closed? was there a "Going out of Business" sale?

[hollywood_steve]

Driving through Hollywood an hour ago and as I was approaching the corner of Santa Monica and Vine I noticed that the gates to Coast's parking lot were closed. I had actually thought about this place the other day as I will be in the market for a pair of omni mics this summer and Coast was just about the only place where you could walk in off the street and be sure that they would have a selection of used and new small omnis to check out.

I realize that a store specializing in 35 year old analog tape decks is going to have a tough time in 2009, but it was still a shock to see the place closed up. With my 3 year(+) time away, I was wondering how long ago this happened? I searched through the forum archives and this is all I found:

Originally Posted by Greg Curtis
Call Carl at Coast Recording Supply:
Coast Recording Equipment Supply Inc

I thought they went under, now Internet sales only, no?

(I dealt with Jerry and Ike.)

Even several years ago, you could tell that the place did not have a bright future. But as someone who's been in LA since '92, Coast was one of the 'fixtures' around town that you just expected to always be there. Regarding the above comments about their internet sales, I haven't been on Ebay in years - did Coast actually unload a significant part of their 'collection' on line? How would the market react to a steady stream of ATR102s offered for sale, one after another? And what about all of that 'not for sale' gear in the small rooms that they closed off many years ago? (where old Altec tube gear went to die...) Did all of that stuff actually end up on Ebay?


[as soon as i sent this i realized that it really doesn't have much to do with location recording, but this is the only forum i regularly read. If it needs to be moved to another forum, i'll try to think before i post, next time.]

[chris319]

I last did busines with Coast in October 2007. I'm guessing they closed in early 2008. Now there's Ametron, Guitar Center and Sam Ash. The latter two have shallow inventories. At Ametron they want you to pay list price, but I've actually gone on line, got the running Internet price, and called Ametron saying "I can buy this on line for X dollars". They go ask Maury and come back saying "Yeah, we can sell it to you for that." That's how I got a reasonable price from them for my RE27.

[SoundSun]

I happen to walk in right before they closed and talked a bit with Jerry - according to him, they were going to open a web-only store - a quick Google shows that their site is still there.

Coast Recording Equipment Supply Inc

--Phil

[fifthcircle]

They are quite definitely still open. However, they are running internet-based and the wherehouse is in N. Hollywood or Burbank somewhere.

--Ben

[Rick Sutton]

Coast's "going out of business" sale would have probably lowered their prices to about 50% above the normal price everywhere else.

[robmix]

Originally Posted by chris319

I last did busines with Coast in October 2007. I'm guessing they closed in early 2008. Now there's Ametron, Guitar Center and Sam Ash. The latter two have shallow inventories. At Ametron they want you to pay list price, but I've actually gone on line, got the running Internet price, and called Ametron saying "I can buy this on line for X dollars". They go ask Maury and come back saying "Yeah, we can sell it to you for that." That's how I got a reasonable price from them for my RE27.

Ametron is ridiculous. I stopped going there years ago when they treated me like sh*t for not wanting to pay list price on a Shure SM-7b. I only go there if it's an absolute emergency, and only for little stuff.

[chris319]

Ametron is ridiculous. I stopped going there years ago when they treated me like sh*t for not wanting to pay list price on a Shure SM-7b. I only go there if it's an absolute emergency, and only for little stuff.

Ametron is good for adapters and Atlas mic stand parts, but Maury needs to get a clue. An SM7B lists for $619.51, but you can drive a mile and a half down Sunset and pick up an SM7B for $349 at Geetar Center, approximately 56% of list.

I bought some sandbags at Ametron

They are quite definitely still open. However, they are running internet-based and the wherehouse is in N. Hollywood or Burbank somewhere.

Odd that their web store doesn't even carry SM57/58s.

[hollywood_steve]

Ametron is good for adapters and Atlas mic stand parts

Yeah, I don't think I've ever purchased an actual piece of gear there, but I have gone there countless times for a variety of supplies. Back before I settled on high quality, (and expensive) grip stands for location work, I used to haunt the back aisles of Ametron picking up misc Atlas stand parts so that I could create 'frankenstein' stands that could outreach an SB36. And before I finally gave up on analog tape, Ametron was one of the last places that still stocked a good variety of brands, types, sizes, etc. Finally, when I built a studio in burbank with a couple of friends in the late 90s, we built a custom console stand with built in racks all around the base. I can't imagine how much I spent on Middle Atlantic parts to construct those custom racks. Mail order would have been cheaper, but when you needed a part RIGHT now, no place else stocked all of those countless rack parts.

But when it was time to buy a U87, or even an SM57, their prices were just silly.

[chris319]

Three years ago I attended an event where the sound was done by the Ametron rental department. The poor schmo who was mixing it didn't know which way was up. He had the wrong mics open, there was ringing, there was feedback. If person A was speaking but he unwittingly had person B's mic open, person A was naturally off mic, but he tried to rectify it by bringing up person B's mic even further. A friend of mine and I were giving each other looks like "What the f***?". These are the kinds of mistakes you're supposed to work out in audio school, not on a paying client's tab.

[theblotted]

Originally Posted by chris319

I last did busines with Coast in October 2007. I'm guessing they closed in early 2008. Now there's Ametron, Guitar Center and Sam Ash. The latter two have shallow inventories. At Ametron they want you to pay list price, but I've actually gone on line, got the running Internet price, and called Ametron saying "I can buy this on line for X dollars". They go ask Maury and come back saying "Yeah, we can sell it to you for that." That's how I got a reasonable price from them for my RE27.

yup, Coast closed their physical store early 08, now's just either web store or by appointments. still got a lot of cool old vintage gear lying around inside, but most are over priced. got my Urei BL40 with some mic trade-in's.

like most ppl says here, Ametron is only useful for small stuff, but even with that i now go to Pacific Radio cuz it's a bit closer to me, and prices are just tiny bit friendlier. tend to find more stuff too.

[Bobbaganouche]

Originally Posted by robmix

Ametron is ridiculous. I stopped going there years ago when they treated me like sh*t for not wanting to pay list price on a Shure SM-7b. I only go there if it's an absolute emergency, and only for little stuff.

I didn't know there were still places that tried charging List. Most every online retailer is competing with the rest of them to convince the general public why their website is the right one to pay M.A.P at. How can any business survive advertising and charging List?

With that said. Support the Local music shops.