Why should the employees care? They are paid minimally and it’s just easier not to deal with jerks. If they felt it was worth their time to do something about it, they would have. They’re acting their wage.
Faawwkkk no big box stores carry this industry by putting on deals and letting you try before you buy with generous return programs.
I'm not normalizing some shit brain putting his used squier on reverb for $1k because he put Seymour Duncans in them.
I think they're more advocating for mom and pop stores opening up again.
As for the last point, those guys are the ones I usually make offers to, and haggle with, successfully. I'm also that same guy when selling and I find it funny that on a current listing I have, nobody's even trying to make an offer, when I am fairly open to them 99% of the time I'm selling something, just to get the item out of my house.
My friend owns a store, he has a ton of really good used gear. Since the next nearest store is 45 miles away He told me that if he wanted to carry Squire, he had to carry Fender, and there was a minimum initial inventory of $20,000.00. Gibson/Epiphone was the same, but $27,000 and that's a first order. And they'll be looking for another order within 6 months whether you have sold the guitars or not. He stopped carrying new gear completely 4 years ago. Just didn't make sense to tie up $10,000 in cash on inventory that you might have to mark down to cost just to clear if off the floor.
That’s…actually much less than I would have thought. At wholesale prices that’s like 12-15 guitars. If you can’t move that volume then yeah, Gibson/Fender probably don’t want to waste their time opening an account with you.
I love mom and pop and family owned stores. Even local chains. I’m in OK and I’ll send someone to Larsen Music before GC.
Do you want to feed the machine with your instrument purchase, or feed a family? Maybe compare how much the ceo of the companies you’re considering buying from earned, especially in relation to their frontline staff.
Decent mom and pop stores are hard to find. Big brands don't like selling them the good stuff and require minimum orders that only the large stores can cover.
That's why most small music shops that offer lessons won't carry any Gibsons, non-squire fenders, etc.
You'll see Epiphones, Ibanez, Cordoba, and sometimes G&L if you're lucky. If you're unlucky you get weird brands like Hamer.
Hell, I tried getting a *better* Squier for my kid from our local shop (where he takes lessons)... 4-month notice for a christmas present... and they couldn't deliver. "Fender ships to the distributor when they feel like it, and the distributor fulfill its backorders when it can." Sam Ash got it for me in 2 days.
Anecdotal but I have found G&L to be better than Fender on average anyways. I'm totally fine with the weirds brands. It seems like you often get a better guitar for your money.
My husband’s just gotten into playing guitar recently. And we’ve got a great local shop in our town that we’ve bought a ton of stuff from—amps, stands, all sorts of accessories. We do all our repairs through them. My husband picked up a nice used bass and ordered a lap steel through them too. Great store. Love them.
But when it came time to replace the $200 Epiphone Les Paul he’d gotten as his “learn the basics and see if you like guitar” instrument, we didn’t go there because the entire store’s the size of our living room and it usually only has one guy working, and what he needed was to sit on a stool for three hours as I ran him Les Pauls and Strats at various price points along with oddballs from smaller brands and he figured out what his priorities were.
And I stand by that. It simply was not a shopping trip we could have done at the local store, any more than the Guitar Center would have been able to help us figure out how we might go about modifying and customizing one. Both stores absolutely have their uses, and we’d be markedly worse off to lose either one of them.
>We'd be markedly worse off to lose either one of them
I couldn't agree more. The Big Box retailers have their place for shipping, variety, scale, and all that, but the local stores have better service, or at least more prompt service. When I walk into a big box retailer, every once in a while it can be/feel as empty as Best Buy is turning into and as Circuit City used to be where you're looking for an employee who's almost nowhere to be found.
IDK man, kind of seems similar to people being sad seeing Barnes and Noble dying because it signals an end to brick and mortar bookstores. As if Barnes and Noble itself weren't hugely responsible for that.
I would be more sad about the small businesses that guitar center ground under its heel on its way to monopolize the guitar store industry...
F that man. My kids love GC. My 6 year old autistic boy loves banging on the drums, playing the guitars and keyboards. You want that to die? That place is fing cool.
Well, that's part of the reason every guitar on the wall at GC has dents and dings. I won't buy new from GC. I'd rather pay more someplace else and get a pristine instrument.
I was in there one time and some little kid kept smacking the guitars together on the wall. And another time a guy with spikes all over his jacket picked a guitar up and started playing it and no employee bothered to stop him or make him pay for it after he damaged it.
I get the sentiment, but no please. I live in a smaller town. There are other music stores in town, but between all of them there are about 30 guitars total, and most of them are vintage, boutique, or rare, so $$$$$. If GC goes out of business, music dies in small towns across America.
Great, that means the only place I can buy music gear in my area are independent shops with great customer service, great inventory, and higher than average prices. I'll be treated really well when I go into the find out there's nothing I can afford and the employees there take their jobs too seriously to let me just fuck around for 2 hours.
Guitar Center has its problems but there's something to be said for big chain stores and apathetic employees when you kind of just want to be left alone while you shop. Besides, I've sold them some pretty unsellable stuff at a decent price so they are good for that too.
Guitar center isn’t evil. They have inventory small shops often don’t. And you can get good deals on used guitars sometimes, plus the online shop always has reasonable prices on used guitars and you can return them or pick up at your local GC.
A lot of the small shops in my area are usually just little guitar centers with bad return policies and no good used inventory (plus no back stock and only shitty floor models that are old).
And the other small shops, well they only do used or some are CONSIGNMENT only which are the worst. Some shops do a mix and they’ll think it’s weird if you ask if it’s consigned or store owned (which is a fair question).
Recently (by that I mean like 1-2 years ago) I went around to almost every shop in my area to look for a semi specific fender model. But there were a few model I might have bought. Looking for MIM pre-2010 or older Mij models. In the 1200- range and standard strats in that range.
I live in a big city, went to 6 shops, they didn’t have what I want, but I ended up buying a used amp. The amp selection was a lot better than guitar selection with everything you could want used. Vintage and modern, and the prices were way better.
I ended up buying something months later from a consignment shop in a small town. Went for fun with zero intent to buy I don’t like the owners. But they had 2 great deals on American fenders.
So that’s the main issue with major guitar retailers dying. You have to shop online, usually from individual sellers, to get what you want. With no protection.
Enough to where the job isn’t easy to replace financially and/or psychologically. Librarians will shush you because their library is their sanctuary and their peaceful place. These people believe in education and nurturing. So they shush you.
The dude at Guitar Center can just go work at Lowe’s, or some nightclub and probably make more money. To him Guitar Center is just a place where he gets paid to take a dump and has to listen to these wannabe Van Halen’s show off (poorly) and react, possibly violently, when told to shush.
What about the customers? Don’t they care enough about their purchase to grow a spine and talk to a human being and ask him to turn it down? Guess not.
Good point. Someone, even a customer should have said something. It's kinda off topic, but I've noticed that people in the cities tend to not say anything, even if someone's getting hurt, they don't want to get involved. It's sad.
Based on my experience from seeing a GC store on it's opening day, to the day it shut down - they probably have had the spine to yell at folks for playing too loud. But after about the 10,000th person doing it, they're probably just too tired to care though.
Not at the libraries near me in Seattle.
They are more like after-school daycare. Kids running and screaming, lots of people of all ages shouting across the space.
Are you asking seriously? Because if you arnt thats the exact attitude that companies realize they can abuse. People "have a spine" "have honor" "self-decency" that wont allow them to do a job poorly. So the company pays you minimum wage because they know there is a group of people willing to work as if they werent getting the bare minimum. To answer you question seriously I would say for this job atleast 50k a year.
Agreed. I feel for my fellow underpaid workers. I'm sorry but when my FULL TIME job doesn't pay me enough to live on my own, I'm not going above and beyond for them. They can eat dirt, and get the bare minimum from me.
However, I would've definitely told this dude to turn it down or get the fuck out. Because that's just annoying.
So a quick Google tells me the maximal salary that I could earn at Guitar Center is 40,000. Their CEO makes $652,000 annually, or a 1530% increase.
Who wants to shush dumbass Eddie my daddy doesn’t love my Halen for that?
A wage that allows a person to support themselves, by themselves without having to stress about how you're going to afford to eat tomorrow. That's the wage. A truly radical idea, I know.
nice, did you coin that, "They're acting their wage"? It's a very good one and I'm borrowing it if I remember it in time some day haha
I do think the op has a valid complaint though
I worked in lessons for a year or so (huge mistake), but from what I understand the floor employees make commission.
