Members tamlyn1 Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 OK lets face it, Musicians friend didn't buy this place for altruism. They are business people and have one agenda, to make money. Like all business it is their life's blood. If they begin to overtly start censoring reviews of products they don't carry the place will lose all credibility with me, although I take alot of it with a grain of salt anyway. Santiwhatever and Jay Turser went after the ma and pa stores when MF either didn't want them or they saw a void in the market. My experience in another business when a large manufacturer began buying retailers was that the retailers first were outraged but in the end continued to do business with them. I suppose there will be some outrage here at first and alot of folks will leave, but it is mostly a social forum anyway and most people will end up sticking around. I doubt MF will get the cash out of here they hope to and my guess is they will dump it anyway. Just my opinion. I do some business with MF but my local guy has better service, almost always beats their price (I never ask them too or even show it to them anymore) they quote me what has become known in the industry as "the E Mail Price". I also have problems with any vendor that sells me a defective product and requires me to pay shipping back. So I give them a couple grand a year, but so far this year I spent over 40K finishing my studio. They do bring financial resources to the table however and as a social club it will have some benefits so who knows where it will end up. Maybe this place will die off maybe it will flourish but one thing is for sure it WILL change. Whats your thoughts. Tami Tami Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Help!I'maRock! Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 it's been a few months since MF took over, and aside from this place being really slow during the change, and now not being able to delete threads, nothing else has happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cylon Posted October 9, 2005 Members Share Posted October 9, 2005 /-------banned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members markas214 Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Musician's Friend doesn't seem overly involved with the day to day operation of Harmony Central. I hope you weren't influenced by the Ed rant thread. I put no credibility in whta I hear from him unless I can verify it. i believe he was trying to stir things up and wouldn't be surprised if he was behind the originalpost to place doubts about MF's motivation. There are reviews of his Baker B1s and they're not all negative. I will continue to keep Harmony Central as my home page and buy nearly allmy gear from Musician's Friend. There isn't a better alternative but if one comes along then I'll change as we are all free to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Pretty much same as it always was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Buck62 Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by markas214 I will continue to keep Harmony Central as my home page and buy nearly all my gear from Musician's Friend. There isn't a better alternative but if one comes along then I'll change as we are all free to do. There is an alternative... www.homerecording.com/bbs It's been owned by the same guy since it's inception and he has no plans to ever "sell out" the way Harmony Central did, despite some pretty $big money$ offers to do so. Yeah, it's a recording website, but the guitar forums are pretty darned good, save for the occasional stoner or goofball who shows up from time to time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 And the certainly didn't buy it for the forums....LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 I didn't even know that HC was bought by MF until someone at the Fender Forums pointed it out. Things do seem slower around these forums. Maybe people are getting lives...I dunno. Why did MF buy out HC anyway? They don't seem to advertise here or anything (there is a banner for Sweetwater on the main page). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Help!I'maRock! Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by AtomHeartMother Why did MF buy out HC anyway? They don't seem to advertise here or anything (there is a banner for Sweetwater on the main page). i think they bought it as diversification. remember, MF is owned by Guitar Center, which is a publicly traded company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Harmony Central Continues to Expand with Added Resources and Support June 22, 2005Harmony Central, the leading information site and online community for musicians, has been acquired by Musician's Friend, the largest online and catalog music gear retailer. Both companies serve the general musical community and share a common culture of values and goals. With the support and resources of Musician's Friend, Harmony Central can now look forward to an even greater future. Harmony Central will continue to operate as an independent publisher and forum, providing the news, reviews, tech tips, resources, and musician-to-musician sharing of information that have made it the most popular music site on the web. With insightful input from real musicians of every stripe, coupled with manufacturer expertise, Harmony Central will continue to provide the vital content musicians have come to rely on. Harmony Central's founders, Scott Lehman and Wilson Chan, will remain onboard through the change of ownership and both see this change as an excellent opportunity for growth and improvement of the website. Commenting on the acquisition, Lehman said, "We've received numerous requests over the last few years to add new and improved features to the site - which we've wanted to do - but with limited resources, we simply couldn't get it all done. With the support of Musician's Friend, we expect to deliver more of what people have been asking for. Musician's Friend brings new technologies and expertise, greater reach in our connections with the music gear industry, and financial resources for site expansion and enhancement. Harmony Central will continue to serve all musicians and manufacturers, and over time you'll see the website grow into a more vibrant, fun, and informative online resource." We welcome your comments or suggestions. Feel free to email us at webmaster@harmony-central.com. - http://news.harmony-central.com/News/2005/HC-MF.