I was in a Guitar Center tonight....

[Outlaws]

Ahem...The truth is that Strats are a superior instrument. Now you know the truth.

With the exception that they all seem to be shipping with frets that hang off the fingerboard so when you move up and down the neck, its like running your hand down a cheese grater.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Light, it's a sign of the decadence of the times that you have to tell people "DON'T BUY FROM BIG BOX STORES!"

Go to your local dealer. He (or she) will work hard to make you happy, will do everything to find what you want, will hire decent guitar/amp techs, will take trade ins, AND, when you need a set of strings, will have 'em for you.

Everybody wants instant gratification, low-low-low prices (along with low-low-low service) and the latest bling.

Me, all my electrics and basses are '50s-'60s designs (Precisions, a Les Paul, a 335, an SG) or even older (two flat tops, two spider bridge resos) so maybe I'm not happnin' enough. But I guarantee, the day when the local stores all shut down will be the day that music takes a turn for the worse.

I deal with my local music store. Sometimes he comes out better than I do, sometimes the other way. He sold my Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gent for 7X what I paid for it (try THAT at GC!) and will always talk. We trade amps, cases, and I make him happy and he makes me happy. My worst nightmare is that one day I'll wake up and he'll be gone and there will be a GC in his place.

He's your friend...and, if he isn't, maybe you're doing something wrong.

 

[mjbphotos]

Hey Light, what kind of environment would you suggest for guitars in the home? At the moment my guitars are all out of their cases in my attic studio? It's totally decoupled from the rest of the house so there is virtually zero heat transfer from the first floor to attic level due to about 25" of insulation. The thing is that it gets pretty cold up there at the moment - no moisture issues though. So I usually turn the heater on for a couple of hours when I'm up there which heats everything up and makes my EBMM go out of tune (not top lock). When I tune it up in the warm temperature all is well but when I come back and the room is cold again the guitar is out of tune again. Don't want to keep doing this if it's going to mess up the guitar... any suggestions?

With that kind of care, you'll be lucky if your guitars don't crack all over the place. No real heat in that attic? No moisture either in the winter, and those things are already dried out when you crank on the heat, just making them worse. In the summer, it's probably hot as hell and humid up there.

 

[antichef]

In Houston, we just have to worry about wood rot

 

[j2310lime]

yeah- "guitar" center is not the best place to try out guitars.

if you do buy a guitar or any equipment make sure you ask them to order it from the factory. their warehouse sucks too and since every individual guitar (even the same models) are different, you are allowed to request another guitar from the factory if that guitar doesnt suit you.

 

[mjbphotos]

I was in teh Guitar Center store in Nahsua, NH today. The acoustics were in a well-humidified room, but all the electrics were out in the main area, subject to the dryness, temperature fluctuations, etc.
My little local music store is about the size of the main room at GC, but has no humidity control, and the sun beats through the front window on a few display guitars. Can't see that its a better option.

 

[therage!]

...I needed to pickup a panel mount XLR for a project.

While I was there, I ran my fingers along the edge of a number of the electric guitars out on the floor, and with the exception of the ones in the acoustic room and the high dollar dumb guitar room (relics and the like), every single guitar I felt had it's fret ends sticking WAY out - which is to say that every one of them was REALLY dry. The only exception was a fretless bass!

Yet another reason to stick with a good local music shop.
i

Oh yeah, I noticed this years ago at my local GC and I had more than one of them fucking pin heads that work there telling that's how they came from the factory/

I actually bought a Strat from GC back in 99 and the tech worked on it some but it wasn't too bad to begin with. My local GC has all the electrics in this huge warehouse type building with like 400 foot ceilings/

Total idiots.

 

[Frets2009]

This I find amusing.

I live in a third floor apt. It is dry and hot as hell even the winter.
I've got 13 guitars 3 are more then 30 years old. Including a Gibson 175

I've never had a guitar crack splinter or neck warp as a result of the humidity or lack thereof.
Newer guitars need a neck adjustment twice a year and when changing string gauges. Older guitars almost never. The last time I did a neck adjustment on my Strat was 1990 When I move from florida to Michigan.
Even My Guitar Tech was amazed and the condition and playability.

 

[LorenzoG]

... its like running your hand down a cheese grater.

My thoughts exactly!

Don't think lack of humidity is the exclusive culprit here. Manufacturing techniques / quality control play a huge role as well.

 

[darrin_h2000]

I had an issue when I brought my old Jackson in and they didnt have the right wrenches to deal with the Kahler tremolo system.

 

[Light]

Hey Light, what kind of environment would you suggest for guitars in the home? At the moment my guitars are all out of their cases in my attic studio? It's totally decoupled from the rest of the house so there is virtually zero heat transfer from the first floor to attic level due to about 25" of insulation. The thing is that it gets pretty cold up there at the moment - no moisture issues though. So I usually turn the heater on for a couple of hours when I'm up there which heats everything up and makes my EBMM go out of tune (not top lock). When I tune it up in the warm temperature all is well but when I come back and the room is cold again the guitar is out of tune again. Don't want to keep doing this if it's going to mess up the guitar... any suggestions?

There is a big thread on just this topic up at the top of this forum.

HERE.

