Best place to buy a Gibson?

[Ruppster]

I'm looking at buying a 2017 J45 Custom. The MAP is $3,099. I know the AGF sponsors who offer great prices on Martins. What about Gibson? Right now Musician's Friend has a 15% off Labor Day sale plus 36 months 0% financing.

That takes the J45 from $3,099 Map to $2,636.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

[kaos]

Originally Posted by Ruppster

I'm looking at buying a 2017 J45 Custom. The MAP is $3,099. I know the AGF sponsors who offer great prices on Martins. What about Gibson? Right now Musician's Friend has a 15% off Labor Day sale plus 36 months 0% financing.

That takes the J45 from $3,099 Map to $2,636.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

I have purchased 2 Gibsons from Sweetwater at significant discounts. When talking with my sales engineer, I shoot for 60% off Mfg List Price. For the J45 custom they list it for $3099 with Mfg List price of $3971. So 60% off of 3971 is $2383 ... so I would offer $2400 and would guess we would end up around $2600.

[Scotso]

If you wanna buy blind without playing, I have had good luck at Sweetwater. They always seem willing to discount off their price by at least 10%. But I like to try before buy personally.

[frances50]

Sweetwater has my vote. I deal with the same sales "engineer" and I've gotten some really good deals.

[ljguitar]

When it comes to Gibsons, wherever it is, I want a satisfaction-or-return policy or else (preferably) I want to play it for an hour.


I find Gibsons all over the map when it comes to consistency. The great ones can be really good…

[Ruppster]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

When it comes to Gibsons, wherever it is, I want a satisfaction-or-return policy or else (preferably) I want to play it for an hour.


I find Gibsons all over the map when it comes to consistency. The great ones can be really good…

I agree, looks like I'll have a 10 day window to decide whether or not to keep it.

[HDRider]

Originally Posted by kaos

I have purchased 2 Gibsons from Sweetwater at significant discounts. When talking with my sales engineer...

"Sales engineer"?

What kind of hokey nonsense is that?

LOL!

I shoot for 60% off Mfg List Price. For the J45 custom they list it for $3099 with Mfg List price of $3971. So 60% off of 3971 is $2383 ... so I would offer $2400 and would guess we would end up around $2600.

MSRP is normally twice dealer cost. This is known as an "A mark".

In the case of Gibson, it's a little different. Gibson is a "A Plus mark", meaning that it's, essentially, half plus 10%.

Basically, you'd offer the dealer exactly what he paid for it.

The dealer's got to make some profit on his investment, no?

[Rev Roy]

I bought both my Gibsons from Music Villa, the 5-star dealer located in Bozeman just a few miles from the mothership. Great folks to deal with. They matched the best price I could find - which was Sweetwater's - and included free shipping and a full set up to my specs. Also gave me very fair trade in values. Being a 5-star dealer so close to the Gibson plant, they have multiple guitars of the same models and will play them for you to help you decide which one works for you.

On the other hand, I've bought several guitars from Sweetwater and I always got a great price and solid customer service.

[kaos]

Originally Posted by HDRider

"Sales engineer"?

What kind of hokey nonsense is that?

LOL!



MSRP is normally twice dealer cost. This is known as an "A mark".

In the case of Gibson, it's a little different. Gibson is a "A Plus mark", meaning that it's, essentially, half plus 10%.

Basically, you'd offer the dealer exactly what he paid for it.

The dealer's got to make some profit on his investment, no?

It is just a formula I use as a starting point. The SW sales guy never feels insulted and is always willing to work with me on a price. Plus free ship and no sales tax in NY. But you are right I believe I had to come up quite a bit from my initial offer on my LG2. But I know I got a great price on my 2010 J45tv ... $2400!


Oh and another thing worth mentioning that if you use their interest free financing I don't believe they are willing to go as low as they would if you were paying up front or using another form of financing. I use my NAMM card which has 6 months interest free financing.

Bob.

[llew]

I haven't purchases anything from them but Wildwood Guitars has some very nice Gibson acoustics. And you get a Greg Koch (sp?) "test drive"!

[kaos]

Originally Posted by HDRider

"Sales engineer"?

What kind of hokey nonsense is that?

LOL!



MSRP is normally twice dealer cost. This is known as an "A mark".

In the case of Gibson, it's a little different. Gibson is a "A Plus mark", meaning that it's, essentially, half plus 10%.

Basically, you'd offer the dealer exactly what he paid for it.

The dealer's got to make some profit on his investment, no?

Sales engineer is their term/title. And I believe it is a good one because these guy know the industry and equipment at least as well as we do. A straight sales person would be knowledgeable on how to interface with customers with sales/marketing knowledge ... but have very little knowledge on the product itself.

[frances50]

[QUOTE=HDRider;5048994]"Sales engineer"?

What kind of hokey nonsense is that?

LOL!




Hokey nonsense? Maybe. But that's how Sweetwater refers to their sales associates. And mine has been very helpful to me over the past few years.

[baimo]

Originally Posted by kaos

I have purchased 2 Gibsons from Sweetwater at significant discounts. When talking with my sales engineer, I shoot for 60% off Mfg List Price. For the J45 custom they list it for $3099 with Mfg List price of $3971. So 60% off of 3971 is $2383 ... so I would offer $2400 and would guess we would end up around $2600.

If Sweetwater sales engineer is willing to give 60% off, I will buy everything from the. JK. Your numbers messed with my head

I believe you meant 40% off or you start by asking to pay 60% of MSRP.

[eljay]

and don't forget dave's guitars.

i have purchased gibbies from each and have no problem recommending any of them.

by a nose, i prefer wildwood. great prices and they give dyn-o-mite setups to the guitars they sell.

[Rmz76]

Originally Posted by Ruppster

I'm looking at buying a 2017 J45 Custom. The MAP is $3,099. I know the AGF sponsors who offer great prices on Martins. What about Gibson? Right now Musician's Friend has a 15% off Labor Day sale plus 36 months 0% financing.

That takes the J45 from $3,099 Map to $2,636.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Gibson doesn't distinguish between MSRP and MAP. If you go to Gibson's website and look at prices on a 2016/2017 J-45 Standard it's listed on their site as $2399 (MSRP). At Guitar Center, ZZounds, Sweetwater, etc... The minimum advertised price is also $2399. I believe they started this in 2015? Taylor and Martin continue to have separate MSRP and MAP

Sweetwater is not a bad option buying on-line, but in my experience they don't have better discounts than what more boutique five star Gibson dealers can do. It's the same 10-15% off advertise price wherever you go and just about everyone will match. In fact when I was pricing a J-45 Standard earlier this year Sweetwater was a little higher than Chicago Music Exchange and about 5% more than what Wildwood Guitars and Music Villa was offering.

My suggestion is to get a few quotes from Five Star Gibson Dealers. Make sure they have a flexible return/exchange policy and don't put too much value into retailer warranties or "setups" being done to the guitar before it ships to you. You will be doing some setup work to the guitar once it acclimates to your environment anyway, so this "service" is something I see as a complete waste of time. When buying on-line I prefer a factory sealed box which Sweetwater will not do without some haggling (if even then).