http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29180
So anyways, I had been going to Guitar Center for the past month all the time, trying to find an amp I liked. I had been trying out the Peavey Vypyrs and was almost dead set to buy one. I had done my research and played it a lot at the store. I decided to hold off and try other ones though. I tried Marshalls, Vox, Mesa's (which I would buy if I had the cash), and other Peaveys.
Last week, I went to another GC and stumbled across the Peavey Valveking. I listened to it and liked the low end it gave me (got a lot more than what I did on the Vypyr's). Long story short, in the end, I decided against the Vypyr because to me I felt like I was paying for something with a lot of bells and whistles. Sure they sounded great, and there is SO much versatility in those amps, but I decided I would rather part with all that, for better tone, which I feel you could get somewhere else. I liked some of the sounds on the Vypyrs, but it kind of sounded "fake" or digital. After all, it is a modeling amp.
Anyways, so a few days ago, I decided to research the Valveking more. I did research, read a lot of good AND bad feedback since both are important, played it, made youtube my best friend for reviews, ect.
TODAY...I started looking at prices. $639.99 is what it goes for EVERYWHERE (or more). Guitar Center, Musicians Friend, Sam Ash, and all other online stores. I stumbled on one store by complete accident. I use Pricegrabber.com to find the best prices on things all the time. They list different sites with different prices. It listed a lot of sites with it at the regular $639.99 or even more. I clicked on one link randomly that had it for the regular price.......but when I clicked on the link, it took me to the site, which had it listed for $425!!!.....I thought it was a mistake. I re-clicked the link, typed in the name of the amp, made sure it wasn't used or a lower model (like the 112 that goes for $419) but it wasn't! I checked out the site and they said they were an authorized Peavey distributor.
So here is where this comes to my advantage. First off, I don't want to contact or order from the site, because I have a feeling this is a mistake, and they would just change it. Secondly, I don't want to wait for it to ship. So I know that Musiciansfriend.com AND Guitar Center price match. I call MF and they were hesitant...but they said they would give it to me. I called GC, same thing. So here's my dilemma....its about 3:00pm when I do all this, I have work at 5:00-9:30 at night. There's no time for me to go buy it at Guitar Center. So I can just go tomorrow when I have the day off right?...but if I wait till tomorrow, the website might catch on to their mistake or the price may go to normal if it was a one time sale. So I called GC to confirm if they price match (I didn't tell them the site since I didn't want them to contact them and make them aware of an error while I was at work). I asked them what time they closed. I get off at 9:30, so I was hoping Id get lucky if they close at 10:00. Apparently today they are doing a sale that lasts till midnight, so they would be open all night! I took this as a sign.....get this deal now before you miss your chance! haha.
So I got off work at 9:30, drove to GC and played the Vypyr, Marshall, Vox, and Valveking one last time to make sure I liked it. They hooked up the 212 I had them put on hold (I drove 30 minutes out of my way to get a boxed one, because the one near my house only had the "used" floor model) and I loved the sound. I've been there for about 2 hours talking to the guys, getting advice, ect. I haven't mentioned the deal yet :p So I bust out a final solo one last time, then tell the guy to box this thing up...I'm takin it home. We get to the register, and I ask him if they price match (which I already know they do). He says, "ya, but do you want a price match, or a discount?" (because of the midnight sale), I smiled as I took out the paper I printed out from the internet and told him "I think for this one I'll definitely be going for a price match". He looked at it and went silent. There was another employee there, which I'm assuming he kicked, or poked somehow to get his attention, because he turned around to look at the computer screen right away. They were both silent, and for the next 20 minutes, I had people walking back and forth from the register to the back room talking to each other softly. Even saw some of the top managers that were in the back the whole time. Eventually they told me they would give me the deal. I knew they had to since they GUARANTEE they are the lowest prices. The whole time I was just standing there, completely calm and confident, because I knew they couldn't do anything about it! Oh and I even handed them a 15% off coupon I had :D I figured I was pushing my luck with that one, which I was...for the amp, but they did take off 15% from the foot switch I bought for it.
I walked out with:
Peavey ValveKing 212 Tube Amp: $639.00
Peavey ValveKing/Windsor Footswitch: $39.99
1 yr GC warranty: $59.99
Total BEFORE tax? $740
How much did I pay?............$560.23 INCLUDING tax
So, my advice?
Before walking into Guitar Center....do your research. If you've shopped there, you know negotiating is tough these days, and they can't take off much. Their prices are almost set. They DO price match other places though. That's the only way they can guarantee to be the lowest price. My advice is to search everywhere online before you make a purchase at GC. Make sure they are an authorized dealer too. They HAVE to price match those. If they aren't authorized, they don't have to, but the guy working there told me they would still probably give you some sort of deal since you did find it somewhere else first. So ya, if they are a distributor/dealer, you are set.
I got a $640 amp for $425....you can't get a better deal than that for a BRAND NEW ValveKing 212 amp.
BTW, here is the link of the site in case you were interested. Take advantage of this if you like this amp!!!!! You won't get a better deal. I just didn't want to risk it changing by tomorrow, so I went out and bought it tonight. Oh and if you took the time to read all of this, thank you. I know I rarely enjoy reading long posts.
http://www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=PVVALVEKING212#top
