Maybe not. The music store in out town is struggling. First they lost Fender some years ago because Fender required a large inventory to be a dealer and since then they have lost Martin and Gretch Guitars in addition to competing with internet sales. Be careful what you wish for.
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Does Guitar Center set up their basses?
- Thread starter SMonroeB
- Start date
I’m a total Fender fanboy but i’ll admit at GC they are the worst offender (pun) in terms of off the shelf playability.
More often than not if I try a new Schecter or Yamaha or Ibanez they will at least be in playable condition.
If I were a beginner and didn’t know squat about setups and were basing “which bass is best” on how they feel I would never pick Fender.
More often than not if I try a new Schecter or Yamaha or Ibanez they will at least be in playable condition.
If I were a beginner and didn’t know squat about setups and were basing “which bass is best” on how they feel I would never pick Fender.
According to Fender itself approximately 45% of their guitars sold annually are purchased by beginners or first-time players. Fender sells around two thirds of all guitars, far more than its competition, so it seems they crunched the numbers and decided they don't need to improve setup, while letting competitors have to compete on price and perhaps also eat the additional cost of competitively better setups.
Has he actually looked at Amazon or just talking out his ass? Sweetwater has a pretty big presecne on Amazon and it's not just low end Squiers.
Is Sweetwater selling many high-end products through Amazon? We don't know. Are there very few people who buy $1800 guitars on Amazon, like McKnight posited? I'd probably agree with McKnight. Considering Sweetwater's top spots in search engines, and their presence on places like Reverb through their GearNuts subsidiary, it is not clear how much high-end gear that typically entails a level of setup and service is processed through Amazon.
From what I've seen Sweetwater sell gear on Amazon at the same price there but if you buy through Amazon (which Sweetwater has to pay a commission and fees to) buyers don't get Sweetwater's 2-year warranty. That might plausibly sway consumers making a large purchase who know this.
I didn't realize it was owned by an absentee hedge fund. That's really too bad. It explains a lot, though. It would be easy to train their sales folk to set up guitars and basses. Make it a part of the job. Many who work there are musicians and would probably be happy to learn the skills. Better, more attractive product offered, likely increases sales and you get a happier, more skillful workforce. Why are things so difficult?
Yeah...I purchased 2 used basses from them a couple of years ago and returned them the same day. I tried a set-up on both. One had stripped truss rod nut, the other a huge crack around the B string tuner hole I didn't notice at the store. I learned two things from this:
1) Inspect everything really close before leaving the store, (they have a great return policy though, like the old Fry's electronics)
2) Don't buy a used bass at GC.
An affiliate of Bain Capital bought them last summer. Don't count on it being 'absentee': Bain's is a turnaround business model with experienced active managers applying mangerial discipline (sometimes via ruthless cost-cutting, sometimes not) with the aim to eventually spin-off or sell the purchased company or have them go public. Bain charge management fees as they do their turnaround magic (so even if they fail to save or run a company, they get paid).
An interesting, if acidic article on the subject:
"Private equity keeps stabbing Guitar Center but it still won’t die"
Fun fact: Bain Capital owned Guitar Center in 2007 and sold it in 2014. So they may have an understanding of the business and market (which, admittedly has changed in the last decade).
I am going to wear a Sweetwater T-shirt in there one day
Y'all are assuming that any one employee will pay attention to you. I think one could go into most GC with their pants off and hair on fire and not one employee would bother to look at you.I have a Sam Ash shirt that I really should wear in there next time I head over to GC.
That is good to hear. For the entirety of 2024 the San Francisco GC had been a horror show of indifference and apathy. Couldn't tell you now but I can't imagine that they've changed so soon.
All I ever find are list prices as far as the eye can see. GC, Sweetwater, Musician's Friend, pick one or all. Sure there are sales and clearances from time to time and of course they sell used but unless I'm going to different websites there aren't any deals on new products anymore by buying from a big box retailer.
GC simply provides us more reasons than most others not to shop there.
Not anymore. They used to. Baaaack in the day when I was on the guitar floor of my local one each of us slingers had to restring and setup at least 1 guitar/bass everyday. But that all stopped sometime around ‘10 when we got a dedicated repair dude. He did customer repairs/setups AND 3-4 store guitars a day. He’s still there and I know he’s not doin that any more lol.
I couple weeks ago I bought a used Fender Aerodyne Jazz Bass at a GC. They took a quick look and made some adjustments and said everything was fine. (I'm new to bass). I couldn't get rid of the buzz in the middle of the neck, so I took it to a local tech who has done great work before. He quickly identified that the neck was bowed in the wrong place, around the fifth fret, and the neck may have a twist.
