Not to bag on GC, but...

[Bullitt5135]

I had the day off yesterday, so I took my daughter out to GC so she could bang on some drums. When I checked out the bass room, I was astonished to find that of the 7 or 8 basses I picked up to demo, 3-4 of them were unplayable due to not being set up at all. The neck on an Ibanez bass I picked up was bent so far in the wrong direction that the strings were flat against the fretboard -- and this was an $800 bass. Is this common for CG (or any other shop for that matter), or is this just an anomaly?

As a point of contrast, I stopped by my local Music Go Round shop last night. The owner heard me noodling around on a LTD bass which had a little bit of buzz on the D and G strings. He said "let me see that for a second" and proceeded to adjust the truss rod... improved the playability 100%. While I was in the shop, I noticed two employees working their way around the room just making sure everything was in tune.

In general, do you find the basses in your local shop(s) to be set up and ready to go? And if they're not, do you bother to ask for a quick adjustment. Or do you bring your or tools in case you want to tweak it yourself (probably not cool with the shop, I'd assume). Since I was just window shopping at GC, I didn't bother to ask.

[electracoyote]

Originally Posted by Bullitt5135

In general, do you find the basses in your local shop(s) to be set up and ready to go? And if they're not, do you bother to ask for a quick adjustment. Or do you bring your or tools in case you want to tweak it yourself (probably not cool with the shop, I'd assume). Since I was just window shopping at GC, I didn't bother to ask.

The smaller the shop, and the more invested the employees are in the business, the better the basses and guitars are set-up.

At GC, you're lucky if anything you pick up is playable.

GC is definitely a "buyer beware," big box store scenario. I forbid my students and prospective students to go in there without me.

That being said, if you know what you're doing, you can get great deals at GC. I have taken a Roadie Rench in with me. Because I know the management and staff pretty well by now, they either let me tweak things or offer to do it for me.

Evidently, gear maintenance is not part of the GC job description. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I have three GC's in my town, and all three are horrible about setting up guitars and basses.

[chadhargis]

I'm fortunate that the GC here in Nashville has proven to be pretty good. They stock a wide array of things I need, the basses are never REALLY bad (some tweaking would be nice, but not a killer), and the staff has always been helpful.

Sadly, the bass "Rumble Room" is now sealed off and designated as their "Platnium Room" where all the high dollar equipment is kept. Basses are now hanging on the wall on the main floor. There is no buffer between you and the 15 year old kid wailing on a guitar that sounds like someone stepped on the cat's tail.

If I had to work in that place, I'd go postal. Every time I go there wanting to try out a bass or cab, I have to hawk around waiting for some teenage kid to stop slapping and popping (the same thing over and over again).

Every now and then I'll run into a truly great player that's entertaining to watch and talk to. Being Nashville, there is no shortage of talent.

[dwm74]

Went to buy a Ray34 last summer. The first GC had one that was similar to your Ibanez...neck was backbowed slightly and strings against the board. Sales guy says "Take it home, and you can return it when a new one comes in." I'm thinking to myself, why not just set the thing up so you have one happy owner, rather than a used/pre-owned instrument to move when I'd return it? I don't understand that logic. (I ended up driving to a different GC and they had one that was set up as perfect as it needed to be. That's the one I took home!)

However, about a month ago I was looking at a used Pbass, at the same GC that had the bad Ray. Different sales guy, and he noticed the strings I was buying with it were higher tension than the ones on it. He took the time to adjust the truss beforehand, giving it a few tweaks based on how he expected the neck to react under the higher tension. He evidently was quite experienced at this, because the neck needed no further adjustment once I put the Chromes on. He also tightened up a loose pot, and gave it a once-over before letting me leave the store with it. And this was during a busy afternoon, with many other customers in the store. He took good care of me and made sure I was happy rather than moving me along to get to someone else.

It all depends on the person, not just the store. GC gets a bad rap like this (although sometimes it is deserved), but there are definitely some good GC employees who care, too.

[oldrocker]

You take your daughter to a music store where they allow her to bang on the drums and you're surpised the basses aren't set up properly.

Wonder if there's a conection there

[dogofgod]

I have never played a bass at GC that spoke to me like the basses that have come from boutique store owners and luthiers or guitar brokers. If I can't hear the bass in its proper setup form, how can I make a judgement on the quality of the bass? Aesthetics aside.

[hdracer]

Originally Posted by oldrocker

You take your daughter to a music store where they allow her to bang on the drums and you're surpised the basses aren't set up properly.

