Have Superstores ruined the guitar experience?

[bossaholic]

I recently went into our local GC with my 65 year old uncle, who is an avid guitar player and collector.

He was appalled.

He did spend some time plinking around and was very hesitant to take anything down without asking.

When we got in the car, he went on a rant.

He said in the old days, you went into a music store and you asked the owners to look at something. There was a culture of respect for the instrument. Usually the owner took the guitar off the wall, and layed it on a nice flannel towel on the counter, and made you wipe your hands before you picked it up. (We've had this conversation here before)

He then went on to say all he saw at GC was a bunch of kids treating instruments like toys, with no value. He said when he was a teenager, looking at guitars was an experience similar to looking at a brand new Cadillac or Corvette.

The more I thought of it, he did have a point. Do I agree with him? Yes and no. A guitar is meant to be played. It's a tool, but on the other hand, it's also a fine piece of craftsmanship, even if it's bolted together. For some young teenager, it's a very expensive and personal purchase.

I just thought it was interesting getting someone's perspective on it since he remembers the Mom and Pop stores.

 

[Joe-Bob]

Your uncle is 100% right. Buy him a beer; send me the bill.

 

[Mark Davis]

Thats how it was when I was younger Im 59.

All the guitars were in a glass case and it was behind the counter you had to ask to touch anything.

Made it seem like all the instruments were a special thing which they are.

They were handed to you in perfect shape with clean strings and intune.

 

[klasaine]

Yeah, he's probably right.
My first music store experiences were "look, don't touch - ask first".
Pretty simple I guess - cheapen the product, then you cheapen the culture around the product.

 

[puremania]

I agree completely, and do what I can to support the locals. One of the best we have in the area: (link removed)

Dude sells Hagstrom, Vox, Danelectro, Axl and the like as well as Orange, Mesa/Boogie and Pignose...I love everything about this shop!

 

[Zillinois]

Well, not all the stuff in GC is a "fine piece of craftsmanship", and in fact most of it is pretty disposable, and will be easily replaced by some other digital peice of junk next year. That said, at my local GCs, the "fine piece of craftsmanship" gear (i.e. high end gear) usually requires a salesperson.

 

[outbreak]

Im a youngen so can't comment on what things were like back in my day, but i agree with him. We have a store here that sells it's gear off the shelves (they don't have multiple copies of a guitar/amp sitting out back in a box untouched) and pretty much all their stock has dents/scratches on it. I've seen people come in and treat the gear pretty bad (usually a bunch of kids will come in and play one shred metal scale over and over with stupid amounts of distortion at stupidly high volumes and then leave without buying anything). I recently bought a champ 600 from the store that sells off the shelf at a big sale of theirs, they tried to sell it to me at the normal price even though the edge of the tolex is torn and hanging off and it had afew black marks on the rest of it (these wiped off), i got a discount after saying i'm not playing new for something that's damaged but alot of kids wouldn't know to ask.....
oh and i glued down the rip and now it looks fine for an under half price amp

 

[ibobunot]

If you're gonna have a commoditized, bottom line, profit is the only thing that matters society this is what you're gonna get... :neutral:

 

[studio1087]

Change is tough.

We all like things the way they used to be.

There must be 100 times the selection of pedals, guitars and amps now if one were to compare your Uncle's youth era to today.

I'm not sure that comparing then and now makes much sense beyond romantic notions and nostalgia. Comparing a 1969 car dealer to a 2009 car dealer may be nostalgic but it may not mean much.

I expect inventory, courtesy, competitive prices and the ability to try new things in a retail environment. Big stores do a pretty good job on all four of my demands. The last few guitars that I purchased from bigger stores came out of storage (sealed in a a factory box) after I tried the floor model. Great inventory. Great customer service.

I have been in an equal number of mom and pop stores with poor inventory and workers with negative attitudes and big egos.

I respect your uncle but I think that there are two sides or two points of view to the story.

Change is a beast. I'm glad that we have a few large stores in Milwaukee.

John

 

[tbp0701]

He's right, but it's not all good, and I'm mixed about it.

As a kid, my experience at music stores wasn't that great. I later learned that I payed too much for everything at these places, and I got tired of being essentially told that my instruments were junk and I should get something better, but I wasn't allowed to try out the something better unless I was about to order one, etc. I wasn't a child prodigy by any means, but I was a decent, serious player. I later found some good stores, which was how I really learned that there were places that treated their customers well, actually wanted to help young musicians and didn't try to bilk everyone.

I've always contended that if the majority of mom & pop stores had treated their customers well, GC would have never gotten off the ground. The sad thing is that a lot of good independent stores went under or are struggling, as well.

Granted, I also don't like the local GCs very much and also get annoyed at seeing people carelessly banging up guitars--and that so many do that is probably another subject--as well as how many people are going to try to learn on a guitar that will probably never be properly set up and play in tune, but I remember starter instruments 30 years ago were often probably worse, and the price of getting something that won't just frustrate new players was quite a bit higher.

There's a balance somewhere, and I think that a few stores have managed to hit it. I hope those stay around. However, Best Buy is a music store now, and we may wind up fondly reminiscing about the old days when we got comparatively great service from Guitar Centers.

 

[superhand]

One time I was at my local GC and this guy who was there with a few of his friends knocked a Fender Jazz bass over right on to the floor and they just laughed about it. One of the salesmen saw the whole thing and didn't even say anything to them.

