my "Guitar Center" mini rant! :-)

[Dave W]

Originally Posted by Skully

I have problems with Guitar Center, but I remember what it was like before they existed. In a word, it sucked. There were smaller chains with higher prices and bad selections and mom & pop stores with the same.

My thoughts exactly. GC has forced the competition to improve or go out of business.

[harlycarly]

I live in Vermont, where there are ONLY Mom & POp stores. Been into GCs while in NJ, dealing with my 90 yo Mom's lung cancer. Used to go and hang out there for hours, in lieu of a bar. One of the few places I've been where you could play a ton of new stuff, and check out things on sale. Their used stuff was mostly junk, and their "vintage" stuff outrageously over-inflated. Nose ring dudes would usually leave me alone after projecting a little "Jersey Expatriate, Possibly Armed Mountain Man, Crusty Old Biker, Could this Guy be a Cop" type attitude. Snooty manager types, I'd just ignore. In was always able to do my own thing and check out a ton of stuff, pretty much left to my own devices. Also was really impressed with the value of my "own" stuff when compared to their junk. Been to a lot of places in MidTown Manhattan where everybody was WAYYY to hip to acknowledge me. TRy my best to buy locally, mostly used. Think about it: would you miss a place like GC if you had no other alternative?

[stantheman]

The ONLY time I'll go into a GC is if one of my friends has
taken a sales position because he/she is between jobs or
just wants to stay in one place for a while...I talk to them
on the phone at their residence, make sure they are in-store when I arrive, do my business and leave.
Most of the time I'll buy from Mom&Pop stores 'cause
they need the money more than those nose ring washouts from the 90's. Is it me or do wimmin with
nose rings look like they've got a very poppable ZIT on
their nose??????

[nacho]

I was there about 4 years ago with my by then (now spouse!) Ana. We were driving up 101 for a road summer trip and stayed a few days in SF.
I was surprised they had a genuine clean 51 nocaster hangin in the wall for 12K. And they had a nice original 52 tele for 15k. The tele played nicer than the nocaster. I asked the young guy why the difference in price and he said to me "well the other one is NOT really a telecaster, thats when fender was starting things out, and guitars were not of very good quality, so its not really comparable to the 52 tele". I said "you dont know anything about vintage guitars doyou?" He stepped back a bit cause I am kinda confident guy and admitted "no man, I really dont know much, but I can take you to the shop owner and he will help you out better"
The shop owner was not very helpful either, but he offered me the nocaster for 10k right on the spot. I was just excited, but somehow I felt something was wrong. I said, "could I check the guitar with a screwdriver" He said NO, pay first and then check all you want, if you dont like it, take it back. I said I am going back to Spain so that would be trouble some. He insisted NO.
I said, just let me take the guard off. It will be 2 minutes and I will do it in front of you. Well under the guard there was a (perfectly refin and repaired should I say) swimming pool size route around the neck pickup. I pointed it out to him and he played dumb.
I left the place with a strange feeling.
Shame shame that was surely a nice guitar in the hands of the wrong people!
n.

[Oskar]

I can understand the frustrations of going to a GC. However, perhaps we are showing ourselves to be a bit "superior" and "better" than those pimply faced kids shredding on pointy guitars. Remember, we all started someplace. None of us were born playing like Clapton, Paisley, King, Wes Montgomery, etc. I'd like to think that I've grown with my music over the years as I'm sure most here do as well. Gosh, give those kids a break. It almost seems as if people go in there purposely to get riled and then bash the place. Again I say... what do you expect when you go into a GC? Me? Not much. I support the posts that talk about great prices and a variety of stuff which is why I go there. I used to support a rather large local "mom & pop" outfit. My band bought about $3000 plus worth of equipment from them over a period of time. One day we were doing a gig for an elementary school. The music teacher was lamenting how she couldn't get funding to buy a simple boom-box, and a starter acoustic guitar as well as some other music related items. Of course the school found $550 to pay my band, but couldn't buy the music stuff. So, we decided to take the money and by the equipment ourselves and went to the mom & pop store. We said we wanted to buy $550 worth of equipment to give back to the school and would they please give us a small discount, perhaps 5%. The newspapers were going to cover the gig and our donation and we said we would give the store a plug on their generosity as well. Guess what? They turned us down. Wouldn't budge. Needless to say I don't give them my business anymore. This whole thing cuts both ways. I'm not defending GC on a soapbox, however, I think it's been bashed enough. Same old stories, and yet everyone still seems to go there, time and time again. If it's that bad, boycott them and don't shop there.

