Damn you, Guitar Center.... :(

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I ordered a couple of Duncan Hot Stack pickups and a TB5 for my SL1 at lunch today. The items are "In stock!" - and they still are.

Half an hour later, I get an email saying the Hot Stack is "still on backorder." :think:

I wish I'd sprung for the $8 overnight shipping, so I could have gotten 20% off my next order at least.

[Grandturk]

You fool! Why would you ever order anything through GC?

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Because it was cheap and in stock... One out of two isn't bad, I guess.

[Matt_B]

Bah, ordering pickups from the big chain stores is a waste of time IMHO.

I hooked up with a small dealer via eBay that I've bought about 30 pickups from so far. I can send him an e-mail and get a response within a few hours or I can call him on the phone and speak with him immediately. He can order any Duncan or Dimarzio and he stocks a huge selection of models and colors that no other stores do.

[Trussrod]

GC isn't the most organized business but I wouldn't expect them to screw up a computer-based order. After all it's not like their usual B&M employees were involved. Maybe you'll get your order two weeks late if you're lucky.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I'm expecting it sometime around June.

[Matt_B]

I'm expecting it sometime around June.

That ludicrous. If you want to contact the guy I deal with, let me now. I don't want to post his info here out of respect to the supporting vendors.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Nah, I'm in no hurry... Too many projects anyway.

But, thanks for the offer.

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

Well, they shipped all three pickups yesterday evening. Wow, Seymour Duncan himself must have brought them over, awesome!

Seriously, I got a brand new Soloist for $1400 because they couldn't find two white DiMarzio humbucker rings back in July... The overnight shipping "we get it out today or you get 20% off of your next order" is a pretty good gamble from my experience.

[ozzuk1]

I've used that vendor Matt B's talking about I think very good guy I got three duncans from him in days from the us to uk, infact i was waiting longer for stuff to get to me from the UK..


I've also had good dealings with piney hills, but any of the sponsors/dealers would give you better service than GC...

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

OK, it gets worse.

It turns out they only sent one of the Hot Stacks. And, the tracking number they provided has been used before... Twice (this is UPS's fuck-up, not Guitar Center.)

Hooray for ordering shit off the Internet.

[Grandturk]

I've never had any trouble with Musicians Friend. For pickups they're my go-to because they always have all the different color options and their website it easy. A lot of other sites may have a $1 off the price, but then they only have black or zebra or no indication of color.

[Shawn Lutz]

Mikes Music for all my pickups...he's on eBay as well

[Matt_B]

Mikes Music for all my pickups...he's on eBay as well

Since this door I have been opened, +1 for Mike.

[Grandturk]

Well that doesn't really help - I googled mikes music and got pages of "Mike's Music" places. Either way, none that I clicked on had decent web sites.