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Lakland Owners Group #69

#2,621
lowendmafia said:
Alot of us that don't live in "major" music markets would never get to try high end basses if it wasn't for Talkbass. I went to GC and Sam Ash last week and all they had was entry-level crap and horribly set up American F*nder basses. With the exception of a couple custom orders, I have purchased all my basses from TB.
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I once drove 20 miles when in was out of town and bored....took over half an hour.....

I spent maybe 10 minutes in the store....there was NOTHING I wanted to play except maybe a 7 string Conklin that was out of reach....

All they had were low level squires ( not any "nice ones") and the cheaper mm basses...not even any US fenders or real mm basses....

I wasted time and was very disappointed.

I only go to the local GC just to buy strings and to check out the used wall..
 
#2,623
lowendmafia said:
Alot of us that don't live in "major" music markets would never get to try high end basses if it wasn't for Talkbass. I went to GC and Sam Ash last week and all they had was entry-level crap and horribly set up American F*nder basses. With the exception of a couple custom orders, I have purchased all my basses from TB.
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Me too. Not all but most. I got 7 basses from here since I have been here.. 3 MTDs, 2 Laklands, a Fender and a Peavey...I still own 4 of them. The 2 Lakies, one of the MTDs and the Cirrus. I would rather buy from here than ebay or CL.

Black Bart said:
Too true and if it wasn't for TB, I doubt I would have become such a fan of Lakland basses. :)
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Same here. I had been reading about them for a while...
 
#2,624
morebassbaby said:
Remember the 90's when $1,500-3,000 Warwicks and Modulus' were the norm? Even saw more used Lakies. There were times when Guitar Center was fun! Thanks Bain Capital...
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I worked for GC corporate before Bain Capitol and it was already in decline. They were closing lots of the Platinum Rooms and dropping standards on the instruments selected as high end. The Internet basically put their boutique business to bed. Everyone wants to blame Bain, but that's just anti-corporate hogwash.

On a personal note, I will say that I got to go to some of the best GCs in Southern California and customers literally didn't care about the high end stuff, they would damage it and GC would have to blow it out because of the damage. Additionally, every musician had a "buddy" that worked there and would give them stupid deals, so gear they were supposed to make 40% on would end up making a 10% return. GC basically said they didn't care because they were selling and they would make the money back eventually. It was a classic example of the inmates running the asylum. Senior management were not business people, they were musicians. They promoted successful store and sales managers to executive levels. These guys had no business running a business and were clueless when it came to finance or marketing. Eventually this all backfired and they had to bring Bain in to save the company, which they did by essentially making the "C" level stores Wall Mart for musicians. There are still some awesome stores with awesome gear, but that gear is heavily concentrated in major, major markets.m
 
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#2,625
morebassbaby said:
Remember the 90's when $1,500-3,000 Warwicks and Modulus' were the norm? Even saw more used Lakies. There were times when Guitar Center was fun! Thanks Bain Capital...
Click to expand...
YES!!! I remember the Pedulla Pentabuzzes (plural) that I fell in love with, Conklin 7 strings, Warwicks (not a fan except for certain 4 stringers), US EBMM and Fenders, even played a used Roscoe and 4-94 from time to time. At least the Knoxville GC still carries some US EBMM and a few nice Fenders.
 
#2,626
lowendmafia said:
I worked for GC corporate before Bain Capitol and it was already in decline. They were closing lots of the Platinum Rooms and dropping standards on the instruments selected as high end. The Internet basically put their boutique business to bed. Everyone wants to blame Bain, but that's just anti-corporate hogwash.

On a personal note, I will say that I got to go to some of the best GCs in Southern California and customers literally didn't care about the high end stuff, they would damage it and GC would have to blow it out because of the damage. Additionally, every musician had a "buddy" that worked there and would give them stupid deals, so gear they were supposed to make 40% on would end up making a 10% return. GC basically said they didn't care because they were selling and they would make the money back eventually. It was a classic example of the inmates running the asylum. Senior management were not business people, they were musicians. They promoted successful store and sales managers to executive levels. These guys had no business running a business and were clueless when it came to finance or marketing. Eventually this all backfired and they had to bring Bain in to save the company, which they did by essentially making the "C" level stores Wall Mart for musicians. There are still some awesome stores with awesome gear, but that gear is heavily concentrated in major, major markets.m
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At the same time, Bain's leveraged buyout saddled GC with a massive amount of debt. That was finally restructured somewhat earlier this year.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304441304579479170159872750
 
#2,628
before the buyout:

GTRC a public company with musicians running it...not well managed

after the buyout:

GC a leveraged private company with financial types running it ... Wal-mart for music

I don't know which is worse?
 
