Sweetwater not what it used to be?

  • Thread starter Rich K.
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Out here near the west coast. Since Sweetwater put a distribution center somewhere in Arizona, I've ordered things and happily received them less than 24 hours after placing the order. Not everything of course but enough to be impressive. Reps have always been knowledgeable, friendly and helpful
 
Im beginning to shop at Drum factory direct and undigital drums. Both well stocked shops and they answer the phone!
 
Medium Size Dog said:
Out here near the west coast. Since Sweetwater put a distribution center somewhere in Arizona, I've ordered things and happily received them less than 24 hours after placing the order. Not everything of course but enough to be impressive. Reps have always been knowledgeable, friendly and helpful
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I am in Arizona, 98 miles away from the new Glendale AZ facility.

A recent Sweetwater order took 7 (!) days to get to me. Granted, it was good old USPS mail service...

When you got stuff from SW in 24 hours, did you pay for expedited shipping?
 
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GreezyBeats said:
Check Steve Weiss Music, showing G1s in hand.
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I'll look there more in the future. I used to order more concert oriented percussion and they were the only retailer that carried the Tama MBS07 bag I recently purchased.
 
I have had nothing but good luck with SW. Within the last month was even able to make a package deal on a custom hardware package of hardware. A mix of Atlas Pro and Atlas Standard hardware. Essentially bought five and got one free. With free quick shipping as well.

Also bought a rolling gator hardware bag back in June. Received it damaged...they didn't even ask for pix and sent a replacement next day delivery. The kicker was they told me I didn't have to return the damaged one, even though I told them it was serviceable.

Bottom line....I'm happy with them.


I'm also learning bass, and they've been great to deal with on bass gear.
 
I've always had excellent service from Sweetwater, although I had to tell them to stop calling me. They gave me a nice discount on a new DW double pedal, but most times they use the 2 year warranty and free shipping as justification for not budging from the listed price.
 
Hi mydadisjr. IIRC the rapid arrival was for mic stands and drum bags at different times with whatever standard shipping they chose. If they asked me I probably chose the cheapest as getting the stuff wasn't urgent. Also, closest thing to a gear brag I will do, ordered what's probably the cheapest maple/poplar 12"x6" Mapex snare from Sweetwater. Had to wait because it wasn't in stock. I immediately voided the warranty by putting baseball batty bearing edges on it, upgraded the heads and snare wires and wove cigarette papers through the snares to tame the buzz with Drum brand papers of course. It sits on a Tama lightweight stand. Damn! it sounds good, to me anyway. Saves space and weight, bright and loud tuned high, surprisingly fat tuned lower and sounds bigger than it is.
 
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I can't say I've ever had an issue with Sweetwater.

To the issue with 15" heads, I had a Slingerland kit many years ago that had 6 concert toms, one of which was a 15". The 15" head was always the most difficult to find. This was before the internet, Sweetwater & GC. The only music stores that usually stocked them were Zaph's (In Philadelphia) or Medley Music (In Bryn Mawr). Both of them are gone.
 
I've never had problem with Sweetwater, but I don't think I've ever ordered anything too exotic or hard to find. I'm sure there are many things they don't stock, but if they don't have it most other places won't either.
 
I use Sweetwater often enough. They are usually really quick with shipping to NJ. I've noticed that I'm even getting packages on Sunday now, which was never the norm. Mostly, I use them for accessories and pro audio gear. I haven't bought any cymbals, kits, guitars, keyboards, etc.
 
ellaguru said:
Are they out of Bit O' Honey?
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No!! I just received my H&B Galaxy 8x12 drum bag today, along with the obligatory candy bag! You can see the Bit O' Honey in there! What's missing is the Atomic Fireball candy! :eek: BTW, I purchased the bag through their eBay store on the 10th and it arrived today, the 12th!!


-Mark

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Rich K. said:
A friend recently put in a big order of heads at sweetwater and they didn't have 15s in stock, so he ordered from Amazon.
I've had no luck finding things there I needed.
I contacted my sales rep today to get a snare side 14" Gibraltar hoop. (I could have used any brand.) He said he'd have to order it. 3 weeks and $30.
Musicians friend had it in stock for $19.
I have some credit there from gear exchange sales, but every time I want to order, they don't have what I need.
I remember when they had everything.
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I would never be surprised that someone wouldn't have a 15" head in stock. Also, being that you live in NH begs the question of why aren't you using DCP for your drumming needs? You wouldn't pay any tax if you did.
 
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