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Ed Roman Guitars Opens World's Largest Guitar Store Guitars
handmade by American guitarists on site

Ed Roman Guitars has opened a new store in Las Vegas less than one block from the world famous Strip. The store includes 44,000 square feet of an astounding selection of more than 200 guitar brands. The back of the store, just out of sight of customers, houses 10,000 square feet of the world's preeminent handmade guitar workshops where craftsmen design and hand build some of the world's most exotic electric guitars.

"We have been a major force in the guitar building business for a long time," said Roman. "But this store has finally made us a true destination. If you are into guitars, if you want to tour the very best that American craftsmen have to offer, you have to see this store and the depth of our selection. We are up against some of the biggest retailers in the world, but this is the case where the little guy has a hundred times larger selection than the so called big guys. Bet on it. Come in and see it and you'll know it's true."

Roman is a true custom designer, with some guitars made from rare exotic woods others from stainless steel. Every Ed Roman Guitar meets certain criteria; everything on the guitars is made of authentic materials, and is selected and built by musicians who know what they want as players. Each creation is an expression of a driving creativity that reflects an individual's sometimes eclectic tastes. Priced to attract musicians as well as collectors, some of Roman's Quicksilver line runs just under fifteen hundred dollars for a basic model. While dazzling custom features like exotic woods, solid gold or titanium bridges, incredible inlay work or a back lit fingerboard can push a guitar well into the seven thousand dollar range.

Said Roman, "We are edgy in design, perfectionists in our selection of woods and electronic components. We set a much higher, exacting standard. We really work lacquer finishes before we see the gloss we want. We only produce ten of our customs each month because our guitars are all handmade by American guitarists who know the technical aspects as well as what makes for a gutsy guitar. Any real player will tell you, nothing sounds as sweet as a handmade Ed Roman guitar."

Roman's reputation as a builder is so strong that he is routinely asked to "ghost build" guitars for nationally recognized musicians that have endorsement contracts with other national guitar manufacturers. The showroom walls feature dozens of photos with players who routinely visit when coming to Las Vegas. To enjoy a virtual feast for the eyes for any guitar lover visit Ed Roman's Guitars at www.edromanguitars.com

Ed Romans Viva Las Vegas! A man who is no stranger to the high end guitar trade, and certainly no stranger to a gamble. Well the man is in the right city to now accomplish both. We premiered our first Dealer Profile on Ed Roman Guitars Las Vegas two years ago and now he has done it again. Undoubtedly hailed as "The Worlds Largest Guitar Store", Ed Roman Guitars Las Vegas is sportin' a massive 44,000 square foot showroom showcasing more then 200 guitar brands. This massive facility also features a 10,000 square foot manufacturing workshop where some of the worlds most exotic handmade guitars are built. Wow! That's a serious guitar shop. As always, it's a real pleasure to talk shop with Ed, and in typical Ed Roman style, here is what he shared with Musicians Hotline and the premier of "The Worlds Largest Guitar Store!!!

MH: Ed, two years ago we first profiled the opening of Ed Roman Guitars Las Vegas. You are now expanding the store to a new location of unbelievable proportions. Give us the lowdown on this move.

ER: We have quadrupled our size due to the fact that we are building our own guitars. Our production is up to 3 guitars a day. Sales have gone through the roof thanks to our JET, Gledura, Jaros, Dealerships. The new location is so large that we are buzzing around on scooters inside the store.

MH: What do you feel this new superstore can offer over your previous location?

ER: An even bigger selection and much more room to operate in. There will be 11 sales positions on the main sales floor alone. This will allow us to make more sales and grow even larger.

MH: After moving your manufacturing facility from Connecticut, how do you anticipate this move expanding your custom shop lines such as the Pearlcaster and Quicksilver?

ER: All the key people have relocated in Vegas and we fully expect to double production without affecting quality. We realize that if we get much bigger quality will probably have to take a back seat. For this and other reasons we are initiating a slow growth policy for 2004 and 2005.

MH: This will undoubtedly be hailed as "The Largest Guitar Store In The World!" How many guitars do you anticipate being offered, and what do you feel will be the most unique aspect of this new superstore?

ER: We fully expect to stock 4500 to 5000 finished guitars. In our shop we will have over 1000 necks and bodies to choose from. The most unique aspect of the new store will be the monstrous selection of high-end guitars and basses.

MH: Since you have made the move to Las Vegas, what is the most noticeable change you have seen in the customer base that you now service?

ER: 95% of our customers fly into Vegas from all parts of the world. It is commonplace for the company limo to make several trips a day to the airport and 7 or 8 trips to the strip hotels to pick up our customers.

MH: Ed, tell us a bit about the custom manufactured lines that you offer. Briefly describe each and why you feel these guitars represent the quality that you expect.

ER: Quicksilver, Pearlcaster, Abstract, Viking, LSR, & RVC are the most popular. We offer quite a few other custom brands but the afore mentioned list is the meat of what we do. These guitars are designed to be vast improvements over the corporate model guitars that are available in most stores. We feel we have a high quality alternative to almost anything you can buy in a mainstream white bread corporate store.

MH: Tell us about the store itself, key employees, and the service offered to your clients.

ER: The first and main difference between Ed Roman Guitars and the rest of the flock is that I do not pay salespeople commissions. I learned this the hard way when I used to own East Coast Music Mall in CT. Commissioned salesmen rarely have the customer's satisfaction in mind when they make their recommendations. In fact usually the commissioned salesman will only be concerned with selling the highest commissionable products. In almost every case those products are the harder ones to sell because they don't offer as much value.

MH: Tell us a bit about the acquisition of the "Baker" line of guitars.

ER: I purchased Baker Guitars in 2003 and I intended to have product by early 2004. I was surprised to find out that Baker was an automated operation and had been pulling the wool over people's eyes under the disguise of being handmade. There will be some major changes to the Baker line for 2004 and 2005... I can't discuss them at this time.

MH: Ed Roman Guitars has also become a high-end bass shop over the past couple years. Tell us about the lines you carry and why you have expanded your inventory to include high-end basses.

ER: So far we are unhappy with bass sales.... Most of the manufacturers don't help us the way guitar manufacturers do. Currently we are selling 80 guitars to every one bass and most basses don't even stay sold!! We can please most of the guitar players but bass players don't have the budget that guitar players do and bass players are very hard to keep happy.

MH: The same can be said for the higher end acoustic selection. Tell us a bit about your famous acoustic rooms and the lines that you offer.

ER: Acoustic sales are strong. We are ordering another 2000 acoustic guitars over the next 3 months. The acoustic market has never been better for us.

MH: As a distribution outlet for many high-end luthiers, tell us about some of the new, up and coming lines that you feel are really coming to the forefront of guitar luthIery?

ER: I am seeing new small Luthiers about 3 times a week. Once in a while something great comes along but most of the time I can't say that I am impressed.

Information:
Ed Roman Guitars
4631 S. Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89103
702-798-4995