Price Guarantee

Ed Roman's Price Guarantee is Fairly Simple:
I will beat any stocking authorized dealers price

on any new production guitar.

Ed On Negotiation

I will not be insulted if you try to negotiate or make a better deal. I realize that human nature is such that every one wants to get a good deal.  When a customer starts negotiating price, He is telling me that he is a serious buyer. Obviously I have to make money when I sell something how else could I pay the rent or make the payroll.

Customers should try to understand that I have a large investment of inventory. I have dedicated myself to being the most complete and up to date guitar store in the world. This also of course costs money.

The more we sell the less we have to charge. So if you like what this store is about, Tell your friends and support us by buying all your guitars here.  Currently my prices are low except on rare and oddball items but I will be able to go even lower if my volume increases.

Furthermore

Many companies have forbidden me from posting  my price guarantee on  pages that are associated directly with them. For example Taylor Guitars  told me that "I could not post my guaranteed lowest price on any of my Taylor Pages."   They even went so far as to get a court injunction from me listing even their list prices.

So remember, just because you don't see a price posted doesn't mean you shouldn't feel free to to use my guaranteed lowest price guarantee.

Some companies prevent us from even offering free freight.  These companies are trying to level the playing field for all their dealers. I agree with what they are trying to do.  If they didn't do that then no one would make any money.  Remember if no one makes money doing something, they just won't do it. 

For example....  What if everyone downloaded music from the internet,  and never bought the actual CD, Tape or Record.  In that case, all the record companies would cease to exist. The studio owners would all go out of business,  they could never afford to keep their doors open. The musicians would be limited to home recording, eventually no one would care if their records sold, and the entire industry would simply flush itself down the toilet.  Bye Bye music scene. 

So try to remember,  we need to make money  so we can keep bringing you all these extra cool guitars that no one else will carry !!! 

So don't beat us into the dirt too hard the next time you want to buy a guitar.

Limited Editions 

I cannot guarantee to beat prices on limited editions.  In fact my prices on those may even be high  (but I usually have them when nobody else will).
I will beat any price that you are quoted.  I can and will keep my prices lower than the competition.  Except on limited editions and one of a kind guitars.

Tell Me If you get a better price, and tell me from who!!!!

Please don't feel embarrassed or funny about using this service. How else will I know if other dealers are cheaper.

Solid Colors & Standard Models

In the case of solid color models  or standard models like PRS, Parker,  Gretsch, Jackson, Gibson BC Rich, Rickenbacker, & most Major Brands etc. I will always guarantee to beat any price.

Unusually Fine Tops

Sometimes, when dealing with guitars like Centurion, PRS, Quicksilver, Gibson, JET,  & Gledura  there are situations where the figuring on the top is extra special. In a cases like these, I cannot always guarantee to beat a price.

Back Orders

Sometimes companies like Rickenbacker  and/or PRS get into 18 month backorder situations. When this happens I will not always guarantee to beat the price. However,  I still will guarantee to beat the price if you are willing to order the item.

 

 

Advice for Beginner Guitarists 

Click Here

 

Food For Thought

"In mainstream political circles anyone who talks about conspiracies at all is ridiculed. This smug habit is either ignorant or dishonest, since even a little study shows us that there have been many conspiracies in human history, and that some of them had a major effect.  Almost everyone immediately suspects a conspiracy when an assassination occurs in foreign countries: For example, Anwar Sadat in Egypt, or Indira Gandhi in India. But in the USA assassins are all supposed to be crazed loners."

Our country of course is completely immune to Conspiracies.

Ed Roman
Oct 04, 2001

 

Billy Gibbons in the Store Jamming on an Ed Roman RVC Guitar

 
These Photos From The PRS Factory
You are looking at a CNC machine

Computer Numerically Controlled

 

All of the delicate cutting operations are done by $85,000.00 machines. All of the shaping, sanding, binding & fitting is robotically accomplished. There are no human hands, no human eyes to line up the wood perfectly so that imperfections in the wood fall into locations that won't be seen later.

There is nothing illegal about building a guitar with a machine.  I just feel, it's totally unethical & immoral to charge the extremely high hand made prices. just because you made your original reputation by building handmade guitars.

Most every large company is guilty of this, I can think of very few large companies who still actually handbuild their guitars.

BC Rich USA,  Jackson Custom Shop, & maybe the PRS private stock guitars are semi hand built. These are all I can think of, off the top of my head.  I repeat, There is nothing wrong with CNC made guitars except that they are usually overpriced and under built. They generally lack a certain vibe, soul or character that can only be achieved from a hand built guitar. Not everyone can necessarily benefit from these detailed characteristics, So that's why a custom made hand built guitar isn't for everyone.  I always recommend a mid priced machine made Fender, Jackson, Dean, OLP, Hamer, or  Ibanez for a beginner or for the working musician who needs a good low cost guitar.  A custom made guitar is not for everyone. When and if, you finally decide to get a custom made instrument, you cross the threshold between good & great. Today a machine made guitar is considered a tool and a handmade one is potentially an heirloom or an investment guitar.

