Being a female bassist..

[jmac]

Yes.

No

 

[Reaper Man]

wow, I've been pretty lucky when hanging around GC then- when I bought my bass I was left alone until I told them the one I wanted and the other kid that was really trying to sell something for a while was still cool- even after my father and I told him we were just pricing stuff out, he just kind of chatted for a while about different equipment- still looking for a sale, but not as bad.

 

[Radical Edward]

In this area GC has the best selection of anyone by far. The next best is probably Firehouse. But if you go into GC know what you are loooking at first. Get your questions answered here before walking into GC because they cannot help you. I was ready to drop $800 on a stingray a couple weeks ago. Had to wait 15 minutes for someone to help me. When he did, it was here's the bass, I'll be back. I knew in 5 minutes it wasn't for me. Played with it for another 5 minutes after that. He never came back, so I set the bass against a cabinet and left.

Yeah, that's the thing. It seems hit or miss, there. Some days I've gotten pretty good service, and others I might as well not have wasted the 45 minute trip down there. I'm not sure if I said this already on this thread, but my boyfriend bought a $2,000 Mesa Boogie head from them and put it on layaway for a week. They put it in back, and someone broke it. It had to have been someone who works there, because it was in back, right? I mean.. is it so hard to not break something that isn't yours? It had a tube blown, a knob missing, and the instruction manual was nowhere to be seen. Now he has to wait up to 6 months for them to order one for him. It's ridiculous.

 

[Ric5]

Okay. Every time I go into GC, I play with a few basses and try to think of a few good questions to bother the staff about.. The thing is, other than the one guy there who knows me because I come in so much, the other staff talk to me like I'm a little kid or dumb or something.

pretty much everybody in a GC IS dumb. A lot of the staff and customers are clueless.

 

[basschick22]

I'm surprised they didn't show you the pink basses.

That's happened to me before (more than once)!!!

 

[Radical Edward]

That's happened to me before (more than once)!!!

Thankfully, there aren't any pink basses at the Gc by my house. Though, there are some pink guitars and pink and purple Marshall amps...

 

[TheHegemon]

Research desired product on forums like this and product reviews and go to g.c knowledgeable about what you are seeking, then there is no need to ask sales person alot of questions, just to try it out.Carry a cheap little korg pocket tuner when bass or guitar shopping,you can pick up decent little tuner for $10 or $20. If a salesperson is disrespectful,tell them so and ask to talk with someone who wants to be helpful.

+1

I do probably 90% of my research on what Im wanting and looking for before I ever step foot in a store. That includes this forum and youtube and musicians friend/guitar center website etcs. Read lot of reviews from other musicians. So all I have to do is go in and ask someone to either get it or get it myself from the shelf give it a quick try to make sure. Even then sometimes I just go ahead and order it online. The less you have to deal with people as far as GC goes the better IMO.

 

[Buster Brown]

Don't be offended, Mikaela. While it might be sexism, I find a lot of the GC'ers have a "too cool for school" attitude. That's coming from a guy who's been playing for nearly twenty years. I NEVER ask for help there because I find many (but certainly not all) of the people at GC will have that attitude AND don't know what the hell they are talking about.

HEHE I couldn't agree more!! I honestly doubt that it's a "sexism" thing...hell thry're probably scared to death of the young lady...no, I think the "too cool for school" thing is probably spot on.

I have been playing since 1967. I walk into a GC and the guys look at me like "He must be someone's Grandfather"...that is until I pick up a bass so, there you go.

I have spent considerable sums of money at GC - never needed a salesman yet. Don't let it get you down, young lady...as I said before, the ladies have a way of scaring the hell out of teenagers...

 

[Sounbwoy]

Mikeala, many GC employees just aren't that well informed. I have also found that music retail has its share of predjudiced people, just like the rest of society. As a black person, I have often dealt with sales people who assumed I had no money or bad credit because I am black. Like an idiot, there were times where I actually bought stuff just to show I could to such dingbats. Before everyone says Dr. Cheese is bringing race into it again, I would like to say that I have even had black clerks make asssumptions like assuming my Ken Smith was a Burner until they saw it.

The bottom line is that if you are going to be a regular customer, establish a relationship with a few sales people, and deal with them only. If a place has no cool sales people, don't patronize it, no matter how nice their selection is. Be loyal to dealers who are courteous and give good service, and you will be happy!

Agreed and well said.