so absurd that I didn't want to deal with that again.

[@EytschPi42]

I‘ll forward that to Soldano.

[@TheOligoclonalBand]

@@EytschPi42Thanks, Henning. But to be honest, with the SP-77 at my disposal I don’t really miss the pedal too much.

[@wyldmanwgrable]

The one shop I used to “go” to, closed. The other couple local shops, I don’t like. Go figure. So I build my own equipment or buy broken equipment online and repair it myself.

[@sonjaschellenberg]

Thanks, for pointing out some truths to the public. I am a micro entity in that game. I have quite a few great ideas and started my business. One of these ideas already surfaced in the form of the FULCRUM multi axis expression pedal. I quickly learned, that besides the costs eytschPi42 already mentioned in the video, there are some more on the manufacturing side that are not obvious either. Before I go on with a lengthy text here, just let me give you some cues: WEEE, LUCID, payment providers, service fees, etc. Maybe I should do a reaction video to this and explain that a bit further? I am currently thinking about which route to take. Some people (manufacturers) told me, that they dropped their distributor because they couldn't see the benefit anymore because the distributors don't really do all the stuff eytschPi42 mentioned and just add cost. Other heavily rely on distrubtors. I personally would appreciate if I could concentrate on the other cool ideas that I have and go one developing those instead of spending lots of time into marketing and distribution. Unfortunately my products are costly to manufacture in the first place. That's not an easy topic.

[@nekkon1989]

I thought it was going to be about going DI out Vs playing with an amp... 😢

[@EytschPi42]

Well… what do we learn when we „assume“?

[@andresilvasophisma]

Same 🤣

[@age0815]

It's funny how much effort Henning is putting in adjusting the exposure, like he doesn't know that we're all gonna just listen to this video as a podcast ;) P.S. love the Sunday rants. Please keep them coming.

[@TB-Glove]

Here's a radical idea. Most bands of a certain size already have websites selling merch. They have to do that because venues aren't paying and touring is expensive. So what if a brand established a network of authorized repair centres and then sold the product through the bands websites. That way you could support your favourite band and the product would simply be dropped shipped to you. The meet and greet events that bands do on tour would morph into opportunities to show product as well. This would make being a musician a more plausible way of making a living. I'm not sure how it works in Europe, but in North America we have companies that do warehousing and fulfillment only which would be cheaper then having a distributor. If you hired such a company on a regional basis then you're covered.

[@toddwilliamson8557]

I'm lucky to live in So Cal and have access to music stores in San Diego, Orange County and LA where you can actually walk in and play multiple Fender Custom Shops and higher end PRS and Gibsons in the used category. So many of the so called 'mom and pop' stores just peddle Chinese and Indonesian instruments and transistor amps.

[@RECTIFIER101]

I've tried to support my local brick and mortar music store but their prices are high as hell and treat everyone like shit not to mention they have zero selection of decent gear.. times are hard for everybody right now i have to save everywhere i can which means buying online. Factory direct is not much of a savings these days broke ass musician's like me have to hunt for bargins, LOVE THE CHANNEL!!!!!

[@MusicTherapyLaz]

Good morning, Henning... my man! I'm watching this on the 1st Sunday morning back in the USA... great topic! 😎🎸🤘🫶🎵🎶

[@hoboroadie4623]

Greetings! Ready to go to the city and get a 4X12 for me? 😸

[@MusicTherapyLaz]

@hoboroadie4623 Maybe sometime this week, ok? It's been a busy day today... but I'm game! 🤘😎🎸🎵🎶🫶

[@scottmuir5773]

NEVER say sorry for your length Kaiser your content is fookin brilliant.

[@paulbradshawguitar]

I was in London recently and got to check out the Gibson Garage, which is absolutely insane, every single Gibson model out there, Murphy Lab stuff, Epiphone/Kramer merch etc.. all within 5 minutes of the Denmark street area (where there are still a lot of guitar stores) however as a consumer if you're into Gibson guitars and after something new, there's pretty much no reason to look at another store in the area for a Gibson, and this is before discussing any business requirements to stock Gibson guitars in the first place, the effect on the local stores is quite substantial, would be interesting to hear how the stores in the area feel about this

[@marcohermans3207]

This is not only in London. It's everywhere in Europa. The reasom why... Buy-in for Gibson is $120,000 for Gibson only and 180,000 for Gibson and Epiphone, and your floor stock has to be at least 50% Gibson, at least that was roughly the deal the last Gibson rep tried to bring to us. On top of that, you better be quick at moving guitars, because you are going to have to pay it back in six months, $30k a month, that's a lot of gear to be moving. It's not interesting for a small shop anymore to sell major brands like Gibson...

