Polo Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 Has anyone here talked to the new folks at Heritage about offering certain guitars for purchase at the factory tours and or PSP X? It'd sure be cool if they made a dozen or so of the plain maple models available for say $1750 out the door........I can easily see myself getting swept up in the pageantry of a 225 visit and buying one. Anyone else?
ledzef Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 Ren offered a 535 back in'11 PSP. It wasn't ready but they would ship it to you when it was done. They would rather have you purchase one through a dealer than the factory. Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk
AP515 Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 If they do that they will lose their retailor loyalty. They would rather let the retailor deal with the overhead and take orders for wholesale. If they gave a price break for a factory deal their retailors would defect.
Yooper Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 An annual "PSP Day Sale" at the factory shouldn't be of lasting damage to dealers. In fact several would be there.
Polo Posted March 29, 2017 Author Posted March 29, 2017 Okay, it's immediately clear that I need to scale the scope of this one down a bit.... If there were say a dozen plain maple H150/H535s to choose from costing $1750 out the door...only available at PSPX. Who here would be interested in possibly buying one? If there was enough interest Im sure one of the dealers around here could step up and make the arrangements. Picking up a guitar directly from the factory is an incredibly unique experience.....just like PSP. Not to mention....Heritage would sell a few more guitars that day that they may not have.😉
PunkKitty Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 I'd love to get one. It's just not in the budget this year.
Stringman Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 I think one of the ways around this problem could be offer a "PSP Model" only available at the PSP. First come first served. Different model each year. Sell a few guitars. Does anyone care for that idea????? I live in Michigan, but am never in state during the PSP. Is it worth going to? Are newbies welcomed? Anyone can attend and participate? Take care. Stringman
skydog52 Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 Heritage can do anything they want. Being a dealer I would not be happy about it. Dealers have a considerable amount of outlay in their inventory. Do the math. Just my $ 0.02
holyroller Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 Well,,,, I guess that's that . Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
kennyv4 Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 You can order a Gibson from the Gibson Factory in Memphis at full retail price which is a lot more than you can buy a new one from one of their vendors. Gibson will not undercut their retail vendors. What I would love to see is the ability to special order a Heritage guitar with options I would choose through a Heritage dealer. I'm sure it can be done, but there are no Heritage dealers in the Cleveland area and a special order is something I would like to do in person and not over the phone. I would have liked to have ordered one at the Heritage Factory when I took the tour, but I understand why I could not.
AP515 Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 Okay, it's immediately clear that I need to scale the scope of this one down a bit.... If there were say a dozen plain maple H150/H535s to choose from costing $1750 out the door...only available at PSPX. Who here would be interested in possibly buying one? If there was enough interest Im sure one of the dealers around here could step up and make the arrangements. Picking up a guitar directly from the factory is an incredibly unique experience.....just like PSP. Not to mention....Heritage would sell a few more guitars that day that they may not have. I think one of the ways around this problem could be offer a "PSP Model" only available at the PSP. First come first served. Different model each year. Sell a few guitars. Does anyone care for that idea????? I live in Michigan, but am never in state during the PSP. Is it worth going to? Are newbies welcomed? Anyone can attend and participate? Take care. Stringman Heritage can do anything they want. Being a dealer I would not be happy about it. Dealers have a considerable amount of outlay in their inventory. Do the math. Just my $ 0.02 All of these can be rolled into one. PRS does this. They have a factory visitation kind of day called "PRS experience" and they do have guitars available at the event. Dealers show up and put the guitars in a room and the PRS faithful go in and drool. The dealers sell the guitars and get the profits from them. Who sells what guitar and what the prices are is negotiated between PRS and the retailor before the event.
