I do not believe that it is part of the business plan of most big music stores, "brick-and-morter" as well as online, to put the small independent musical instrument makers out of business. I don't know, maybe it is. Intended or not, that has been the effect...duh!...what happened to all of the great small specialty stores when the world's largest retailer took over? What happened to all of the small hardware stores with staff who actually knew what you were talking about when you asked them for something like a "single disk flap hinge"? Buying a Musical Instrument From a Mega-Store Can Cause Fantasy-Induced Poor Judgement Oh, those low prices on all of the cool stuff. And you get what you order right away or within a few days. And those low prices. All of this can cloud a reasonable person's judgement. For instance, just the other day I was talking to a young bassist, who works at the Vet's office where we took our dog Buster for a checkup. She learned to play on a Fender Squire bass (Fender's inexpensive mass-produced line of instruments). Actually, when propertly set up and the tuners, bridge and electronics replaced, it is not a bad bass guitar...one of my sons had one for a while. This is Just Sad! Anyway, this young lady I was talking to said that 5 years passed before she knew that a bass guitar neck was not supposed to be visibly bent forward and that the strings were... Read more →