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Where are you getting your strings these days?

#27
Sweetwater or Musician's Friend... or Amazon as a last resort. Unfortunately, even though I've never had issues, even on 'sold by/ships from' Amazon orders people have reportedly gotten fakes of some brands/types of strings. Sometimes going with the absolute cheapest option (or vendor) means you take more of a risk of getting fakes/dupes. You can trust Sweetwater/Musicians Friend/GC even if they don't always have the best selection, IMO. I use DR strings mostly, so I don't worry about availability. Outside of those avenues, I also purchase directly from builders/suppliers when I need to, namely Lakland or Fodera direct.
 
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#29
I try to buy direct when possible
DR strings .com has a BOGO right now
D'Addario, Arora ect all sell direct.
I guess buyer beware from smaller unknown shops, which is a shame.

And I agree, all kind if name brand stuff, even NGK sparkplugs are being counterfeit through eBay and Amazon.
 
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#34
I suppose I’m lucky enough to still have a couple of legit shops open within reasonable driving distance of my house. Shout out to Parkway Music and Love of Fuzz in Clifton Park and Troy, NY respectively.

I’m not gonna rag on someone that really needs to save every penny or anyone struggling to get around, but if you can take the time to scout a local place and form a relationship with the cats that work there it benefits us all. Not as if shops just started disappearing or siloing their inventory just out of nowhere.
 
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#36
I recently bought from Strings by Mail. They appeared eager to form a relationship with a hand signed thank you note for my business.

I also have a small physical guitar shop nearby who greet by name when I walk in. Sometimes
I bring basses in for repair/mod although I can in theory do it myself, (maybe not as cleanly, i.e, soldering). I do not take this store for granted considering the retail environment.
 
#38
UntitledProject said:
I play s.i.t. strings and order them directly from s.i.t.
Click to expand...
I’ve tried them a few times this year with good results.

I’ve also found ordering strings from Guitar Center is usually pretty easy. Though I did have an issue where they sent me the same wrong set of strings three times in a row before getting me the right set. It was inconvenient, but also hilarious to open each package and keep seeing the wrong item.

I had a couple of order issues with BSO/Fret Nation years ago that’s made me gun shy, but most TB folks have great things to say about ordering from them. I might need to let go of whatever my hesitation I still have and give them a shot again once I get tired of ordering from SIT.
 

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