Polo Posted March 29, 2017 Author Posted March 29, 2017 Oye veh. All I know is that if Heritage OR one of it's dealers were to have a handful of the affordably priced H150PM or the H535PM's for an immediate sale at PSP ....I'd probably end up buying one. I do not think I'd be alone.
kidsmoke Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 I think there is a way everyone could benefit. Lets say a PM version were commissioned. A special, albeit simple and not costly, logo was added to an otherwise spartan guitar. I'm thinking a headstock inlay a la the diamond. No binding on the headstock or anywhere else. NOT the diamond but...maybe a new PSP logo or some such. Or just a roman numeral of the PSP, in this case "X". The outfit that sources the headstock veneers runs a limited qty... the cost of that veneer, in and of itself, is minimal. Then Heritage works out with dealers a special IN PERSON NO HAGGLE SPECIAL DAY OF price, shares that with dealers, and the dealers do what they do. Given that there are no options available - save for maybe color? the time invested by the dealers is minimal. They handle the order processing with the plant. The plant only has to deal with them. The delivery date is set in stone. The profit per unit is set in stone. Interested dealers participate, others opt out. We, the faithful, would have choices 150 (and) or 535 Color (standard Heritage palate only) Dealer Price is determined. pick a color, call your dealer of choice with a credit card. Done. ~Dealer has a no-haggle sale from a buyer who knows EXACTLY what to expect, and as dealers, it gives them the opportunity to cultivate a positive buyer experience and relationship, never have to assume the risk or cost of handling. For their commitment of safe secure commerce, taking responsibility that your order is executed, and willingness to communicate any necessary info, they are deservedly compensated. ~Heritage moves 20 - 30 ( 6 - 8 ? ) benchmark, standard appointed guitars, plain top, seths (unless throbak wanted in and could keep the price right), with the exception of the headstock veneer, with no extra customer interaction or funky demands or annoying "hows it coming? pics? did ya get my TRC from Uzbekistan?" calls.... ~we dudes and dudettes (kitty and lefty - sounds like a Townes tune) get to mark the first Friday in August as Christmas and try keep our wits about us For some it may be the only new guitar they ever are able to purchase, and yet it's an exciting privilege.
HANGAR18 Posted March 29, 2017 Posted March 29, 2017 All of these can be rolled into one. PRS does this. They have a factory visitation kind of day called "PRS experience" and they do have guitars available at the event. Dealers show up and put the guitars in a room and the PRS faithful go in and drool. The dealers sell the guitars and get the profits from them. Who sells what guitar and what the prices are is negotiated between PRS and the retailor before the event. Yea, that would probably work just fine. I got the impression that only the top selling dealers got the invite to appear at that event. Likewise I would imagine that any Heritage dealers that want to display their guitar inventory for sale at the factory might be invited to do so. However, I've been to the factories of all the big three and when I bought a guitar from Gibson, they offered it at normal advertised price which they had posted on their web site and there was no chance in hell of getting a discount. On the other hand when I bought a PRS at the "Signature Club event" that AP515 is talking about (before they opened the door to the general public aka PRS Experience) I was able to haggle a little bit and get a great deal from a Texas PRS dealer participating in that event at the factory who was a "motivated seller". I get the impression that buying a guitar at the factory during an exclusive event by invitation only is pretty much a hoitey-toitey corksniffer sort of a thing where they schmoooze you with free beer and catering and then your are sort of expected to break out the credit card and buy something. At the PRS factory, the beer was cold, the catering was yummy, I knew I was being schmooozed but hey, it apparently worked because I came home with a $4200.00 guitar that I hadn't planned on buying before I got there. How this relates to Heritage guitars is this. I feel like it is safe to say that HOC members love Heritage guitars but they don't want to pay a lot of money for them. Myself included. I think that if any of us really want to buy a brand new Heritage guitar, we ought to just pick our favorite dealer and buy a guitar from or through them directly just like it's always been done. I should also mention that it cost me $70.00 in the form of an annual club membership fee in order to get the invitation to that hoitey-toitey corksniffer invitation only event.
