From tonysounds@yahoo.com Thu Jul 01 23:29:58 2004
Subject:Re: XK3.. who cares?

No, I purchased my XK3 from Hammond directly. I had one before any of the dealers here did. But that's only because I was pestering them every week "are they in yet, are they here yet?" BUT....let me tell you about my feelings about Hammond dealers. The 2 I know here in Chicago (and again, since these are the only Hammond dealers I've EVER been to, they might represent a unique scenario, but I suspect not) are family businesses, and the 2nd generation are still employees, not owners. I bought my first keyboard from one of these dealers, a brand new 1976 Fender Rhodes Suitcase. When I went to buy my first Hammond a while later, I was shocked at how much money they cost. When I told him that I could find one in the paper for less than 1/3 what he was asking (and a lot of his stock was used as well, although he sold new Hammonds and pianos too) he looked me right in the eye, and without missing a beat told me "well, I dont deal with musicians because they never have any money."
While I took that as an insult (being 20 at the time), I realize he was right. Also, I didn't realize what a huge market the music ministry was even back then, and that was his bread and butter.
When I wanted to buy my XK2, his store was the first place I went to...makes sense that a Hammond dealer would have it right? No. "I don't stock em. If you want one, I'll special order it for you, but you pay me first." That's an old school way of doing things that frankly doesn't fly in this world of Best Buy/Guitar Center/Home Depot of doing things. He isn't stocking anything that he isn't going to move 10 of in the next year. And competing pricewise with anyone else isn't even in his way of thinking (unless its with the other Hammond dealer). He did have the new B3 there as well as the new Porta B. (Both of which sounded excellent; I'm guessing he knows he's going to sell more of those $14k keyboards than this $2k keyboard; more likely, in his cunning, he isn't even interested in showing there's anything available in a "$2k" price range.)

If I had decided to buy a Leslie 21 System (and I tried the 21 at least a month before I got my little deal with HS), I would have bought from him because it was at his store that I got to hear it. And by the way, when I was playing my Electro through it, they said "I guess you won't be needing a new keyboard." It did sound really good.

I use mail order when I can't find it in a store near me, and that's the ONLY reason. I'm one of those guys who will go to Guitar Center or Sam Ash first. But I've been a long time customer of those stores and believe me when I tell you they don't make any money off of me. So the deals offered by mail order aren't why I go there: most of the time it costs me more because of shipping.

T

S S wrote:
As someone who works and has worked in music product
retail and manufacturing, it is a shame what is
happening to the dealer network in the music products
industry. If you're wondering why a lot of dealers are
NOT stocking the XK-3, it is because Sweetwater and
Musician's Friend have it, amongst others. There is no
way that a smaller dealer can compete.

It is NOT the dealer's fault that this has happened.
This is a manufacturer issue. If the dealer could sell
it without fighting over price with the "big guys,"
you would find a lot more dealers stocking it. But why
should they, when what usually happens is that an
individual will visit the store just to try out the
product, and then go purchase it on-line from their
favorite mail order company? Put yourself in their
shoes ----- if you can.

BTW, did you purchase your XK-3 from one of those
Chicago dealers?

FP

--- tonysounds wrote:

> Now that said, two of the Hammond dealers in the
> Chicago area (and I've only ever been to these two,
> so my experience is probably limited) are both
> stocking the XK3 and have them there for you to
> hear. (That's actually where I heard the Leslie 21,
> which I know many dealers weren't stocking either.)
> The problem you describe is not HS's problem, but
> the individual dealers' issues. If your dealer
> won't "service" you, find another dealer: in this
> case, mail order is the way to go: if you don't like
> it, send it back.
>
> T
>
> S S wrote:
> Just wondering....
> Where would you recommend? In which city or area is
> there a Hammond dealer where they represent ALL of
> the
> products that HS makes??????
>
> We know and can speculate that it's not LA, Seattle,
> Dallas, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Denver, Tampa,
> Charlotte, Richmond, ....... When we find those
> dealers, we should surely support them as they are
> the
> pioneers.
>
> FP
>
> >Don't buy an XK3, and dont rate equipment
> >based on an mp3...and move somewhere they do have a
> >decent Hammond distributor!
> >
> > T
> >
>
>
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