Whilst I might disagree with Trevor's statement above "Italia guitars haven't always had the heavy duty push behind them in the past...." - he obviously never saw the marketing bill.. I would wish JHS luck with the Italia brand - the guitars were always good, with great design and playability - hopefully the guys at JHS will get the supply and sales that Italia can achieve

All the best

Steve Parker
2twenty2

jesus, i thought these things died when sound control and reverb couldnt sell 'em!! good luck!! :P

Great guitars......


Look great....sound great.....priced great......

what more could you ask for.

Good luck with them.



Neildy

I wonder whether they will focus on getting the guitars into quality specialist stores? If they do, then they should do well with them. I think Fret-King has been pushed too "globally" to any store who will take them resulting in discounting when stores who do not understand quality if it hits them in the face begin to discount them because they are not an "easy sell" like a Fender (with its £20 mark up).

I think the biggest problem for Trevor and anyone who has a bent for innovation/quality is that shops are not largely interested in quality OR innovation - they just want brand names. The industry is lazy to the core and that is why people like Trevor or say Rob Williams and other great guitar builders don't get a look in.

I have been sucessfully selling Godin guitars for years - it represents everything I personally stand for and is it an easy sell? YES - because I bother to read the label and educate customers about it!! Thats all you have to do - try telling our wonderful guitar network that though. Too much trouble for most I think you will find.

The good news is that more and more stores are realising that specialisation is the way forward - but has the distributor? We will see!

thank the lord ive being waiting for this, now i can get a rimini 12 string . yes yes yes

I echo Les R. I have been pestering Italia (since Arbiter went down the tubes) to get a new distributor because, selfishly, I'm desperate to get hold of a Lefty 12 String Rimini. Plus they didn't get the same push here as they did throughout Europe and the USA which was frustrating to say the least. Let the jangle commence.

Thanks folks foryour largely positive comments.

Now then, .....(Why won't people identify themselves in these postings??)

Prior to JHS taking the Italia line on, there were approximately 60 or so enthusiastic specialist dealers, who totally got the plot with Italia, and it would be a reasonable expectataion to beleive, would again.

Will we focus upon specialist stores?

We'll focus upon stores who "get it", love the vibe, want to do it, actively stock and promote the brand, and who can sell the product through, and pay their accounts.

As far as making a brand like Fret-King, "too available", well really, it's a buyers market. The dealers doing it are the enthusiasts, the ones who do understand the difference. If we're not to be applauded, for making such a fantastic and profitable product like Fret-King available on a simple, easy to achieve, and relatively inexpensive 7 pc dealership, I don't know why.

S'funny how the perspective is different from the distribution seat. My experience indicates that The UK is FULL of enthusiastic, caring, individualistic retailers, who love to show their independence by offering great brands like Godin, which I agree, a lot of people seem not to understand, and terrific brands like Fret-King, Vintage ADVANCE Series, Vintage ICONs Italia, and the like.

Great designers like Robert Godin, and Trev Wilkinson will say pretty much the same thing. If the guitar you WANT has a particular brand name on the headstock....buy it, but DONT JUST BUY IT 'COS OF THE NAME ON THE HEADSTOCK. Have the confidence to make your purchase on the basis of what you believe, don't be blinded by brands, any brands, ever!

I certainly do not recognise the categorisation of "The industry being lazy to the core". Such a description certainly does not apply to anyone at JHS, and I expect there will be hundreds of my company's customers, if not more, and other distributors, offended by such an unwarranted barb.

I wholeheartedly agree that the good news is that more and more stores ARE realising that specialisation is the way forward, specialisation, and spreading the message to consumers, that there are "alternatives". As a distributor which lives by the same message, selling four of the absolute best alternative brands, all from the design studio of Trev Wilkinson, Encore, Vintage, Fret-King and Italia, I guess it's fair to say we "we get the message"

We will indeed, see!

Hi Dennis!

(Got your emails sorted now?)

Interestingly I was not meaning JHS. JHS has historically been an incredibly professional, well organised and pro active distributor.

If you ever fancy a new direction, try politics - your response ticks all the right boxes and puts you in the very best light and undermines me on every level. Well done!

The wonderful thing about doing what I do is I have nobody in the trade to please so can say it as it is. I appreciate if you do this you will probably lose half of your customer base so I will forgive you for your sins!

PS.

Sorry Dennis but I forgot to mention, my comment about the "industry", if you read my post it was aimed at the dealers and was not aimed at distribution. My point is clear - you just have to read it.

Just to say well done JHS....
We did well with the Italia brand...just get customers to play them and they are sold.
After speaking to Trevor in Leeds the other week, I just hope he can get some Lefties over here for us to put on the wall...The 12 String Rimini is one of the best I have ever played...
....So good on JHS.....and Trevor!