Good Guitar Center Experiences

bassist4dalord · #1 03-07-2010, 10:53 PM

We read a new anti-Guitar Center, or "necessary evil" GC thread on this site everyday. Does anyone have some especially good Guitar Center experiences? I'll start:

The Guitar Center on 28th Street in Grand Rapids, MI is probably one of the best I've been to so far. The bass gear isn't really a separate room per se, more a corner blocked off by a shelving unit thing of MarkBass. All of the Fender basses I played (I don't bother with the other stuff too much) had straight necks, great action, and were very close to being in-tune. One wall had mostly Acoustic gear to play through, which sounded great, and the other side had mostly MarkBass gear.

Only one employee came up to me (a good thing), and enlisted my help when looking for a Fender Am. Deluxe Jazz V. I properly identified it (thanks TalkBass!!) and he went about his business. No pesky salesmen coming up wielding an Ibanez 6-string and wanking all over the place, or BS'ing about how he just happens to own every bass I have my eye on.

Overall, a very good Guitar Center experience. What's yours? Tell of favorite gear stories, favorite GC locations, great deals, etc.

Thanks for reading!

EDIT: Just realized this is in the wrong section (?) Move where needed, Mods! Thanks.

bongomania · #2 03-07-2010, 11:14 PM

No, I think the "humor" section here is entirely appropriate.

TortillaChip520 · #3 03-07-2010, 11:24 PM

One of the employees there saw me playing bass, and we started chatting and told me his band was looking for a bass player. He was really cool and we had all the same musical interests. I never ended up jamming with him, but every time i see him there he's really cool and more than helpful with me with whatever i need.

Greg75 · #4 03-07-2010, 11:47 PM

I stop by GC every week or so with my son (12). For him, it's way better than Disneyland. We always have a good time and get great service.

waleross · #5 03-08-2010, 01:01 AM

I have never been to a GC store in person but I shop online with them . I bought a Washburn Acoustic Electric for $200 no cracks or warped neck. I prefer online shopping but why dump on just GC stores? Customer Service can be bad online or in person. At least GC is a nationwide chain like say SamAsh and if you really have a problem you just go up the chain of command. You always hear about the great pawn shop deals or how you should support the Mom and Pop Stores. Pawn shops make money by bleeding people who sell them stuff because they are desperate. Then the profit margin for Pawn Shop is higher since they paid next to nothing for the item. Mom and Pop stores are great for taking guitar lessons,music books and buying gear that you need right away. It just sounds that some GC stores have poor management and that costs them by losing customers.

billm67 · #6 03-08-2010, 04:09 AM

I have a positive experience. I was looking for a new MIM Jazz bass and I would have been quite happy to buy a nice used one, but after several weeks..nothing was found so I went to GC. They had two in stock and both had sharp fret ends sticking out. One had a hump in the fingerboard, so I stayed away from that one. The other was a nice sunburst bass. I told them that I would take the bass but they would need to do something to address the issue with the frets. There was young guy there that was doing setup work, that it turned out had gone the luthier school and he removed the neck and leveled and crowned the frets and carefully dressed the ends. He them put the bass back together and did a full set up on the bass. When he handed it back, the bass played very nice and the neck felt terrific! But I had noticed a small scratch on the back of the upper horn. I showed the manager the scratch (which I later took care of with a little 1000 grit sand paper and some rubbing compound). The manager reduced the price of the bass down to $514 and marked the skb hard case I bought from 135 down to $99. I came away with a nice bass and the hard case for not alot more than the original pris of the bass. The setup was nice and the fret end felt great. I was pleased!

Floyd Eye · #7 03-08-2010, 04:09 AM

I bought an Ibanez AE10 there once. I spent an hour playing all the acoustics they had in the store and that was the only one that spoke to me. I asked if they had a new one in the back and he said no. I played an identical one that was on the floor across the room, but I didn't like it. So I pointed out that I would buy one if they had one new, in the box. So the kid goes to his manager and comes back and knocks $50 off the price.

Joe Nerve · #8 03-08-2010, 04:32 AM

Ahh, the story I've told countless times.

Just bought I don't remember what and was walking out of the store when my girlfriend said to me, "Joe, isn't that a Warwick Streamer over there for $499?" This was in 1999, before all the imports and dramatically dropped Warwick prices. It sure was a Streamer. Pro M. Same one I almost bought a couple of months before for $1400. Needed a battery, strings, and the knobs had to be tightened. Couldn't for the life of me understand why they were letting it go for that price but I jumped all over it, and sold it almost immediately after for $1000. Would have kept it but liked my corvette at the time lots more.

Jeff K · #9 03-08-2010, 07:23 AM

Well, I've gotten some killer deals on some great basses (and guitars) over the years.

If you do your homework (know what you want and how much they're worth; have patience; and be courteous), you can score some great deals. Just understand that for every great deal you're able to snag, there are at least 10 poor shmoes paying more than they should for what they walk out with.

Matt in TN · #10 03-08-2010, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassist4dalord

No pesky salesmen coming up wielding an Ibanez 6-string and wanking all over the place

Now what's wrong with my Ibanez 6-string???

the art guy · #11 03-08-2010, 09:43 AM

I've had a few bad experiences there (like most people), but I did have very good service when my Acoustic B200 head was acting up. I took it in on a Friday morning, and they told me they'd replace it, no problem (since it's their house brand stuff). I was fine with that, but I had a show to play that night and they didn't have a new one in stock to give me. So they let me borrow a B600H for the weekend, and keep it until they could get me a replacement 200 (which was only a few days).

This was at the GC in Des Moines, Iowa, by the way.

tdub0199 · #12 03-08-2010, 09:44 AM

There's nothing wrong w/ Ibanez 6'er.....

somedumbguy · #13 03-08-2010, 09:53 AM

I've had countless good experiences.

