I know that I am 'preaching to the choir' for the most part, but I just want to say that when INVESTING - and it IS an investment - in any music apparatus, make sure you know who you are dealing with ...
when I was deciding on purchasing my PA 600, I found that the Guitar Center 15 minutes from my house was an authorized dealer ... however, having previously dealt with Frank at Audio Works in CT http://www.audioworksct.com/ I figured I would purchase from him even though his store is a little over one and a half hours away ...
Well, I won't go into the gory details, but after purchasing the board at a very 'competitive' price, I soon found that I needed some service ... I thought about bringing the board to GC, but hesitated because I didn't buy it there ... I got in touch with Frank, the level of service and speed of response was nothing less than GREAT !!! ... I won't say that GC wouldn't also have given me good service, but I do doubt that it would have been to the level of Frank's ...
I have found that, while there may be a 'corporate' philosophy for high service to customers, in many of these 'chain stores' that service level rests in the hands of the individual workers - if they WANT to provide great service, they will, otherwise ...
So, I just want to publicly thank Frank for his great service and dedication to S-Z forum members ...

I wish people in Europe would have your attitude, there are hardly any keyboard shops left in the UK due to cut throat internet discounting. One well known European cyberstore sells many product at Trade Price (or close to) which tempts buyers and makes it impossible for retailers to be competitive.

If only the manufacturers would enforce MAP pricing and the buyers would support their local music shops (the few that are left)

Frank is the Best...!!! Nuff Said!!

We have several terrific retailers here, at the Zone ... Frank, George, AJ, DanO and many more - keep the brothers in business!

Last time I checked, Dan0 was no longer a retailer.

Gary

Sure he is, he retails automobiles!
DonM

Like everything in this world you get what you pay for. While big chains can undercut the small retailer what you get in terms of support and assistance far outweighs the few extra dollars you may save. In the end the cheaper deal could cost you much more in the long run.

Frank, George, AJ ( and DanO when he was retailing ) in the USA and Tonewheeldude in the UK have proved themselves to be stellar in terms of supporting their customers post purchase, as well as knowing how to best configure the keyboards at the time of purchase. Many members here will atest to that. Especially with arranger keyboards ... chains like GC have little to no knowledge about these models.

I like and support Frank and George for US based retailers you can trust.


Russ

Agree about Frank and George...also curious about why you needed service on your new Korg PA600 Tony?