People have called me a good salesman,  I don't think that I am, A good salesperson can sell anything, I can only sell what I truly believe in.  So in effect I am telling you that a 17 year old kid who works in a Guitar Center or Sam Ash is actually a better salesperson than me.  Hell he sells Fender Squires and Ibanez $140.00 guitars all day. I simply could never do that. I am totally incapable of Bullshitting someone for that small amount of money.  OK, OK,  I can Bullshit with the best of them but certainly not for cheapo guitars.

My selling style has always been to analyze a product and all the competitive or like products. Then I make a decision on which one to sell.  I then approach the company that I have decided to promote and apply for a dealership.  When a company that I have chosen changes their product or makes a number of cost cuts .  I tend to change my recommendations.  In fact I get downright upset, You might even say I take it personally.

Some Guitars that I have strongly recommended and then I rescinded completely. Taylor, Mermer, PRS, Heritage, G&L, and I am sure there will be more.

If you follow my Worlds Best Page you will notice very few companies that consistently are listed year after year.

My practice of product comparisons has not made me the most popular salesperson on the Internet,  But I'm not running for public office so I simply don't care. I have been in business all my life,  I am quite comfortable with my real estate investments,  I can afford to say what I want to on my web site. Yes I am motivated by money but my real motivation is to bring new and exciting things to this dead and dismal boring music market.

As most of my readers know I'm usually pretty busy and I am selling plenty of product. So I guess being straight up and outspoken can be a good thing for business. More politicians ought to try and be straight with their constituents.  I'll bet they would be more successful in the long run. However they might suffer a little in the short run, until people started to trust them.  I'm reminded of something I saw on TV about 15 years ago, The roving reporter man on the street interviewer pudnick was asking people who they would vote for.  It was the usual BS interview where the people were simple carbon blobs walking up and down main street USA.  I wasn't paying too much attention, the TV was just on and droning like it usually does. So anyway he starts talking to a small group of black people. He poses the Question, "Who would you vote for?" One of the group thinks for about 5 seconds and says "George Wallace"  I sat up in my chair, wondering why this black dude would vote for George Wallace who at the time was opposing civil rights and was pretty much known as a pro white candidate.  So all of a sudden, I am paying attention to the boob tube, I notice the small group of black people concurring with the one who had spoken up. They were obviously all in agreement.  So to continue the story,  The roving  jerk reporter asks them "Why?", I can tell he's actually curious in this case. "Well" spoke up a woman in a very southern thick accent, "We knows where we stands with Governor George, We don't like his ass none too much, but at least we can believe what he says"  I learned something from that woman right then and there, I also learned that the slow talking' thick southern ebonics laden accent does not necessarily mean there is a shortage of intelligence.

Many times a company manufactures a number of great products but also manufactures a number of not so great products. I tend to try to cherry pick the great products and try to stay away from the other ones. Today it is becoming increasingly harder to do this. Computers are aiding companies by reporting what dealers are selling what products. A computer could very easily report to a sales manager that XYZ dealer is not selling a particular model. Typically when this happens I will get a call from the sales manager (Usually a new hotshot). He will invariably push me to buy some of the products that I don't want to carry.

As of this writing Gibson is trying to force me to buy their lower cost Epiphone products. They also want me to carry their line of Banjos, Yeeehaw!!! they say that if I don't buy these products and their line of Dobros and Acoustic Guitars that my prices on Electrics will go up as much as 10 percent. This new policy of theirs will probably cause a serious train wreck between our two companies.  They have a bigger train than I do but as Kevin Meany says and sings "I don't care I don't care I don't caaaaaaaaaare"

Jimi Hendrix said it real well also...

"If all the Hippies, cut off all their hair?
I don't care
I don't care

If six turned out to be nine?
I don't mind
I don't mind

This started out as a simple article but it has become a full fledged rant,  So for all of the callers who have been requesting some new rants.
I hope you are happy.

I have been selling guitars for 28 years, this unique selling style has made me successful, and has gained me many loyal customers.  It's just good business to recommend a product that a customer will be happy with, it breeds return customers and good will.  This selling style has served to piss off some people who feel that certain products are sacred and shouldn't be compared with.

I was recommending PRS guitars 10 years before the general public finally caught on.  Generally by the time the public does catch on to a good thing it forces the quality down. The public demand forces mass production and cost cutting, so the quality suffers when the volume goes up. It's just simple economics.  It has happened with almost every guitar company. And the ones it hasn't happened to are generally the new kids on the block.  Just give them a little time, they will probably all make the same mistakes.

Ed Roman

10/12/94