A visit to the competition seemed in order. As I suspected, they're eating my lunch. Both the local gear shop and the big GC. GC sets the profit margin on guitars. Either you play the GC game, or you're out. Well, gee. Put in those terms, there seems to be only one logical course of action. Sure, I can play that game. Slash the guitar prices 30%. Amps, 30%. Dang, those prices start to look too good to be true. And that's the whole point. Now I've got acoustic guitars starting at 59 dollars. Electrics for $99. Amps for fifty bucks. Let's see if that puts me back in the game.

Also, it seems that the big cartel brands have been silently waging war on the imports. These guys are selling cartel guitars for less than my knock-offs of the same guitars. That's what has been killing me. Why buy a copy and pay more than it costs for the real thing?