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AtomHeartMother Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by batotman Harmony Central Continues to Expand with Added Resources and SupportJune 22, 2005Harmony Central, the leading information site and online community for musicians, has been acquired by Musician's Friend, the largest online and catalog music gear retailer. Both companies serve the general musical community and share a common culture of values and goals. With the support and resources of Musician's Friend, Harmony Central can now look forward to an even greater future. Harmony Central will continue to operate as an independent publisher and forum, providing the news, reviews, tech tips, resources, and musician-to-musician sharing of information that have made it the most popular music site on the web. With insightful input from real musicians of every stripe, coupled with manufacturer expertise, Harmony Central will continue to provide the vital content musicians have come to rely on. Harmony Central's founders, Scott Lehman and Wilson Chan, will remain onboard through the change of ownership and both see this change as an excellent opportunity for growth and improvement of the website. Commenting on the acquisition, Lehman said, "We've received numerous requests over the last few years to add new and improved features to the site - which we've wanted to do - but with limited resources, we simply couldn't get it all done. With the support of Musician's Friend, we expect to deliver more of what people have been asking for. Musician's Friend brings new technologies and expertise, greater reach in our connections with the music gear industry, and financial resources for site expansion and enhancement. Harmony Central will continue to serve all musicians and manufacturers, and over time you'll see the website grow into a more vibrant, fun, and informative online resource." We welcome your comments or suggestions. Feel free to email us at webmaster@harmony-central.com. - http://news.harmony-central.com/News/2005/HC-MF.html I know, I know. But it doesn't seem like MF has done anything to take advantage of this acquisition. Most people wouldn't even know of the acquisition of HC by MF if they didn't post a release about it. I haven't noticed any changes anywhere in the whole website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members markas214 Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by Buck62 There is an alternative... www.homerecording.com/bbs It's been owned by the same guy since it's inception and he has no plans to ever "sell out" the way Harmony Central did, despite some pretty $big money$ offers to do so. Yeah, it's a recording website, but the guitar forums are pretty darned good, save for the occasional stoner or goofball who shows up from time to time. Thanks for the link. I have been toying with the idea of turning a room into a home recording studio. That site should be a big help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members seven7 Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 well, how about this. harmony-central used to be affiliated with zzounds.com right? that's got to be a lot of advertising for zzounds considering the site traffic here. maybe zzounds was cutting a little too much into the musician's friends business. just a thought.i had noticed a musicians friend banner flying at the top of the page and thought it odd to have that and not zzounds like before. then i read this thread and now it makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pigsinzen Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Problem is, the people who are running it doesn't know the history of said forum, or it's members. And sometimes attacked, or banned people that shouldn't have. But it seems like they have been trying to re-compensate those people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 23miles Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 I agree with your concerns. I also wonder how iswill be possible that HC will remain free and objective when it is owned outright by the nations largest retail musical outlet. As Jefferson pointed out, "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance."Forumites must be on the lookout for subtle corporate-based moves that could occur on the forum. Should these occur, as I suspect they might, we need to react in an appropriate way.Frankly, I suspect that MF would be more interested in accessing the review databases. Who is monitoring them for integrity and continuity? How would we know whether all reviews are being posted in a timely and uncensored fashion? Is MF going to start linking its product pages to the HC-reviews? Are there (as I suspect) or will there be MF/GC employees posing as forumites? (For example: threads like: Such and Such on