"Guitar" Center rant

The only thing I buy at Guitar Center is strings because the local mom & pop shop doesn't stock the kind I prefer and will only order them if I order 10 sets at a time.
 
fat_fleet said:
you are seriously overestimating how much scratch most musicians have to spend on shiny new gear
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No, estimating by the fact there were 3 people there who probably would have bought if someone had tended to them. First guy had an $1200 Tele; then a girl with a $300 banjo and a guy with a $400 acoustic. I've been in sales for over 40 years.
 
mjbphotos said:
No, estimating by the fact there were 3 people there who probably would have bought if someone had tended to them. First guy had an $1200 Tele; then a girl with a $300 banjo and a guy with a $400 acoustic. I've been in sales for over 40 years.
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...which i'm sure they all would have actually bought.

hey man, definitely wasn't trying to pick an internet fight or imply anything about your sales prowess and i apologize if it came out that way. :)
I just have a couple GCs near me and I'm in there a lot (unfortunately) and know the staff and I know people pick things up all the time and don't buy them- you and I are not the only ones window shopping.
Add to that the fact that most active musicians are under 30 and broke, not the older employed demographic that goes on this board. And new shit comes waaay low in priority below beer, weed, and gas station food. Last band I was in, the space was littered with blunt guts and Big-Gulp cups and the guitar guy played a cheap knockoff covered with snot and dog hair and he was constantly retaping one of the humbuckers in place because one of the surround screws was missing and for over a year he couldn't make it to a hardware store and spend a buck. Believe me, this is not unusual.
But yeah, I'm sure every once in awhile some yuppie walks through the door and buys a new mexistrat.
 
yeah, I'm pretty shocked at how many below 30 musicians talk about playing for free or these gigs where there's 15 bands and everyone gets 15 dollars.
That sucks but they allow it to happen.
Me ...... I make a passable living playing music and can buy what I want but I pretty much bought more gear than I'll ever use over the last 40 years and don't need stuff that often anymore.
Every once in a while I get to jonesing for a new amp or git but I don't tend to buy that stuff at GC.
 
Lt. Bob said:
Me ...... I make a passable living playing music and can buy what I want but I pretty much bought more gear than I'll ever use over the last 40 years and don't need stuff that often anymore.
Every once in a while I get to jonesing for a new amp or git but I don't tend to buy that stuff at GC.
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Right... I mostly buy cables and strings there, but I also like trying different pedals and their used stock is always changing.
 
Greg_L said:
You people shouldn't be needing help from any of the losers that work there. You should be better than that, so complaining about their customer service is dumb at best. They have this thing called the internet that will give you all the research you need. GC is a good place to finger-bang expensive stuff and try shit out so you can confidently buy it elsewhere. I never go in there needing help. I just go in and buy what I want and leave without talking to any of the flunkees.
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I agree. I know what I want and I don't need some clueless condisending fucker with piercings all over his face tying to advise me. But, I like GC because they stock so much you can usually find things you want to check that nobody else will have in stock.
 
jimistone said:
I agree. I know what I want and I don't need some clueless condisending fucker with piercings all over his face tying to advise me. But, I like GC because they stock so much you can usually find things you want to check that nobody else will have in stock.
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I like GC myself for that same reason. It's just cool to be able to walk into a place with that much stuff in it.
The constant noise doesn't bother me either. I like hearing 20 different people play 20 different things at the same time.
Reminds me of music school.

I don't actually buy much of anything from them though. I just order it thru Musicians Friend.
In Baton Rouge there was a GC 3 minutes from my house so I bought stuff there. But here it's an hour away so I just mail order it.
 
All of the store, on line or B&M, have to follow a set price range. You just have to go with the ones that offer the lowest. After a while though your talking about differences of pennies when you get down to the nitty gritty.
 
fat_fleet said:
you are seriously overestimating how much scratch most musicians have to spend on shiny new gear
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Their primary customer base isn't made up of musicians, it's made up of people who like the idea of playing an instrument. There are lots more of the latter than the former.
 
bouldersoundguy said:
Their primary customer base isn't made up of musicians, it's made up of people who like the idea of playing an instrument. There are lots more of the latter than the former.
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that's way true. And even in the world of playing live.
In Louisiana there was a strong base of musicians because of music being a full fledged industry there. That New Orleans thing.
And I imagine it's like that in other music centers like say, Nashville.

But here in Fl. and in most places I've been the depth of actual musicians is pretty thin.

I'd say here that only about 5% of the players I see and end up taking gigs as a hired gun for, are actually what I'd call a musician.
The rest are amateurs ranging from horrid to medicocre. And these are the guys gigging.
They are GC's customer base ..... guys that quit playing when they raised a family and took a job that paid the bills and now it's time for them to follow their hobby.
 
Greg_L said:
Guitar Center is great. Only pompous snobs carry hate for a retail store. You don't like it? Fine, don't go there. Just quit crying about it. :facepalm:
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This.

I don't deny that there are some dummies working at GC and I've had my share of experiences with them. (Has to stop an chuckle remembering buying some switches...) but there are also some really knowledgeable people working there. Like everywhere, there are good and bad employees. They have a mixed bag of stuff and it's a great place to go try things out. I love how many of them have rooms for bass, acoustics, electrics, drums, etc...

They do tend to hire younger people or less musically experienced people, but what do you want? They can't hire a bunch of guitar techs and pro audio guys to sell a soccer mom a Squier for her 12 year old. And, yeah, it's kind of annoying when some 9 year old is in there banging on the drums and some 17 year old is playing "Sweet Child O' Mine" as fast as he can for five minutes straight and the guy behind the glass counter doesn't have a clue what you're talking about when you ask for help but there's no need to get so snobbish about the place. Remember everyone starts somewhere and for many 16-24 yearolds, GC is a really cool place to work.

I've gotten some pretty decent deals there in the past and still go for my little odds & ends (internet pricing is too good... sorry local economy.)

One beef... the one in my area no longer haggles the price. Not sure if that's just this store or if it's all over. I worked there for a very short while when I lived in Covina, Ca and we had some control over the price.

I've been all over the country (trucker) and have been in many GCs and Musician's Friends. Some better than others. But I don't get all this nastiness aimed at them. It's a great chain with equipment for every skill level/bank account level.
 
I still say GC is awesome if for no other reason than giving you the ability to try a ton of stuff out without having to even pretend like you're gonna buy anything.
 
Lehigh Valley PA has a large GC in a mall. I've bought gear, strings & other accessories there. Traded lots of stuff, too. Found them generally knowledgeable and easy-going. Took the same defective amp back to them three times over a four-month period and they replaced it every time, no questions asked. Occasionally they'll try the upsell dance on me. But at 58, with 25 years of sales experience and 45 years of gigging on my resume, I know how to let them down easy and firmly. Great selection. OK prices. Convenient. I can live with the few, rare negatives. Life's too short.
 
My experiences at Guitar Center are few and far between--simply because the experiences have been negative so far. Usually go to one when traveling if I need to pick up some strings. Every time [I swear I think they clone these salespeople for snotty attitudes], I've been treated with disdain because I was only purchasing a set of strings and maybe the latest issue of "AG" magazine.
Now I just deal with my local music shop because if they don't have it in stock, they will order it for me, have it within a week, and for the same price or less than what I would pay online, plus they act like they care about every customer. Sure I have to pay sales tax, but I figure I'm helping my local economy.
 
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