Polo Posted March 29, 2017 Author Posted March 29, 2017 I think there is a way everyone could benefit. Lets say a PM version were commissioned. A special, albeit simple and not costly, logo was added to an otherwise spartan guitar. I'm thinking a headstock inlay a la the diamond. No binding on the headstock or anywhere else. NOT the diamond but...maybe a new PSP logo or some such. Or just a roman numeral of the PSP, in this case "X". The outfit that sources the headstock veneers runs a limited qty... the cost of that veneer, in and of itself, is minimal. Then Heritage works out with dealers a special IN PERSON NO HAGGLE SPECIAL DAY OF price, shares that with dealers, and the dealers do what they do. Given that there are no options available - save for maybe color? the time invested by the dealers is minimal. They handle the order processing with the plant. The plant only has to deal with them. The delivery date is set in stone. The profit per unit is set in stone. Interested dealers participate, others opt out. We, the faithful, would have choices 150 (and) or 535 Color (standard Heritage palate only) Dealer Price is determined. pick a color, call your dealer of choice with a credit card. Done. ~Dealer has a no-haggle sale from a buyer who knows EXACTLY what to expect, and as dealers, it gives them the opportunity to cultivate a positive buyer experience and relationship, never have to assume the risk or cost of handling. For their commitment of safe secure commerce, taking responsibility that your order is executed, and willingness to communicate any necessary info, they are deservedly compensated. ~Heritage moves 20 - 30 ( 6 - 8 ? ) benchmark, standard appointed guitars, plain top, seths (unless throbak wanted in and could keep the price right), with the exception of the headstock veneer, with no extra customer interaction or funky demands or annoying "hows it coming? pics? did ya get my TRC from Uzbekistan?" calls.... ~we dudes and dudettes (kitty and lefty - sounds like a Townes tune) get to mark the first Friday in August as Christmas and try keep our wits about us For some it may be the only new guitar they ever are able to purchase, and yet it's an exciting privilege. There we go. Sign me up Kip. Do you take AMEX?
PunkKitty Posted March 30, 2017 Posted March 30, 2017 I think there is a way everyone could benefit. Lets say a PM version were commissioned. A special, albeit simple and not costly, logo was added to an otherwise spartan guitar. I'm thinking a headstock inlay a la the diamond. No binding on the headstock or anywhere else. NOT the diamond but...maybe a new PSP logo or some such. Or just a roman numeral of the PSP, in this case "X". The outfit that sources the headstock veneers runs a limited qty... the cost of that veneer, in and of itself, is minimal. Then Heritage works out with dealers a special IN PERSON NO HAGGLE SPECIAL DAY OF price, shares that with dealers, and the dealers do what they do. Given that there are no options available - save for maybe color? the time invested by the dealers is minimal. They handle the order processing with the plant. The plant only has to deal with them. The delivery date is set in stone. The profit per unit is set in stone. Interested dealers participate, others opt out. We, the faithful, would have choices 150 (and) or 535 Color (standard Heritage palate only) Dealer Price is determined. pick a color, call your dealer of choice with a credit card. Done. ~Dealer has a no-haggle sale from a buyer who knows EXACTLY what to expect, and as dealers, it gives them the opportunity to cultivate a positive buyer experience and relationship, never have to assume the risk or cost of handling. For their commitment of safe secure commerce, taking responsibility that your order is executed, and willingness to communicate any necessary info, they are deservedly compensated. ~Heritage moves 20 - 30 ( 6 - 8 ? ) benchmark, standard appointed guitars, plain top, seths (unless throbak wanted in and could keep the price right), with the exception of the headstock veneer, with no extra customer interaction or funky demands or annoying "hows it coming? pics? did ya get my TRC from Uzbekistan?" calls.... ~we dudes and dudettes (kitty and lefty - sounds like a Townes tune) get to mark the first Friday in August as Christmas and try keep our wits about us For some it may be the only new guitar they ever are able to purchase, and yet it's an exciting privilege. Let's see...That gives me 4 months to save.
Kuz Posted March 30, 2017 Posted March 30, 2017 My short answer to the OP question is "No". There are a couple dealers that I won't deal with again, and a couple I would have ultimate trust in and wouldn't want to hurt them by buying direct.