Basically, the best thing for your guitars is to be in the case when you are not playing them, at a comfortable room temperature, with reasonable humidity. ideally, guitars like to live in the 40-50% humidity range, but if you try to keep your whole house at this range you will wreck your house. Hence the case thing (or at least, that is part of the case thing - it's also safer from kids, cats, dogs, and clumsy drummers). It is also a lot easier to keep the smaller area of a case humidified than a room or a house.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[Frets2009]

Re Cheese graters
Frets aren't polished at many factories.
Local retailers do take the time to check out each guitar before they put it on display. Having bought from independent builders I've had to dress and crown my own Frets. It takes very little time if you are competent with the process.
For those on the cheap it can be done with steel wool and a stencil.

 

[Light]

Re Cheese graters
Frets aren't polished at many factories.
Local retailers do take the time to check out each guitar before they put it on display. Having bought from independent builders I've had to dress and crown my own Frets. It takes very little time if you are competent with the process.
For those on the cheap it can be done with steel wool and a stencil.

Local retailers are SUPPOSED to check guitars out, but that doesn't mean they always do, and GC is way worse than the really good shops. And you can in no way dress and crown frets with steel wool and a stencil. The fact is that, when they come out of the factory, most guitars have fair fret work. Seldom perfect, but pretty good. But I assure you, the frets I was feeling were the direct result of dry fingerboards.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[TelePaul]

Local retailers are SUPPOSED to check guitars out, but that doesn't mean they always do, and GC is way worse than the really good shops. And you can in no way dress and crown frets with steel wool and a stencil. The fact is that, when they come out of the factory, most guitars have fair fret work. Seldom perfect, but pretty good. But I assure you, the frets I was feeling were the direct result of dry fingerboards.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

Is it possible that the wood will re-expand if treated/left in a correctly humidified place or are these guitars pretty much worthless now?

 

[Light]

Is it possible that the wood will re-expand if treated/left in a correctly humidified place or are these guitars pretty much worthless now?

Yes, the wood will expand again, but not enough to completely reverse the damage. But no, they are not worthless - you just need to dress the fret ends so they are flush again. It's a pretty easy job, and not too expensive ($30-100, depending on a lot of factors, in my shop).


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

 

[sarge117]

I was in there a week ago and went through 3 amplifiers before I found one that worked so I could try out the guitar I was looking at.

I go in the silent room all the time and always check to see that the heads are attached to cabs before I turn them on. 100% of the time I find guitar heads plugged in to the wall socket with no cabinet attached.

On many occasions after I plug the speakers in and turn them on, nothing..

They have Mesa Boogie Roadking 2 combo in there that I have told no less then 3 store employees is broken. This is going back atleast for months, probably more.

Now, instead of sitting it on the floor where it was they have moved it onto one of there display shelves, plugged in and broke as hell.

 

[ermghoti]

The only exception was a fretless bass!

Must not have had inlayed fretlines.

 

[Mr. Moon]

Strats, Les Pauls, PRS's, and everything else - they were ALL dry. There is simply no excuse for treating instruments like that, and if the manufacturers wanted to they could easily deny any warranty claims on any of those things. GC's contracts all state that they will sell the instruments in good condition, and if not GC is responsible to pay for the repairs. Not that any of the manufacturers would ever piss off GC like that, but certainly that is what their contracts require.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi

A year or so ago I bought a new Martin D16GT from a local GC here in the Twin Cities, and the action was crapped due to humidity issues which I pointed out to them before I bought it. They agreed to let me take the one home that they had in stock and that they'd have a new one to me within 2 weeks. 2 weeks came around, and no guitar, of course. So they told me it would be 1 more week. I waited 1 more week and stopped by with the guitar, and they brought *the* store manager out when I requested the new guitar or I would return this one. In the back of my mind I knew I had only 30 days to return it for full cash back, and I think they were trying to hoodwink me out beyond that point, as the manager said that they just shipped one out from their warehouse for me, and that it would arrive "very soon", so I should just take the one I had back home until the other one showed up. I refused, and just said, "No thanks, I'd rather return this one and then you can call me when the new one shows up." I can't even explain the look on the manager's face, but it was well worth every moment I had spent waiting for the new guitar to arrive!



They never did call me back...




-mr moon

 

[cantthinkofname]

there is alot of good advice in this thread. my local music store is very very small one. but i think its worth it to work with the owner if he's not 1/2 cracked.

i was just thinking about how to locate the best music store in my area and i'm willing to drive a long distance for more selection etc., but after reading this thread it made me think twice because i think my local store would work with me if i just asked.

i'm sure everything still comes from the same manufacturer as guitar center buys from, but there are more benefits all around to working with your local store it seems.

one of my problems with my local store owner tho is that he is not up on digital recording etc., when i asked him about interfaces & was talking about daw's etc. he didn't have a clue and he was like 'no no noooo none of that for me!' he's a die hard analog man i think. then he told me i'd have to go to the computer store for that lol




i'll have to talk him into trying the digital age

 

[cantthinkofname]

i think another benefit to local stores is that you can really form a relationship with the owners. the last time i was at mine we were talking about everything and really getting to know eachother and he said something about how his wife wasn't keeping things organized & i could've offered to come and organize his shop for free so i could learn while i was there. also he was more than willing to take me into the back and show me and teach me all about his studio with his actual equipment just out of friendliness.

i am not sure a guitar center could offer the same advantages.