 

[ac15]

When I was a teenager, Guitar Centers hadn't existed yet (at least not in Chicago), and I do remember the way "old school" music stores are. But, as "Ibobunot" said "If you're gonna have a commoditized, bottom line, profit is the only thing that matters society this is what you're gonna get."

When I was in high school, many of the guitars at the store were expensive Fenders and Gibsons and yes, you had to be careful with those or ask to try them. But now everyone and their mom is making $99 - $200 Chinese and Indonesian guitars so of course it's a free-for-all. You still have to ask permission to play the "good" guitars.

 

[Cunningham26]

Change is tough.

We all like things the way they used to be.

There must be 100 times the selection of pedals, guitars and amps now if one were to compare your Uncle's youth era to today.

I'm not sure that comparing then and now makes much sense beyond romantic notions and nostalgia. Comparing a 1969 car dealer to a 2009 car dealer may be nostalgic but it may not mean much.

I expect inventory, courtesy, competitive prices and the ability to try new things in a retail environment. Big stores do a pretty good job on all four of my demands. The last few guitars that I purchased from bigger stores came out of storage (sealed in a a factory box) after I tried the floor model. Great inventory. Great customer service.

I have been in an equal number of mom and pop stores with poor inventory and workers with negative attitudes and big egos.

I respect your uncle but I think that there are two sides or two points of view to the story.

Change is a beast. I'm glad that we have a few large stores in Milwaukee.

John

+1

to be honest, it was a store like you describe, a mom and pop where the owner was just an absolute jerk, that kept me from picking up a guitar until I was 18. The way the OP describes the ritual or presenting an instrument and making you wipe your hands was WAY too intimidating for me, and I love that places like GC are democratic enough to let anyone manhandle most of their entry level stuff.

But lets be honest, anything they don't want teenagers or idiots touching is still strategically placed too high, above a sales counter, in a separate room then the floor, or behind glass. They have the inventory and overhead to let the masses test out anything under about $1500 (average), which is awesome from the standpoint of a beginner/enthusiast, but I'm sure, if you wanna play that original '56 goldtop behind the glass, they'll be checking your hands.

 

[Wardpike]

The day and age of walking into a music store and seeing something truly spectacular that commands respect and awe from both seller and prospective buyer are increasingly rare and perhaps coming to an end at all but the most specialized boutiques.

I guess Gruhn, Norman's, ELderly, 12th fret, Boutique Tone and all their ilk are the only places left... oh well, c'est la vie. My guitar room still makes me very happy.

 

[tiktok]

In the old days, people got dressed up to fly on airplanes, but I'm not lamenting that either.

 

[klasaine]

In the old days, people got dressed up to fly on airplanes.

I sort of wish they still did ... at least a little bit.

*I ask at GC before I grab something off the wall (if there's a guy around). It's just me I guess and I worked in a music store a long time ago. I appreciated folks asking.

 

[neocaster]

Was in a mom and pop shop a few years back. I asked to see a guitar (Gibson Custom Firebird) and the owner asked me to take off my belt. I took it off, as well as my watch, played the guitar, bought a pedal and left. I go back there regularly. Sometimes it's more like a museum than a shop. I sold them a guitar I really liked when money was incredibly tight. I didn't get what I wanted for it, and I know they got way more than the 100% return a shop like that should look for on a late model used instrument. Since I rarely have the kind of money it takes to support a shop like that, I'm glad I was able to do something.

 

[IdahoPicker]

I agree with him absolutely. Fine instruments are works of art, simple as that.
There is much to be gained from a deep respect for a fine instrument: you'll love it more, you'll cherish it more, and you'll pour more heart and soul into it when you play it.

Guitars are not toys, nor should they be treated as such. If people want toys, they should go to Wal-Mart and buy one to plug into their XBOX (or Playstation, or Nintendo, or whatever...).

 

[bossaholic]

I guess we all straddle the fence on this issue. I love to be able to go into my local GC and pull something down and play it without feeling like I am sitting in someone's living room admiring their collection, afraid to touch anything.

But I understand where my uncle is coming from. My memories of him and his two brothers and my grandpa admiring guitars and treating them like cars has always made a lasting impression me. It was a guitar culture that I am nostalgic for, partly because of many wonderful memories at family get togethers and all of them breaking out the guitars playing music.

I guess Mom and Pop experiences all depend on the Mom and Pop. Remember the story I posted a couple of months ago about my son's experience in a locally owned store?

I remember as a kid, going to the music store my grandpa used to frequent. The owners were a really nice couple who always had a smile on their face and always gave me a Kazoo when I left. They would let him try out those guitars and they would talk for what seemed like hours. They even had little rooms with amps hooked up so people could try them out. This owner was also the man every gigging musician went too. I remember one of my uncles telling me he was available 24/7. Like a guitar doctor!

Anyway, sometimes I think all towns need a cool locally owned music store with owners like that.

 

[shades]

The seduction of the consumer with "the lowest price possible" claim is the bane of the big box store business world. In business you offer quality, price and service of which only two out of three are truly possible to provide. I'll pass on the big box stores every time in favor of the local business who offers quality and service and will be there when I have a problem. GC,Lowes,Home Depot and mega-supermarkets are prime examples of low price and piss poor service. I'm thankful to have two excellent mom & pop music stores, two family owned hardware and lumber yards and a few good local grocery stores to do business with and will trade there to the end.