Hi all, I'm trying to figure out what to expect for Exp2020. It looks like Saturday is the best day to attend, and I plan to get there first thing when they open. A few questions for you Exp veterans....
1. I'll be coming in from Delaware on 301. Is traffic likely to be bad coming/going that way? Others on this thread have said that traffic to/from Annapolis can be busy.
2. One of the things I'm most looking forward to is a factory tour. Do they run those periodically throughout the day?
3. If I want to buy one of the Exp guitars, how does that work? Are the on-site dealers selling them or are you buying direct from PRS? Will they ship the instruments anywhere in the US?
3A. If I'm thinking of buying, should I beeline for the dealer area upon arriving? Do they sell out quickly?
With any luck I'll run into some of you fine folks there. Looking forward to it!
1) Bridge traffic is only bad after the summer starts, we should be ok that early.
2) IIRC they're scheduled periodically, but you can just walk through at your own pace for MOST of the day
3) The factory has a bunch of guitars ready for the dealers to pick through the day before Exp opens t othe public. The dealers race in and grab the ones they want, then turn around and set up tables the next day. You'll buy from them just like any other guitar shopping experience you've ever had. The only difference I noticed is that most people don't take the guitar right away. A bit fuzzy on the details, but I think I bought the guitar, walked over to the area w/the cases. They put an armband on me that mapped to mine, put it in its case, and I came back 3+ hrs later and took it back to the hotel room.
3a) Agreed with what veinbuster wrote. I want to say that there were about 200 guitars on Fri when I got there, and at least 175 by Sat? I have no basis for those numbers other than personal opinion. I'd say the more expensive (Private Stock, Ld Ed, etc) sell more slowly, while some others sell more quickly? If there's anything in particular you're looking for, you can't go wrong reaching out to any of the PRS Shops on this forum in advance of the show to see if they can keep an eye out for you. The guys @ Moore really took care of me there last time.
