Experiences with a Music & Arts store?

[Robert P]

I'd never heard of them though apparently they're a large chain. Curious what people's experiences with them have been, whether my recent encounter was typical.

I was looking for a case for my Getzen Eterna Picc and was wondering about getting an actual Getzen picc Bb leadpipe and the local M&A was listed as a Getzen vendor. There's one not too far from me so I went in to find out a price - no prices listed on the Getzen site. I had the part number for the case but they had no listing. None of the employees had ever heard of Getzen. Had to spell it for them.

Finally I was told that they had to email their repair guy who was in a different location to get a price on either item. I clarified for them that a picc trumpet leadpipe isn't a repair item, it's not like the leadpipe on a Bb horn. Nonetheless they had to go through their repair guy. To get the price on either the leadpipe or the case the repair tech had to write up an order ticket submit it to Getzen and wait for a response. That is, when the repair guy got around to initiating the process. There was no way for them to give me a price while I was standing there in the store. Further they wouldn't initiate this until I gave them the serial # of the horn which I of course didn't have with me. The fact that I had the part number made no difference. Their rationale was that they had to confirm what horn it was so they didn't get the wrong price on the wrong item.

To get to the point where the employee found out all this to explain it to me required a bit of standing around. While waiting I noticed they had a Shires horn on display. Cool. I had brought my mouthpiece in case I wanted to try out a horn. I asked if I could see the horn, he handed it to me. Eventually I asked him if they had a room where I could try it out. I was advised I could only try it if I intended to buy it and that they had to quarantine the horn for 5 days if someone played it. Apparently they don't figure simply putting alcohol or other sanitizer through the horn would nullify any covid.

I found the experience offputting. At least in my case their system/policies are too resistant to doing business or creating a positive experience. I ended up calling Getzen and they sold me a case directly because of the circumstances. They didn't require the serial number and were able to advise me what the price was pretty much immediately.
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Getzen Eterna Severinsen
King Silver Flair
Besson 1000
Bundy
Chinese C

Getzen Eterna Bb/A piccolo
Chinese Rotary Bb/A piccolo

Chinese Flugel

[WxJeff]

Yup. Very typical chain that caters to the school band/rental market. Employees tend to be young and only trained in servicing that market.

Have a friend who is a former high school band director (and a very talented trumpet player) who worked for them for awhile. He did the demos at the schools and would also transport horns that needed repair from the schools the M&A's central repair facility.

I've been in our local store twice. Both times I was looking for a methods book or a "fun tunes" book as part of my comeback process. Actually found a fairly good selection of those things (because I was looking for something a school kid musician would also find helpful.)

Fortunately my community group playing has connected me with musicians who recommended one or two local independent repair people who are not only knowledgeable about makes/models/differences of musical instruments but also enjoy talking about those things.

[DJtpt31]

[kehaulani]

I usually deal with wwbw.com which also shares a relationship with Music and Arts), but by internet. On occasion, when I have something really out of their norm, I've called wwbw up and discussed with one of their "experts". You usually have to circumvent the mortar stores, who's clientele and salespersons are of limited knowledge. But, I have been using wwbw for, probably, twenty years. National Office, though, not a local store where most salesclerks (not all!) can't find their butts.
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"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

[gregplo]

The Music & Arts store closest to me in South Charlotte, NC has actually been a very good store for many years. While many of the high school and college students who work in the front of the store do not have a huge amount of knowledge, they have always been very friendly and helpful. In addition, there is almost always one person in the store who can provide answers to my questions, usually the store manager or assistant manager. I feel fortunate to have a good store close to home.

I recently went in to this store to try several horns they had in stock as well as one they had shipped in for me to try. They were very happy to have me demo the horns, with no mention of having to buy one. They also never mentioned any issues with having to "quarantine" any of the horns...I'm sure the were sterilizing them when I was done playing.

That said, I have also visited other Music & Arts stores where the people were simply not very helpful or friendly.

FYI...Music & Arts is one of several child companies owned by Guitar Center. Music & Arts, wwbw.com, musiciansfriend.com, music123.com
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Best Regards,
Greg
Edwards Gen II
P. Mauriat PMT-75 (Ti/Copper)
Conn 61B
Benge 90B
Conn 80B LB
CarolBrass Arturo Sandoval Pocket Trumpet
CarolBrass CFL-620R
Getzen CB 610

Remember...when He returns, the trumpet shall sound....

[Robert P]

[TrumpetMD]

As already noted, Music & Arts is part of the Guitar Center family (Guitar Center, Music & Arts, WWBW, MusiciansFriend, Music123).

