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Does guitar center just not care?

#21
UPS Delivers a load of instruments. GC's workers sign them in to inventory and start unboxing them. Then they hang them on the walls where they have empty spaces to fill. That's about all an ex french fry technician from In & Out Burger can be expected to do without effing it up.
 
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#22
When I worked at GC back in 2009, I specifically brought this issue up to my manager. I stated, "If the basses are not periodically setup with new strings and at least made playable, how do you expect to move any inventory?" He agreed with me, but did nothing about it. I did not sell enough stuff in my 80 day stint over there to have any pull with this. Medium action and average bass strings on every bass in there would be a wonderful start. I don't think we will ever see that.
 
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#24
Michedelic said:
When did they ever, at least in the last 20 years?
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Way way longer than that. I've been dealing with them on and off since their inception. They've never cared. Not once. Not ever.

Not trying to bash them; just stating fact. They're a used car dealership that just happens to be selling guitars.

Know what you're dealing with.
 
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#25
You just have to know your stuff and you can sometimes make a pretty good deal with them, especially on used gear. I bought a brand new Epi LP in 2007 for $275 ($100 off list) because I showed the salesman a small chip in the binding. I still have it. I bought a used pair of passive Yamaha 15" PA speakers for $75 each. Yeah, they weigh a ton but they sound great and are still around $275 each new. So GC has it's place, someone probably took a hit on the trade in on those speakers. I think that buying out all the mom and pop stores to kill the competition just over extended them. My feelings are that very few musicians have any sympathy for that commerce model. Since they've crushed the smaller stores we all used to do business with. Personally I usually give my local store first shot before I hit GC for anything new, if it's a reasonable markup I'll buy locally. If I'm buying new and I need decent support I'll kick in the extra bucks for Sweetwater. They are everything that GC is not, plus they've given full price credit on a trade in when you upgrade. I've done it a few times with USB Interfaces, as long as the time limit is within reason.
 
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#26
Joe Nerve said:
Guitar Center not caring once got me a brand new German Warwick Streamer Pro M for $499. It needed a battery, a set up, and the knob screws needed to be tightened.

I'm happy they don't care :) .
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That's an endorsement?
Just my Opinion, but they got screwed by the internet.
People would try It out there and buy it no tax online.
That's when I noticed that attitude change.
 
#28
two fingers said:
:D I've been to your local GC a bunch of times. Some of the basses are kinda bad. But most are fine.
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GC closed the Durham store maybe five or six years ago, so your memories are getting old. They later opened one in west Cary (formerly known as Morrisville) but it's almost entirely student-level gear; the occasional good/interesting used bass or amp tends to stand out from the rest and sell quickly.
 
#29
ardgedee said:
GC closed the Durham store maybe five or six years ago, so your memories are getting old. They later opened one in west Cary (formerly known as Morrisville) but it's almost entirely student-level gear; the occasional good/interesting used bass or amp tends to stand out from the rest and sell quickly.
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Ah. Honestly? I never knew there was a Durham GC.:D

I was referring to the one that's been on Capital Blvd. for years.
 
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#32
Almost made it a week without a GC bashing thread.
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#33
Once I briefly inquired about trading in a mint Schecter Hellraiser guitar ($900 new) in for something else and they said they would offer roughly $400 with the hard case included. I never bought a guitar or amp from them since that day, but I did just send 4 figured over to their competitor for some Markbass cabinets and couldn't be happier! Heck, I don't think I've bought anything from them in years. Even strings and cables are cheaper (with better support) elsewhere!

What I don't understand is why/how GC management is so clueless. I'm betting the majority of their big decision makers aren't even real musicians and are actually clueless about their customers. GC is great for selling a wide-eyed kiddo a dazzling new piece of bling, or for test driving a piece of gear, but they suck for when that kiddo gets a few years experience, gets serious about music, and is looking to spend some real money.
 
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#36
:eek:Until you meet a bass player that likes their action like that...:rage:

I'm not going to defend GC here.

However....

When I was still working music retail, I really took personal care that the basses in my store were setup within (what I thought) a reasonable standard of playability. 60-70 basses give or take. It only takes one day of severe weather change (I live in Winnipeg) and 15-20 of those basses were literally unplayable with back bow (and of course the reverse when the weather changes the other way). Was I going to have time to re setup all those basses on a Saturday morning, every time? My day off was Fridays so often I would come in to either a slightly emptied bass department or a bunch of basses put out by other employees. Even more setups to do on a Saturday morning, and I am no Luthier, and that wasn't my job. My job was to sell. So from then on, all the basses had a slightly less than stellar setup, and I would make adjustments for the customer by request. It really amazes me that people think and expect that mass produced piece of lumber (at literally any price point) will hop out of the shipping box from Indonesia (or California) in perfect playing condition and stay that way for months of it hanging on a wall in an un climate controlled display floor under lights and air conditioning vents. There is NO ONE on staff who is in charge of setting up store stock. The job of maintenance alone would be a full time job, never mind new stock for the floor, and even then people wouldn't be happy with the in store idea of a setup, they want it with razor thin action and be able to play it like a jackhammer with no string buzz on a 300 dollar Ibanez.

No piece of wood ever planned on being a guitar, maybe it wanted to be a table.:bored:
 
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#39
I've bought 3 used basses from Guitar Center via their website in the past six months or so (they all came from different parts of the country). Good prices, they shipped right away and they were all pretty much playable right out of the box. No complaints here.

Blame Bain Capital for Guitar Center going bankrupt. They've ruined a lot of solid businesses in the name of taking the money and running. All legal, unfortunately.
 
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#40
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