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  #1  
Old 06-23-2018, 05:09 AM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
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Default Gear Fest at Sweetwater

My grandson , who is 17 and I are driving over to Ft Wayne to the Sweetwater Gear Fest this morning. It's a 2 1/2 hour journey from where we live so that's not too bad. It wasn't that long ago I bought him a Taylor 114e for his good grades and making the honor roll in middle school. He's now headed into his senior year of high school and he has been playing and learning the guitar for over four years. We have always been very close and I am so happy to have shared this "guitar thang"with him.
I remember him as a three year old grabbing at the strings on my guitar and the delightful squeals as he plucked them and made noise.
Here we are today and in many ways he has become a more accomplished player than me in just a short time.
Anyway, we are off to see what we can see and maybe even come back with something...you never know.
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Old 06-23-2018, 05:19 AM
YamahaGuy YamahaGuy is offline
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Sweet! My sales rep told me about it. If I didn't have a gig today I'd go out there to check it out. Have fun!
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Old 06-23-2018, 06:56 AM
v32 finish v32 finish is offline
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would love to hear a report of how this event turned out, what it was like, etc etc. I wish I was closer; I would make the trek as well to go see it.

Anyway, good luck and make sure to report back your findings!!

Cheers
SC
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Old 06-23-2018, 07:48 AM
jwellsy jwellsy is offline
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https://www.sweetwater.com/shop/swee...SABEgIN5PD_BwE

Also
https://www.sweetwater.com/gearfest/

Last edited by jwellsy; 06-23-2018 at 07:57 AM.
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  #5  
Old 06-23-2018, 09:39 AM
kent12 kent12 is offline
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Default Sweetwater

I went to their GearFest on Friday and it was great. Lots of instrument booths in the tents, plus a lot of free entertainment, workshops, speakers, and even a flea market tent which was like a guitar show selling used and vintage. I'll go back next year.
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Old 06-23-2018, 09:48 AM
Big Flounder Big Flounder is offline
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I live a half hour from Sweetwater, am a newbie looking to buy a guitar, and I was going to run up there today but my schedule isn't going to allow it. Sigh.