There are several Guitar Centers and Music & Arts stores within a few miles of me. They've always been helpful and affordable. My experiences with them have always been positive. If you need something quick, and they have it in stock, they're very convenient. And for electronics, I love the fact that I can demo something at Guitar Center before I purchase it.

You have to take them for what they are. Music & Arts focuses on rentals and lessons for grade school and middle school students. I suspect very few of us fit into that demographic. I wouldn't order leadpipes from them, or anything that requires technical expertise. I wouldn't let them service my horns. I go to Baltimore Brass for these things. But for what they offer, for me, they're local and convenient.

Mike
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Bach Stradivarius 43* Trumpet (1974), Bach 6C Mouthpiece.
Bach Stradivarius 184 Cornet (1988), Yamaha 13E4 Mouthpiece
Olds L-12 Flugelhorn (1969), Yamaha 13F4 Mouthpiece.
Plus a few other Bach, Getzen, Olds, Carol, HN White, and Besson horns.

[kevin_soda]

Thankfully, we have two local chains, Ted Brown Music and Kennelly Keys, that do a decent job serving this market and there's enough money in the community to support them. They do carry professional equipment but most stores don't have enough personnel to be experts in everything and Music & Arts is THE WORST in this department. Our local shops do a good job trying to find solutions and I would like to think they're trained enough to find the right answers. Never would I expect them to refer to a repair person regarding a case. That is so stupid.
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Kevin

[Crazy Finn]

Go to a large corporate chain store and expect large corporate chain store level of service.

Pretty simple.

I'm not sure where the confusion about this comes from. You're basically walking into music Walmart and expecting a much higher level of customer service.

I see a few people have had better experiences, but these are exceptions rather than the norm.

So, support your local brick and mortar music stores. Or, maybe your regional multi-location music store chains with more personal customer service. Or, if nothing else, your non-corporate favorite online music store that actually cares.

I see WWBW was brought up as it is affiliated with Music & Arts. That's fine that some posters have gotten good service from them, I've shopped there myself at times. However, I'd rather give my money to a business like Austin Custom Brass or Dillon Music than Music & Arts or WWBW any and every day of the week - and will continue to do so. That's just me.
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LA Benge 3X Bb Trumpet
Selmer Radial Bb Trumpet
Yamaha 6335S Bb Trumpet
Besson 709 Bb Trumpet
Bach 184L Bb Cornet
Yamaha 731 Bb Flugelhorn

[blbaumgarn]

I agree with those of you having negative experiences. I have had a couple going in the door of existing music stores. I agree with CrazyFinn that one is much better off contacting Austin Custom, Osman, or any other reputable repair shop as they will help you "solve" the problem and any extra you spend in cash will be well spent rather than wasting time and money somewhere else.
Mine involved going into an existing business in the city where I live to ask about a Getzen horn. They are listed as a source for Getzen. There were two gentlemen there and it was like watching reruns of He-Haw to hear them talk, We haven't sold a Getzen horn in so many years I don't have a memory of it. I then asked about a trumpet etude book and one of the men said "well, yea, we could probably order it form ya." The point was I was really bothering them as neither was getting out of their chair to take down information to order the etude book. The folks at Getzen are nothing like that, ever. I had to ask myself why someone would open a shop and not want to sell or service anything.
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"There are two sides to a trumpeter's personality,
there is one that lives to lay waste to woodwinds and strings, leaving them lie blue and lifeless along a swath of destruction that is a
trumpeter's fury-then there is the dark side!" Irving Bush

[kevin_soda]

Book sales at brick and mortar shops have been harder and harder. Books take up an incredible amount of retail space and it's hard for the stores to really know what will sell. The basic methods move through but other inventory is challenging for small stores to manage and stay competitive with Amazon. No one has time to wait anymore. If they don't have it, they've already lost and they can't afford to stock stuff that takes a long time to sell. I always leaf through my local shop and try to buy random things when I can rather than plan to buy something I've been looking forward to.
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Kevin

[Robert P]

[Crazy Finn]

[LittleRusty]

Smaller local stores need to meet customer’s expectations or they go out of business. Owners are typically involved and, having the vested interest, ensure customer satisfaction.

That is not always true, but I would think it is mostly true.

On the other hand a big hedge fund run store doesn’t have the people making the business decisions actually in the day to day dealing with customers. They rely on reports and, unless dissatisfied customers put forth effort to communicate to corporate, the higher ups really don’t know.

[kevin_soda]