The End of Guitar Center - America and the Big Corporate Empire,.. good article......

[jokerone]

There are gangs of roaming pick pockets all over Europe and mostly they are Romany. Sad but true. They are very highly organized and skilled at what they do. They are virtually impossible to eradicate as they move from City to City. A real problem in some areas. The Police force in whichever country just move them over the boarder when they catch up with them. Currently Barcelona is the hot spot. They are a real scourge on any cities reputation.

Only problem I ever had was in downtown Moscow. I had both arms full of crap, my camera bag, etc. It was November, so it was like -5F degrees or so. Crowded city street, 6 people abreast. All of a sudden I had at least 10 kids ranging from about 10 to 16 years old attack me from all different sides, grabbing my coat, my goods, my camera bag,and trying to pull me down to the ground. They were led by two women. All of them with a dark completion (not ethically Russian).
The main woman had my camera bag and pulling on it with all her might. The next thing I know, I see my right foot buried in her solar-plexus! I didn't even think, it just happened (thank you Soo Bahk Do!). With that she let go screaming something in some unidentified language (not Russian) and all the kids let go and ran back into the crowded streets.

I checked everything and nothing was missing, wallet, camera, etc. Whew... I looked around and now what had been an asshole-to elbow crowded city street, had a big hole where I stood. I had about 8 feet in all directions around me empty..

I looked over at one Russian, and he looked back at the direction the gypsy gang and went and frowned and spat on the ground as if to say Fuck them!

I would love to see the bruise I left on that woman's chest.

 

[ido1957]

Looks like their forum website just axed the administrator, according to this thread.
Well, Somebody Had to Say It... | Harmony Central

 

[Greg_L]

Lol. Harmony Central is garbage.

 

[ido1957]

Lol. Harmony Central is garbage.

True - it's sliding into oblivion now too.

 

[jokerone]

Looks like their forum website just axed the administrator, according to this thread.
Well, Somebody Had to Say It... | Harmony Central

never heard of it, but that doesn't mean anything.

 

[fuzzsniffvoyage]

My local shop does any advertised pricing. Roxy Music | Online Music Store They have a nice store and are friendly. Haven't made any major purchases there, but wouldn't hesitate.

But I do love Sweetwater for all the high end stuff.

 

[Schwarzenyaeger]

There are gangs of roaming pick pockets all over Europe and mostly they are Romany. Sad but true. They are very highly organized and skilled at what they do. They are virtually impossible to eradicate as they move from City to City. A real problem in some areas. The Police force in whichever country just move them over the boarder when they catch up with them. Currently Barcelona is the hot spot. They are a real scourge on any cities reputation.

I know this is a week old but a short story comes to mind about this:

My dad's observed an occurance that happens in both Brazil and Portugal. People will start hawking around parking lots and help you park in, like you would experience at a busy parking lot in the USA. All good so far...
Plot twist: they don't work for the owner of the parking lotand want 50 cents from you for "helping you park in your car". On top of that, you've got to pay the normal parking fee to the ticket machine.
What happens if you don't pay the fee? Well, nobody really seems to know but they say they might just scratch your car if you don't pay up.

Police can't do anything since it's nearly impossible to pin the crime on anybody since you can't prove it. Not that they care about petty crime, really.

 

[NotThatBright]

If you put aside the general cluelessness of the employees,

Anticipating my first drum kit coming in the mail over a year ago, I went to go buy sticks. While in the drum section I'm looking around at accessories on the wall and saw 30-wire snare wire on the wall along with 20-wire. I asked the chick working the drum department what the difference was. She said that with 30-wire you could hit the drum further from the middle of the head than you could with 20-wire and still get the same sound. Sold!

So I set up my snare drum from the very beginning with the 30-wire. I eventually learned on here that 30 wires are meant for snare drums that are deeper than the standard. I spent several months wondering why my snare sounded like shit and never thought to question what she told me. What the heck, at least she was cute.

 

[c7sus]

Anticipating my first drum kit coming in the mail over a year ago, I went to go buy sticks. While in the drum section I'm looking around at accessories on the wall and saw 30-wire snare wire on the wall along with 20-wire. I asked the chick working the drum department what the difference was. She said that with 30-wire you could hit the drum further from the middle of the head than you could with 20-wire and still get the same sound. Sold!

So I set up my snare drum from the very beginning with the 30-wire. I eventually learned on here that 30 wires are meant for snare drums that are deeper than the standard. I spent several months wondering why my snare sounded like shit and never thought to question what she told me. What the heck, at least she was cute.

Want to buy a tube mic stand?

It's much warmer than an FET mic stand.

 

[NotThatBright]

Want to buy a tube mic stand?

