Maybe it's just the music stores that I have been to in my state and the area of the state I used to live, but does anyone else here feel that (today) many music stores (with the exception of a few good ones--you know who you are too), don't give a flying crap about keyboardists?????

I can walk into just about any music store in my area and find a $2,000 Gibson Les Paul, a $2,000+ Ovation , $1,500 Fenders, expensive PA equipment, and recording equipment, $1000+ brass and string instruments, but you can't find a damn professional keyboard anywhere! Why is that?????

All the people that work there are guitarists, bassists, and drummers. I just talked to a guy from a local music store to see what they carry. As expected "squat"..., he then said "oh we can order you any keyboard you want". I asked why don't you keep the pro keyboards in stock.... His answer.., "well keyboard players are just so picky, and it's hard to move the merchandise".

What a jerk! Of course I told him he was wrong of course. You bring in the boards (HIRE A REAL KEYBOARD PLAYER), and they will sell. Simple.., stock them and they will come

It's not right. We have to very often buy our keyboards site unseen, and hope they're what we want, but everyone else can go into a music store and play that $2,000 guitar, but ask for a keyboard and they put you in front of a cheap Casio CTK (which sells at Wal-Mart), and they're asking more for it.

I guess what really irks me is when the workers say "we don't stock them because they're hard to sell". While they're telling you this you of course pick up on that neither they or ANY of their employees know anything about keyboards. If you don't hire a keyboardists to demo the unit, or course you'll have a hard time selling it, but hey they're quick to pull that Eric Clapton Signature Series Strat off the wall, and run some solos for you

How are the stores in everyone elses areas?

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 06-14-2006).]

It's the same in most stores I go to all over this area............it really sux to the point that I hate going in there anymore except for some wires etc etc & I live in between two major US Cities!!!!! ......

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 06-14-2006).]

Two words.. Alto Music ( in Middletown, NY ).
The ONLY store I go to any more when I want to demo / buy a board or equipment. The KB manager is super friendly ( but not to the point where he bugs you ), knowledgable, and has a vast array of boards ( even a G70 and PA1X ) right there on display.

None of the other stores within a hundred miles ( been to just about all of 'em ) compare at all, including the big chains.

Never much haggling required either. Their prices are consistently better than anyone else around, including all the net stores I've checked out.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 06-14-2006).]

I certainly understand your frustration. It is a problem that I have seen for many years. The reality is that music stores will cater to what the public demands. I believe that there is a larger percentage of people willing to learn how to play the guitar than the piano. I have been fortunate to be able to get just about anything I want in the Portland,Oregon metro area. However, many of the smaller startup shops do not have the capital to spend tens of thousands of dollars on keyboards for their customers to demo. I don't really believe its a matter of not respecting keyboard players, I truly believe it is about the money associated with having the floor models. I would also say that the amount of floor space a good keyboard demo section takes up is very expensive as well. I would think that an owner of a store would probably calculate the net profit that every square foot of space is capable of bringing in to justify what type of product will be sold.
As I mentioned I have been fairly satisfied with the local dealers. However, when I wanted to play a Tyros 2...NOBODY !! anywhere had one. So I fired off an email to Yamaha and essentialy complained to them that all the Yamaha dealers in my area lacked the Tyros 2 in their inventory. Two days later, one of my local dealers called me up and said they had a Tyros 2 on its way to their store and I should come in and try it out as soon as it arrived.
Needless to say Yamaha managed to get ahold of my local dealer and shake things up a bit.
As Yamaha dealers they are supposed to carry the full line of product, and they were not in compliance. Anyway, they made a sale because they finally ordered one in.

I got interupted while I was typing this and have totally lost my train of thought. Oh well, that happens to me more often than I should admit.


Regards,
Dennis

[This message has been edited by TwoNuts (edited 06-14-2006).]

I understand your points TwoNuts. I myself am also a guitar player too. Surprisingly there are actually a lot of keyboardists out there, but over the years they just don't come in to music stores anymore to buy because local retailers have just stopped carrying them. The demand is there for them, but with the shrinking (in store keyboard inventory) we're forced to shop online more.

However I can tell you from personal experience (being a guitarists--and speaking to and playing with many other guitarists), there are a lot of guitar players out there who HATE keyboardists Seriously, I've heard some guitarists say some ignorant stuff about keyboardists.