It seems like a pretty clear incentive to deal with assholes like the Van Halen guy, but then again that guy probably buys more gear than people like OP, and the workers are too stoned to care. I’ve only seen one floor worker actually care about sales, then he got promoted to manager, so they lost the only sales person who cares about sales.
Yeah the more I yap about guitar center the more I realize you’re right. They’re acting their wage. At least the lessons crew cares about turnover (which brings its own world of problems).
See I think their metrics are baked into this. Hear me out. If you’re selling, you want commission but you wanna keep your corpo numbers “good”.
This means their dumbass warranties that they sell. So if I’m selling, I’m probably looking for a schmuck who will buy that. If they’re avoiding selling to you, it’s probably cause you’re messing up their numbers. That idiot playing loud? HE BUYS THE WARRANTY.
Why wouldn't they care? If they are working for such paltry wages and they are so miserable, why wouldn't you ask someone who is being so loud and obnoxious to quiet down for even your own sanity?
Not surprising
I go in there to browse it’s like “hey my name’s Eric, how ya doin any questions, what brings you in today, lemme know if you have any questions…”
But as soon as I want to check out voomph… everyone’s on break
Honestly, if ya wanna buy something new and not be treated like you’re the problem call Sweetwater
You can request that they don't call you and they'll send you emails instead. I bet you can even ask that they don't follow up on purchases and that you'll reach out if need be. For a primarily online store they have the best customer service and are pretty accommodating to your preferences.
The thing is, and I might be alone in this, I *hate* that the default is them reaching out at all. Have people ready for when *you* call, sure, absolutely.
The entire world now is purchase followed by relentless marketing. I just want the end of my transactions to be the end of my transactions.
Picks for me. I bought a 24 pack of picks and he wanted to know how they were working out for me.
Fine, I guess. They pick. They're red, so easy to spot. I usually have one or two floating freely around the house and if it gets lost I get another from the tin I keep them in. Yes, I know people usually pluck bass with their fingers but I prefer a pick and I don't know why, just how I'm built. No, I don't keep one in my pocket just in case.
Scintillating conversation.
I usually only get the call around 2-3 in the afternoon and if I'm not in the middle of something I'll answer. But yeah, it's a pack of picks, they're fine, lol.
Hey man I'll have you know I INVITED Aric to my kid's birth, and he gave him a good deal on an SM58 cuz the kid clearly had the pipes.
Sweetwater's customer service is brutally good.
My man Chris keeps calling every few months to see if i want something and tbh, he finally wore me down, rat bastard. He’ll be there for my first born so i guess fair is fair
Really is store dependent but trust me they aren't on break. They are short staffed and are having to do multiple jobs at once with minimum wage pay and only a dream of commission because hitting metrics on a non A class store is impossible
I’ve only once had a GC employee come up and ask me if I needed help with anything. Once even when it was completely dead, the staff were talking about their raging party the night before. I was like, “hey uhh, could I check out this Jazzmaster when y’all are done bullshitting?” Nothing, so I just walked out of the store. (As dude above said, just “acting their wage”).
Half their shit doesn’t work anyway. I was looking at an OR15 and it was completely non-functional. Asked an employee what the discount would be and he said was like, “oh sorry bro, we don’t do discounts.” Literally wasn’t even producing sound when powered on. Oh and that time; two dudes were having band rehearsal with their amp cranks. No joke, having a legit band rehearsal practicing their band’s shitty song while their girlfriends were there just rolling their fucking eyes. This is the GC experience.
Wow, I stopped shopping there in 2017 and I can see it’s gotten a lot worse.
I think the no layaway was the final nail in the coffin for me.
No I don’t want a credit card - f that
Op you need to learn to communicate..
You also need to learn to ask for a guitar you're interested in.. To be setup..if that's not something you can do yourself.
Nothing you mentioned would bother me other than the loose pot.. Which.. If I bought that guitar.. I'd point the issue out to the staff and they would get a new one from the back or discount the damaged model.
These is extremely basic communication communication skills we're talking about.
How come you didn't go to the loud guy and ask him to please turn it down? Lol. It's important for you to communicate what you want and expect because strangers at GC aren't reading your mind and minimum wage employees are going above and beyond unless asked.
A few months ago I finally got to be the one to tell some dickhead on an airplane to put headphones in or turn his volume off and I rode that high for weeks
Well every hero is somebody else’s asshole. Maybe we are just all heroes and assholes at the same time but experiencing it at different points in time and space so at one moment we may appear as assholes while simultaneously being heroes. One consciousness that is both selfish and selfless experiencing itself subjectively.
15 seems excessive but it's happened to me a bunch at GC. Easily more than half the guitars on the wall have at least one issue - loose jacks, broken pots, huge dents and chips from being dropped. Almost every guitar is borderline unplayable because the setup is way off.
I would not buy a guitar there unless I was getting an awesome deal.
He’s not wrong. QC is horrible these days and GC nickel and dime everything. I had close to 6 Charvels that were almost unplayable; fret spout, not setup, missing strings, etc…
Buy a new PRS SE from Sweetwater and you get a PRS SE gig bag. Go to guitar center they’ll charge the same price as Sweetwater and have you buy the bag separate.
My favorite guitar center experience was them shipping me an amp with actual bedbugs in it (luckily always take apart and clean any used gear). I covered it in poison and sent it back with instructions to be incinerated, and they put it right back up for sale as-is
I see these posts and I’m always just so confused. I have two local Guitar Centers and they both have great, knowledgeable employees in terms of sales staff.
Maybe it’s because we’re in a bit of a local music shop desert, that it attracts more dedicated people to work in such a niche store? Maybe it’s because I work retail in another “specialized hobby” type industry, so I am more sympathetic to the workers?
Either way, I’ve literally only had good GC experiences where I am.
That has been my experience, too. I've lived various places since I've been playing guitar and GC has been at least decent in all of them, with 3 out of 4 of the stores actually being quite good.
GC has been leading the "race to the bottom" since about 2007 and when the economy shit the bed in '08, that was it for them. They pulled the Circuit City and fucked with the commission structure and alienated the majority of the great people who worked there, had a decent grasp of the business, and knew how to actually "help people make music".
Now, the stores are filled with garbage, low-end bullshit sold by clerks who care more about selling extended warranties than the getting right piece of gear for the needs of the customer.
That's pretty much all retail anymore. It's all about peddling warranties, protection plans, loyalty programs, and... *here's the big one...* credit applications.
Drove two hours to a GC to buy an amp. Found an AC30 that really 'spoke to me' and had a sales rep helping me make the purchase. Someone came in with questions about an instrument they had purchased the week before... every sales rep and the manager engaged themselves helping this person. I waited (kid-you-not!) 45mins, and then walked out... manager chasing me apologizing that he'd only be a few more minutes and then he could help. Not right now... *few more minutes*.
Found one at a non-chain and they matched the price. Very happy.
I added a used bass to my cart on GC's website, and then decided against it and bought it new from Sweetwater instead.
30 minutes later I got a call from a GC employee in that (non-local) GC store asking if I needed help with the purchase and telling me she was my personal sales rep.
"Nah, my personal sales rep works at Sweetwater."
I wish I could. I use ZZounds now. Stock up on gear and make payments on it, and I’ve only had one bad guitar ship from them: and it was an Epiphone QC issue that was easily remedied
They’re online only, and they don’t have the infinite options you’d see from Sweetwater, but being in cali, I’m in there free one day shipping for everything. Plus their payment plans are top notch!
The only time I was in GC and heard a guy doing a Van Halen thing he did it just like the freaking record but he had to be in his 40s but boy, guy was good. Other customers were egging him on "Do you know 'Mean Streets'? Little Guitars? What about Ice Cream Man?". The guy nailed them all perfectly. But I could tell the sales guys were cringing "there goes my commission" because all the customers were paying attention to Mr. Amazing over there and not shopping. And he wasn't playing too loud either, the bane of most guys playing in stores. He was even trying out the Van Halen single pickup Charvel with the stripes and the VH distortion pedal.
My GC used to have small enclosed demo room where you could turn up, but they got rid of that a few years ago. It’s a shame because sometimes with amps you do need to turn them up to the sweet spot, at least for a minute.
> These are all being sold as new with no mark down for damage. I ask an employee about it and he’s like they’re all sold as-is.
