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Ed Roman Guitars
Opens World's Largest Guitar Store
2002
Downsized in 2007 But still has the coolest selection anywhere !!!!
Ed Roman Guitars has opened a new store in Las Vegas less than one block from
the world famous Strip. The store includes 44,000 square feet of an astounding
selection of more than 200 guitar brands. The back of the store, just out of
sight of customers, houses 10,000 square feet of the world's pre-eminent handmade
guitar workshops where craftsmen design and hand build some of the world's most
exotic electric guitars.
"We
have been a major force in the guitar building business for a long time," said
Roman. "But this store has finally made us a true destination. If you are into
guitars, if you want to tour the very best that American craftsmen have to
offer, you have to see this store and the depth of our selection. We are up
against some of the biggest retailers in the world, but this is the case where
the little guy has a hundred times larger selection than the so called big guys.
Bet on it. Come in and see it and you'll know it's true."
Roman is a true custom designer, with some guitars made from rare exotic
woods, others from stainless steel. Every Ed Roman Guitar meets certain criteria;
everything on the guitars is made of authentic materials, and is selected and
built by musicians who know what they want as players. Each creation is an
expression of a driving creativity that reflects an individual's sometimes
eclectic tastes. Priced to attract musicians as well as collectors, some of
Roman's Quicksilver line runs just under fifteen hundred dollars for a basic
model. While dazzling custom features like exotic woods, solid gold or titanium
bridges, incredible inlay work or a back lit fingerboard can push a guitar well
into the seven thousand dollar range.
Said Roman, "We are edgy in design, perfectionists in our selection of woods
and electronic components. We set a much higher, exacting standard. We really
work lacquer finishes before we see the gloss we want. We only produce ten of
our customs each month because our guitars are all handmade by American
guitarists who know the technical aspects as well as what makes for a gutsy
guitar. Any real player will tell you, nothing sounds as sweet as a handmade Ed
Roman guitar."
Roman's reputation as a builder is so strong that he is routinely asked to
"ghost build" guitars for nationally recognized musicians that have endorsement
contracts with other national guitar manufacturers. The showroom walls feature
dozens of photos with players who routinely visit when coming to Las Vegas. To
enjoy a virtual feast for the eyes for any guitar lover visit Ed Roman's Guitars
at
www.edromanguitars.com
Ed Romans Viva Las Vegas!
A man who is no stranger to the high end guitar trade, and certainly no stranger
to a gamble. Well the man is in the right city to now accomplish both. We
premiered our first Dealer Profile on Ed Roman Guitars Las Vegas two years ago
and now he has done it again. Undoubtedly hailed as "The Worlds Largest Guitar
Store", Ed Roman Guitars Las Vegas is sportin' a massive 44,000 square foot
showroom showcasing more then 200 guitar brands. This massive facility also
features a 10,000 square foot manufacturing workshop where some of the worlds
most exotic handmade guitars are built. Wow! That's a serious guitar shop. As
always, it's a real pleasure to talk shop with Ed, and in typical Ed Roman
style, here is what he shared with Musicians Hotline and the premier of "The
Worlds Largest Guitar Store!!!
MH: Ed, two years ago we first profiled the opening of Ed Roman Guitars
Las Vegas. You are now expanding the store to a new location of unbelievable
proportions. Give us the lowdown on this move.
ER: We have quadrupled our size due to the fact that we are building our own
guitars. Our production is up to 3 guitars a day. Sales have gone through the
roof thanks to our JET, Gledura and Jaros dealerships. The new location is so
large that we are buzzing around on scooters inside the store.
MH: What do you feel this new superstore can offer over your previous
location?
ER: An even bigger selection and much more room to operate in. There will be
11 sales positions on the main sales floor alone. This will allow us to make
more sales and grow even larger.
MH: After moving your manufacturing facility from Connecticut, how do
you anticipate this move expanding your custom shop lines such as the
Pearlcaster and Quicksilver?
ER: All the key people have relocated in Vegas and we fully expect to
double production without affecting quality. We realize that if we get much
bigger quality will probably have to take a back seat.
For this and other reasons we are initiating a slow growth policy for 2004 and
2005.
MH: This will undoubtedly be hailed as "The
Largest Guitar Store In The World!" How many guitars do you anticipate
being offered, and what do you feel will be the most unique aspect of this new
superstore?
ER: We fully expect to stock 4500 to 5000 finished guitars. In our shop we
will have over 1000 necks and bodies to choose from. The most unique aspect of
the new store will be the monstrous selection of high-end guitars and basses.
MH: Since you have made the move to Las Vegas, what is the most noticeable
change you have seen in the customer base that you now service?
ER: 95% of our customers fly into Vegas from all parts of the world. It is
commonplace for the company limo to make several trips a day to the airport and
7 or 8 trips to the strip hotels to pick up our customers.
MH: Ed, tell us a bit about the custom manufactured lines that you
offer. Briefly describe each and why you feel these guitars represent the
quality that you expect.
ER: Quicksilver, Pearlcaster, Abstract, Viking, LSR, & RVC are the most
popular. We offer quite a few other custom brands but the aforementioned list
is the meat of what we do. These guitars are designed to be vast improvements
over the corporate model guitars that are available in most stores. We feel we
have a high quality alternative to almost anything you can buy in a mainstream
white bread corporate store.
MH: Tell us about the store itself, key employees, and the service
offered to your clients.
ER: The first and main difference between Ed Roman Guitars and the rest of
the flock is that I do not pay salespeople commissions. I learned this the hard
way when I used to own East Coast Music Mall in CT. Commissioned salesmen rarely
have the customer's satisfaction in mind when they make their recommendations.
In fact usually the commissioned salesman will only be concerned with selling
the highest commissionable products. In almost every case those products are the
harder ones to sell because they don't offer as much value.
MH: Tell us a bit about the acquisition of the "Baker" line of guitars.
ER: I purchased Baker Guitars in 2003 and I intended to have product by
early 2004. I was surprised to find out that Baker was an automated operation
and had been pulling the wool over people's eyes under the disguise of being
handmade. There will be some major changes to the Baker line for 2004 and
2005... I can't discuss them at this time.
MH: Ed Roman Guitars has also become a high-end bass
shop over the past couple years. Tell us about the lines you carry and why you
have expanded your inventory to include high-end basses.
ER: So far we are unhappy with bass sales.... Most of the manufacturers
don't help us the way guitar manufacturers do. Currently we are selling 80
guitars to every one bass and most basses don't even stay sold!! We can please
most of the guitar players but bass players don't have the budget that guitar
players do and bass players are very hard to keep happy.
MH: The same can be said for the higher end acoustic selection. Tell us a
bit about your famous acoustic rooms and the lines that you offer.
ER: Acoustic sales are strong. We are ordering another 2000 acoustic
guitars over the next 3 months. The acoustic market has never been better for
us.
MH: As a distribution outlet for many high-end luthiers, tell us about
some of the new, up and coming lines that you feel are really coming to the
forefront of guitar luthiery?
ER: I am seeing new small Luthiers about 3 times a week. Once in a while
something great comes along but most of the time I can't say that I
am
impressed.
New Address Information:
Ed Roman Guitars
3485 W. Harmon Ave. Suite 110
Las Vegas, Nevada, 89103
(702) 597-0147
New Website