Anyone got a really good Sweetwater rep? (Looking for a Yamaha A5R)

  • I am currently looking for a Yamaha A5R. Anyone have a Sweetwater rep they think would check out what they have in stock, to see which one seems to play and sound the best? I know that is subjective, but some guitars sound dead and some don't. Some have major issues and some don't. My last experience with Sweetwater wasn't very good, but they have four of what I am looking for in stock, and I can't find any locally.


    Also, if anyone has an A5R or A3R (the newer ones, with the simplified controls), and don't mind sharing your thoughts, I'd appreciate any info. Thanks!


    (Mods: I apologize if this type of post violates board TOS. If so, please delete. Thanks)

  • I've done a lot of buying from Sweetwater, including the Kemper.


    My guy is Zach Richards. Tell him I sent you. I work him pretty hard on pricing so at least he'll know I'm pointing business his way. :)

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I emailed him, Chris Duncan , and mentioned you. The context is that, about a month ago I bought a guitar from Sweetwater -- not a super impressive purchase, around $1,000. The guitar arrived damaged, even though I bought a case with it, and it was shipped in the case, boxed, and well packed. There was no damage the the box or case, but some of the frets were gouged, from what had to be a very hard impact to that specific part of the neck. It needs a fret leveling too, but other than the gouges, the frets weren't as bad as I had initially thought. There is no way the guitar was properly inspected, prior to being shipped.


    There was only one of those in stock, and I was getting a lot of foot dragging and slow responses. I don't spend $50,000 a year, at Sweetwater, and don't expect to be treated like royalty, but I was pretty upset at the state my guitar came in, and more upset at the way they handled it. I sent many very detailed pictures, showing the damage. I was told there was no way it could have left the store like that, and it was damaged in shipping.


    They offered to exchange it (without checking if they had any more, which they didn't), but the whole thing drug out for about a week. I ended up keeping the guitar and paying to have it fixed, myself.


    After that, I switched reps to one my friend was really happy with. I asked him to check out the Yamaha A5Rs they had in stock -- not wanting a similar experience to my last one. Had my new rep told me he didn't want to spend his time doing so, I would have been fine with the response, as that isn't something other retailers would do, either. However, as he indicted he would, and then stopped returning my emails, I am kinda irritated -- especially with my other recent issue with Sweetwater.


    I live about two hours from music stores with a decent selection of mid-range gear, and hate playing the online roulette or ordering boxes that haven't even been opened. I thought that the whole sales rep thing with Sweetwater was worth the higher prices than other online retailers. I'm pretty close to being done with Sweetwater, at this point. Hopefully your rep works out. Thanks again.

  • I don't spend $50k with them either, but it's not uncommon for me to spend a few $k per order.


    I would highly recommend that you pick up the telephone. I never deal with retailers by email, it's too easy to ignore and takes too long when GAS says I want it now. Communication is also much easier.


    I bought a new Telecaster from them. I'm not in the habit of buying guitars without touching them but it was a good deal and I'm new to the world of Teles. I'd started with a cheap $300 Chinese Fender to see if I liked them, and then went for an American Special once I did. It was a "scratch and dent" sale, but he actually checked on it and said he couldn't find any cosmetic problems. When I got it, I was of the same opinion.


    However, it had a problem that I've since found is not uncommon with Teles. There was only one string tree, and one of the strings, I think the G, was resonating very loudly at the pitch between the nut and the string winders. The guy down the street I took it to is okay for basic stuff, but he didn't catch it, thinking it must be the nut. We finally gave up and when I went home, Google told me others have had this problem.


    I called Zach and said I couldn't live with it. It was loud enough acoustically. Through hot pickups, it was unbearable. He said no problem, sent a FedEx pickup for it (no charge), sent me a replacement without waiting for this one to get back (no extra charge) and the unit was a regular stock, not a scratch and dent, but he honored the original price. Got the guitar, no singing headstock, and I was happy. Sure, disappointed, impatient to get the real thing, but to me this fell under the category of "stuff happens." The way he took care of the problem was why I kept asking for him in the future.


    Sweetwater puts out a lot of hype about the "Sweetwater experience," customer service, yada, yada. To me that's just marketing stuff. Like any company, it comes down to the people you're dealing with. Some are impressive, some are not. I doubt he's perfect but thus far he's done a good job for me.


    All that said, I again encourage you to pick up the phone. There's never a guarantee things will go perfectly, but having a real, live human on the other end of the line makes it much more likely that they will.


    Hope it's a good experience! :)

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • It's pretty difficult for me to be on the phone during normal business hours. If I go to where I can make a phone call, and the person I'm calling isn't there, it is even worse, because I wasted about fifteen minutes. Do that a few times in a day, and now you're staying at work for an extra hour. I know... First world problems...


    After that, I'm usually either playing guitar or at the gym -- once again, making it difficult for me to be on the phone. I know everyone's different, but I prefer to do as much communication as possible electronically.


    You are probably right. That probably gets me worse results then by using the phone, but it's more convenient for me.


    Anyway, Zach is supposed to be checking these out for me, today. The original guy finally got back to me -- I'm not sure if me emailing Zach prompted this -- but without giving me a price. I'll see what kind of info Zach comes back. If not, I may give my "new" rep another chance.


    I understand they are busy, too, and in no way think my time is more valuable than theirs, but if you can't do something in a reasonable amount of time, just tell me, and I'll be fine with it. If you simply don't want to do something, let me know, and I'll be fine with it.


    Anyway, thanks again, for the help.

  • Well, the end of the saga is that Chris Duncan was right. I should have just made the time to call.


    My rep finally got back to me. The guitar I liked the looks of the best, that my rep liked the sound of the best had been sold. Zach found one that sounded really good, but had a really mismatched top. I didn't like the looks of any of the remaining ones they had.


    Zach was really awesome though, so thanks for the recommendation. I'm going to give my guy one more shot (and call, like you said). If there are any more issues, I'm going to try to switch to Zach, because he seems really great to work with.