Harley Benton Closing USA Reverb Shop

[Sean]

Another sign of the times I guess. Tariffs are mentioned. 

 

Remember the politics guidelines we have. 

 

https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2026/01/17/harley-benton-to-close-u-s-reverb-store-ending-direct-u-s-distribution/

 

 

[LowB_FTW]

Given the announcement from a couple of days ago, I don't imagine this will be the last of such announcements from a wide variety of businesses.

It's crap for Harley Benton, because once the existing stock is gone, it'll cost the US buyers to order from Thomann probably about as much as it would to buy other cheap brands from the US. I guess US sales will drop off precipitously for Harley Benton once existing stock has been sold off.

 

Mark

[Dad3353]

49 minutes ago, LowB_FTW said:

...I guess US sales will drop off precipitously for Harley Benton once existing stock has been sold off...

 

Maybe with compensation from folk buying non-American products instead. 

[Cato]

There's a few more brands operating in that 'cheap but decent' price bracket these days, so I suppose if the new tariffs are forcing Harley Benton prices above those of it's direct rivals in the US it probably makes sense for Thomann to withdraw & concentrate on markets where they can still be competitive.

Edited 12 hours ago by Cato

[Jolltax]

I wonder how much more expensive US brands will become in UK?

[Cato]

1 minute ago, Jolltax said:

I wonder how much more expensive US brands will become in UK?

 

While the EU will very likely impose retaliatory tariffs on the US I can't see the UK doing the same.

 

It's not a game we can win.

[uk_lefty]

2 hours ago, Cato said:

There's a few more brands operating in that 'cheap but decent' price bracket these days, so I suppose if the new tariffs are forcing Harley Benton prices above those of it's direct rivals in the US it probably makes sense for Thomann to withdraw & concentrate on markets where they can still be competitive.

I see your point, but while I'm far from an expert in such things, I doubt anything in that price bracket is built in the US using parts built in the US. So "cheap but decent" just won't be a thing for US consumers any more. Will those of us in Europe face rising costs from Harley Benton to make up for the hole in their finances from losing US trade...? Who knows. I don't think anybody wins in this, sadly. 

[Aidan63]

China hasn't seen much if any downturn in exports to the world, including to the US, over the last year despite the tariffs and political interference, there are plenty of Chinese made US owned brands in the musical instrument industry, so all that seems to be changing is the old brands are losing sales or having to increasingly manufacture abroad, but final QC in US is expensive, so how that model works for some of these companies will likely change, it was part of the final nail in coffin for G&L. PRS have said they will be scaling back their SE production I believe as the market has become saturated and sales reduced with so much used product diluting new sales.

[80Hz]

A quick glance at the big US retailers (i.e. Sweetwater, Guitar Center) suggests slim pickings in the budget bass sector outside of Squier and Ibanez. So I would assume there is still space in the market for alternatives in the low end, especially for comparatively exciting brands such as Jet, etc.

 

However this doesn't seem to be in evidence from any of the big retailers, nor does there seem to be a big push to exploit their buying power into developing a cheap house brand such as Andertons have done with East Coast (or, indeed, Thomann/Harley Benton). Or is there some big selling budget line that I'm missing?

 

In terms of consumer sentiment in the US, the sense I get from the news etc is that it's not great, but it's difficult to know how that translates into consumer behaviour. If you have, say, $300 to spend on a bass, do you seek out the best new value, buy used, or save up for something with the F logo?

 

The last observation I'd make is that HB only ever seemed to dip a toe into direct US sales - it was all done through Reverb, so they weren't even operating their own storefront, and I think they only warehoused a selection of models there (that's the sense I get from some of the big YouTubers, anyway).

 

It'll be interesting to see what comes out of NAMM in a few days in terms of budget brands.

[Stub Mandrel]

I wouldn't have purchased my US made Fender in the last 10 months or foreseeable future.

 

Generally avoiding us brands where I can*.

 

 

 

*after all, I helped bring down apartheid by boycotting South African wine...

[Gizmo]

maybe the folks of Greenland can take up the slack !

[Woodinblack]

5 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I wouldn't have purchased my US made Fender in the last 10 months or foreseeable future.

 

Way ahead of you, I predictively boycotted them as I knew it would come to this

I think both of my rics and bongo are old enough, and will do for now!

 

I would assume that all budget guitars in the US have gone up, except maybe chinese builds where they can afford to reduce the price.

 

 

[kodiakblair]

6 hours ago, 80Hz said:

The last observation I'd make is that HB only ever seemed to dip a toe into direct US sales - it was all done through Reverb, so they weren't even operating their own storefront, and I think they only warehoused a selection of models there (that's the sense I get from some of the big YouTubers, anyway).

Nope, it wasn't a Thomann operation, not even the warehouse.

 

Warehouse is located in New Hartford, home to Ovation guitars. If the folks behind the Reverb store weren't ex-employees then they had plenty of knowledgeable people close to hand.

 

'Cracking' the US has never been a Thomann priority. Potential market for EU/UK is 520 million customers, it's 330 million for the US.

 

6 hours ago, 80Hz said:

Or is there some big selling budget line that I'm missing?

 

What there was has pretty much gone. Kurt at Rondo quit importing SX, Agile and Haeden a few years back. Sam Ash no longer sells their own brands, Carlo Robeli etc. 

Guitar Fetish currently have all their imported brands reduced by 50%, my guess is they're getting out of the game too.

 

10 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

Way ahead of you, I predictively boycotted them as I knew it would come to this

 

It's several years for me. Owned more than enough US basses to last a life time, don't miss any of the crap coming out of Hollywood, stopped buying records around 2002 and I don't eat fast food .

[80Hz]

16 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

Nope, it wasn't a Thomann operation, not even the warehouse.

 

Warehouse is located in New Hartford, home to Ovation guitars.

 

Ah, well that makes a lot more sense then - an independent operation but with a license to use HB branding and import a select product line.

 

20 minutes ago, kodiakblair said:

What there was has pretty much gone.

 

That tracks with what I've seen over the last few years (as an observer). Guitar Fetish will no doubt have been hit hard.

[gjones]

6 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I wouldn't have purchased my US made Fender in the last 10 months or foreseeable future.

 

Generally avoiding us brands where I can*.

 

 

 

*after all, I helped bring down apartheid by boycotting South African wine...

 

Does your US Fender actually have 'Made in the USA' on it?  I bought my Fender Elite Precision in 2018 and it has 'Made in Corona' stamped on it. Apparently there's not enough of it, actually made in America, to allow it to be stamped 'Made in the USA'. I bought a jack plug input for it, and although it's in a Fender branded bag, and it's the specific part for that bass. it says 'Made in Taiwan' on it.

 

If we stop buying USA Fenders, we'll put just put a lot of far eastern factories out of business.