# Would this save a musician money



## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

I notice that alot of people will buy new expensive high end gear, and the next thing you know they are selling, for different reason's, Usually its not what they where looking for in the first place.

Could rent to own save a person alot of money. Would this work.. In a month could you make your mind up , if that PRS, Gibson or Expensive Mesa amp is for you.

I am to blame for this, i have also spent large sums of money only to realize that i made a mistake.. but for me it took longer than a month.

So i am not sure this would work that well, and maybe its has more to do with, using it for a year or two and then just wanting something different.
Rick


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## CocoTone (Jan 22, 2006)

Nothing is worse than finding an amp that sounds good in clips, and looks good on paper spec-wise, only to get it home and you find out that you hate the feel of the amp, or it doesn't play nice with your pedals.
I am that way with Marsall amps. I love the tone folks get from them, and indeed my guitar heroes all used 'em, but they just don't work for me.
There is a cost to everything I guess, but if you do enough research, you could minumize your expenditure to some degree.

CT.


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## Archer (Aug 29, 2006)

Renting sucks. I only buy from stores that have cash back for at LEAST 2 weeks after purchase. That is enough time to g et to learn a piece of gear.


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

a couple of years ago i went to buy a "new" amp...when i went to the cash register the clerk told me that it had a (38) next to the the amp's price...he said that the amp had been rented out 38 times...yet the store was selling it for the "new" price since it had never officially been purchased...!!!...

the amp in my mind was thoroughly used...anyone disagree...???...

the point is...that you might buy a "new" amp in the store and hate the tone or performance...

could the reason be that is has gone through 38 "owners" before it got to you...???...each one imparting a little more wear/tear on the components...maybe even replacing parts with non stock ones...

rent-to-own only works if you were the very first customer who break the seal on the new box if you want to test out an amp...

you can purchase any item at long and mcquade and keep it up to 30 days...then return it no questions asked for a full refund...that's their policy..


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## Zacman0126 (Apr 20, 2009)

That's like when I bought my Triple rec last year and get it home to notice someone had marked they're settings in what looked like lead (only it doesn't come off) and the power supply jack wiggles a bit. 


Still haven't fixed it or brought it to the attention of the dealer (kqoct), what's the point now though...




That's why I just buy used these days, at least you know what's coming rather than buying new only to get hosed.


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## allthumbs56 (Jul 24, 2006)

jimihendrix said:


> a couple of years ago i went to buy a "new" amp...when i went to the cash register the clerk told me that it had a (38) next to the the amp's price...he said that the amp had been rented out 38 times...yet the store was selling it for the "new" price since it had never officially been purchased...!!!...
> 
> the amp in my mind was thoroughly used...anyone disagree...???...
> 
> ...


Also, if 38 other people before you did not like the amp enough to buy it then chances are that you won't be happy with it either


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## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

jimihendrix said:


> a couple of years ago i went to buy a "new" amp...when i went to the cash register the clerk told me that it had a (38) next to the the amp's price...he said that the amp had been rented out 38 times...yet the store was selling it for the "new" price since it had never officially been purchased...!!!...
> 
> the amp in my mind was thoroughly used...anyone disagree...???...


That's a CRAP policy!! That amp should have been selling for 1/2 price IMO.

Long & McQuade allows you to use a portion of the rent for gear towards the purchase price if you decide to buy it (or they used to). That's how I bought my bass. I rented it to do some recording and it worked so well that I bought it after a couple of months.


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

ever go to an rto store for furniture? furniture and stereos/tv sets are 2.5 X's the price of buying new, over the length of the payment plan. i don't see how that would save anyone any money. if you don't have the scratch to lay out for a nice amp all at one time, maybe rto is the only way you might do it. but for me, i allowed myself to get suckered that way once when i was young, and didn't want everyone's cast-off dorm room furniture for my new apt. i wouldn't go that route again.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

The cashier that noticed that sticker and mentioned it deserves praise, becuase i wonder how many would not say a word.
You wonder if it was just a mistake, meaning the amp got into the sales dept and needed to be in rental.

I guess maybe rental may not be the way too go., but just thinking of the money lost buying a brand new Gold top custom shop LP for 5 grand and 2 years later your trying to get 3,000.00 out of it.

In the old days people seem to hang on to there gear longer, especially guitars.

More people seem to buy and then either sell, or trade, rather then buy and collect. I know it's an expensive habit that you can get caught up in. I am like most. I want it all.

Rick


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## Bevo (Nov 24, 2006)

I love renting and do it all the time, it can totaly satisfy the GAS pains you or I have.
Most of the time I know within a few days if the gear is for me, sometimes it takes 5 min. Brought an amp home plugged it into my cab hit a note and ouch! Adjusted the hell out of it for 5 min and took it back, cost me $5 dollars and go rid of my GAS.

I also like to rent things I have no interest in owning, took home a Fender Twin for a weekend to learn some blues. Sounded amazing but I am not a blues guy.....yet.
Went through half dozen bass guitars till I found the style I liked then bought a used one of CL.

Renting to own to me is wrong, renting to try stuff is the best thing to do. At L&M I am in and out within 10 min with something to rent and most times for a weekend its under $12 bucks..how can you go wrong?