There are a lot that despise what we can do with a keyboard. So in turn they call us cheaters (even though many of us record our music from scratch). I guess they don't see how greatly skilled a keyboardist has to be to pull off what we do (playing instruments on keys outside of piano/EP's/organs)

A lot of store owners in my state are "guitarists" themselves, and all they'll hire are guitar players. I know one guy personally (He's a complete a--hole too), but he refuses to carry keyboards--and openly admits he hates our trade! Geez...

I just wish I had the money to open my own store. I know the demand is here for them, but no will carry them.

Here's an uplifting story! A few years ago I was visiting a friend on my lunch break at the music store in our cities shopping mall. All they carried was a cheap Suzuki. People were always coming in asking for keyboards, and they were always told--this is all we carry, but we can order you anything you want.

Well one day (to prove the deman was there), I was down at the store visiting, and a guy walked in wanting a keyboard. I said.., let me talk to the guy. In short I ended up selling this guy a PSR-2000 (sight unseen--fortunately I knew what I was talking about and was able to answer his questions and understand what would fill his needs). After he bought the 2000 (less than one week later) 2 of his family members showed up and bought the same keyboard

The demand is there! Hell it's everywhere. As long as there are descriminatory store owners (who hate our trade) we'll always be forced to shop online.

Squeak

I totally agree!! I live near Fort Myers FL. There is 1 music store that sells keyboards that is not a big box store. Last year nobody there even knew what MIDI was. They gladly let me play the keyboards they had, but could offer little assistance. I get more help at Circuit City with their $100 Casio's!!! 10 years ago I would never have bought a keyboard without playing it first. My last 3 boards were bought sight unseen online. I guess I have been lucky that I liked all of them and have had no problems.
Last December I drove to Tampa one weekend, and Miami the next looking for a Tyros2 to demo. I had enough problem finding a Tyros1. Never found a T2, only 1 salesman even knew anything about it. I bought my T2 from DanO, but it would be nice to go somewhere in Florida and try out all the other boards I hear about here. -charley

Maybe the blame lies in the manufacturers for letting Authorized DEALERS only carry bits and pieces of their line of products instead of their "FULL LINE!!"

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 06-14-2006).]

excerpt from my other post....

"What really irks me is that here where we live between some of the biggest cities in the USA New York/Philadelphia etc its almost impossible to find/play Roland products G70/E80 etc amongst the other biggies also Yamaha/Korg/Ketron also in the Big Chain Stores....what the heck is going on.....has the Internet totally ruined the buying experience & surrendering the consumer to having to BUY a Top keyboard with a 30/45 day return policy ...then after you play it and don't like it simply send it back & try again? then they can sell B Stock to people who want a cheaper price? Whats happened to the days when you can call a good local store ...make an appointment to spend a few ours with a keyboard and play it in the store with an intelligent sales man or store owner so you can make a wise decision or comparison to buy & know you'll have their backup for support & service after the sale Arrrrgggggg....whats the use ?"

The situation in Taiwan:

-most shops don't carry the top models

-when asking to demo a keyboard or organ they either don't want to take off the plastic or can't find the power cord (they'll find it instantly once you place the order)

-playing a new keyboard/organ will make it secondhand and they won't be able to sell it

- what you can do is place an order and you can play as much as you wish
(Of course, you haven't seen, heard nor played the instrument. Neither have they but you can rely on their judgement. Geez!)

Taike

-software?? You must be in the wrong shop as we sell musical instruments and not computers.


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Khoi huk ngam sud tee huk kon diow.

You can still do that, but you'll have to drive to Rockville, Maryland and visit Washington Music, or head to the west coast and see George. Sorry, but there doesn't seem to be any other options.