[Shnook]

T Prior,

The Chris Whitley show at the Double Door was stunning! An incredible talent that few people seem to 'get.'

I can see your point about the after Christmas stock. Maybe I had my expectations set too high in hopes of finding guitars that they don't stock here locally. However, I still didn't care for the atmosphere. I like the charm of my mom and pop stores better. I walk in and they not only know my name, but what I do and what I'm interested in. Ask me how I am and mean it. Allow me to play anything I want for as long as I want with no pressure to buy, and always willing to work with me on getting something I want but can't exactly afford right then. I just see the Guitar Center's as the Wal-Mart of guitar stores, and I don't care much for the way Wal-Mart does business anymore and I *rarely* ever shop there. A good idea, poorly executed.

[Kelsey]

I have been in the local GC here in Memphis a few times. There is one knowledgeable guy from my generation who works in the guitar dept. -- he survived the Mars debacle to re-emerge at the new GC. I bought a locally made Gibson ES-137 from him back in May. Unfortunately, he wasn't working the day I went back to check out a couple of vintage BF amps (a Princeton Reverb and a Tremolux). The kid who was there instead did not inspire any confidence and couldn't get the $1200 Princeton to power up. The $1600 Tremolux was in bad need of a re-cap. I was hoping to do some bargaining, but I left pretty disgusted.

There are a couple of other kids who seem to have something on the ball, but it seems to be a hit-or-miss proposition in general. I think it's best to know what you're after when you walk in, so you can help yourself.

[Bob McLeod]

You are getting old and cranky bro, just like me. Hehehehe...

Say hello to Clay,

Bob

[0le FUZZY]

Yew still got cher toyz and yer relic and---------------------------------yer TWIN? HEE! HEE!



0le FUZZY

[Bill Hullett]

what got me was that they are all trying (with the zeal of a carsalesman) to sell you the new &^%$~@#$ but can't find basic Strat parts when asked , even when they are told where to look......
That would be the equivilant to going to your grocery store and getting preasured to buy the lobster ....ask for a pound of hamburger....and get handed a bag of oranges !!!! In NASHVILLE TENN. no less.....There are people working in gas stations that know way more than these guys......I don't think its too much to ask that a salesman have a "basic" knowledge of whats he's selling...or at the very least ....enough honesty and courtesy to say that he doesn't know what you need but he'll track it down.....just simple human interaction.....I guess the slogan...."the customer is always right" ....has been replaced with "there are enough customers that we basically don't care" I'm thru with my rant now!!!!
Bill Hullett

[tucker gypsy]

Everyone here that has experienced less-than-adaquate service at a GC store should click this link!

-----Very Important-----On the *Send To* section of the form, select "Customer Satisfaction Issues (non internet)"

You never know, they might send you coupons or something.....

[openbar]

I went there to buy pedal steel strings the other day, and the guy on the accessories counter didn't even know what a pedal steel was. No biggie I guess, but still funny to me.

OTOH, I once got a really sweet deal on a BF Showman during one of their clearance sales, and the salesman was great. I sorta agree with whoever said things used to be worse at a lot of the other stores. Should we start a thread about the decline of Daddy's?

And stantheman, I must respectfully disagree - bring on the chicks with piercings, tattoos and all...hubba hubba!

