Who's Given Up On Buying Their Strings In Store?

[Michael Jewels]

I have.

I got fed up with the limited selection of brands and gauges at Sam Ash and GC, so I just bought my first set online from Juststings.com.

A 5 string set of Fodera nickels I've been wanting to try for a while, extra long with a tapered B.
I've never seen this set in any store in my area, and they sound great!

I ordered them on a Saturday, and they were in my mailbox on Wednesday!

The last time I was in Guitar Center, I asked the guy behind the counter if they had Elixir strings in stock, because I didn't see any, and he replied, "We don't carry anything by Elixir anymore - What do you think of them apples?"

I said something like, "Well I won't be coming in here for strings anymore."

So has anyone else gone strictly online for buying strings?

Mike

[Tony G]

Luckily, I have a local shop that always carries a very wide selection of strings, and is very good about ordering whatever you need. Also, their prices are by far the best I've seen yet for strings! They even beat online retailer prices. I have no idea how they do it!

[cb56]

Couldn't tell you when the last time I bought strings from a walk in store.
Limited selection, double the price. Why bother.
But "Hey, we can order those for you"!
No snit, so can I.

[Dincrest]

Brick-and-mortar stores rarely, if ever, carry the brands I like/want to try and even if they do, they may not be in my gauges. No one near me carries SIT strings. And even if they do, it's not the Silencers I like so much.

When I used to play 5 and 6 string basses, I always got my strings online/mail order; especially 6-string sets.

In addition, string prices at online retailers like JustStrings are quite reasonable; often better than those in brick-and-mortar stores.

[nad]

Honestly I haven't purchased more than a set or two from a retail store in about 8 years now.

[markjazzbassist]

Originally Posted by cb56

Couldn't tell you when the last time I bought strings from a walk in store.
Limited selection, double the price. Why bother.
But "Hey, we can order those for you"!
No snit, so can I.

+1 to all the above.

[MichaelScott]

I buy my strings from GC. The strings I play aren't twice the cost of ordering them on-line. They are more around a buck or two more then ordering them on-line.

[vindy500]

when youre paying 90 usd for a set of slinkys you too would go online for strings.

[SUNNyday r.]

IMO it is good to support your local boutique shop. GC has good prices on alot of the more common strings and my local place has a nice selection of some less common stuff like TI Flats and LaBella Tapes among others. I do enjoy a good impulse purchase now and then!

[Bassic83]

Originally Posted by vindy500

when youre paying 90 usd for a set of slinkys you too would go online for strings.

Whoa! $90???? That's worse than a loan shark! That's called "bending over" here in Texas!

[vindy500]

Originally Posted by Bassic83

Whoa! $90???? That's worse than a loan shark! That's called "bending over" here in Texas!

we call it standard shop price in horsens

[SBassman]

I hate buying strings in the store. They never have what I use. Online for the strings is the way to go.

[Lord Henry]

You US guys should count yourselves very lucky. What are you paying for RotoSound 60's in a shop? US$20-US$25? I'm paying UK£20-UK£25! Given that it's about US$2 to the UK£1 right now, you do the math (as you lot say). I actually haven't found a shop in London that carries DRs.

I now only buy on line, mostly from European wholesalers that charge UK£15 a pack (plus shipping, but that's low). If someone knows of a US dealer that ships to the UK cheapish I'd love to know.

Vindy500, man, even in my parts US$90 a pack is way up there. Sorry to hear it.

Cheers

[Bryan R. Tyler]

I pretty much only get Foderas and DR Hi-beams. No stores carry the Foderas, few carry the DRs, and the ones that do never have Light gauge sets. I haven't purchased strings in a store in five or six years.

[Bassic83]

Back in the 80s, I'd go into Subway Guitars in the Bay Area whenever I went to my GF's house (I lived down near Laguna Beach, way south of LA, something like 400 miles!) and pick up $100 worth of bulk strings. I think they were Vinci brand, that'd get me a dozen sets, plus a couple extra .040 strings. Enough to get me through a couple months or so. Ah, the good old days!

More recently, H&H Music had a store brand that I got for $3 a set!!! The caveat was that they wouldn't fit a standard Fender bridge- the ball ends were too small, they'd slip right through. But if you had a top-loader bridge, you were set! Sadly, H&H is now gone, sued out of existence by Wal-Mart (don't get me started!!!).

[Mo' bass]

I'm from the Netherlands and order my strings at a German internet store... way cheaper and better selection... (I also order Fast Fret online, it's like half price...). Some packs of strings, trow in some Fast Fret and the shipping is free.

[Michael Jewels]

Wow!

I never realized that so many people were online buyers.
I tried to remain faithful to the brick & mortar stores, but lately they just haven't been delivering.

Mike

[SuperDuck]

I searched low and high for a place that sold TI flats locally. I couldn't find a single one in the greater chicago and milwaukee area. I ordered them instead from jive1. Problem solved! www.jivesound.com

[Wademeister63]

Originally Posted by Michael Jewels

Wow!

I never realized that so many people were online buyers.
I tried to remain faithful to the brick & mortar stores, but lately they just haven't been delivering.

Mike

Exactly.

Yesterday I decided I wanted some LaBella tapes for my Jazz. Went to Brook Mays to discover the store had closed, Guitar Center where the guy behind the counter was pretty sure they had some "taperwounds" and finally found out from the manage that they don't have any tapewounds. Another Guitar center where I guess I was invisible or maybe I just should have thumped one of the guys in the head. No need to do that though since I could see they had the same thing as the other store had, arranged the same and everything. Stopped at Michaels Music (tiny local store seems to be doing very poorly lately) on the way home and found out they only had about 4 sets of bass strings, all rounds.

I tried, I really tried to support my local guys but they seem to be disappearing only to be replaced by the people who don't know or care. When I got home I ordered two sets from Carvin for a total of $46.97 with shipping. That is cheap and I would have saved two or three hours by just ordering in the first place.

So yeah, I give up. These days ordering online is the only way to buy strings as far as I'm concerned.

[canopener]

I got some flats and gave up buying strings altogether!