Sale at MF, or MF Discount Code......)I am personally watching what I think may be an interesting test case might be Krank Amps. As I understand it, some time ago Krank was caught having employees (or their associates) submit bogus reviews. As a result all of the Krank reviews were removed from the HC database. Now that MF carries Krank Amps, will they reappear? If they do -- I am outta here.We must all be careful and cynical and, we must not hesitate in airing our suspicions to our fellow forumites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members k4df4l Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 There have been situations like the sanatoga review thing in the past...and in the past, from my understanding, it was due to problems between the MFG and the reviews posted, which comes with the territory of having such a widely used review database. IF MF starts censoring the forum or limiting the relative limited free speach we have enjoyed here or taking steps to shift opinions on brands they sell, ect., I would punch out of here in a heartbeat. However to date, I have not seen anything that would indicate any of that has happend. Until we know the details of the current situation, crying foul and declaring the site a tool of the evil corporate empire is rather unreasonable IMHO...granted, it is sensational and dramatic though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldFenderGuy Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Yeah, nothing much has changed.... I was hoping they would get rid of "BatMan", but he is still here... Just Kidding... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members k4df4l Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by OldFenderGuy Yeah, nothing much has changed.... I was hoping they would get rid of "BatMan", but he is still here... Just Kidding... as long as he takes that boatman with him too:p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by OldFenderGuy Yeah, nothing much has changed.... I was hoping they would get rid of "BatMan", but he is still here... Just Kidding... You dirty rotten $@#$@!!!!!!!!!! They pay me too much to just leave the forums.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Originally posted by k4df4l as long as he takes that boatman with him too:p I don't like that imposter "boatman". And I think he's Australian. Fosters....Australian for beeeeah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuitarRules Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 LOL....that explains all the gear purhcase you lucky SOB!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fishfartz Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 it would really be a shame if MF or someone on thier business behalf decided to alter the reviews in any way. i will say that i only buy guitars locally because i like to pick through them, but for everything else i usually order from MF. of the many, many things i have ordered in the past i have had my first "bad experience" with them this last week. ordered 6 sets of strings and needed them within a few days, today makes 1 full week since the order was shipped and the mail does not run today (Monday) - but that has more to do with the postal service as the order was shipped last monday anyway, i guess im trying to say that despite all the horror stories i have heard, i have never had a bad deal with them. i cant blame them for trying to advertise and promote business but i definately agree that if things start changing in the name of business this place will only be a shadow of its former self, without the merit (merit being word to word with folks you trust in the forums, the reviews are a mixed bunch) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jhall Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 Musiciansfriend Just sold me a damn good guitar (Squier-51) For $119.00. They haven't changed Harmony-Central at all that I've noticed. Solid Company and I love Guitar Center too. I wish I could get there more but I can't. I generally don't spend hours tied up with a salesperson trying out a guitar or amp or whatever.. I usually just drag my knuckles in there, walk up to what I want and point and grunt. I then Pay for the item and go home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members markas214 Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 I'll add a few more good things about Musician's Friend. First the interest free credit card. I pay cash for most purchases but it's nice to buy a $2000 guitar and be able to take a few moths to pay it off. While there are some dealers who beat their price if you use a regular credit card and don't pay off the balance the iterest will eventually make the guitar cost more than had it been put on a zero interest card. Then we get these blowouts where you get guitars for cost. I don't GAS like a lot of you guys do but when a guitar is too good a deal to pass up I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Finally they carry just about everything. No store could afford to keep that kind of inventory much less than have room for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldFenderGuy Posted October 10, 2005 Members Share Posted October 10, 2005 I've been buying from Musican's Friend for a number of years. Purchased guitars, amps, cases, and who knows what all.. Good service, fast shipping, and I don't recall ever having a problem. But then again, I've never purchased any of the lower cost, high demand sales items which might only be available in a limited quanity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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