Wonder if there's a conection there

+1
The bass was probably bad because a drummer came in and let his kid bang on a bass

[Raccio14]

Originally Posted by hdracer

+1
The bass was probably bad because a drummer came in and let his kid bang on a bass

[Queg]

Originally Posted by oldrocker

You take your daughter to a music store where they allow her to bang on the drums and you're surpised the basses aren't set up properly.

Wonder if there's a conection there

Hm, blame the customer.
Corporate retail stores aren't for everyone, but as a music super-store-chain, you'd think it would be in their interest to cater to both the drum-banging daughter and the discerning bass player father.

[Plays_For_Dog]

I almost always find basses in GC that have no love. Most small shops I've been in seem to be that way too. One store I've shopped in had a very seasoned bass player behind the counter. Every instrument in that store was set up and tuned. (That was also the store I saw my first F-bass and Roscoe in). That was Don's Music City in Greensboro, NC.

The only other music store that comes to mind that had their instruments set up was Bass Northwest in Seattle. If you're ever in their nieghbor hood, swing and check those dudes out. They got some nice basses on the walls.

[Freddels]

At GC, you're lucky if they have one person that knows how to set up the instruments. It seems that they prefer to hire young kids that don't really know anything (most are posers at best). If they do hire someone with some knowledge, that person doesn't stay for long. Not sure if it's the employee that gets fed up with the place or GC doesn't want them around. At my local GC, there was a manager there that was great. One day, he wasn't there and I heard that he got demoted to asst mgr and moved to another store. He didn't last long at that store either. It was a shame b/c he was knowledgeable, helpful, and went out of his way to let you know about deals and always came over just to say "hi" when you're in there. Now, you can't even get someone to find a working cord to try out an instrument.

[pica]

Go ahead and bag on GC. Everyone else does.

[Ajrocks]

at the GC near me I was talking to one of the guys how a friend and I have the identical guitar yet his plays sweet and mine is a bit difficult how come?
I was then told that they jsut throw them together and if you bring it back within a month they will set it up for (some free) some half off. so that should answer your question.

Yea smaller places set them up when they come in. especialy the boutiques which will alos set it up to your liking!

[LiamPodmore]

This an advantage to living in the UK. We don't have any large chain shops like GC. Its mostly smaller shops, one or two have a 2nd shop somewhere else (Dawsons, HW Audio) but there arent too many. So the equipment tends to be very well kept and setup decently (Not always, but usually) although the one shop has all its instruments in drop a half step for some reason, but they have such good service and decent prices for the most part.

Liam

[SurferJoe46]

The GC in Murrieta California has an on-duty luthier who systematically goes through the whole stringed stock, constantly adjusting and setting them up.

The set-ups may not be exactly what you want, but that's what the Allen wrenches in the case are for anyway once you get it home.

The GC guitar/bass salespeople in the GC Murrietta store are all accomplished bass and/or guitar players and most actively gig or give lessons.

Luthiers are a store/corporate policy as far as I know by now in all GCs, so I don't know what's going on with yours. Perhaps it's a phony GC and GC doesn't even know it exists.

[Bassmickeyd]

I walked into the Phoenix GC, a few years back, and 90% of the basses where unplayable. I walk into the GC in Buffalo NY and they're all seem to be set up very well. ..... With Arizona the climate could kick out of a good set up, but I'm sure it had more to do with he guy in charge of that department.

[tharv]

My local GC is like the rest of the corporate disasters. I don't think these guys have any kind of clue about set up work, and the customer service is abysmal at best..... Any bass I have played has been pretty far out of whack. And the last guy I talked to about a bass there was a trumpet player..... Nice guy, but no relevant product knowledge.

Just an example of the stellar customer service:

Went in one looking for strap locks. Asked the cave man at the counter where they were (I didn't see them), he just pointed & then promptly walked away, never returning to actually make the sale. Needless to say, I went home & ordered them online. I won't be going back there... Why should I drive 20 minutes to give some worthless a**hole my money when I can get the same price & better service ordering online?

[plangentmusic]

Maybe they have more time on their hands at the local store.

No problem. I can tune a bass.

[fdeck]

Do you really want to buy a bass that is either: 1) Shipped from the factory without a setup; 2) capable of being knocked out of whack during shipping; or, 3) so delicate that it needs continual setup work while in the showroom?

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by oldrocker

You take your daughter to a music store where they allow her to bang on the drums and you're surpised the basses aren't set up properly.

Wonder if there's a conection there

Astute observation.