One: I was looking to buy an acoustic bass, so I went into their acoustic room and sat down with all the basses there, and my friend grabbed an guitar. We jammed for almost an hour as I tried multiple basses. Only about 20 minutes into it did a salesperson walk in and ask if I needed anything. I told him I was trying it all out, and he said great, let me know if you need anything and left us alone for the rest of the trip. I came back the next day to buy one.

Two: I researched their prices and competitors prices and I walked right in, bought a $260 amp new for only $180. Free shipping... I was happy.

Three: They have every cable I need. There is no looking all over the city for cables, and strings, etc. I play many instruments (blues harp, guitar, ukulele etc) and they stock all the accessories I need for all of those instruments. No mom and pop music store that I know of can do all that.

Guitar Center is a unique place. If you go there to "try out" the instruments before you buy them, you need to know that they are going to be poorly set up, and have old strings. In fact, every time I buy something more than 200 dollars, I always ask for a guitar cable, or a new set of strings... they always do it.

bassist4dalord · #14 03-08-2010, 10:52 AM

These are some great stories guys! Keep 'em comin'!

A side note: I have nothing against Ibanez basses or 6-string basses. I just hate it when I'm trying to play a nice Fender and some GC employee starts wanking and such all over me. The Ibanez 6-string was just a reference to the wankers in general. If you can play a 6-string (I can't) then more power to ya!

My apologies!

caeman · #15 03-08-2010, 11:06 AM

All of my trips to GC have been good experiences.

I like how the sales crew just kinda leave you alone until you have a question to ask. I like how they have all instruments accessible for trial, most of them I could never afford!

My funniest experience was testing out a StringRay5, just doing boring 12-bar blues thing, certainly not fancy, I just wanted to hear the guitar play. A kid that had been poppin' and slappin' a bass like it was a whack-a-mole game walked by and asked, "Is that blues thing you were just doing? It sounded cool!"

I smiled and nodded. There he was, doing something I have no clue about, and my walking G C and D impressed him.

It made me laugh.

Badong · #16 03-08-2010, 11:45 AM

Just ordered a Markbass CMD 102p from the store in Arlington, TX on Sunday. Salesman was patient, not pushy, and honored the sale price even though it was over (someone forgot to take the tag down).

Matt in TN · #17 03-08-2010, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassist4dalord

A side note: I have nothing against Ibanez basses or 6-string basses. I just hate it when I'm trying to play a nice Fender and some GC employee starts wanking and such all over me.

Just messing with you - and if an employee starts "wanking" anywhere near me I think I'd leave!

Richland123 · #18 03-08-2010, 01:19 PM

Myself and our guitar player have both had great experiences with different Guitar Center stores but especially the one in Monroeville, PA. I will just tell you my experience.

I tried out an Acoustic B600H head at the Monroeville, PA store and liked it. About six months later, I decided to buy one. My nephew is friends with the GC manager in Virginia Beach, VA. He said he had one left and it was out of the box and he would discount it $100 for me. I don't know if it was returned or what but they said it was new with all the full 3 year complete replacement warranty.

I bought it and used it for a couple gigs. I noticed something was wrong with it and it the volume kept surging. After checking it out, I noticed the housing for the power cable was loose and figured there was a power supply problem.

Since I live closer to the Monroeville, PA store (2 hours), I called them and told them what was wrong with the amp. They did not have one in stock but the assistant manager searched around and found one in the Harrisburg, PA store and had it shipped to them. He called as soon as it arrived a few days later and I went there and they traded out the first one for a new one in the box no questions asked and updated my warranty to the new unit. They were extremely professional, polite, and great to deal with.

infamusblkdeath · #19 03-08-2010, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bongomania

No, I think the "humor" section here is entirely appropriate.

not necessarily, cause not all guitar centers suck.

most do however from what i hear around here. but not all of them do..

i always post about how my guitar center (albany) is actually of decent quality here. it is one of the only guitar centers i've seen talked good about on here. i've read two or three stories here about how people were moved by the service they got from it. i had nothing but good service from them as well. i have yet to have a bad experience.

i'm just going to narrow it down for you guys reguarding the typical crap you hear about all the other guitar centers.

1.first of all, i see people complain about how the sales associates are just punk kids that have no knowledge on the gear. at my GC i haven't seen an associate under 25, and most of them are alot older (30's-50's). also, i had an old band mate that almost got a job there a year or two ago. he's a few years older than me of course, but he said the reason why they didn't hire him is cause he didn't know enough about the gear!!!

2.reguarding the poor quality of the gear, etc. these guys actually try to keep the basses top notch. there are usually minor faults with the instruments, and its usually that they just need a string change or they are untuned. that isn't the case with all of them either, only about 1/4 of the basses they have. they do have a seperate room for basses, but it is like it's own store. around 30 or 40 basses available and
countless amps.

now what were all the other problems people were having?!

Lady Kayri · #20 03-08-2010, 03:05 PM

I usually go to the GC on the Black Horse Pike in Mays Landing (near Atlantic City) here in NJ. The 'sales associates' know me well enough to let me look around to my heart's content without bothering me; they know that if I want / need help I'll ask for it. When I do need help, they're usually very good about it; if it's for something bass related that the associate in question isn't familiar with, he'll ask for someone who knows more about that area for help. Most of the folks who work there are musicians themselves, and the manager is good enough that there isn't a lot of turnover in staff - most of them are pretty experienced and knowledgeable. In my experience, the manager and assistant managers seem to be pretty important in determining the attitude and such not of their staff; by that yardstick I'd say the manager in the Black Horse Pike GC has to be a pretty good manager.... Mind you, I've also had some not so nice experiences in some GCs outside of this area!