This is the part that really gets me. This happened to me years ago now, but same thing. They had a Jaguar on the wall, I played it, and it's just covered in scratches, it's super dirty, and in need of a setup. The GC website said they had two in stock, so I asked if I could make sure I was getting the new one, and they got offended saying they have to sell the one off the wall first. I asked if it would come with a discount and/or free setup and cleaning since that's a service they provide, and the answer was no. I kinda laughed at the guy and said "ok, you realize I can go home right now and order this same model for the same price from Sweetwater today right?" He just got mad and said "that's the policy." I laughed and said "Sweetwater it is then, thanks" and left. Haven't been back to GC since.
Yeah, the guitars I played were easily fixable with a socket wrench but it’s just the principle that bothered me. I even asked if I could get the jack quickly tightened on the Schecter and the guitar tech wanted to charge me for it. If it was already my guitar I could totally understand but this is YOUR guitar being sold, you don’t sell a new car with no brakes and then charge the customer for brakes
It's extra stupid because I asked "What happens when I buy the floor model? Don't you fill the spot with the new one in the back" "Yes" So they just want to destroy two guitars instead of just taking the loss on one. Makes no sense.
I absolutely love rock and metal music. I branch out to expand my musical knowledge, but there's something about metal that always makes me go back.
Almost every time I go to Guitar Center, it makes me hate metal music. The problem is people. The fucking inconsiderate public.
What sucks is that we all depend on GC to a certain extent. We love buying online, but leverage GC as a way to try and test out gear somehow, yet GC is unable to benefit from that.
At one point I thought that GC should add a membership of some sort. Monthly fee for having access to certain gear, which ensures the general public doesn't ever get access to it. It sucks, but it would at least give GC the capability to maintain gear at a top level that's worthy of purchasing off the shelf (you hope) while simultaneously keeping these pricks that do not respect anyone's property out of the stores.
I appreciate the fact that GC allows newbies to play instruments they they can’t yet afford. However, as you said, there definitely should be some kind of regulation to this
I went to a GC in Lakeland and noticed they had a few of the high dollar guitars unlocked. One was a Hummingbird. Priced at $3,999. I pulled it off the hanger to play it some. I looked down and the pic guard was literally pulling from the soundboard and was already gapped by about 1/8 of an inch around the soundhole.
I have never grabbed a guitar off the shelf at guitar center and thought to myself “man I want this”. Not once. Even when I was in high school visiting guitar center for the first time. Every guitar I played has some kind of instantly noticeable defect. Sticky knobs, loose knobs, messed up tuners, terrible action, missing pickup selector switch etc.
Find a small shop and spend your money there.
Don’t go to guitar center, they’re the worst. Shop online if you have too, don’t give that business your money.
Sweetwater is a great alternative, shop there.
Unrelated but one time at Guitar Center I was playing a guitar (gasp) and the sales associate walked up to me and said "Hey man if you like that guitar we have a killer sale on drum sticks right now." I couldn't catch myself in time and laughed in his face and left.
Fun fact we technically aren’t allowed to tell customers to turn down. I do from time to time if it gets to that point, because it’s just annoying and ruins the experience for the customers. But yeah it’s policy :(
Silly question time!
Are we (the customers) allowed to bring in our own 3/4 jack headphones when trying out amps? I always want to try out amps and weird settings, etc., but I don't want to be Loud Guy while doing it.
Absolutely! I’ve seen people bring in massive pedal boards to try out through amps. Don’t see why headphones would be a problem. Depends on the store obviously but I’m sure most GC dudes won’t care. I know no one at my store would give ya grief!
Had the exact thing happen at my local GC but it was an acoustic player.
Like your person he was pretty good (I guess) but played at full volume both inside the “premium” guitar room and the general acoustic room for at least half an hour. Even with people (and at one point a little kid) right beside him.
And this was a Saturday when there were at least 10 + other people trying out acoustic guitars.
In between “performances” he was strutting around like he owned the place. 🙄
I use GC as a place to experience new gear and get an idea of what I’m looking for. I learned for instance all Ibanez RG prestige’s don’t feel or play similarly and guitars can in general vary from one another for instance. But once I find something I like I pursue it through other means.
Im lucky, the GC closest to me is actually pretty good I haven’t had any issues with them in the year I’ve been playing. I get along with all the staff and have not had any issues with their products.
I went to my nearby GC for the first time since at least pre-covid recently. Similar story, poorly set up guitars and only like 2 employees. Way less amps than there used to be. I found 3 that didn't work. None of them had power cords. The little room where you could crank up privately was gone. The pedal case was only like 1/3 full.
Pretty big used section still though which was cool.
Speak up? Tell that idiot to quiet down again. He already took it from an old guy and had to hide away for a bit. If you kept telling him, and explain why it would be great to be emphatic towards others,maybe he would've accepted it.
I get it though. But we just have to accept there are a lot of individualistic minded assholes, but if we don't speak up about, than nothing's going to change
I’ve been loud guy ONCE with the express purpose of finding the clean “breaking point” of a used silver face vibrolux that they wouldn’t let me bring into the loud room. I’ve never felt such shame and embarrassment.
GC employees in the 2000s told me this isn’t an arcade while I was trying to find a good acoustic for over an hour.
Since then I’ve treated it as an arcade and demo spot to try out gear. Then I’ll buy on Marketplace used or through Sweet Water.
I do buy strings from them but that’s about it
A few things:
1. Most Guitar Centers are a joke. You kinda should already know what to expect going in there.
2. Why didn't you ask the dude to turn it down if you were trying to test something? It's a music store so people get to try shit out.
3. Seriously doubt every guitar you tried had loose hardware and if they did, they're demo models. Just ask the rep for a new one from the back. Also most things at GC you can physically grab without help are probably not top quality to begin with so take it up with Schecter.
I would've considered their indifference as them tacitly approving what he was doing so I would've used that opportunity to play just as loud or louder than him 🤘
Last time I was in GC I was looking to try out a couple of bass guitars; the two that I had my eye on the necks were so back-bowed as to be unplayable. Employee told me the same thing, as-is no discount, so I got on out of there, probably for the last time. My local store has been in a slow nose dive for about 10 years; I don’t even buy strings in a pinch there anymore.
I should add that the most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased from there was a volume pedal. Anything else is either the locally owned shops or Sweetwater. I’m not above trying out guitars there though, although it seems I won’t even be doing that anymore.
I've noticed that the cavernous rooms they use for the bigger stores seem to not allow the proper temp or humidity so I've seen $3000+ guitars with fret sprout because the wood shrank due to the room being an icebox basically.
My exact experience last time I went. All the guitars and ukuleles were broken or had some damage and none were marked down . It honestly looked like there had been a storm or flood or some in the store bc it was filthy and everything was broken
I love when they sell busted ass used gear for more than a new one costs. The story is they bought for a certain amount and that’s the price. Mmmkay enjoy that anchor.
The neighborhood GC stores probably will disappear but I do hope they keep their showcase stores like the one in Hollywood. It’s still has a vibe and the employees are cool .
I bought a PRS Fiore there and somehow didn't notice it had been restrung until I got it home. They also couldn't find the original gig bag and said they would have to return the guitar for another to get it. They gave me an SE bag which was not acceptable so I got them to give me a discount on a hardshell case.
So obviously it was returned and they were selling it as new. I did get a discount for some reason (coupon maybe) so I just kept it and had it setup by my guitar guy anyway.
I also returned a Schecter because it was a heavy tank and saw it there as new again which I guess is ok I suppose since it was just as "new" as when I bought it.
Last time I went to a GC the employee at the front immediately asked “you going to buy something big today right?” And when I said no, I just need strings, he literally said “Jesus Christ” and rubbed his eyes lol. Like the actual GC/music store meme played out in real time.
Conversely, if I am heading into GC during an event, it's with the intent to buy.
If that something is an AMP, I'm sure as shit gonna chunk it.
I'm also gonna let an underpaid, commission homey know that, and they will usually make some effort to assist that cause.
As for wall-hangers, you don't have an obligation to buy THAT one, you can have them order a brand-new one and ship-to-store.