[@paulbradshawguitar]

@@marcohermans3207 uff, that is a high price, i remember our old local guitar shop stopped stocking gibsons at some point, and seemed to be due to policy/buy in, at those prices that's a very high ask for smaller shops

[@marcohermans3207]

@paulbradshawguitar​, it's the same more or less with all of the big brands but Gibson takes the cake... We thought al long time what to do but in the end we didn't do it. We sell secondhand Gibsons /Fender/USA brands but no new ones. Our filosofy from the start was providing instruments for the working class musicians and we also have the big Music Store in Köln (De) in our neighbourhood who is selling almost everything . We never could compete with them anyway. Nowadays because living is becoming expensive for the working class resulted in a booming secondhand market. This is our core business now. We sell some new guitars like G&L, Sterling, PRS SE, Cort, Vintage, MIC or MII instruments in general but the secondhand bussiness is growing so we try to adapt.

[@patrickpierson6079]

I knew two small Shops. They Had Fender. At some time Fender Said If you want to sell Fender guitars you have to buy These and These and so and so many etc... As a small Shop IT was Not possible to sell allthose guitars in one year... So they both Had to Stop selling Fender and sell smaller or unnknown Brands etc...

[@SirLoinMagroin]

I believe that because of the proliferation of so many more new and old brand models/choices in the market, competition as well as company size [which equates power to an extent] dictates their marketing direction for near, as well as long term prospects in an ever changing technology space. They are constantly forced to compete and even change their plans. Capitalism in the business climate demands it to remain competitive.

[@mouldypretzel]

I'm seeing the same thing with video games, where systems are being pushed without physical media where retailers, manufacturers, distributors, etc are being cut out in favour of direct eShop sales, also eliminating the used market.

[@LloydWoodall]

It shouldn't surprise me, I suppose, but it does. People who don't understand the details and many steps involved in production of the products they enjoy (be it guitars, pedals, amps, video games, books, you name it) are often the first to complain about the cost of the thing, from physical goods they can own to the food they buy and eat. I'd hope those who know the details try and communicate to those who don't, to spread the knowledge (like you do, Henning, and thank you for it!) so there'd be a chance of less ignorance or misinformation spread in the world. But it sometime feels like it's just a hope.

[@vasotoe]

Very interesting topic, these conversations need to happen

[@jvin248]

Most small shops don't have in-house guitar techs. In the future world of ordering guitars direct, post sales returns/warranty service maintenance and repairs are individuals working out of their own shop like the youtube channels of Twodford (Gibson headstock repairs), Daves world of fun stuff (Toronto), and Sam Deeks (England). Most local shops that survive, and will continue to survive, do so as music teaching facilities.

[@edwardglyons]

Thanks for the info and your thoughts. And thanks for the shout-out to Australia. Hello back from Downunder.

[@Burbund]

I feel like going direct is good when starting a brand (like strandberg used to) But the bigger the brand gets the more small profits they get from distributors (small shops, workshops etc) I was lately in a strandberg workshop in poland, organised by their distributor and as i was iffy on the strandberg features, after the workshop i now want to get me a strandberg Aside from that buying more local brands is the way for me

[@David-ry9ly]

I owe guitar retailers either big or small absolutely nothing and that goes double for guitar and amp manufacturers. But I will give some free advice to the small shops. Get together form a cooperative and use your combined buying power. You could even use a common name as a brand which will become well known. Agree to certain standards and principles of customer service etc.

[@activ8me3]

That is true for a good quality distributor. But there are other really bad ones that do none of what you mentioned and if they do something they do it badly. So as usually: It depends.

[@eugenehavens]

Buying Fender direct was a big mistake. The neck pocket was a mess. Wouldn't stay in tune. You know Fender warranty repair centers are strategically located 200 miles from everywhere. I paid my local small guitar shop to repair it as best they could. Glad they were here. Always go there first now.

[@jvin248]

Small shops look for smaller brands, they try to be a different destination. Many small shops don't sell the unit volume required by Fender/Gibson (which involves $250k/year minimum buys and 40-60% of the store racks filled with their brands). Ibanez/G&L/Peavey/and other smaller brands understand this and cater to small shops' small budgets and only need orders of say $6k minimums.

