Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

GC does buy the demo kits, designated demo kits are subsidized by the 
manufacturers, so there's no incentive to limit demo kit availability.

With that said, the showroom real estate is allocated primarily to 
acoustic products. There are plenty of products which aren't displayed, 
especially in the electronic field, because the emphasis is on acoustic 
drums. From a salesperson's perspective e-drums aren't very profitable, 
high purchasing costs compared to acoustics plus lack of training from 
the company, or the manufacturers make for a lethal combination of "we 
don't really care" from the employee's and buyer's perspectives. Shame.

Stuart McConaghy
Canopus Drums
Meinl Cymbals
SilverFox Sticks

On Sunday, February 1, 2004, at 12:22 PM, feefer2 wrote:

> Hi Stu,
>
> You might post this info. over at VDrums.com, as there's some
> interest in checking out the Yamaha stuff over there....  Might help
> get the DTXTreme IIS on the floor....
>
> Just curious: does Guitar Center buy the kits on display?  If so,
> they basically invest in the demo kits, and thus have the expense
> of upkeep, depreciation, etc. for the demo kits.  I could see how
> they'd want to limit demos....
>
> But even if not, I could see how they'd want to limit demos only to
> gear that offers the best ROI; in the battle for showroom floor
> space, a manufacturer's products either moves, or they lose their
> real estate.....
>
> ####
>
> Seems GC would be better off showing the DTXpress III SP vs
> the III, as they'd get lots of spill-over sales of the newer round
> cymbal pads, plus offer potential buyers a 'taste' of the PCY150S
> from the DTXTreme IIS....  
>
> That's a tough break for Yamaha's DTXpress III line, since
> visually the non-SP kit looks alot like the older stuff, and visually
> raise an eyebrow to warrant further investigation by many
> buyers....  I don't follow that product line closely, and there's
> nothing to tell me a buyer upon casual inspection that it's a new
> product.
>
> In that regard, I don't know why Yamaha EVEN offered the
> plain-jane III kit: why offer a kit with wedge pads, when everyone
> has left that behind?   It seems a tactical blunder now: Yamaha
> is stuck without the ability to get both kits on the showroom floor,
> so loses on the perception front (ESPECIALLY if the XTIIS is
> absent)....
>
> ###
>
> I suspect Roland will milk the demand for the TD-20S by trickling
> kits out to dealers, and many dealers WILL get MAP for quite
> some time (at least for the initial waves of buyers).  That's bound
> to put a smile on many dealers faces, and THAT'S the kind of
> thing that gets you on the showroom floor: dealers not having to
> discount below MAP on hot new gear, and a manufacturer who
> protects the dealer's margins.
>
> FWIW, I called my favorite Roland retailer a few weeks ago (the
> weekend after NAMM), and he already had (8) TD-20S kits
> pre-sold, with credit cards pre-authorized.  That's quite a
> statement, right there....
>
> Chris
>