The worst offenders that I can think of is ESP, Lakland, Gibson & Taylor.  Many people assume that these companies are hand building.  The ESP guitars are totally machine made in Asia and priced incredibly high. The Lakland guitars offer a USA made and an Asian made model, Both are so unbelievably overpriced that It should be a crime. Gibson guitars are well known for being overpriced by everyone, I feel that their machine made guitars are overpriced so much that even if they were handmade they are still incredibly overpriced.  In the case of Taylor, they are also machine made and if you pay attention to their ridiculous image based advertising campaign you might think they were handmade.   NOT!!!!!!

PRS on the other hand has publicly stated that they are %100 machine made. (Kudos For Honesty) Up until a couple of years ago they actually used to be proud of it, They even boasted about it. Today the consumer isn't as stupid as they used to be, thanks to people who print these little exposé's on their websites. Today PRS doesn't call too much attention to it and in their last catalog they show numerous photos of craftsmen actually carving guitars. I presume those guitars are their private stock models, I know they are not the models you will see when you walk into a big box store or corporate superstore.

Tom Anderson says he builds three guitars a day, that may be %100 true. Or is this just a clever way to possibly make the consumer think they are handmade. Because Tom has CNC machinery and if he wanted to he could produce many more guitars a day.

This whole article was prompted by a customer who attempted to trade in a plain black blah looking Sadowsky NYC Bass earlier today. 
I offered the customer what I considered to be a very generous trade in, I actually offered him way too much by my standard, $2,000.00 because I had heard that these basses were pretty good.

When he told me he wanted $3,500.00 for the bass I was appalled. This instrument is made from parts & constructed almost exactly like a Fender. The customer went on to tell me that the electronics were amazing. I played the bass, I had to agree the electronics were great. However I know that once an electronic circuit is designed you can copy it exactly for less than $10.00 each. I also like the way the bass played & felt. I just could not wrap myself around the price.

I did about 15 minutes of research and I was able to determine who builds the bodies, necks, bridge, tuners & pickups.  My own production made machine made low end "Lowrider" model bass can be bought brand new for about $2,700.00 cheaper. Coincidentally the components are all exactly the same.  (With exception of his proprietary electronic circuit)

Now I'm nor claiming my bass is better, I'm not claiming anything. I'm just trying to make a point about overpricing.... (You No Longer Get What You Pay For !!! & That's A Cold Hard Fact)

We have in our inventory  at least 2 Fender Basses with Sadowsky's $250.00 electronics built in should we charge $250.00 more or should we charge $2,500.00 more  (Think about it)

Ed Roman

 

 More Deprogramming From Ed Roman
Please read what I have written below with an open mind 

 

These Are 2 Major Cliché's That Are No Longer True In The Guitar Business

1,  You Get What You Pay For!!!!

It's painfully obvious to me or to anyone who is not intellectually challenged, today many large corporations, use this tired old cliché to their financial advantage. They are constantly pricing guitars at extremely high prices, so that consumers will think they are actually handmade well built instruments.

I first learned this fact back in 1991, I was employed by Gibson Guitars. The president of Gibson, Henry Juszkiewicz made this statement to me. "The higher the price the better the guitar" "or at least that will be the customers perception". 

This may have backfired a little on him, due to the fact that this artificial perception, that a production made guitar has to be so expensive, has made it possible for custom builders like, Myself, JET, Gledura, Jaros, Benedetto, McPherson, Dingwall, & Alembic to flourish. Simply because most intelligent people, would rather have a custom guitar. Especially if they could buy it for the same price or less than a machine made production instrument.

2,  It's Just Too Good To Be True!!!!

That's another Bulls&%t Cliché, The Man & all the large corporations want to instill in your mind.  (Don't you believe that for even one second !!!!!!!!)

A tribe isn't a tribe unless it has one Chief & many Indians. 

The Chief is nothing without Indians!!

The question you must ask yourself your whole life is "Am I A Chief,  Or Am I An Indian"

The Indian will believe the old "It's too good to be true" adage and go back to smoking his peace pipe. The Chief will just go for it  There lies the inherent difference.

Some people play original music, They are known as innovators, Some people play only cover tunes, In Vegas they are known as Lounge Bands.

Now that doesn't make these people bad people, But it doesn't make them Chief's either !!!!

