TheGreek Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I withdraw everything I said above - I was in the honeymoon period of owning the Walkabout and have now sold it due to the lack of warmth and thump. If I were to compare the Mesa to the TE I am using a layperson would think it was the TE that was the expensive bit of kit. I kidded myself that the modern Mesa I played compares to the one I played back in the 80s. My ears have obviously matured.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstuk Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 [quote name='obbm' timestamp='1474631152' post='3139400'] Sorry, which instance? [/quote] Mesa D800 retail in US - $699. Retail in UK £845 Quilter Block 800 - $599 US retail . Retail in UK £620.. What value is the Mesa distributor adding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 [quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1474631455' post='3139404'] Mesa D800 retail in US - $699. Retail in UK £845 Quilter Block 800 - $599 US retail . Retail in UK £620.. What value is the Mesa distributor adding? [/quote] Read post #66 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstuk Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 [quote name='obbm' timestamp='1474631613' post='3139407'] Read post #66 [/quote] I did.. I was asking what the distributors actually do for their cut these days? As in what value they add to the supply chain, not that it costs them money to run their operations... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largo Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 I've not worked in distribution, but guess they are handling more than a single companies goods. I see Westside Distribution do both Mesa & Martin guitars, so how come the Martin guitars follow the £ = $ rule but not the Mesa gear. Surely both require similar company infrastructure, perhaps the only thing being different is the warranty. It still seems to me like Mesa is marked higher in the UK/EU than other US musical products and I wonder if it's being set by Mesa themselves as an MSRP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musicman20 Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 (edited) Having a 'distributor' is just not worth it IMO. Direct sales to shops, minimum orders, cut out extra fuel/staff/storage. With a distributor, you pay a premium for them to basically store products. Most of them do not have the aftercare they should. I've experienced this on many occasions in the UK. They just seem like they are doing you a favour when you contact them. They wouldn't exist unless we paid extra, so why don't they act helpful??? I won't name and shame, but this whole idea of peace of mind doesn't really hold up. Genz sent me things over and advice for free over the internet. Great after service. We act like USA products are made on the moon. It's 2016 - we need to get with it. A Mesa Subway is thus: $699 from Sweetwater. Tax on top? It's not that much. Not sure. In the UK, $699 is £535 and that is with post-Brexit pound. I realise there is NO way we could pay that...it just doesn't work like that. UK price - Showing as £875 from a few places! In the USA, that would be $1135. Ridiculous. I'm off to the USA soon and I might bring back one micro amp. Edited September 23, 2016 by Musicman20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obbm Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 [quote name='markstuk' timestamp='1474631915' post='3139410'] I did.. I was asking what the distributors actually do for their cut these days? As in what value they add to the supply chain, not that it costs them money to run their operations... [/quote] Different companies adopt different buiness models. Mesa and Musicman have UK distributors as the middleman between factory and dealer. This makes it easier for the manufacturer as they are only dealing with a single point of contact in each country for ordering. The prospect of a manufacturer having to deal with a myriad of local resellers is a total nightmare which is why they work this way. Fender however have a wholly owned subsiduary, Fender UK, who do much the same but are part of the corporate umbrella and as such have to follow corporate policy with regard to pricing, etc. Quilter currently seem quite happy to deal directly with a sole UK Reseller however if their business grows dramatically and they increase their market presence then they will no doubt go down the Distributor route with a consequential increase in prices to pay for it. Mesa Boogie, for their own business reasons, appointed Westside Distribution as their Distributors. They handle a number of different manufacturers product lines and have offices and warehouse facilities and deal with sales forecasting, ordering, import processing, warehousing and onward shipment of all the products they handle. They pay for UK advertising, exhibition attendance and general marketing. In addition they are response for post-sales warranty so if your Prodigy dies it will have to back to them for it to be fixed at their cost, assuming that it is still within the warranty period. All of this is paid for from the mark-up on the products they are selling as well as salaries, national insurance, business rates, insurance, and all the other overheads that go with running a business. How they apportion mark-ups to their respective products is down to them. One could try and protest by not buying anything in which case they would say there is no market for this product and stop importing it. If you want to continue this discussion tomorrow I'd be more than happy to carry on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markstuk Posted September 23, 2016 Share Posted September 23, 2016 [quote name='obbm' timestamp='1474634081' post='3139448'] Different companies adopt different buiness models. Mesa and Musicman have UK distributors as the middleman between factory and dealer. This makes it easier for the manufacturer as they are only dealing with a single point of contact in each country for ordering. The prospect of a manufacturer having to deal with a myriad of local resellers is a total nightmare which is why they work this way. Fender however have a wholly owned subsiduary, Fender UK, who do much the same but are part of the corporate umbrella and as such have to follow corporate policy with regard to pricing, etc. Quilter currently seem quite happy to deal directly with a sole UK Reseller however if their business grows dramatically and they increase their market presence then they will no doubt go down the Distributor route with a consequential increase in prices to pay for it. Mesa Boogie, for their own business reasons, appointed Westside Distribution as their Distributors. They handle a number of different manufacturers product lines and have offices and warehouse facilities and deal with sales forecasting, ordering, import processing, warehousing and onward shipment of all the products they handle. They pay for UK advertising, exhibition attendance and general marketing. In addition they are response for post-sales warranty so if your Prodigy dies it will have to back to them for it to be fixed at their cost, assuming that it is still within the warranty period. All of this is paid for from the mark-up on the products they are selling as well as salaries, national insurance, business rates, insurance, and all the other overheads that go with running a business. How they apportion mark-ups to their respective products is down to them. One could try and protest by not buying anything in which case they would say there is no market for this product and stop importing it. If you want to continue this discussion tomorrow I'd be more than happy to carry on. [/quote] I fully understand the distribution model and how it used to work in a non-connected world.. Indeed in my working life I've run a UK distribution company for a US tech firm and in another role appointed european distributors. The only real benefits a distie can offer these days are 1. Local market knowledge (ie what retail outlets to approach) 2. Trade credit accounts. In ye olden days they would also hold stock, spares and have an engineering/warranty/repair function. Westside don't seem to hold stock and farm out repairs from what I've seen.. Happy to carry on tomorrow... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Dean Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 I had one of mark Kings 400 plus heads & it was the most disappointing amp I've had & I was given that . IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sPiKi Posted September 24, 2016 Share Posted September 24, 2016 Had my Subway D800 and matching 112 and 115 cabs since May. Great sounding, versatile & well built rig. Expensive, yes, overpriced? Well that's subjective. I ordered my cabs through GAK, who priced matched on the 112, I think it was £539. Any regrets? None (yet but don't really expect any). Sounds better for my purposes than my old Ampeg V4BH/610, much more portable and seems to fit our band's sound better. Agree, that on the face of it, UK vs USA prices seem ridiculous but that's not going to change any time soon in our favour. Customer service (via Talkbass, Aged Horse/Andy) is first class. Just my experience... [URL=http://s207.photobucket.com/user/spiki1969/media/2016-09-10%2021.40.26%202.jpg.html][IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/spiki1969/2016-09-10%2021.40.26%202.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s207.photobucket.com/user/spiki1969/media/2016-06-24%2020.39.13.jpg.html][IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/spiki1969/2016-06-24%2020.39.13.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s207.photobucket.com/user/spiki1969/media/2016-06-07%2012.08.40.jpg.html][IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/spiki1969/2016-06-07%2012.08.40.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s207.photobucket.com/user/spiki1969/media/P1110788.jpg.html][IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/spiki1969/P1110788.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL=http://s207.photobucket.com/user/spiki1969/media/2016-05-20%2012.59.14.jpg.html][IMG]http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb176/spiki1969/2016-05-20%2012.59.14.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcblum Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Played for years the 400+. Thought it to be the definitive bass amp. Then appeared the Mesa Boogie Bass Strategy 8:88. I sold my 2 400+ and stick to the Strategy solely. If you want tone, go Mesa. If you want to save some bucks and get along with mediocre tone, go something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie Posted October 14, 2016 Share Posted October 14, 2016 [quote name='obbm' timestamp='1474634081' post='3139448'] In addition they are response for post-sales warranty so if your Prodigy dies it will have to back to them for it to be fixed at their cost, assuming that it is still within the warranty period. All of this is paid for from the mark-up on the products they are selling.... [/quote] Sorry to nitpick, because I agree with everything else you have said, but the manufacturer normally refunds the distributor for repairs they have to carry our under warrranty. So that's not one of their costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2016 Share Posted October 16, 2016 I have been played thought a Titan for years (most versatile amp I ever played) now I´m a happy Prodigy user. These amps are a little bit pricey but you know you what do you have when you buy it, an amp solid and reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted October 17, 2016 Share Posted October 17, 2016 A pal has a Subway and it's a wonderful little head, but the retail prices for Mesa in the UK are a scandal. I'm not knocking Mesa, but their UK importer appears to be taking the p***. US retail price for a Subway 800 is around 700 bucks (and that's including US sales tax - check out a few online ad's from dealers in the US). So why is it the best part of 900 quid here? By comparison, the Genzler Magellan, which costs similar to the Subway in the States, retails for £650 here. Seems to me the prices here for Mesa kit here are more to do with the margins of whoever imports the brand into the UK. They must be slapping on a serious mark-up, I reckon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 As the Subway amp costs the same from Thomann in Germany, it's more likely Mesa isn't giving its export customers a very good deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolverinebass Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 [quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1476730808' post='3156784'] A pal has a Subway and it's a wonderful little head, but the retail prices for Mesa in the UK are a scandal. I'm not knocking Mesa, but their UK importer appears to be taking the p***. US retail price for a Subway 800 is around 700 bucks (and that's including US sales tax - check out a few online ad's from dealers in the US). So why is it the best part of 900 quid here? By comparison, the Genzler Magellan, which costs similar to the Subway in the States, retails for £650 here. Seems to me the prices here for Mesa kit here are more to do with the margins of whoever imports the brand into the UK. They must be slapping on a serious mark-up, I reckon. [/quote] I concur completely. It's a joke. Just like Tech 21 pricing in the UK. The importer is scalping us. $1800 for a Dug Pinnick amp translates to a pre referendum (just so nobody points out that the pound is now worth 3 cents!) a whopping £2200. Sod. Off. I'm not playing ball with this crap. Allowing for VAT and shipping are they really trying to say that it should cost almost 50% more here?! The distribution for Mesa must be of the same mindset. Take price in dollars, change currency symbol to pounds, add at least 300 to the number you have and that's the UK price. Laughable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1474631303' post='3139402'] I withdraw everything I said above - I was in the honeymoon period of owning the Walkabout and have now sold it due to the lack of warmth and thump. If I were to compare the Mesa to the TE I am using a layperson would think it was the TE that was the expensive bit of kit. I kidded myself that the modern Mesa I played compares to the one I played back in the 80s. My ears have obviously matured.. [/quote] was that with the WA cab or another? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted October 18, 2016 Share Posted October 18, 2016 [quote name='TheGreek' timestamp='1474631303' post='3139402'] I withdraw everything I said above - I was in the honeymoon period of owning the Walkabout and have now sold it due to the lack of warmth and thump. If I were to compare the Mesa to the TE I am using a layperson would think it was the TE that was the expensive bit of kit. I kidded myself that the modern Mesa I played compares to the one I played back in the 80s. My ears have obviously matured.. [/quote] was that with the WA cab or another? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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