Conneazoo Posted March 30, 2017 Posted March 30, 2017 My short answer to the OP question is "No". There are a couple dealers that I won't deal with again, and a couple I would have ultimate trust in and wouldn't want to hurt them by buying direct. This rye cheer..^^^^^^^ Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
TalismanRich Posted March 30, 2017 Posted March 30, 2017 I wouldn't expect Heritage to try to sell direct from the factory without including any dealers unless it was some type of factory second, not a first quality guitar. Its tough enough for a dealer to make money these days without having your supplier undercut you by going direct. Its just not a great business model. You probably don't expect to visit the Corvette factory in Bowling Green and drive out with a new 'vette for less than you could get at your local dealer. A much better idea would be to work with dealers for people who were coming up to the tour to pick up their guitars at the factory, It would save a bit on shipping and handling, although for most of us, the cost of the trip would more than cover the shipping cost. If Wolfe or Green Oak wanted to spec out an HOC model and basically sell them onsite that day, fine. That's between them and the customer.
ElNumero Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 You can order a Gibson from the Gibson Factory in Memphis at full retail price which is a lot more than you can buy a new one from one of their vendors. Gibson will not undercut their retail vendors. What I would love to see is the ability to special order a Heritage guitar with options I would choose through a Heritage dealer. I'm sure it can be done, but there are no Heritage dealers in the Cleveland area and a special order is something I would like to do in person and not over the phone. I would have liked to have ordered one at the Heritage Factory when I took the tour, but I understand why I could not. Kenny, I find it hard to believe there are zero Heritage dealers near you. Nonetheless, it doesn't matter where the Heritage dealer is located, they can take care of you. There is Paul in Michigan, Guy in Las Vegas and of course Jay Wolfe in Florida. You just call several dealers, spec out what you want, get the price, and then choose who you want to go with. It is really not rocket science at all. If you MUST see a dealer in person to accomplish this, take a little vacation South. I am sure Cleveland is still cold and sunny Florida is awaiting you. Plus Jay's store is fun to go to, he has lots and lots of guitars hanging on the walls he will let you demo.
ElNumero Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 I wouldn't expect Heritage to try to sell direct from the factory without including any dealers unless it was some type of factory second, not a first quality guitar. Its tough enough for a dealer to make money these days without having your supplier undercut you by going direct. Its just not a great business model. You probably don't expect to visit the Corvette factory in Bowling Green and drive out with a new 'vette for less than you could get at your local dealer. A much better idea would be to work with dealers for people who were coming up to the tour to pick up their guitars at the factory, It would save a bit on shipping and handling, although for most of us, the cost of the trip would more than cover the shipping cost. If Wolfe or Green Oak wanted to spec out an HOC model and basically sell them onsite that day, fine. That's between them and the customer. I was thinking as I read your post Rich, that perhaps a "scratch and dent" sale could be had if Heritage wanted to rid themselves of some old inventory that could not be sold as new. Myself, I would buy that trans red Heritage 535 that I should never have sold!
pressure Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 When I buy a Heritage guitar its fun engaging with the factory actually its Fab. But I also enjoy interacting with my Heritage dealer. I wouldn't think of buying a guitar any other way.
kennyv4 Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 Kenny, I find it hard to believe there are zero Heritage dealers near you. Nonetheless, it doesn't matter where the Heritage dealer is located, they can take care of you. There is Paul in Michigan, Guy in Las Vegas and of course Jay Wolfe in Florida. You just call several dealers, spec out what you want, get the price, and then choose who you want to go with. It is really not rocket science at all. If you MUST see a dealer in person to accomplish this, take a little vacation South. I am sure Cleveland is still cold and sunny Florida is awaiting you. Plus Jay's store is fun to go to, he has lots and lots of guitars hanging on the walls he will let you demo. Monabossanova, Thanks for the information. The nearest Heritage dealer is a two hour ride which I consider a hike because there are so many guitar stores within a twenty minutes or less ride from my house. When I was in Florida this winter I did stop by Wolf Guitars in Jupiter and tried out several different H-535's. A very nice music store indeed. My biggest problem is, it is hard to tell what a guitar color really looks like by a looking at a small sample and I want to hear how the optional pickups I could choose would sound like.
PunkKitty Posted April 4, 2017 Posted April 4, 2017 As an addendum to Kip's idea, I'd like to propose my own. Rosewood and ebony are becoming more and more scarce. Maybe Heritage would be willing to use us as test subjects for alternative fretboard woods. Roasted maple would be a good option. There are also composites available. I would be willing to take one for the team and test a 535 with one of these alternatives.
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