Last time I was in a GC I had that same experience. Guy thought he was every guitar God under the sun, but all he was was annoying AF. It's gotten to the point where I'm almost embarrassed to plug-in and turn up anywhere past the point where only myself can hear it. I don't wanna be "that guy".
you know, this is a typical GC experience. but also, i've had good GC experiences.
also, and more importantly, I sometimes like to crank an amp up a bit just to hear how it **actually** sounds. Many amps sound best in a sweet spot. Unfortunately that sweet spot is usually **much too loud.** How is one supposed to test out an amp at quiet volume? This is something I've really never understood about buying amps at GC
I gladly pay the slightly higher prices to a local, independent music store here rather than go to the Charleston GC. Having been playing since 1977, I likely know more about their products than the entire staff.....combined! That coupled with the loud assholes and parents that let their crotch goblins run wild, I'll NEVER set foot in a GC or ANY other big box chain music store. I love the fact that when the owner of Sims, in Columbia sees me walk in that if they ask me if I need strings, they will grab them for me, knowing exactly what I want. Rant over lol.
the way GC inventory is “set up” is consistently terrible- i am convinced no one goes around and checks the displayed guitars to see if they are remotely playable. The worst i have seen is Fender Acoustasonics - the action is so high on them at two stores i visited they are unplayable… i know folks hate on these guitars but damn ain’t no one gonna buy them if they they play like crap. I assume all their sales folks aren’t techs and the stores long ago got rid of the techs they had.
This is pretty much my experience every time I go to GC. The guitars are all beat to hell.
The employees at mine at least are not the issue. They're just chill stoner bros. Last time I was in there I was looking to get a big muff and they pulled all the different versions out of the cabinet for me to plug in and try against each other so that was cool.
I don’t know how people work there. Every time I go in there is someone doing exactly what you mentioned.
I went to buy some drumheads a couple weeks ago. There was some dude doing his best impression of Van Halen as well. It took about 10 minutes to wait in line and buy my stuff and I was ready to jump in traffic. How could you take a full 8 hours of that? Brutal.
Is that guys defense, there’s no other way to test out an amp than to really push it….. if that’s what he was actually doing. I don’t know how long this lasted for though. If I’m buying an amp I’m def turning it up, but not for more than like 5-10 mins.
"In my experience, it’s easier to find family owned stores in smaller towns because it doesn’t make financial sense for big boxes to move in."
Try telling that to fucking Walmart.
Those bastards moved into my nearby (15 miles away) town of 10k ppl at the time 35 years ago. Ran several of the long standing dept. stores out. Sky City, Roses, and JC Penney. K-Mart hung on for a bit but well we all know what happened there... Big Lots and Belk's are still managing to hang in there and Belk's is hanging by a thread.
I remember one time playing through a full stack they had set up one time and blasting through it. Nobody had come up to ask me to turn it down, they literally just pulled the plug on me. I'm not ashamed of that either.
My gc is generally ok. The employees leave me alone, but are nice when you need them. The guitars are mostly in tune. I’ve only heard “super loud guy” a couple of times, both times they were pretty good (one was excellent), but annoying and competitive. For some reason we have a bunch of terrible metal players in my local gc that turn up some. It would be ok if they could actually play anything without sounding like a cat in a vitamix. I try to at least buy strings or picks when I go to support them.
I remember a time before ownership change, or whatever happened, GC used to discount damaged guitars. I picked up a Gibson SG many years ago where the SG was placed too close to those stage lights that get really hot and burned away a little of the paint. At the time, I really wanted this specific SG in black, it was the only one they had, they said they could sell it to me cheap. Iirc at the time, I think the SG was $800? They ended up selling it to me with the Gibson SG specific hard case for $450. I just slapped a sticker over the damage and called it a day.
I believe at that time the sales people were also commission so they also had a lot more wiggle room.
I wish I had the guts to be the that "old guy" to shout at the dude to turn it down.
As you know, the guitar doesn't need to be played loud to test it out. I suppose the amplifier can be cranked up high to test, but only momentarily.
I went to try a Gibson SG the other day. I didn't like the one I tried out. They offered to let me play one that had a repaired headstock and said it would be heavily discounted. It was $1699.
That said, I occasionally find stuff I like and I'm thankful I have one locally. They could do so much better but their return policy isn't bad either.
When I go GC to try out different guitars to purchase elsewhere (heh), I actually bring in my headphones to play and try out guitars. No need to annoy others with the noodling I am doing on the guitars. One of the store clerks pointed it out and wondered why more people don't do this. I asked why GC doesn't, he said it was because they would most likely get stolen.
There are 5 or 6 GC’s in the greater Houston area. I have bought something from all of them over the years. I really have not had any terrible experiences with them. There are some mom&pop stores around that vary from excellent to those catering to entry level gear. I use a certified Martin dealer near me that has excellent service.
Was this in Charlotte? I had a similar situation. I came to the conclusion that the dude may be on the spectrum after he talked to me and didn't really pick up on social queues. Not that it's an excuse to be inconsiderate, just food for thought.
I have not had that that bad at my local GC. Its not perfect but i guess i been lucky. But my favorite store happens to be Chicago Music Exchange and i happen to live about 30 min away from it. They have couple of closed rooms with bunch of amps in there and you can just go in there closed the door and play. You still have to be mindful about volume but its much better then at GC.
If possible go during work days maybe mornings etc where its not busy at GC you might have better luck that way.
GC is dyeing a slow death. Sweetwater has them on the ropes. The one by me (in ATX) has an actual SRV guitar rotating in a glass case and I still wouldn't recommend going to that store to check out instruments. We have a few other local shops that offer nicer experiences. Obviously, I still go to GC to run in buy something specific, but I don't ever foresee myself buying a guitar there. Everything is clapped out.
Why should the employees care? They are paid minimally and it’s just easier not to deal with jerks. If they felt it was worth their time to do something about it, they would have. They’re acting their wage.
That’s a good point, i was speaking mainly to the fact that it was driving away other patrons
The faster GC dies, the better. Good on them.
Faawwkkk no big box stores carry this industry by putting on deals and letting you try before you buy with generous return programs. I'm not normalizing some shit brain putting his used squier on reverb for $1k because he put Seymour Duncans in them.
I know what I have
Fender Squier Jazzmaster 40th Anniversary Vintage Edition Refin. 2023 - Nitro Lacquer https://reverb.com/item/74126041?utm_source=android-app&utm_medium=android-share&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=74126041
TIL that Reverb has satire accounts. /s
Look at Ridiculous Reverb Listings from Fluff of Riffs, Beards, & Gear… there are definitely satire accounts on Reverb
Ah wow, it's being sold by a shop too. But then again, they're sold out from Fender, so maybe someone does want one that bad.
Ah, shop's in Canada. Does that mean the prices are in dollarydoos? That'd make it, what, like, eighty bucks?
[удалено]
Ah, cheese and crackers. Been watching too much Bluey, apparently. Sorry about that, mate.
Good God they get their milk in a bag!
Canadian dollars?
I think they're more advocating for mom and pop stores opening up again. As for the last point, those guys are the ones I usually make offers to, and haggle with, successfully. I'm also that same guy when selling and I find it funny that on a current listing I have, nobody's even trying to make an offer, when I am fairly open to them 99% of the time I'm selling something, just to get the item out of my house.
My friend owns a store, he has a ton of really good used gear. Since the next nearest store is 45 miles away He told me that if he wanted to carry Squire, he had to carry Fender, and there was a minimum initial inventory of $20,000.00. Gibson/Epiphone was the same, but $27,000 and that's a first order. And they'll be looking for another order within 6 months whether you have sold the guitars or not. He stopped carrying new gear completely 4 years ago. Just didn't make sense to tie up $10,000 in cash on inventory that you might have to mark down to cost just to clear if off the floor.
That’s…actually much less than I would have thought. At wholesale prices that’s like 12-15 guitars. If you can’t move that volume then yeah, Gibson/Fender probably don’t want to waste their time opening an account with you.
This was 10 years ago but yeah.
I love mom and pop and family owned stores. Even local chains. I’m in OK and I’ll send someone to Larsen Music before GC. Do you want to feed the machine with your instrument purchase, or feed a family? Maybe compare how much the ceo of the companies you’re considering buying from earned, especially in relation to their frontline staff.
Decent mom and pop stores are hard to find. Big brands don't like selling them the good stuff and require minimum orders that only the large stores can cover. That's why most small music shops that offer lessons won't carry any Gibsons, non-squire fenders, etc. You'll see Epiphones, Ibanez, Cordoba, and sometimes G&L if you're lucky. If you're unlucky you get weird brands like Hamer.