[LilDirtyB]

Other than the swarming salesmen, the GC in Springfield, NJ is pretty cool. My girlfriend and I like to go there and check things out and sometimes buy. At times we feel like wearing signs around our necks saying "We are doing fine" or "We're with Frank" so they'll stop being so annoyingly friendly.
Frank is the guy we now know in the accessories department from whom we've bought a couple of pedals and odds and ends. He looks like a college kid who could be working his day job while belonging to Smashmouth. He was able to talk to my teenage daughter and get her set up with what she was looking for. After we bought the first effect, he called a week or two later to see how we liked it and to see how my daughter was enjoying using it. He wanted me to tell her not to get discouraged because there was a lot to master with it. We later bought her a distortion pedal and he called me again to see how it was working out. I did appreciate the followup.
We've also gone back and he's been able to call up our customer information without us telling him our name or anything. It's probably kind of silly but it's like that feeling you get when you pull into the gas station and the mechanic greets you by your first name. It's a source of pride in front of family and friends followed by that sinking feeling as you realize that you're probably spending way too much money there.

[OutlawSteph]

This thread is funny to me because I'm supposed to be starting training at Guitar Center this month in the accessories dept. I don't know a lot, but want to learn and would approach the position with a 'I need and want to learn everything' attitude.

The assistant manager who I met with last week to fill out paperwork wasn't too cool to be honest. He plays in a punk band and was unfamiliar with some of the most prominent musicians in our area, the history of our local music scene in Florida and the genres of music that were popular when the scene was good in the 60s and 70s. So I can identify with being turned off by piercings and a general unprofessional attitude by people who are supposed to be good musicians.

[Snaily]

No need to repeat what has been said - its all true - the pros and cons. I drop in on GC (or Sam Ash) these days for two reasons, out of boredom, and because now my 11 year old guitar playing son gives me a great excuse to go gear browsing. And yes, for his 10th birthday I bought him an Epi LP from GC - it was a rare find - a clean, new-on-the-floor undinged, well set-up guitar, so I snatched it for him. He loves it (and I borrow it from time to time). Now, HE is the obnoxious kid wanking repetive out of tune notes on a Squire strat thru a Crate amp! I just chuckle and go look at the Gretsch wall. Anyone who is familiar with L.A. knows that there must be nearly 15 GC's/S Ash's within the LA area. For some reason in past years I've received better customer service at the Fountain Valley GC. For a couple years during the mid 90's when I started buying more guitars I dealt with one salesmanager who dealt straight with me, and went out of his way for me many times. These days when I get serious GAS I go to True-Tone Music in Santa Monica - well worth the trip. They know their guitars/parts and treat you with respect and match any MF/GC price.

[pbradt]

Originally Posted by Bill Hullett

what got me was that they are all trying (with the zeal of a carsalesman) to sell you the new &^%$~@#$ but can't find basic Strat parts when asked , even when they are told where to look......
That would be the equivilant to going to your grocery store and getting preasured to buy the lobster ....ask for a pound of hamburger....and get handed a bag of oranges !!!! In NASHVILLE TENN. no less.....

That's the scary thing about guitar center. You want a guitar, whatever you select (even if it's a total pieceacrap) is the coolest, swankiest thang on the wall. "If I had the dough man, I'd have bought it myself," they all say.

Lord help you if you need Strat springs or a pick-holder.

I was looking for a Dunlop combination pick and slide holder, you know the kind that you stick on the mic stand and has a little plastic stick to put your slide on. It also holds 10-12 picks (which I need because when I'm gettin a hankerin to finger-pick, you just never know where that pick in my hand might fly, thanks for the lesson, Mr. Parnell).

The guy looked at me like I was the Martian from the old Warner Bros Cartoons. I scanned the chaos that was the accessory section and finally found it.

"No,down two levels, over to the right, THE RIGHT, NOT THE LEFT, it's RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! YEAH, THAT ONE!"

"Gimme two (so if I lose one, I don't have to come BACK)."

GC IS good for cords. That's about all. Cords. I get almost all my supplies online now. It keeps me from having to deal with these graduates of Brain-Dead University.