It's much warmer than an FET mic stand.

If you have tits like the girl at Guitar Center, I'd probably consider it.

Unless "tube mic stand" means something along the lines of "tubesteak"... in which case, I don't care how big your tits are... I'm not interested.

 

[Greg_L]

Anticipating my first drum kit coming in the mail over a year ago, I went to go buy sticks. While in the drum section I'm looking around at accessories on the wall and saw 30-wire snare wire on the wall along with 20-wire. I asked the chick working the drum department what the difference was. She said that with 30-wire you could hit the drum further from the middle of the head than you could with 20-wire and still get the same sound. Sold!

So I set up my snare drum from the very beginning with the 30-wire. I eventually learned on here that 30 wires are meant for snare drums that are deeper than the standard. I spent several months wondering why my snare sounded like shit and never thought to question what she told me. What the heck, at least she was cute.

In a way she's not totally wrong. a 30-strand is more sensitive and will result in more sound when you mis-hit a snare. That "more sound" won't be good though. 30-strand snare wires are mainly for more sensitivity, and they work well with very deep snares.

I go to GC all the time and regularly have to fend off the dummies. Just climb the ladder and get me what I ask for. I had a guy telling me that I was playing the wrong SG because the one I grabbed had P-90s in it. I need the one with humbuckers. No thanks, I love P-90s. I know what guitar I picked up. I grabbed it on purpose. I had to explain to the "guitar tech" the difference between an audio taper and linear taper potentiometer. I don't mistreat them though. I know they're just dummies with a bad job making next to nothing. You can't expert true experts to keep a job like that.

 

[NotThatBright]

In a way she's not totally wrong. a 30-strand is more sensitive and will result in more sound when you mis-hit a snare.

Well, using logic, I would expect that to be true. Of course, if I were using logic, I would also have suspected at the time that if you add 50% more substance to the part of the snare that gives it 90% of its sound, the overall sound of the drum would be impacted significantly. What the heck... I was lazy and chose not to bother to put any thought into it, so I deserved what I got. I was just reminded of this when I saw you mention that they don't know what the hell they're talking about.

I don't mistreat them though. I know they're just dummies with a bad job making next to nothing. You can't expert true experts to keep a job like that.

Yup. Caveat emptor. Anyone dumb enough to put stock in someone's advice who has no proven credentials deserves what he gets. I was kind of surprised when I bought my first cymbal set there, though... I was looking at a $450 Zildijian (I think) set and an under-$300 Meinl set. I asked him what he recommended, told him that I was just starting out and I sucked. The essence of what he said was that at the point I was at as a drummer, I probably wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference and suggested I go with the cheaper ones. I thought that was unusual. Good thing his boss wasn't around.

...And of course, now that I'm actually putting some thought into THIS, I suppose it could have been a ploy to gain my confidence and then try to screw me once I came back for a significant purchase.

 

[Greg_L]

...And of course, now that I'm actually putting some thought into THIS, I suppose it could have been a ploy to gain my confidence and then try to screw me once I came back for a significant purchase.

Lol. I doubt that. They don't think that far ahead. And that same guy is probably long gone. The thing with cymbals, if you're paying 3-4 hundred for a whole set, then they're all about the same anyway. He probably actually did you a favor.

 

[RAMI]

Yup. Caveat emptor. Anyone dumb enough to put stock in someone's advice who has no proven credentials deserves what he gets. I was kind of surprised when I bought my first cymbal set there, though... I was looking at a $450 Zildijian (I think) set and an under-$300 Meinl set. I asked him what he recommended, told him that I was just starting out and I sucked. The essence of what he said was that at the point I was at as a drummer, I probably wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference and suggested I go with the cheaper ones. I thought that was unusual. Good thing his boss wasn't around.

...And of course, now that I'm actually putting some thought into THIS, I suppose it could have been a ploy to gain my confidence and then try to screw me once I came back for a significant purchase.

He might have made a better commission on the cheaper item. I worked at a big music store here in Montreal over 20 years ago, for about 6 years. We would call them "spiffs". Aside from your 2% commission on overall sales, there were some items that Steve would put "spiffs" on if he wanted to move them quicker. So, Ernie Ball strings might have had a 50 cent spiff on them. Sell 50 sets of Ernie balls and you have yourself an extra $25 on your paycheck at the end of the month. Add that up with all the other spiffs, and I was consistently getting an extra $200-250 a month. Sell a Yamaha Overdrive pedal instead of a Boss, and get an extra $1 each time, etc...He might have been trying to do you a favor, and he might not. Personally, I think even Helen Keller can tell the difference between the sound of a Meinl and the sound of a Zildjian.