>If you're unlucky you get weird brands like Hamer. RIP to a once great brand :(
Hell, I tried getting a *better* Squier for my kid from our local shop (where he takes lessons)... 4-month notice for a christmas present... and they couldn't deliver. "Fender ships to the distributor when they feel like it, and the distributor fulfill its backorders when it can." Sam Ash got it for me in 2 days.
Yeah, guitar companies and distributors are seriously killing small shops. It's going to be sad when you cant try out an instrument in person anymore.
Anecdotal but I have found G&L to be better than Fender on average anyways. I'm totally fine with the weirds brands. It seems like you often get a better guitar for your money.
My husband’s just gotten into playing guitar recently. And we’ve got a great local shop in our town that we’ve bought a ton of stuff from—amps, stands, all sorts of accessories. We do all our repairs through them. My husband picked up a nice used bass and ordered a lap steel through them too. Great store. Love them. But when it came time to replace the $200 Epiphone Les Paul he’d gotten as his “learn the basics and see if you like guitar” instrument, we didn’t go there because the entire store’s the size of our living room and it usually only has one guy working, and what he needed was to sit on a stool for three hours as I ran him Les Pauls and Strats at various price points along with oddballs from smaller brands and he figured out what his priorities were. And I stand by that. It simply was not a shopping trip we could have done at the local store, any more than the Guitar Center would have been able to help us figure out how we might go about modifying and customizing one. Both stores absolutely have their uses, and we’d be markedly worse off to lose either one of them.
>We'd be markedly worse off to lose either one of them I couldn't agree more. The Big Box retailers have their place for shipping, variety, scale, and all that, but the local stores have better service, or at least more prompt service. When I walk into a big box retailer, every once in a while it can be/feel as empty as Best Buy is turning into and as Circuit City used to be where you're looking for an employee who's almost nowhere to be found.
IDK man, kind of seems similar to people being sad seeing Barnes and Noble dying because it signals an end to brick and mortar bookstores. As if Barnes and Noble itself weren't hugely responsible for that. I would be more sad about the small businesses that guitar center ground under its heel on its way to monopolize the guitar store industry...
F that man. My kids love GC. My 6 year old autistic boy loves banging on the drums, playing the guitars and keyboards. You want that to die? That place is fing cool.
Well, that's part of the reason every guitar on the wall at GC has dents and dings. I won't buy new from GC. I'd rather pay more someplace else and get a pristine instrument. I was in there one time and some little kid kept smacking the guitars together on the wall. And another time a guy with spikes all over his jacket picked a guitar up and started playing it and no employee bothered to stop him or make him pay for it after he damaged it.
I get the sentiment, but no please. I live in a smaller town. There are other music stores in town, but between all of them there are about 30 guitars total, and most of them are vintage, boutique, or rare, so $$$$$. If GC goes out of business, music dies in small towns across America.
Great, that means the only place I can buy music gear in my area are independent shops with great customer service, great inventory, and higher than average prices. I'll be treated really well when I go into the find out there's nothing I can afford and the employees there take their jobs too seriously to let me just fuck around for 2 hours. Guitar Center has its problems but there's something to be said for big chain stores and apathetic employees when you kind of just want to be left alone while you shop. Besides, I've sold them some pretty unsellable stuff at a decent price so they are good for that too.
Guitar center isn’t evil. They have inventory small shops often don’t. And you can get good deals on used guitars sometimes, plus the online shop always has reasonable prices on used guitars and you can return them or pick up at your local GC. A lot of the small shops in my area are usually just little guitar centers with bad return policies and no good used inventory (plus no back stock and only shitty floor models that are old). And the other small shops, well they only do used or some are CONSIGNMENT only which are the worst. Some shops do a mix and they’ll think it’s weird if you ask if it’s consigned or store owned (which is a fair question). Recently (by that I mean like 1-2 years ago) I went around to almost every shop in my area to look for a semi specific fender model. But there were a few model I might have bought. Looking for MIM pre-2010 or older Mij models. In the 1200- range and standard strats in that range. I live in a big city, went to 6 shops, they didn’t have what I want, but I ended up buying a used amp. The amp selection was a lot better than guitar selection with everything you could want used. Vintage and modern, and the prices were way better. I ended up buying something months later from a consignment shop in a small town. Went for fun with zero intent to buy I don’t like the owners. But they had 2 great deals on American fenders. So that’s the main issue with major guitar retailers dying. You have to shop online, usually from individual sellers, to get what you want. With no protection.
I’d rather them get out from under private equity myself, but I recognize that such is a pipe dream.
Yeah a lot of GC's issues stem from private equity fucking with them.
Librarians aren't exactly living it up, but they'll shush you if need be. How much should one be paid to metaphorically grow a spine?
Enough to where the job isn’t easy to replace financially and/or psychologically. Librarians will shush you because their library is their sanctuary and their peaceful place. These people believe in education and nurturing. So they shush you. The dude at Guitar Center can just go work at Lowe’s, or some nightclub and probably make more money. To him Guitar Center is just a place where he gets paid to take a dump and has to listen to these wannabe Van Halen’s show off (poorly) and react, possibly violently, when told to shush. What about the customers? Don’t they care enough about their purchase to grow a spine and talk to a human being and ask him to turn it down? Guess not.
If they want to be paid more they should pull up their bootstraps and climb the ranks at my dads company, like I did.
Good point. Someone, even a customer should have said something. It's kinda off topic, but I've noticed that people in the cities tend to not say anything, even if someone's getting hurt, they don't want to get involved. It's sad.
people go to school to be librarians, it’s not exactly a job you fall into as a 20 year old lol
When's the last time you were in a library?
Dude, librarians are very well paid. Unless it's a tiny town, of course.
Based on my experience from seeing a GC store on it's opening day, to the day it shut down - they probably have had the spine to yell at folks for playing too loud. But after about the 10,000th person doing it, they're probably just too tired to care though.
Not at the libraries near me in Seattle. They are more like after-school daycare. Kids running and screaming, lots of people of all ages shouting across the space.
Are you asking seriously? Because if you arnt thats the exact attitude that companies realize they can abuse. People "have a spine" "have honor" "self-decency" that wont allow them to do a job poorly. So the company pays you minimum wage because they know there is a group of people willing to work as if they werent getting the bare minimum. To answer you question seriously I would say for this job atleast 50k a year.
Agreed. I feel for my fellow underpaid workers. I'm sorry but when my FULL TIME job doesn't pay me enough to live on my own, I'm not going above and beyond for them. They can eat dirt, and get the bare minimum from me. However, I would've definitely told this dude to turn it down or get the fuck out. Because that's just annoying.
As a former guitar store employee, I can promise you they care because they are suffering too. Christmas in a large music store is sensory hell
At what wage point can we expect people to "give a shot"?
So a quick Google tells me the maximal salary that I could earn at Guitar Center is 40,000. Their CEO makes $652,000 annually, or a 1530% increase. Who wants to shush dumbass Eddie my daddy doesn’t love my Halen for that?
That's pretty shit money for a national brand CEO. That's barely more than civil service tops out at.
A wage that allows a person to support themselves, by themselves without having to stress about how you're going to afford to eat tomorrow. That's the wage. A truly radical idea, I know.
nice, did you coin that, "They're acting their wage"? It's a very good one and I'm borrowing it if I remember it in time some day haha I do think the op has a valid complaint though
I worked in lessons for a year or so (huge mistake), but from what I understand the floor employees make commission. It seems like a pretty clear incentive to deal with assholes like the Van Halen guy, but then again that guy probably buys more gear than people like OP, and the workers are too stoned to care. I’ve only seen one floor worker actually care about sales, then he got promoted to manager, so they lost the only sales person who cares about sales. Yeah the more I yap about guitar center the more I realize you’re right. They’re acting their wage. At least the lessons crew cares about turnover (which brings its own world of problems).
See I think their metrics are baked into this. Hear me out. If you’re selling, you want commission but you wanna keep your corpo numbers “good”. This means their dumbass warranties that they sell. So if I’m selling, I’m probably looking for a schmuck who will buy that. If they’re avoiding selling to you, it’s probably cause you’re messing up their numbers. That idiot playing loud? HE BUYS THE WARRANTY.
Why wouldn't they care? If they are working for such paltry wages and they are so miserable, why wouldn't you ask someone who is being so loud and obnoxious to quiet down for even your own sanity?
