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Musiciansfriend.com

They're a very reputible place to shop. I have purchased 3 basses from them and just last week bought a QSC RMX 850 power amp, arriving tomorrow, and lots of cables, straps, etc. All have arrived within 3-6 days (depending on if a weekend falls in there somewhere). Theyre a great place to buy, esp if you can get stuff on clearance. I got two spectors from them, one lists at ~1350 and got it for 499, the other listed at 1149, got it for 550. Anyways, definitely don't worry about them, wonderful place to buy from with a pretty good selection of stuff at very competitive prices.

My 2 cents.
 
Count on doing your own setup. Sometimes you'll get one setup the way you want, but like SwilsonR said, they don't set them up before they ship them. You'll get that SR with a factory setup.

I have bought many items from MF, and never had a problem with shipping. It comes to your house as fast as you are willing to pay, provided the item is in stock.

-Mike
 
Guess musiciansfriend.com is probably your best choice.

I have ordered from them in the past (actually I get my strings there because no local stores carry Elixirs in the gauge I use). They were fine as a mail order operation.

I just have personal issues spending money afiliated with GC because I've been treated like utter crap by every GC employee at every GC I've ever been in. Nothing turns a mild mannered teenage guitar nerd into an arrogant pr*ck faster than paying him $6.50 and hour and sticking him in a red t-shirt.
 
I've purchased the vast majority of my gear from them for credit reasons (2 basses, pre-and-power amp, rack case, assorted effects, straps, and other items) and everything has shown up in perfect condition and even quicker than they estimate. I went through their special order unit for my Mini Mo' as they don't usually carry it, and again they were more than helpful with keeping me notified as to the timeframe (it took about 1 month for delivery.)

They've always price-matched plus give a automatically 5% discount to ASCAP members on every one of my orders even to the point of loosing money on my QSC, and the one "problem" I had recently (an order of straps kept getting pushed back on backorder, which technically isn't them but Dunlop's problem) they handled wonderfully - they cancelled my original order, substituted another brand, and upgraded my shipping as an apology.

I can see how people hold a Brick & Mortar store close to their hearts, but the two closest to me are nothing to write home about - one is rude, overpriced, and uninformed, the other simple apathetic. Compared to the service I get from them, I'll stick with MF any day of the week.
 
scarred2112 said:
I can see how people hold a Brick & Mortar store close to their hearts, but the two closest to me are nothing to write home about - one is rude, overpriced, and uninformed, the other simple apathetic. Compared to the service I get from them, I'll stick with MF any day of the week.

You'll get NO argument from me that there are stores "close to home" that are rude and arrogant. The problem there arises when you don't TELL THEM about those problems. As for pricing, your local dealer or another "independent dealer" can often match or BEAT the MF/GC prices.

Bottom Line--When the goal has been accomplished and all the brick and mortars that are still inbusiness are owned by the same corporation, what will the prices, service and lesson status look like? Peace. :)
 
The only gripe I have aboeut MF is shipping prices (Sorry, I'm cheap...:P)

I mean I just wanted the Dimarzio Cliplock straps because they were $12.99 (wnated black too) but shippin brought it up to $19 and I coulda got it from Daaddys for $21...So off to Samash.com I go for the white one.

sorry, other than that little gripe they're cool...
 
I have bought many items from there with no problems. For some of us dealing with mail order is the only way to get something other than Hartke or Squier beginner packs.
My closest GC is 100 miles away. The local music stores no longer carry many high or even medium end items. So I have a choice between mail order and shipping back if don't like. Or I can drive 200 miles and hope what I want really is in stock. Then driving another 200 if something is wrong with the item.
 
Initial shipping takes 24-48 hours from time of order placement.

They ship UPS, which means that if it doesn't go out on a Monday, "Three-Day" shipping is meaningless.

Typically, shipments will take a week to ten days from the time you order to arrive, depending on backlog, day of the week you order and day of the week shipped.

The order I placed last Thursday will arrive this Wednesday with "Three Day" UPS shipping, according to UPS tracking info.

I've had incoming "Three Day" guitars from MF sit for four days (Friday through Monday) in a UPS air freight shed seven miles from my home more times than I can count. :(

None of the above is avoidable, but timing your order helps.

Two chronic problems I have with MF is idiotic packing of small, fragile items (don't ever buy tubes!) and additional delays in shippng if there's anything out of the ordinary with payment or shipping, like having stuff sent to a different address than the one connected with the credit card, even after having it shipped to that address for several orders. They say that after the first time, there'll be no delay, but in the past five orders, this is the first one that wasn't delayed an additional 48 hours.
 
MF is one of the better mail order/online catalogs. My shipments often arrive in 3 - 4 days. I agree that their shipping charges can be a little steep, depending on what you're ordering. If it's an order consisting of several low cost items, you can save. My past couple of orders were large enough to receive free shipping, and it still came within the 3 - 4 day time slot. Not bad...

Also, I ordered a Squire Bronco bass for my 10 year old daughter and it ended up being a pretty decent bass. I had to adjust the action just a tad, but when it came in, it was well packed and most of all IN TUNE. This was my first bass to order sight unseen and although it's not a top of the line bass, I was impressed with both the quality of MF's shipping practices and the Squire Bronco.