None of this, of course, was mentioned.
My tech thought he may be able to tame it with a fret dressing and leveling with setup, but I'd be spending another $180, so I returned it. The GC sales person said he saw the neck bow, too. The next day it was back on the site in "good" condition. It now looks like someone else bought it. I also noticed the Player II Jazz Bass I originally went to look at but another customer bought was also returned.
--
Related to wearing branded shirts. The only reaction I've gotten to a music-related shirt in a music store was at Chicago Music Exchange, from another customer. I was wearing a "Play It Loud" Fender hoodie and looking at PRSs when a guy looked at me and said, "Ew, don't play it loud if it's a Fender." I just said, "Whatever, dude," and walked away. He was saying something else, but I'd stopped listening.
My Fender t-shirt has gotten me thumbs ups and started conversations on bike and hiking trails, though.
None of this, of course, was mentioned.
My tech thought he may be able to tame it with a fret dressing and leveling with setup, but I'd be spending another $180, so I returned it. The GC sales person said he saw the neck bow, too. The next day it was back on the site in "good" condition. It now looks like someone else bought it. I also noticed the Player II Jazz Bass I originally went to look at but another customer bought was also returned.
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Related to wearing branded shirts. The only reaction I've gotten to a music-related shirt in a music store was at Chicago Music Exchange, from another customer. I was wearing a "Play It Loud" Fender hoodie and looking at PRSs when a guy looked at me and said, "Ew, don't play it loud if it's a Fender." I just said, "Whatever, dude," and walked away. He was saying something else, but I'd stopped listening.
My Fender t-shirt has gotten me thumbs ups and started conversations on bike and hiking trails, though.
GC in my area can’t keep a decent luthier on staff (they leave). The remaining people I’d prefer NOT touching it.
I also saw them mark down a Jack Cassidy $200 because they wouldn’t tighten down a loose pot
.
The only reason it bothers me is all the young kids getting sold something awful and potentially quit playing bass. Saw a kid sold a used Cort P with a 0.25 inch gap between body and neck.
Now I offer to help those around me best I can. Friends don’t let friends play bad bases.
I also saw them mark down a Jack Cassidy $200 because they wouldn’t tighten down a loose pot
. The only reason it bothers me is all the young kids getting sold something awful and potentially quit playing bass. Saw a kid sold a used Cort P with a 0.25 inch gap between body and neck.
Now I offer to help those around me best I can. Friends don’t let friends play bad bases.
Guitar Center is not staffed by experts, and when you walk into one of their stores, the vibe is “we don’t care.”
It is a place to exchange money for objects. That’s about it.
It is a place to exchange money for objects. That’s about it.
Not always. Most of the used basses at my local GC have broken electronics, at least one broken string, and/or have never been set up. It's not fun going there, seeing something really cool or that I've never seen before, plugging it in, and realizing that there's something wrong with the bass that makes it unplayable.
If there is something at GC that I love so much that I'd want to buy it, I would rather buy it online from a reputable dealer. I only buy strings and sometimes accessories at GC.
right, the worst kind.
we should all open music stores, stock thousands of items on credit, weekly change strings on all floor instruments and pay for those from our pockets.
The entire story of GC under Bain Capital Management is a typical story of corporate greed. Private Equity firms typically buy previously successful businesses then pull out equity and saddle the target company with suffocating debt. Any profit made is generally spent servicing that debt which is often refinanced at even higher interest rates until that lender may finally end up taking over a financial mess. That's GC.
Debt and lines of credit some extended by their suppliers is what's used to keep the doors open and survive another day. Some stores are far better than others but it always tough to hire and retain good qualified employees and managers and expect them to work under the conditions they do. They have a little to no autonomy. The corporate owners rule and make all of the major policy decisions for them.
I'm not suggesting people not buy from them. Just realize who your actually buying from and how the game is played. IMHO it's not been operated as a customer friendly business at least as far as it's retail stores go for a very long time. They exist to move a lot of product. Customer service is not their primary aim.
No. Nope. HELL NO.
And: yes they charge to set it up! There they make money.
I usually get them to fetch a fresh in the box example from the back room “setup from the factory “ minus god knows who’s grubby DNA and secretions on it.
If it’s “new” it’s untouched when I get it: the crap that’s on the hanger is NOT NEW it’s a demo. Therefore I NEVER pay full price for a DEMO. New is in box, wall hanger played by 100’s ? Not new: simple right?
Done that LOL (unintentionally)I am going to wear a Sweetwater T-shirt in there one day
Also a MARS music shirt (RIP)