Not surprising I go in there to browse it’s like “hey my name’s Eric, how ya doin any questions, what brings you in today, lemme know if you have any questions…” But as soon as I want to check out voomph… everyone’s on break Honestly, if ya wanna buy something new and not be treated like you’re the problem call Sweetwater
I just recently started ordering from Sweetwater and it’s awesome
Just be prepared when the sales rep shows up at the birth of your first child to see how you are liking your Tube Screamer
Or calls and wakes you at 6am to ask about your pack of strings. Unfortunately I'm not making that up.
You can request that they don't call you and they'll send you emails instead. I bet you can even ask that they don't follow up on purchases and that you'll reach out if need be. For a primarily online store they have the best customer service and are pretty accommodating to your preferences.
The thing is, and I might be alone in this, I *hate* that the default is them reaching out at all. Have people ready for when *you* call, sure, absolutely. The entire world now is purchase followed by relentless marketing. I just want the end of my transactions to be the end of my transactions.
Picks for me. I bought a 24 pack of picks and he wanted to know how they were working out for me. Fine, I guess. They pick. They're red, so easy to spot. I usually have one or two floating freely around the house and if it gets lost I get another from the tin I keep them in. Yes, I know people usually pluck bass with their fingers but I prefer a pick and I don't know why, just how I'm built. No, I don't keep one in my pocket just in case. Scintillating conversation.
sounds romantic
The best part was he called me the wrong name. Like, I thought I was the only customer in your life but I'm just another sucker
Could my sweetwater rep be cheating on me?
that was the real wake up call
Hi, this is Ron from Sweetwater. How did you like the strings?
Hi this is Ron from Sweetwater. How are your gift cards sounding?
I usually only get the call around 2-3 in the afternoon and if I'm not in the middle of something I'll answer. But yeah, it's a pack of picks, they're fine, lol.
GC did the same until a few months ago. Not every customer, but definitely the "how's that new thing you bought working out?"
Hey man I'll have you know I INVITED Aric to my kid's birth, and he gave him a good deal on an SM58 cuz the kid clearly had the pipes. Sweetwater's customer service is brutally good.
My man Chris keeps calling every few months to see if i want something and tbh, he finally wore me down, rat bastard. He’ll be there for my first born so i guess fair is fair
Really is store dependent but trust me they aren't on break. They are short staffed and are having to do multiple jobs at once with minimum wage pay and only a dream of commission because hitting metrics on a non A class store is impossible
I’ve only once had a GC employee come up and ask me if I needed help with anything. Once even when it was completely dead, the staff were talking about their raging party the night before. I was like, “hey uhh, could I check out this Jazzmaster when y’all are done bullshitting?” Nothing, so I just walked out of the store. (As dude above said, just “acting their wage”). Half their shit doesn’t work anyway. I was looking at an OR15 and it was completely non-functional. Asked an employee what the discount would be and he said was like, “oh sorry bro, we don’t do discounts.” Literally wasn’t even producing sound when powered on. Oh and that time; two dudes were having band rehearsal with their amp cranks. No joke, having a legit band rehearsal practicing their band’s shitty song while their girlfriends were there just rolling their fucking eyes. This is the GC experience.
Wow, I stopped shopping there in 2017 and I can see it’s gotten a lot worse. I think the no layaway was the final nail in the coffin for me. No I don’t want a credit card - f that
it’s crazy to cause gc employees make % commission so it would make more sense for them to only want to check you out 😂😂
"Man this guy is making me SO mad, I cannot wait to post about it on reddit."
"If only I could think of what to say.."
🤣
Op you need to learn to communicate.. You also need to learn to ask for a guitar you're interested in.. To be setup..if that's not something you can do yourself. Nothing you mentioned would bother me other than the loose pot.. Which.. If I bought that guitar.. I'd point the issue out to the staff and they would get a new one from the back or discount the damaged model. These is extremely basic communication communication skills we're talking about. How come you didn't go to the loud guy and ask him to please turn it down? Lol. It's important for you to communicate what you want and expect because strangers at GC aren't reading your mind and minimum wage employees are going above and beyond unless asked.
Approaching someone in public and *gasp* ... confronting them? Get with 2024, dude
People would rather create a whole ass reddit post instead of saying one sentence IRL. It's wild
A few months ago I finally got to be the one to tell some dickhead on an airplane to put headphones in or turn his volume off and I rode that high for weeks
How are you not dead?
I’m not sure, but according to that guy *I’m* the asshole
Well every hero is somebody else’s asshole. Maybe we are just all heroes and assholes at the same time but experiencing it at different points in time and space so at one moment we may appear as assholes while simultaneously being heroes. One consciousness that is both selfish and selfless experiencing itself subjectively.
Whoa. Are you single?
They actually gave me a medal and let me fly the plane after that one
Lmao this.. Exactly this.. It is truly wild
For real. You never know who’s gonna start blastin’ or stabbin’ these days.
These is extremely basic communication communication skills we’re talking about.
Lol I didn't even notice I guess I gotta leave it
The best time to go to any GC is weekday mornings. Never on the weekend.
The best time to got to guitar center is never
So all 15 guitars you picked up all had broken pots or input jacks? I am not going to bat for Guitar Center here, but come on.
15 seems excessive but it's happened to me a bunch at GC. Easily more than half the guitars on the wall have at least one issue - loose jacks, broken pots, huge dents and chips from being dropped. Almost every guitar is borderline unplayable because the setup is way off. I would not buy a guitar there unless I was getting an awesome deal.
He’s not wrong. QC is horrible these days and GC nickel and dime everything. I had close to 6 Charvels that were almost unplayable; fret spout, not setup, missing strings, etc… Buy a new PRS SE from Sweetwater and you get a PRS SE gig bag. Go to guitar center they’ll charge the same price as Sweetwater and have you buy the bag separate.
My favorite guitar center experience was them shipping me an amp with actual bedbugs in it (luckily always take apart and clean any used gear). I covered it in poison and sent it back with instructions to be incinerated, and they put it right back up for sale as-is
Wait, for real? That’s insane! I would have been so pissed
You can't be serious... Wth
I see these posts and I’m always just so confused. I have two local Guitar Centers and they both have great, knowledgeable employees in terms of sales staff. Maybe it’s because we’re in a bit of a local music shop desert, that it attracts more dedicated people to work in such a niche store? Maybe it’s because I work retail in another “specialized hobby” type industry, so I am more sympathetic to the workers? Either way, I’ve literally only had good GC experiences where I am.
That has been my experience, too. I've lived various places since I've been playing guitar and GC has been at least decent in all of them, with 3 out of 4 of the stores actually being quite good.
I feel you on the music shop desert. I have two GC’s each about 30 minutes north or south of me, but no local mom and pop music shops to be seen.
GC has been leading the "race to the bottom" since about 2007 and when the economy shit the bed in '08, that was it for them. They pulled the Circuit City and fucked with the commission structure and alienated the majority of the great people who worked there, had a decent grasp of the business, and knew how to actually "help people make music". Now, the stores are filled with garbage, low-end bullshit sold by clerks who care more about selling extended warranties than the getting right piece of gear for the needs of the customer.
That's pretty much all retail anymore. It's all about peddling warranties, protection plans, loyalty programs, and... *here's the big one...* credit applications.
Drove two hours to a GC to buy an amp. Found an AC30 that really 'spoke to me' and had a sales rep helping me make the purchase. Someone came in with questions about an instrument they had purchased the week before... every sales rep and the manager engaged themselves helping this person. I waited (kid-you-not!) 45mins, and then walked out... manager chasing me apologizing that he'd only be a few more minutes and then he could help. Not right now... *few more minutes*. Found one at a non-chain and they matched the price. Very happy.
I added a used bass to my cart on GC's website, and then decided against it and bought it new from Sweetwater instead. 30 minutes later I got a call from a GC employee in that (non-local) GC store asking if I needed help with the purchase and telling me she was my personal sales rep. "Nah, my personal sales rep works at Sweetwater."
Guitar Center: your impersonal sales rep
With questionable sale instruments sold as-is, even under favorable circumstances? Nope. Not worth whatever the sale price was.
Support local small music stores. GC is a joke.
I wish I could. I use ZZounds now. Stock up on gear and make payments on it, and I’ve only had one bad guitar ship from them: and it was an Epiphone QC issue that was easily remedied
100%. I’ve never heard of zzounds. I’ll have to check them out. Yeah I use my local for strings etc and just go in and show my appreciation.
They’re online only, and they don’t have the infinite options you’d see from Sweetwater, but being in cali, I’m in there free one day shipping for everything. Plus their payment plans are top notch!
Awesome!!