Pack it and ship it. I'm good with that.

[Flyfender]

Ultimately I think this "consumer reporting" is a good thing for GC, maybe they'll pay attention and focus on customer service a bit more. Always room for improvement. So....I post a lot on the GC experience mostly because I do believe they can aspire to be better AND I live next door to one . Went to Spokane to visit my guitar teacher and he decides he wants a Gretsch. We ask the "manager" if he would price match THEMSELVES as I bought the same guitar two weeks earlier at the Lynwood Wa. store for a hundred less. (the sale was in their computer). Guy says "I need to smoke a cigarette before we do this deal". My teacher was speechless. He's in his 60s and they kept calling him "dude"...It's almost like watching "Jackass" on T.V.

[thursty]

I don't have any real problem with GC and have found a couple of the regular clerks at the store I visit particularly helpful. The biggest complaint I have is that their stores (at least the couple I've visited) are too small and claustrophobic. Give us a little space to spread out, and a little privacy to try out our multi-hundred-dollar investments. Mars was a far more comfortable setting -- at least the one I went to. Someday some music retailer is going to have individual booths where beginner and intermediate players can really try guitars without fear of screwing up or being laughed at for fingerpicking More Than a Feeling. As it is most of us hobbyists are far too intimidated to do that at a GC, which renders the oft-heard advice about "play them all and pick the one that feels best" sort of worthless.

[Twangster]

I go into every GC with the "don't talk to me" attitude. If I need your help, I'll ask.

The only problem with this approach is that all the good stuff is way up high. I was in the El Cerrito GC a couple weeks ago and they had a 52RI I wanted to try out. Unfortunately, it was about 12 feet high on the top of this mountainous Fender display.

My choices were to either ask the mullet-head sales dude for some help (this is always risky) or climb up to the the top of the display, grab the guitar and plug it in (one slip and I would be buying about 12 guitars).

My choice that day was...walk out.

[NancyK]

Originally Posted by Cooper

Don't agree. It's a lousy way to do business. I don't like having to prove I didn't steal anything. Sign of the times I guess, but it's sad.

[Skully]

Same for Bill's complaint about checking his bag. They have a lot of expensive stuff there, and they not only have to make sure that customers aren't stealing it themselves, but also that friendly workers aren't sneaking friends freebies.

Don't agree. It's a lousy way to do business. I don't like having to prove I didn't steal anything. Sign of the times I guess, but it's sad.

They do it at other retail stores where much less valuable items are involved. At Guitar Center it makes good sense, considering they have a wealth of small and not-so-small, pricey items that customers are free to handle.

[TeleGeir]

With a friend to help him look for a keyboard/piano kind of thing for his family.

For an account of my last visit there, check this thread:
http://www.tdpri.com/viewtopic.php?t=8946

As others have said, you have to manage your expectations when going there. For me they serve the purpose just fine. Which is good selection at good prices for the run of the mill items.

As for the employees, well I am sure they could be better trained and stuff. But I still remember how snobbish my locals shops were back when I was a kid, not many places where a 15 year old kid could try a guitar at full blast.

I think I prefer being treated to the average GC employee to being ignored or patronized or simply kicked out as often was the case back then...

Geir :)

[Brass Saddles]

Bill/Everyone: I changed my mind in the last 24 hours. Guitar Center stinks. Yesterday I went to buy some strings for my Lap Steel. I go to the counter and ask a KID behind the counter "Do you have strings for a Lap Steel"? He turns to his manager and asks can you use regular guitar strings on a Lap Steel? The Manager asnwers "I'M NOT IN THE ZONE FOR ANY QUESTIONS."
I'm not in the zone for any questions???? Pardon Me!!
I turned around and said thanks for your help and left.

Company is only as good as its people.

Brass Saddles

[Joel Terry]

Originally Posted by harlycarly

Think about it: would you miss a place like GC if you had no other alternative?

Are you strictly speaking of walk-in, hands-on music stores as an alternative? If so, I wouldn't miss GC, even if it was the only store around. I mean, how can I miss that which, after numerous visits, proved itself to be of no value to me?