Hell, I like to play cover music myself, I do it for fun !!!

Ed Roman

06/17/05

 

 

Monkey See Monkey Do

The monkey will play the same guitar as all the other monkeys will

 

 

Turdland Guitar

Read this story

Hello Ed

This Gibson Byrdland was well over 5,000.00 and I waited for almost 2 years to get it.   When It finally arrived the pickguard was falling off and the top had cracked directly in the center of the F Hole. The fingerboard had delaminated at the top frets and there was actually rust on the tailpiece. I called the dealer who apologized to me and gave me a number to call at Gibson. It took me a total of 4 hours of phone calls before I was able to reach a human it was an exercise in futility to finally get someone who had the power to give me a return authorization code.

I sent them the guitar because the tard  told me they would replace it with a new guitar.  I waited about 5 months and the same guitar came back to me this time it was worse. They had repaired the crack and it was still visible, some churl had polished the tailpiece and you could still see the area where the rust had been because the plating was a tad corroded. The fingerboard had been sloppily repaired because there were apparent glue stains on the binding by the top frets. This time there was an indentation on the fret board where some bozo had obviously clamped the finger board down while the glue dried.

To make matters worse, much worse there were little red stains that looked like crayon markings on the top of the guitar. These markings appeared to be under the finish.  If you look closely at the picture you will see one of them by the back tone pot. There were about 9 more of them if you look carefully you can see them directly above the tailpiece.  One of the marks measured about 6" long it stretches from above the tailpiece to almost the bottom of the F hole. There are some small blotchy ones down by the input jack extending up to where the tailpiece is joined to the butt of the guitar.

The Flarb who inspected this guitar had to be blind in one eye and couldn't see out of the other.

But wait it gets even worse! The binding on the lower F hole came off within 24 hours of getting it back, The intonation sounded like it had been done by a monkey, not just any monkey, I figure it had to be a retarded monkey.

I contacted my dealer who apologized again, He also told me that he had been having similar nightmares with other Gibson guitars. He told me that he was going to drop the line and look for another brand to represent.

Again I called Gibson,  Surprise Surprise I got the same merry go round of moronic voicemail messages.  Al Capone would have been proud of me, if he had heard some of the death threats I left on their telephne voice mail.  Needless to say no one called me back.

The picture you see here is after I had the entire body polished and all the repairs done at a cost to me of over 600 dollars.  This is the same picture I used to put this piece of crap on EBAY, the guitar sold to a dealer in New York for 3300 dollars.  I thank Christ that I will never have to see it again. 

So now I'm in the market for another Jazz guitar, You sold my friend Victor Harris a Triggs R5, I have played it and it's easily twice as nice as "the Turdland "

I am still licking my wounds but as soon as I recover I will be calling you for either a Triggs, or an Eastman guitar.  I sure hope you print this it will give me a little satisfaction.

This episode cost me a 1700 dollar direct loss on the instrument,  600 plus loss on the repair, plus the freight to Gibson was over 150 because like a jerk I shipped it overnight.

Oh yeah. then Egay banged me another 55.00 dollars in the ass

I solemnly vow that as long as I live I will NEVER EVER purchase any Gibson product, new or used, not even a set of strings.

I LOVE YOUR RANTS   Keep em' comin'

Ronnie Lewicki

Overland Park, KS

 

Hey Ronnie

I am sorry to hear your story,  yes I will print it.  In fact,  I am going to start printing many more of these letters good or bad!

This syndrome is growing at an alarming rate, In my opinion large corporations have no place in the art world.  I mean would you buy a painting at a Wal-Mart?  Believe it or not, they actually do sell them!

Regarding your solemn vow not to purchase any Gibson products, Just in case you aren't aware I wanted to list some of them.  I wish I could make that same vow but I can't fight a brainwashed public.

Anyway here are a few of the names of brands that Gibson owns or distributes !!

Epiphone Guitars, Steinberger Guitars, Kramer Guitars, Dobro Resonators, Wurlitzer Jukeboxes, Baldwin Pianos, Maestro Effects, Tobias Guitars, Valley Arts Guitars, Truetone, Music Yo, Yo Gear, Avante Guitars, Shadow Pickups, Oberheim Electronics & I am sure there are more that I don't know about.

Remember Gibson USA did not create or start 90% of these companies, they simply acquired them. They decided to use the name Gibson as their Flagship name. So I urge you not to be afraid of an old Epiphone or Steinberger Guitar. The original real Oberheim synthesizers from the early 80's before midi are awesome.

Again I am sorry to hear your story and I will do my best to make sure that you never have an experience like that with any purchase you make from me.

This I Solemnly Vow !!!

Ed Roman
guitars