[@Herfinnur]

This isn’t an argument against your point at all, and I think things have changed since then, but just something maybe not relevant that I remember from an opinion article back in 2008-2009. To paraphrase, because it’s been so many years: “Everyone’s blaming Thomann for the mass closure of music stores probably all around Europe. What no one is saying is that music store owners and employees often are the worst. Sometimes bitter, sometimes as clueless as your average family member, often lazy or even pathologically unhelpful. If I need to ask the kind of specialty question that people argue small stores are for, I call Thomann” I think that’s very close to my experience back then

[@Case_]

So, in other words, music store owners and employees are just like everyone else.

[@AlexisGitarre]

yeah and I'm sitting here, teaching guitar students as a full time job... Students coming in with guitars worth thousands and they aren't even intonated or set up. Thanks to Thomann... They do NOTHING! It's a drop shipping company and 9 out of 10 guitars are set up so bad that I have to tell them that they have to send them back. ESPECIALLY the Harley benton garbage. Those guitars are just rebranded Aliexpress guitars. One recent guitar had such soft frets, the material seemed like it was for acoustic guitars because there you use softer fretwire to get a smoother tone.

[@jhs564]

You just check the streaming charts for various countries to see what bands are popular now..

[@JoeArcieri]

🙋🏻‍♂️Appreciate the insight on the business models that we don’t realize that as end users as Musicians.

[@PaulCooksStuff]

Stockpiling my🍿for the Gibson rant video.

[@SashaCrutaire]

Passing on savings isn't going to happen. That's profit for shareholder value.

[@valebliz]

Of course, and the less the players in the market are the more they’ll fix prices with no real competition.

[@Dan-of-NJ]

NAFTA countries Goods exported for repair or alteration in a NAFTA country under warranty and then re-imported are not subject to customs duties. In the US we pay sales tax between states.

[@jeffmccann6608]

Hi Great video. Thanks for the info. Hope you don’t mind but I have a quick question about your studio. What shelves do you use for your amp heads? Jeff

[@EytschPi42]

Custom made… cost me 80 bucks on wood from the hardware store

[@jeffmccann6608]

@@EytschPi42 Thanks for letting me know. Have a super day!,

[@joe19912]

We can't stop it. Period. On the bright side, quality control will increase. Because lots of returns of guitars will kill any maker. Besides just the shipping cost, they will lose that customer, perhaps forever. Also they'd better be in touch with what the consumer wants. Can you imagine making 5,000 guitars and they're sitting in a warehouse because nobody wanted them? It's gonna be cutthroat.

[@philipTOMPSETT]

Very interesting. Thanks

[@melomane01]

Dear Henning, a long comment for a long video… :-) I agree with most of what you said, but I feel there are a few very important points that you did not address. For over a decade, I was a manufacturer’s representative calling on distributors and for 13 years I owned a small successful distribution company that I sold 3 years ago. (Not in the music industry) (1) Distributors have a few select lines that pay the bills, everything else is gravy. They will perform the functions that you mentioned for these key product lines, but not for the other lines. Smaller manufacturers still have to do all the marketing to make the customers aware of their products and make their product appealing so retailers will ask distributors about it. (2) Distributors cherry-pick the secondary lines, i.e. they only select a few products that complement their key product lines. They have little interest in products that would cannibalize products for their main lines and/or tie up their cash flows. If a retailer is interested in a broader range of products from a secondary line, it will not be available or it will take forever to get. (3) There is no one correct model. Everyone in the chain needs to bring VALUE. A distributor may bring a lot of value for a manufacturer while bringing little or no value for another. I have seen distributors take on a product line simply to control the competition and prevent growth… (4) Academics have identified over 60 different business models that can be combined in a huge number of ways (re: The Business Model Navigator). What works for one company will not work for another and you need to find a way that works for you based on your resources.

[@EytschPi42]

Thanks for taking the time to add to this topic!