Anyone attending got pics to share or buy anything?
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Old 06-23-2018, 07:13 PM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
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Hello everyone,
We got back about an hour ago and I'll try to give you a decent overview.
If you have never been to Sweetwater's facility, it's a large campus and the building is very large and beautiful. When we arrived, they provided shuttle trolleys from the various parking lots so we didn't have to hoof it.
If you were pre-registered, which we were, you simply brought your badge with you that you printed on your home printer. The Trolley operators had badge holders for those who had them. Once dropped off at the front entrance there were greeters who scanned your badge and you were in.
Once inside it was apparent this place is large. There were separate show rooms for electric guitars, acoustic guitars, electric bass, drums, studio recording equipment, live performance audio gear, accessories and more. These rooms are not huge but more than big enough to handle folks on a normal day. Since this was not a normal day, they were crowded. Sweetwater employees are everywhere and they are very friendly, helpful and expressed that they wanted everyone to have fun. They are not pushy at all.
There are conference rooms upstairs on the second floor where seminars of all types are being held all day long. This area also is where many of the sales staff reside in large cubicles and there are at least 30 workstations. Many of the empoyees have their guitars sitting next to them .
The main area is a huge mall-like open space that is hard to describe. It had seating, tables, with a food court environment containing a coffee shop, some specialty food shops and a casual restaurant. The employees obviously partake of this area. It has a very relaxed feel to it and is very open air with lots of glass on the outer walls. The whole building interior exudes class.
Outside in the parking lots there were probably a dozen large tents with vendors set up in them for access to more stuff. Many of the vendors were there.
There were food trucks as well and tables and seating areas and porta-potties.
There were several tents with bands playing at various times and one enormous enclosed out door tent-structure where some featured performers played.
The deals were plentiful and people were obviously taking advantage.
The salespeople could create a "shopping cart" for each person as purchases were made. When you are ready to leave the check out area had about 20 places to pay, collect your gear and leave.
I would give Sweetwater a five star rating for an extremely well executed event that was a lot of fun.
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  #8  
Old 06-23-2018, 08:19 PM
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Rev Roy Rev Roy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rokdog49 View Post
Hello everyone,
We got back about an hour ago and I'll try to give you a decent overview.
If you have never been to Sweetwater's facility, it's a large campus and the building is very large and beautiful. When we arrived, they provided shuttle trolleys from the various parking lots so we didn't have to hoof it.
If you were pre-registered, which we were, you simply brought your badge with you that you printed on your home printer. The Trolley operators had badge holders for those who had them. Once dropped off at the front entrance there were greeters who scanned your badge and you were in.
Once inside it was apparent this place is large. There were separate show rooms for electric guitars, acoustic guitars, electric bass, drums, studio recording equipment, live performance audio gear, accessories and more. These rooms are not huge but more than big enough to handle folks on a normal day. Since this was not a normal day, they were crowded. Sweetwater employees are everywhere and they are very friendly, helpful and expressed that they wanted everyone to have fun. They are not pushy at all.
There are conference rooms upstairs on the second floor where seminars of all types are being held all day long. This area also is where many of the sales staff reside in large cubicles and there are at least 30 workstations. Many of the empoyees have their guitars sitting next to them .
The main area is a huge mall-like open space that is hard to describe. It had seating, tables, with a food court environment containing a coffee shop, some specialty food shops and a casual restaurant. The employees obviously partake of this area. It has a very relaxed feel to it and is very open air with lots of glass on the outer walls. The whole building interior exudes class.
Outside in the parking lots there were probably a dozen large tents with vendors set up in them for access to more stuff. Many of the vendors were there.
There were food trucks as well and tables and seating areas and porta-potties.
There were several tents with bands playing at various times and one enormous enclosed out door tent-structure where some featured performers played.
The deals were plentiful and people were obviously taking advantage.
The salespeople could create a "shopping cart" for each person as purchases were made. When you are ready to leave the check out area had about 20 places to pay, collect your gear and leave.
I would give Sweetwater a five star rating for an extremely well executed event that was a lot of fun.
Very cool review, Jamie. And sounds like a blast. Delighted that you and your guitar-loving grandson could share such a great time.
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  #9  
Old 06-23-2018, 09:36 PM
Big Flounder Big Flounder is offline
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Thanks for the report Jamie. Sounds like you guys had a great time.

Maybe next year we should organize a AGF member meet up at GearFest. Be a lot of fun.
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  #10  
Old 06-23-2018, 11:47 PM
tippy5 tippy5 is offline
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Nice detailed recount.
Must have been overwhelming to see a zillion instruments you would like to sample. Let alone the urge to buy.
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  #11  
Old 06-25-2018, 04:11 AM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kent12 View Post
I went to their GearFest on Friday and it was great. Lots of instrument booths in the tents, plus a lot of free entertainment, workshops, speakers, and even a flea market tent which was like a guitar show selling used and vintage. I'll go back next year.
The Flea Market had some pretty cool stuff in it and some great deals. I passed on a Takamine D28 copy I should have bought. Could have got it for around $250 and it was in excellent condition.
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  #12  
Old 06-25-2018, 04:36 AM
Greg Rappleye Greg Rappleye is offline
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This is just a couple of hours down the road for me. Next year, I will definitely go.



Greg Rappleye
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  #13  
Old 06-25-2018, 05:24 AM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Rappleye View Post
This is just a couple of hours down the road for me. Next year, I will definitely go.



Greg Rappleye
You really should. Lots of folks from Michigan.
Lots of folks from a lot farther away than that.
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  #14  
Old 06-25-2018, 08:31 PM
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Did any new gear, guitars, amps or accessories stand out to you? Welcome some comments about the highlights you enjoyed aside from the process and overall experiential report (which I thoroughly enjoyed). thx!
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