I'd just do my business with Musician's Friend and other online companies. In fact, now that I think of it, in the past five years, I've made all of my major instrument/equipment/supply purchases--including, but not limited to: three guitars, one bass, two digital multitrack recorders, one analog multitrack recorder and a digital piano--via the Internet, with one exception: A few days after New Year's, I purchased an Alesis Ion synthesizer at Sam Ash.

So, to reiterate, I don't particularly need GC; conversely, I don't think they really need me, either. :P

Joel

[genelovesjez]

Originally Posted by thursty

Someday some music retailer is going to have individual booths where beginner and intermediate players can really try guitars without fear of screwing up or being laughed at for fingerpicking More Than a Feeling.

One of our local stores, the 12th Fret actually has that. The rooms with the amps are glassed off booths. They're not completely soundproof, but it does feel decidedly more private than being out on the floor. I know for me, I need to get into a certain headspace before I can really "try" a guitar. I guess I'm pretty lucky here in Toronto in terms of local stores. There are 3 pretty good used/vintages stores that I frequent, and I have no complaints about any of them. Our version of GC would be a place called Steve's, and I haven't been there in years. Of course, I don't know what the reaction to More Than a Feeling would be - I always play Can I Borrow a Feeling? by Kirk Van Houten.

[BLACKCAT69]

Fortunately so for the mom and pop stores out there. If the "dude" dudes were normal people with good business sense and product knowledgability then maybe you'd see more independent stores going under. It's like the Walmart phenomenon. However the musical instrument market is more dynamic than doing what Walmart does (ie:we don't need a lot of product knowledge about skin cream, shampoo or groceries). So for now in the market place there is room for the home-town dealer and the mega chain. We'll see what happens in a few years. It may not be GC that puts your local dealer under but maybe a web entity like MF or Ebay. (Maybe not, but just a thought). Incidently I have nothing against either of these.

[fezz parka]

I buy strings and picks and chords from Kaye's Music Room in Reseda (going into Kaye's reminds me of when I was a kid and could go to shops owned by Al Casey and Barney Kessell) and parts from Trutone Music in Santa Monica. I can get this stuff thru the internet, but I like walking into a friendly, small shop.

Used guitars and amps I get from private parties, and new stuff I get through a good friend who has an "in" with all of the majors. ( Although I rarely get something "new"...)

Maybe I'm just a geezer, but I have a hard time dealing with someone behind the counter who's not as old as the boots I'm wearing. I don't think I've been to Guitar Center since 1974...

Edited cuz I'm a dummy...Carol doesn't have anything to do with the store in Reseda. I hate gettin' old...

[Skully]

I buy strings and picks and chords from Carol Kaye's Music Room in Reseda

Tell us more about her store. What's she got there? How's the selection?

[lenny]

teenage daughter eh? he wanted a date! :P
quote:
He was able to talk to my teenage daughter and get her set up with what she was looking for. After we bought the first effect, he called a week or two later to see how we liked it and to see how my daughter was enjoying using it. He wanted me to tell her not to get discouraged because there was a lot to master with it. We later bought her a distortion pedal and he called me again to see how it was working out. I did appreciate the followup.

[LilDirtyB]

Originally Posted by lenny

teenage daughter eh? he wanted a date! :P
quote:
He was able to talk to my teenage daughter and get her set up with what she was looking for. After we bought the first effect, he called a week or two later to see how we liked it and to see how my daughter was enjoying using it. He wanted me to tell her not to get discouraged because there was a lot to master with it. We later bought her a distortion pedal and he called me again to see how it was working out. I did appreciate the followup.

Maybe. A lot of twenty somethings like 15 year olds...they have a lot in common!

The store generally runs pretty well so I'd like to think that maybe the manager there would not be out of the "zone" to answer a question and would hire decent salespeople. Maybe I can send her in next time with cash when I need to buy a guitar to see what kind of deal she can get.