According to a local dealer, keyboards are the lowest profit margin item he has in the store, and Yamaha, Roland and the other manufacturers want to dictate how he conducts his business. Despite the fact this guy does well in excess of $2-million a year retail and service, they want to tell him how he should run his store. He told them where to put their keyboards! If someone wants to buy a Tyros2 in this part of the world, they'll have to drive to Rockville, or order it fron Dundalk Music. The only other option is ordering online, which to me doesn't make sense. If I were in the market for a new keyboard, the 90 mile drive to Rockville is a drop in the bucket. At least I'll get to see, touch, feel and hear the keyboard before laying out my hard earned cash. In Squeak's case, the drive is nearly 6 hours, but again, it's still a drop in the bucket when you consider the consequences of buying a keyboard you may not like and having to return it. Fortunately, there are forums such as this one where you can obtain a wealth of information, weigh the prospects, then make up your mind based upon what you read. However, nothing, absolutely nothing, beats hearing and playing the keyboard first hand.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

The stores 3 big ones here all carry full line everything including pro and amateur keyboards.

Terry

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jam on,
Terry
http://www.artisans-world.com/

I believe all big retailers should carry(GC,sam ash)high end pro arrangers regardless of their sales,because people do buy arrangers in US and it's a growing market.



[This message has been edited by jamman (edited 06-15-2006).]

AJ, you are Sooooo right. Folks, check out www.altomusic.com for a look at the Keyboard selection at this local/regional store. Chris in keyboards is the man. they have saved my butt quite a few times.

On another note, AJ, what are you doing musically? I'll send you an email, I have a project I'm working on that you might be interested in.

Regards
Al




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Al Giordano
www.al-giordano.com

Tyros 2, Yamaha P-250, Korg Triton Extreme 76, Roland VK8-M, DW Collectors Series Drums

One or two store do not solve the problem

Well, I know that locally (Salem, OR) that the music store where I bought my keyboards (Korg M1, Korg X3, Korg Trinity V3) has quit carrying keyboards because they got tired of having the demo models in the "listening" room and having lots of people come by and check them out and then buying off the internet and then coming in and wanting support from the music store. They have completely done away with all keyboards except pianos. They still sell a lot of real pianos and Yamaha Diskclaviers.

Tom

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Bigger is not always better

In my country almost every city has its own music store. Each one has a 'keys-corner' with 10-20 different keyboards(types) waiting for customers.

My dealer sold ~ 165 (!!!) T2's. (#1 in Europe)

[This message has been edited by kla4 (edited 06-15-2006).]

WOW! You won't find that in the US. More and more music stores are phasing us out. We're being pushed to online or (in store "order only" purchases).

It's hard to find experienced keyboard salesman-woman anymore.

Squeak

Keyboard players, good ones anyway with good equipment, are not all that common which makes us in demand. I'd much rather be specialized and unique than common like the sea of wannabe guitar players I am surrounded by. Music stores reflect their market... if they all carried top arranger keyboards then I'd be worried that the region was saturated with both keyboard and/or arranger players thus driving down my demand and wages. Maybe that's just my view because I play for a living.

I live in Mississauga, Ontario (a suburb of Toronto). There is an exclusive Yamaha music dealer in Missisauga (Walter's Music). He carries accoustic pianos, Clavinova's, Has some DGX keyboards (they are on sale there, by the way). He carries the PSR3000, but no Tyros 2 or PSR1500. He is a little pricey though. Also sells Yamaha guitars.
In Toronto, Long & McQuade, has a store with two sides. One for guitars and drums and another side for keybords. They have a section (in the keyboard side) for arrangers, that is enclosed, so you can crank up the tunes. They have Tyros 2, PSR1500, PSR3000, Korg, Roland, Some Yamaha DGX, no Casios. An excellent selection of arrangers. They also have digital pianos, workstations, synths and they have another enclosed section for softsynths. The reps there can play keyboards, but are not on commision, so there is no pressure. Next time I visit, I will demo Hypersonic 2, hopefully the'll have a Roland E50 or E60 to demo as well. Not expecting much. Sorry Roland lovers.
Steve's Music in Toronto also have a split store with keyboards on one side with an excellent selection of arrangers, electric pianos, synths, workstations, they carry Casio as well.
Selection here is very good.
Starkeeper


[This message has been edited by Starkeeper (edited 06-15-2006).]

Ditto here in Edmonton, Alberta. Long & McQuade have much the same setup, minus the dedicated arranger room.

Giovanni Music in West Edmonton Mall has a full array of Yamaha products. Mother's Music has a decent selection of synths, and Gordon Price Music has a small selection of Roland keyboards. At Axe Music, I've seen a variety of Korg, Roland and General Music keyboards.

So I guess you can say we're well served in the Edmonton area.