Post by Fatal Rewind on Jul 2, 2023 19:00:00 GMT -5
It's too bad that probably hardly anyone, if not NO one on here had been into a Mars Music store. Because even though there's only a handful of us musicians on here they were really something to behold.
It's too bad these didn't work out because they would've been a huge middle finger to other, crappier places. Because the guy who started them up (with his own money) was inspired when he went to a music store to buy a guitar amp or something but he was told if he bought whatever it was and he didn't like it he couldn't return it. And that's a big load of sh*t. Music equipment new is usually expensive. There was a guitarist friend of mine who was looking for a certain amp at one point. Two of the highest priced places he found for it in Houston had it for $2000, one of which was (the also dead) Drum and Keyboard Shop, which was nuts. Actually if you went there in person you'd get a discount but that was a good 25 or more minute drive away when it's almost always hot and humid, plus for other forum members who live in and know what a nightmare it is trying to exit Highway 59, as you go from three or four lanes down to ONE for that exit. Even on the weekend it's bad. He ended up finding it for only $800 (which I find hard to believe there being that huge a price difference but whatever) but he ended up having to return it because part of the case was cracked. Also, I read where James Hetfield, the vocalist/guitarist of Metallica said in an interview that beginning musicians don't understand what it's like when you get famous and you get all this specialized equipment and all. Some kid would say "I want that brand because that's what HE plays". But then he'd take it home and plug it in and say "whoa, it don't sound like him!".
Mars Music not only allowed people to not only try out equipment right there in the store (usually), but they also allowed them to be able to return it within 45 days.
These places were the Toys 'r Uses of musicians, being huge and having tons of...well, pretty much everything. The first glance inside my local store I was like "how many drum sets do they HAVE?!". But part of that was an illusion because the entire back wall behind the drums were a huge mirror, making it look like they had even more than you originally thought
Plus they had many electronic bases, guitars, sheet music for all kinds of instruments, I think a classical section, merchandise, even an entire room of instructional videos and all. I even found a vcr tape of living drum legend and hero of mine of Carmine Appice, which I never saw anywhere else. Other places only had current best sellers and that was about it.
And it wasn't just a place for music gear, they were actually innovators. Because if you wanted some kind of instrument lessons, you could either take them in person or virtually. I assume that meant you could download video lessons and upload your response rather than doing that live, as I doubt many people had good enough high speed internet connections to be able to do that in the early 2000s but I could be wrong. But at least that option was there if you wanted to do it that way.
I noticed they were having a grand opening not long after their regular one with plenty of free pizza and all. I told mom about that so we both went there for lunch. Even though she was never a musician she was impressed by the place. And who wouldn't be?
But it did not last, as they went bankrupt. A while after it closed down I ran into a friend of mine from high school that worked there and I asked her what happened to them. She said they tried the grand openings all over the country...including small towns. That's incredibly dumb. What all clientele could a small town have? Maybe stuff for one local band, a few long-haired kids mowing lawns in hopes of becoming a guitarist in a best-selling group, maybe a few retired adults that want to start learning a new instrument and maybe a handful of kids taking musical lessons. New equipment's usually expensive for the most part so good luck selling enough of that to keep the store running. Maybe if there were three other equidistant towns and fliers were put up on bulletin boards and businesses that allowed MM to leave them there to be picked up that might have worked but however they went about it it ended up failing.
R. I. P. to Mars Music. I still have like a pewter drum set pin I got from there in a box somewhere.
It's too bad these didn't work out because they would've been a huge middle finger to other, crappier places. Because the guy who started them up (with his own money) was inspired when he went to a music store to buy a guitar amp or something but he was told if he bought whatever it was and he didn't like it he couldn't return it. And that's a big load of sh*t. Music equipment new is usually expensive. There was a guitarist friend of mine who was looking for a certain amp at one point. Two of the highest priced places he found for it in Houston had it for $2000, one of which was (the also dead) Drum and Keyboard Shop, which was nuts. Actually if you went there in person you'd get a discount but that was a good 25 or more minute drive away when it's almost always hot and humid, plus for other forum members who live in and know what a nightmare it is trying to exit Highway 59, as you go from three or four lanes down to ONE for that exit. Even on the weekend it's bad. He ended up finding it for only $800 (which I find hard to believe there being that huge a price difference but whatever) but he ended up having to return it because part of the case was cracked. Also, I read where James Hetfield, the vocalist/guitarist of Metallica said in an interview that beginning musicians don't understand what it's like when you get famous and you get all this specialized equipment and all. Some kid would say "I want that brand because that's what HE plays". But then he'd take it home and plug it in and say "whoa, it don't sound like him!".
Mars Music not only allowed people to not only try out equipment right there in the store (usually), but they also allowed them to be able to return it within 45 days.
These places were the Toys 'r Uses of musicians, being huge and having tons of...well, pretty much everything. The first glance inside my local store I was like "how many drum sets do they HAVE?!". But part of that was an illusion because the entire back wall behind the drums were a huge mirror, making it look like they had even more than you originally thought
Plus they had many electronic bases, guitars, sheet music for all kinds of instruments, I think a classical section, merchandise, even an entire room of instructional videos and all. I even found a vcr tape of living drum legend and hero of mine of Carmine Appice, which I never saw anywhere else. Other places only had current best sellers and that was about it.And it wasn't just a place for music gear, they were actually innovators. Because if you wanted some kind of instrument lessons, you could either take them in person or virtually. I assume that meant you could download video lessons and upload your response rather than doing that live, as I doubt many people had good enough high speed internet connections to be able to do that in the early 2000s but I could be wrong. But at least that option was there if you wanted to do it that way.
I noticed they were having a grand opening not long after their regular one with plenty of free pizza and all. I told mom about that so we both went there for lunch. Even though she was never a musician she was impressed by the place. And who wouldn't be?
But it did not last, as they went bankrupt. A while after it closed down I ran into a friend of mine from high school that worked there and I asked her what happened to them. She said they tried the grand openings all over the country...including small towns. That's incredibly dumb. What all clientele could a small town have? Maybe stuff for one local band, a few long-haired kids mowing lawns in hopes of becoming a guitarist in a best-selling group, maybe a few retired adults that want to start learning a new instrument and maybe a handful of kids taking musical lessons. New equipment's usually expensive for the most part so good luck selling enough of that to keep the store running. Maybe if there were three other equidistant towns and fliers were put up on bulletin boards and businesses that allowed MM to leave them there to be picked up that might have worked but however they went about it it ended up failing.
R. I. P. to Mars Music. I still have like a pewter drum set pin I got from there in a box somewhere.
All guitar players in the thread.