Actually, I think I'm in denial...

[Bob McLeod]

Fuzzy, that is the UGLIEST picture of me ever taken, even by my mother, who didn't like me that much anyway...

Yep, the Twin and that relic are still with me. I know you don't approve but at least I didn't Esquire-ize it like Bill did his...hehehe.
It's still kinda sorta full bred tele, if you don't mind the 9.5 radius and the phony paint job and the phony dings and the phony..oh, never mind.

They're both singing that tele/twin tone...the relic is aging better than I am.

Bill, the only thing I want to see me through my old age is the sequel to Two Lane...

The Good Book tells us to suffer fools gladly. We're on the downhill boys. I'm glad to be in the same world as both of you but in the next breath, we're gone. The excitment never stops..har har.

Your bud,

Bob

[guitbox]

Man, you remind me of the boys I grew up with in Maple Ridge! Down to earth, sly, and good to the bone! You remind of of Slim Pickins with a 'Tele in his hands. Long may you stroll these halls ma frend!

Guitbox.

[skepticult]

I think the main thing I hate about Guitar Center (and largish stores in general) is the crowd. The parking lot is too small, the store has too much crap in it, there are way too many people, things are way too loud...at least for a purchase of something as personal as a new guitar.

Having less duplicate merchandise on the floor, with guitars that are actually semi-setup, would alleviate most of the problem. I say this even though my Tele was an impulse buy...from a different store down the street (Evan's Music City) where I had room to stretch out and give it a try in relative peace.

It's really the same reason I don't go to Wal-Mart. Yeah, you might save a few bucks, but in the long run, my time and sanity are far more valuable.

[0le FUZZY]

<li>Its nice ta be thought of roun those circles.
<li>Now I gotta tell yew all bout my travels yeast-terd-day.
<li>I wassa doin my job inner-view stuff over in Chico and when done I thought I'd stop by the local "Mom & Pop" music store. Its knott really one but as close as it gits roun here cents the REAL one that waz here closed down 15 years ago and Floyd Turner died last year.
<li>I wanted sum boxes ta ship these TELECASTERs I'm sellin in. I thought they mite haff sum out back or inna bass-mint.
<li>Well I waltzed in and none body jumped on me nor did they try and sell me anythang.
<li>The one young man finally asked iffin he could help and I tolt him watt I needed.
<li>He said he wood axe the manager and he did.
<li>The manager showed up and waz at or near 21 years old and I said tew my seff-----look out now!!
<li>He waz the nicest kid I haff ever spoken with. The big truck waz parked out inna street and the three fellers there waz a un-boxin 6 Squier Strats and TELECASTERs.
<li>Darian tolt them tew hurry up cause I wanted them boxes. Max said O.K. and commenced ta tear them Strats and Bigsby equiped TELECASTERs out and lay them onna counter.
<li>Yew know me ----- I kin talk sew I did fer an hour er sew and had a wunnerfull time lookin and visitin.
<li>Well they dent haff a butterscotch Squier in the lot and even iffin they did it wood haff cost $229.00 plus taxes($169.00 at Magicians Fren)
<li>Borin I know but I waltzed outta there with 5 Squier boxes and a big ole Martin box box(they will hold tew TELECASTERs) and Darian held the door fer me and all waz free even after my offer of payment.
<li>Now them waz sum nice young fellers a werkin them seff threw kollege I reckon. It waz a pleasure.[*]Oh in case yew are ever in Chico check in with Herreid music and tell em Fuzzy sent ya. I'm sure they will be impressed and giff yew a discount-------BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH !!!
<li>The drawback with small stores iss the availability of parts and gitters and most of all the price. But at least yew git ta try watt they haff out first iffin yer of a mind tew.
<li>Good luck and thanx fer readin my rant.

0le FUZZY

[TeleMark]

Originally Posted by skepticult

I think the main thing I hate about Guitar Center (and largish stores in general) is the crowd. The parking lot is too small, the store has too much crap in it, there are way too many people, things are way too loud...at least for a purchase of something as personal as a new guitar.