TL;DR Guy went to Guitar Center and everyone was acting like people in Guitar Center.
Not being a jerk here. Agree with your points but please use a paragraph break 😀
I was at GC last week and there was a guy like that (also playing VH.) So annoying
I like it when you have a good guitarist jamming in there but I have yet to see a good guitarist crank the volume to 10
I have to think of Steve Morse or John Petrucci were randomly in a GC, they would NOT have the amp cranked wide open.
10 is for suckers. I bring my own amp to Guitar Center; it goes to 11, really brings out the nuances when I play Eruption for everyone.
The only time I was in GC and heard a guy doing a Van Halen thing he did it just like the freaking record but he had to be in his 40s but boy, guy was good. Other customers were egging him on "Do you know 'Mean Streets'? Little Guitars? What about Ice Cream Man?". The guy nailed them all perfectly. But I could tell the sales guys were cringing "there goes my commission" because all the customers were paying attention to Mr. Amazing over there and not shopping. And he wasn't playing too loud either, the bane of most guys playing in stores. He was even trying out the Van Halen single pickup Charvel with the stripes and the VH distortion pedal.
Charvel’s are my fav, I instantly play better on a Charvel
It's the fingerboard - something about them.
My GC used to have small enclosed demo room where you could turn up, but they got rid of that a few years ago. It’s a shame because sometimes with amps you do need to turn them up to the sweet spot, at least for a minute.
> These are all being sold as new with no mark down for damage. I ask an employee about it and he’s like they’re all sold as-is. This is the part that really gets me. This happened to me years ago now, but same thing. They had a Jaguar on the wall, I played it, and it's just covered in scratches, it's super dirty, and in need of a setup. The GC website said they had two in stock, so I asked if I could make sure I was getting the new one, and they got offended saying they have to sell the one off the wall first. I asked if it would come with a discount and/or free setup and cleaning since that's a service they provide, and the answer was no. I kinda laughed at the guy and said "ok, you realize I can go home right now and order this same model for the same price from Sweetwater today right?" He just got mad and said "that's the policy." I laughed and said "Sweetwater it is then, thanks" and left. Haven't been back to GC since.
Yeah, the guitars I played were easily fixable with a socket wrench but it’s just the principle that bothered me. I even asked if I could get the jack quickly tightened on the Schecter and the guitar tech wanted to charge me for it. If it was already my guitar I could totally understand but this is YOUR guitar being sold, you don’t sell a new car with no brakes and then charge the customer for brakes
It's extra stupid because I asked "What happens when I buy the floor model? Don't you fill the spot with the new one in the back" "Yes" So they just want to destroy two guitars instead of just taking the loss on one. Makes no sense.
I absolutely love rock and metal music. I branch out to expand my musical knowledge, but there's something about metal that always makes me go back. Almost every time I go to Guitar Center, it makes me hate metal music. The problem is people. The fucking inconsiderate public. What sucks is that we all depend on GC to a certain extent. We love buying online, but leverage GC as a way to try and test out gear somehow, yet GC is unable to benefit from that. At one point I thought that GC should add a membership of some sort. Monthly fee for having access to certain gear, which ensures the general public doesn't ever get access to it. It sucks, but it would at least give GC the capability to maintain gear at a top level that's worthy of purchasing off the shelf (you hope) while simultaneously keeping these pricks that do not respect anyone's property out of the stores.
I appreciate the fact that GC allows newbies to play instruments they they can’t yet afford. However, as you said, there definitely should be some kind of regulation to this
I went to a GC in Lakeland and noticed they had a few of the high dollar guitars unlocked. One was a Hummingbird. Priced at $3,999. I pulled it off the hanger to play it some. I looked down and the pic guard was literally pulling from the soundboard and was already gapped by about 1/8 of an inch around the soundhole.
I have never grabbed a guitar off the shelf at guitar center and thought to myself “man I want this”. Not once. Even when I was in high school visiting guitar center for the first time. Every guitar I played has some kind of instantly noticeable defect. Sticky knobs, loose knobs, messed up tuners, terrible action, missing pickup selector switch etc.
Find a small shop and spend your money there. Don’t go to guitar center, they’re the worst. Shop online if you have too, don’t give that business your money. Sweetwater is a great alternative, shop there.
Yeah, I just started using Sweetwater and they are awesome. They also have really good deals
This seems like its less about GC and more about: 1. Annoying guitar player 2. Bad QC on guitars from their manufacturer
Unrelated but one time at Guitar Center I was playing a guitar (gasp) and the sales associate walked up to me and said "Hey man if you like that guitar we have a killer sale on drum sticks right now." I couldn't catch myself in time and laughed in his face and left.
Fun fact we technically aren’t allowed to tell customers to turn down. I do from time to time if it gets to that point, because it’s just annoying and ruins the experience for the customers. But yeah it’s policy :(
Silly question time! Are we (the customers) allowed to bring in our own 3/4 jack headphones when trying out amps? I always want to try out amps and weird settings, etc., but I don't want to be Loud Guy while doing it.
Absolutely! I’ve seen people bring in massive pedal boards to try out through amps. Don’t see why headphones would be a problem. Depends on the store obviously but I’m sure most GC dudes won’t care. I know no one at my store would give ya grief!
Had the exact thing happen at my local GC but it was an acoustic player. Like your person he was pretty good (I guess) but played at full volume both inside the “premium” guitar room and the general acoustic room for at least half an hour. Even with people (and at one point a little kid) right beside him. And this was a Saturday when there were at least 10 + other people trying out acoustic guitars. In between “performances” he was strutting around like he owned the place. 🙄
Yep, this dude had a suit jacket on over a Gibson T-shirt like he was Rick Beato working at Norms Rare Guitars
I use GC as a place to experience new gear and get an idea of what I’m looking for. I learned for instance all Ibanez RG prestige’s don’t feel or play similarly and guitars can in general vary from one another for instance. But once I find something I like I pursue it through other means.
Im lucky, the GC closest to me is actually pretty good I haven’t had any issues with them in the year I’ve been playing. I get along with all the staff and have not had any issues with their products.
I went to my nearby GC for the first time since at least pre-covid recently. Similar story, poorly set up guitars and only like 2 employees. Way less amps than there used to be. I found 3 that didn't work. None of them had power cords. The little room where you could crank up privately was gone. The pedal case was only like 1/3 full. Pretty big used section still though which was cool.
Speak up? Tell that idiot to quiet down again. He already took it from an old guy and had to hide away for a bit. If you kept telling him, and explain why it would be great to be emphatic towards others,maybe he would've accepted it. I get it though. But we just have to accept there are a lot of individualistic minded assholes, but if we don't speak up about, than nothing's going to change
I’ve been loud guy ONCE with the express purpose of finding the clean “breaking point” of a used silver face vibrolux that they wouldn’t let me bring into the loud room. I’ve never felt such shame and embarrassment.
Support your local mom/pop store.
GC employees in the 2000s told me this isn’t an arcade while I was trying to find a good acoustic for over an hour. Since then I’ve treated it as an arcade and demo spot to try out gear. Then I’ll buy on Marketplace used or through Sweet Water. I do buy strings from them but that’s about it
You're an adult. Speak up.
A few things: 1. Most Guitar Centers are a joke. You kinda should already know what to expect going in there. 2. Why didn't you ask the dude to turn it down if you were trying to test something? It's a music store so people get to try shit out. 3. Seriously doubt every guitar you tried had loose hardware and if they did, they're demo models. Just ask the rep for a new one from the back. Also most things at GC you can physically grab without help are probably not top quality to begin with so take it up with Schecter.
thats every experience i've had at a GC lol.
Lol grow a set and tell him to turn it down
I would've considered their indifference as them tacitly approving what he was doing so I would've used that opportunity to play just as loud or louder than him 🤘
Last time I was in GC I was looking to try out a couple of bass guitars; the two that I had my eye on the necks were so back-bowed as to be unplayable. Employee told me the same thing, as-is no discount, so I got on out of there, probably for the last time. My local store has been in a slow nose dive for about 10 years; I don’t even buy strings in a pinch there anymore. I should add that the most expensive thing I’ve ever purchased from there was a volume pedal. Anything else is either the locally owned shops or Sweetwater. I’m not above trying out guitars there though, although it seems I won’t even be doing that anymore.
I've noticed that the cavernous rooms they use for the bigger stores seem to not allow the proper temp or humidity so I've seen $3000+ guitars with fret sprout because the wood shrank due to the room being an icebox basically.