[@Telepkr]

People like fender with their map pricing. They try to govern what people sell at and I get it. They're trying to control the market protect themselves but the reality is is that going direct from one place to another will not bother a single person who buys online because most everything I buy is online. Why? Because none of the stores carry the stuff that I'm looking at. When was the last time you went got in your car and drove to find out what an effects pedal sounds like you haven't because you bought it direct. You heard demos online even by your KZbin channel. So whether we're buying direct from a manufacturer or from Sweetwater or whoever no one cares and the reason is is all we care about is getting fair. If not, excellent price, free shipping and have it in our hands when we want it. That's all that matters

[@larriveeman]

people want good quality and low prices, going direct is really the only way to get close to that, adding middle men and other add on raise prices. The main problem with direct pricing is you can't try before you buy. Its the same with walmart and mom and pop stores, the mom and pop stores can't compete with walmart or amazon.

[@mayakashiii]

Sunday - Coffee, Spekulatius & Henning.

[@kesamek8537]

When your local Marshall dealer can't even provide you with schematics to the product you bought, it's time to stop crying when the supply chain falls apart. It is good for anti-consumer grifters to perish. I'll take direct-to-customer from decent companies instead, any day.

[@liamhemmings9039]

The guitar market will always be around, but at the moment it is in the middle of a slow motion, dead cat bounce.

[@restojon1]

Guten Morgen, pleased to be in your company this early. Let's do some YooChoobs

[@mylogify]

Dear Henning, I was using the Tonex wrong way whole time, and thought it sounded so dull, compared to plugins like NDSP. Maybe I am the only one. On my Interface I was using the Ins. Input Gain level at lowest and cranking up the input on Tonex all the way up, it was still missing something. For months I thought any profile sounded so bad on Tonex, until today I cranked my Audio Interface's input level just a little bit, and I got an awesome sound now. This is not my fault though, NDSP let me use the ins gain level at lowest still sounded good, but on Tonex, Audio Interface should be cranked up a bit... Now I can love the Tonex. You can tell me if you had a similar experience?

[@squirelova1815]

The "Direct" manufacturers' "Customer Service" tends to be pathetic if not outright adversarial and YOU often will be charged for Return Shipping charges if you're "not satisfied" and just don't want to keep an undamaged product. Should we go "On Strike" from Direct Sales people? The prices are usually not really reduced from "M.A.P." anyhow and the more caring Dealers' profits are simply pocketed by the manufacturer even if you will get the "cold shoulder" for the Direct Sales "Customer Service".

[@hustlinc3540]

corporate greed has permeated all levels of business. terrible

[@brandonbryson3317]

If they can offer the prices lower by going direct, like Vola and Kiesel…I’ll take it. I buy everything online anyways, and I don’t see that trend slowing down.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Good rant. Better sweater

[@thehighadvisor5731]

Times. They are a changing

[@Bobby_Digital37]

It’s a profit driven world and companies only care about maximizing profits so they can put more money in their pockets. And then there’s the tax man who wants his cut too and the more it costs the more the tax man gets from us the consumer so there is no incentive to curtail from the top down 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@SaccoBelmonte]

I know some folks that develop a very well-known product. They were always shy of developing and selling hardware and in their own words they said "it is a huge investment and a logistic nightmare, so we stay away from such things"

[@mylogify]

I think it's also a good time for ranting about Kemper's paid add-ons. That were surprise to Player users.

[@Akapickles]

I’m a bit torn on the matter. I prefer supporting local businesses, but they rarely have the products I am interested in actually purchasing. I will buy secondhand on Reverb before buying new items online.

[@basiltiffani8850]

What do i know, but I think it's kind of an Amazon effect, I think. The very nature of buying and selling anything has fundamentally changed. I can save significantly by shipping online and even if I try to buy from small shops, the inventory often sucks on top of being overpriced (from a consumer perspective). To compete, you need to be massive with a state of the art website and infrastructure. It's like selling music today. For like 10 dollars a month, you can get access to almost all music. How many albums are you really going to buy now? It's bad for artists, but it's such a "good" deal that it's irresistible.

[@hoboroadie4623]

Yeah, the hoboroadie used to dig all the little booksellers in my area, and I boycotted that outfit when they started selling books. See what I mean?

[@mikecorey8370]

Bottom line, as much as we don't want to believe it, music is a business. A very big business.

[@arnaudstegle5034]

HP + almost 1h rant + 1pm = amp on standby and grab my dessert !

[@TheWhiteCatIncidentBand]

It's frustrating when your only "local" distributer is an understaffed Guitar Center and an actual local shop that refuses to stock anything but boutique pedals

[@bolotskih675]

When your country is under sanctions and a company doesn't sell directly here its good to have a local distributor