#2,631
GregC said:
Agreed, just pointing out that whether GC is in better shape as a result of Bain is debatable.
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I don't believe its in better shape for people like us, but we are not their customer base. They are looking for 1st time buyers and more casual buyers who want to come in and "test drive" gear. That is a much larger market that internet gear snobs and smarks like us.

They do this in every sales driven market these days, take the cheapest, most mass-marketed piece of crap and sell millions of them and then get into the next big thing. I love the show Shark Tank and this is what all the investors say, "I'm not interested in vertical, niche, markets, I want to sell 1 million of these." No one sells 1 million $3K basses, even Lakland had to go over seas to become profitable. Its really sad that really great US made products basically have to be taken to Asia if the company wants any sort of returns at all. I think Ampeg is a great example. LOUD Technologies bought them and moved production overseas and the amps came back horrible, so bad that they moved production again the next year. If you buy an SVT now, it is not like the SVTs of old. Its like the Skyline basses, sure they are "good enough," but comparing them to the US models is insane.
 
#2,633
lowendmafia said:
I worked for GC corporate before Bain Capitol and it was already in decline. They were closing lots of the Platinum Rooms and dropping standards on the instruments selected as high end. The Internet basically put their boutique business to bed. Everyone wants to blame Bain, but that's just anti-corporate hogwash.

On a personal note, I will say that I got to go to some of the best GCs in Southern California and customers literally didn't care about the high end stuff, they would damage it and GC would have to blow it out because of the damage. Additionally, every musician had a "buddy" that worked there and would give them stupid deals, so gear they were supposed to make 40% on would end up making a 10% return. GC basically said they didn't care because they were selling and they would make the money back eventually. It was a classic example of the inmates running the asylum. Senior management were not business people, they were musicians. They promoted successful store and sales managers to executive levels. These guys had no business running a business and were clueless when it came to finance or marketing. Eventually this all backfired and they had to bring Bain in to save the company, which they did by essentially making the "C" level stores Wall Mart for musicians. There are still some awesome stores with awesome gear, but that gear is heavily concentrated in major, major markets.m
Click to expand...


Ah yes, the days Larry and Marty. When the sales office was called the "bump" room...
 
#2,634
GregC said:
Agreed, just pointing out that whether GC is in better shape as a result of Bain is debatable.
Click to expand...

I think not. Its Wal-Mart now. In the late 90s when I worked there, you had boutique gear and you could compete in the high end market. Granted, like previously stated, the high end gear would often get trashed and gear was worked out to make the sale. Hell, I saw my first Lakland at a GC in Chicago in 1997 or 1998 when I was helping reorganize the store in Burbank. The stores back then could get cool regional stuff. Not any more.
 
#2,635
A little late but here's some BEM in my 4-94:
Laklandfingerboard.jpg

Laklandbodyfront.jpg
 
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#2,636
Gents, I just recently received a beautiful 2013 Lakland skyline dj4 Pearl white with maple board and pearl inlays and pearl PG. But when I received it I found some peeling of the clear coat film on the PG :-( . So I need to replace it with a new one or one that is new used. Can you point me in the right direction to accomplish this needed task. Thanks Jody....
 
#2,637
Texan said:
I think not. Its Wal-Mart now. In the late 90s when I worked there, you had boutique gear and you could compete in the high end market. Granted, like previously stated, the high end gear would often get trashed and gear was worked out to make the sale. Hell, I saw my first Lakland at a GC in Chicago in 1997 or 1998 when I was helping reorganize the store in Burbank. The stores back then could get cool regional stuff. Not any more.
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Man, the Burbank GC was great (for me) back then! Lots of higher end stuff to check out and drool on. And great deals to be had thanks to the buddy model... The sound guy in the "chick band" I was playing in in those days worked there (Warren) and a manager (Todd) played bass in another chick band that we associated with. (Think Lillith Fair I guess?)
 

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