There is one GC in my area (San Marcos), and when I go there about every couple of months or so, I show up when they are unlocking the doors at 10:00am. I usually have the place to myself, with the exception of the hung-over zombies who leave me alone.

I do miss the space you had at Mars. When I lived in VA, there was one in Alexandria that I went to a lot. There was plenty of room to spread out, and I rarely felt like I was too crowded. They seemed to have better selection, too. So they're Sam Ash stores now?

TeleMark

[Joel Terry]

Originally Posted by Bill Hullett

I don't think its too much to ask that a salesman have a "basic" knowledge of whats he's selling.
Bill Hullett

Hey--Bill's right; no exceptions. That's one of the pillar tenets of retail sales: Know about that which you sell. No exceptions, and no excuses, such as, "Well, look at all of these SKUs--how could anyone possibly know them all?" Or, even worse, "I don't get paid enough to know about everything we sell here."

Joel

[beez]

Originally Posted by beez

but I had a good experience. There is one guy who I deal with there named Sam. Friendly and not pushy at all. I bought a 68 SG from him in early Jan. I acutally ended up buying a CAR MIM 60's tele today. I really don't need another guitar....but really liked the tele. It was used....not sure what year, but the serial number is MZ2....., and I think I read on here that that is a 2002. Excellent sounding guitar, and plays good....(plays better after I got it home and tweaked the truss rod about 1/4 turn. Also....the screws were threaded through the body as well as the neck, so I drilled out the holes in the body so the screws could slide through).

Question: some of the new MIM 60's teles I have seen have had three smooth steel saddles and a top hat switch. Mine has the threaded saddles and the barrell switch. Did somebody change mine, or did the earlier MIM 60's teles come the way mine did?

OK....Here is an addition to my recent good experience at the Indy GC: About 15 minutes ago, I received a phone call from Sam at GC to just thank me again for my business and to make sure I was happy with the tele I bought! I thought that was a really classy and professional touch, and I will definitly work with him again when I need to make a purchase!

George

[Bob Rogers]

I have not been in a GC in a several months. Some of the problems described here are familiar, but not the hard-sell techniques. I think I've been in three different centers, (Cheery Hill, NJ, Virginia Beach, and Charlotte?) and I've never felt a real hard sell. Is this something that is a recent change? BTW I've liked them as a place to try keyboards. Not much help, but not much traffic. If you can get someone to find you a manual (not always easy) you can spend an afternoon checking out features.

[hippietim]

I needed some locking tuners and nobody else around had them so I called GC and they did. So I ran up there tonight and the first thing I saw when I walked in was a beautiful purple Brian Setzer Hot Rod Gretsch 6120. I walked out with it too! It was $999 brand spanking new!!! This guitar smokes!!! Everyone treated me great too.

The only bummer was paying the 8.8% Washington state sales tax.

[attackothom]

I've never felt any weird sales pressure at GC- maybe because I usually know more about the guitars than the sales staff (or at least pretend to) and I try to intimidate them with a lot of questions that I know they can't answer (sometimes I just make stuff up, but I sound like I know what I'm talking about). I call that my "ninja guitar buying eye-gouge move".

Then, when I have them off guard, I start loudly complaining about the flaws in the guitar I want (that's the sweeper move to knock 'em off their feet.

Finally, after I've made them feel like they HAVE to make a sale to make the pain (me) go away, I hit 'em with the finishing move- my super lowball offer. Works every time! Of course, the throwing stars don't hurt my cause either.

Seriously though, I've always found that I can get a good deal at GC. They're such high volume dealers, it's all about pushing product out the door for whatever they can get above cost.

My only complaints are:
1. Please turn down the music in the store so I can hear whatever it is I'm playing.
2. It's way too hard to find the decent guitars in the store because of the mountains of $149 Warlocks in the way!
3. Please stop calling me "Bro". "Hey you" is fine. Whatever. Just stop calling me "Bro".