Best Place To Buy New Gear, Regular Music store or internet? Options

[Nels]

Hey guys and/or gals,

Hoping some of you out there will shine a bright light on the subject of buying on-line.

Every piece of gear I own,(guitars, amps, recording gear, etc.) I've gotten at a local music store.(Sound Post, Guitar Center, etc.) I'll be getting some more gear in the near future and so I was wondering.....if anyone could comment on their experiences when ordering on-line.

Can anyone comment on their experiences with the likes of Musiciansfriends.com, ..GuitarVision.com and other such places?

Would it be safe to order a large, fragile and very expensive piece of equipment, like the Triton Studio, for example?(That's a lot of money to be gambling with.) ....And what about the return policy dilemma?

As with most of you, I've had some good and not so good experiences when buying at a regular music store, but the one thing that I just can't knock is that... ...if needed, you can return the piece of gear to the regular music store and not have to wait anxiously for a replacement. ...And generally one can check the gear out before ones buys.

Any thoughts, I'm sure would help others as well.

Thanks,
Nels

[PristineRec]

I buy all my stuff at zzounds.com. You don't pay tax unless you live in New Jersey (a big savings on a Triton!) and there's no shipping on orders over a couple hundred bucks. (also a big savings on a Triton) they have great customer service and quick shipping.

The other end of that is that you have to know what you want before you order, there's no trying it out before buying like in a brick and mortar store. And returns are probably a bit of hassle with shipping back and forth, but I haven't had to deal with that yet myself.