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

Bevo said:


> I love renting and do it all the time, it can totaly satisfy the GAS pains you or I have.
> Most of the time I know within a few days if the gear is for me, sometimes it takes 5 min. Brought an amp home plugged it into my cab hit a note and ouch! Adjusted the hell out of it for 5 min and took it back, cost me $5 dollars and go rid of my GAS.
> 
> I also like to rent things I have no interest in owning, took home a Fender Twin for a weekend to learn some blues. Sounded amazing but I am not a blues guy.....yet.
> ...


I really think I need to start doing that manoever more. It makes a lot of sense.


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

Bevo, you didnt happen to rent an amp 38 times did you...LOL read Jimi's post..

wow i thought it cost alot too rent gear.. if i had an L&M near me i would do that also.
I once wanted to rent a Yamaha AWG16 digital recorder. The music store wanted $200.00, But it may have been for one month.. But way too much.
I would go for 12.00 for a weekend. seem quit reasonable..A good way to try out amp heads.

Rick


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2009)

L&M lets you rent-to-own. The interest rate is horrid, but they're lax with the credit.

I rent with reasonable frequency. When we were doing the DIY thing with The Apollo Effect we'd rent bigger boards and mic and what not for the basement sessions. I've rented 4x12s and heads, trying things out. I rented PA speakers from them in order to evaluate them with my Axe-Fx, in the the field, and it worked out great.


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## bcmatt (Aug 25, 2007)

The Policy for L&M's rent to own is basically 60% of what you pay for the rental is automatically applied to the buyout of that item. So, it adds up slowly.

If you know you are going to buy something, you are better off just purchasing it outright at L&M. Then you have 1 month to decide if you want it. You can get all your money back if you decide it is not for you. So, you could try out a few items like that until you find the one you want to keep. You could fully take advantage of them and basically be getting free rentals, but they trust that musicians are basically good and honest people, and aren't out to rip off their system. A few out there will take advantage, but it's worth it to L&M to have the trust and appreciation of their customers.
Anyways, it has helped me to feel more relaxed about my purchases there. I just bought a pedal tuner 3 days ago without trying it first, but knew if it didn't meet my expectations I would just return it within the 30 days, and get a different one. It seems good though (it's the planet waves one).


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## Rick31797 (Apr 20, 2007)

So if the buy a Guitar outright at L&M and use it for a month and decide it's not the one for you, and take it back, Do they refund the full price and you can walk out the door?
What do they do with the guitar, sell as new or demo?.
Rick


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## guitarsmark (Jun 1, 2009)

I buy stuff from L&M all the time, love the store - I also love their rentals - when I was looking for my latest amp, I rented a few from them for the weekend, got the feel of what one I liked most - I think I ended up spending in total about $80ish to rent a few amps for a few weekends.... then bought used... 

Their financing is good too - interest isn't too bad, payments are good, and you don't get completely hosed as you would on a RTO


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## Powdered Toast Man (Apr 6, 2006)

I think some of it may have to do with the relatively newer ability to order just about anything you want online. I especially notice this on the American message boards: guys will order a brand new guitar off Musician's Friend, get it, decide they don't like it and then they have it up for sale at about 60-70% of what they paid. I don't quite get it. Why not return it? I have to admit that I've gotten sucked into that too. You read and read reviews about a piece of gear - especially one that local stores don't carry - and then you order it and you get it and it's... ok. 

I've made a strict "try before I buy" policy for myself, and in addition, do not make impulse purchases. Example - my new amp. I read up all about it. Then I went to the store and tried it out for about an hour - then went home. A few days later I went back to the store with my pedalboard and one of my guitars and played it for another hour - then went home. Slept on it for a whole weekend and then went back and bought it. It was hard, but I tried to take my time and and make sure it was what I wanted.


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## Guest (Sep 23, 2009)

Rent to try. Don't rent to own.

Renting to own means you end up paying an insane interest rate. At L&M they rent-to-own at something like what? 50%? So if you rent it until you own it you've paid 50% interest. That's nuts. Even their financing plan is less at something like 19% (which is still absurdly high).

The best thing musicians can do is learn to make the best of what they have.


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

iaresee said:


> Rent to try. Don't rent to own.
> 
> Renting to own means you end up paying an insane interest rate. At L&M they rent-to-own at something like what? 50%? So if you rent it until you own it you've paid 50% interest. That's nuts. Even their financing plan is less at something like 19% (which is still absurdly high).
> 
> The best thing musicians can do is learn to make the best of what they have.


When most store credit cards float at 28%, 19% is downright reasonable. actually, I'm pretty sure it's 17% there.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I suspect one of the limitations of renting is that few places would risk amassing equipment to rent that went beyond the tried-and-true. No one is going to rent me a Vox Virage guitar, a Carr amp, or a Pigtronix Mothership pedal. They probably *will* rent me a Traynor amp or a PRS SE or MIK Strat or MXR Zakk Wylde Overdrive, but so what? I'm not taking anything away from those pieces of equipment, but if the goal is to be able to spend some time with something different, you're unlikely to find it.


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