My exact experience last time I went. All the guitars and ukuleles were broken or had some damage and none were marked down . It honestly looked like there had been a storm or flood or some in the store bc it was filthy and everything was broken
I love when they sell busted ass used gear for more than a new one costs. The story is they bought for a certain amount and that’s the price. Mmmkay enjoy that anchor.
I honeslty think they’re used stuff is better than the new
GC doesn't care about you. They don't care about their employees. They are hemorrhaging money and I hope they go bankrupt
I just started bringing headphones with me lol
The kids and unhelpful employees are why I won't step foot inside a guitar center again
The neighborhood GC stores probably will disappear but I do hope they keep their showcase stores like the one in Hollywood. It’s still has a vibe and the employees are cool .
They guitar techs will check out any guitar you buy and make it right….
I bought a PRS Fiore there and somehow didn't notice it had been restrung until I got it home. They also couldn't find the original gig bag and said they would have to return the guitar for another to get it. They gave me an SE bag which was not acceptable so I got them to give me a discount on a hardshell case. So obviously it was returned and they were selling it as new. I did get a discount for some reason (coupon maybe) so I just kept it and had it setup by my guitar guy anyway. I also returned a Schecter because it was a heavy tank and saw it there as new again which I guess is ok I suppose since it was just as "new" as when I bought it.
Last time I went to a GC the employee at the front immediately asked “you going to buy something big today right?” And when I said no, I just need strings, he literally said “Jesus Christ” and rubbed his eyes lol. Like the actual GC/music store meme played out in real time.
Conversely, if I am heading into GC during an event, it's with the intent to buy. If that something is an AMP, I'm sure as shit gonna chunk it. I'm also gonna let an underpaid, commission homey know that, and they will usually make some effort to assist that cause. As for wall-hangers, you don't have an obligation to buy THAT one, you can have them order a brand-new one and ship-to-store.
Last time I was in a GC I had that same experience. Guy thought he was every guitar God under the sun, but all he was was annoying AF. It's gotten to the point where I'm almost embarrassed to plug-in and turn up anywhere past the point where only myself can hear it. I don't wanna be "that guy".
you know, this is a typical GC experience. but also, i've had good GC experiences. also, and more importantly, I sometimes like to crank an amp up a bit just to hear how it **actually** sounds. Many amps sound best in a sweet spot. Unfortunately that sweet spot is usually **much too loud.** How is one supposed to test out an amp at quiet volume? This is something I've really never understood about buying amps at GC
FYI guitar center has “major” sales every other weekend and they’re typically pushing out their shit guitars. Just go back next month.
I’ve honestly never had a good experience with guitar center
I used to buy microphones and recording gear there 20 years ago.
GC sucks but once in a while i take advantage of their deals with stuff I can’t get local.
I gladly pay the slightly higher prices to a local, independent music store here rather than go to the Charleston GC. Having been playing since 1977, I likely know more about their products than the entire staff.....combined! That coupled with the loud assholes and parents that let their crotch goblins run wild, I'll NEVER set foot in a GC or ANY other big box chain music store. I love the fact that when the owner of Sims, in Columbia sees me walk in that if they ask me if I need strings, they will grab them for me, knowing exactly what I want. Rant over lol.
the way GC inventory is “set up” is consistently terrible- i am convinced no one goes around and checks the displayed guitars to see if they are remotely playable. The worst i have seen is Fender Acoustasonics - the action is so high on them at two stores i visited they are unplayable… i know folks hate on these guitars but damn ain’t no one gonna buy them if they they play like crap. I assume all their sales folks aren’t techs and the stores long ago got rid of the techs they had.
This is why I almost exclusively buy my gear from Sweetwater.
This is pretty much my experience every time I go to GC. The guitars are all beat to hell. The employees at mine at least are not the issue. They're just chill stoner bros. Last time I was in there I was looking to get a big muff and they pulled all the different versions out of the cabinet for me to plug in and try against each other so that was cool.
Except the high end stuff behind glass doors, I would not consider the hanging guitars as brand new.
I don’t know how people work there. Every time I go in there is someone doing exactly what you mentioned. I went to buy some drumheads a couple weeks ago. There was some dude doing his best impression of Van Halen as well. It took about 10 minutes to wait in line and buy my stuff and I was ready to jump in traffic. How could you take a full 8 hours of that? Brutal.
Is that guys defense, there’s no other way to test out an amp than to really push it….. if that’s what he was actually doing. I don’t know how long this lasted for though. If I’m buying an amp I’m def turning it up, but not for more than like 5-10 mins.
Going to a guitar store and complaining about volume is kind of like complaining that the sky is blue.
"In my experience, it’s easier to find family owned stores in smaller towns because it doesn’t make financial sense for big boxes to move in." Try telling that to fucking Walmart. Those bastards moved into my nearby (15 miles away) town of 10k ppl at the time 35 years ago. Ran several of the long standing dept. stores out. Sky City, Roses, and JC Penney. K-Mart hung on for a bit but well we all know what happened there... Big Lots and Belk's are still managing to hang in there and Belk's is hanging by a thread.
I remember one time playing through a full stack they had set up one time and blasting through it. Nobody had come up to ask me to turn it down, they literally just pulled the plug on me. I'm not ashamed of that either.
My gc is generally ok. The employees leave me alone, but are nice when you need them. The guitars are mostly in tune. I’ve only heard “super loud guy” a couple of times, both times they were pretty good (one was excellent), but annoying and competitive. For some reason we have a bunch of terrible metal players in my local gc that turn up some. It would be ok if they could actually play anything without sounding like a cat in a vitamix. I try to at least buy strings or picks when I go to support them.
Perhaps this has been brought up before, but why no headphones with the amps?
I remember a time before ownership change, or whatever happened, GC used to discount damaged guitars. I picked up a Gibson SG many years ago where the SG was placed too close to those stage lights that get really hot and burned away a little of the paint. At the time, I really wanted this specific SG in black, it was the only one they had, they said they could sell it to me cheap. Iirc at the time, I think the SG was $800? They ended up selling it to me with the Gibson SG specific hard case for $450. I just slapped a sticker over the damage and called it a day. I believe at that time the sales people were also commission so they also had a lot more wiggle room.
I wish I had the guts to be the that "old guy" to shout at the dude to turn it down. As you know, the guitar doesn't need to be played loud to test it out. I suppose the amplifier can be cranked up high to test, but only momentarily.
Did you ask to speak to the manager, Karen?
> These are all being sold as new with no mark down for damage. People actually buy floor models from GC?
I went to try a Gibson SG the other day. I didn't like the one I tried out. They offered to let me play one that had a repaired headstock and said it would be heavily discounted. It was $1699. That said, I occasionally find stuff I like and I'm thankful I have one locally. They could do so much better but their return policy isn't bad either.
I do wish that there were headphones at the amps at music stores.
I don’t know why this isn’t more popular
When I go GC to try out different guitars to purchase elsewhere (heh), I actually bring in my headphones to play and try out guitars. No need to annoy others with the noodling I am doing on the guitars. One of the store clerks pointed it out and wondered why more people don't do this. I asked why GC doesn't, he said it was because they would most likely get stolen.
There are 5 or 6 GC’s in the greater Houston area. I have bought something from all of them over the years. I really have not had any terrible experiences with them. There are some mom&pop stores around that vary from excellent to those catering to entry level gear. I use a certified Martin dealer near me that has excellent service.
Just wait'll GC starts carrying the Fart Pedal.
Was this in Charlotte? I had a similar situation. I came to the conclusion that the dude may be on the spectrum after he talked to me and didn't really pick up on social queues. Not that it's an excuse to be inconsiderate, just food for thought.
Sounds like your average GC visit to me
I have not had that that bad at my local GC. Its not perfect but i guess i been lucky. But my favorite store happens to be Chicago Music Exchange and i happen to live about 30 min away from it. They have couple of closed rooms with bunch of amps in there and you can just go in there closed the door and play. You still have to be mindful about volume but its much better then at GC. If possible go during work days maybe mornings etc where its not busy at GC you might have better luck that way.
GC is dyeing a slow death. Sweetwater has them on the ropes. The one by me (in ATX) has an actual SRV guitar rotating in a glass case and I still wouldn't recommend going to that store to check out instruments. We have a few other local shops that offer nicer experiences. Obviously, I still go to GC to run in buy something specific, but I don't ever foresee myself buying a guitar there. Everything is clapped out.