The GC that I live near WOULD NOT price match juststrings.com OR the local Sam Ash on DR strings for me. The counter person actually said he couldn't match it.
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Fender & Guitar Center - You Could Do So Much Better
- Thread starter Glenstapo
- Start date
I am like most people here in that I into go into the local GC if I need something on the fly..
...and it is because of the experiences I always have there, which are usually bad ones. Now, having said that, I think that is less in the overall companies control, and more in the individual store's control. My biggest problem has always been the numbskulls that work there.
I feel like I always get "talked down to", or like I am putting them out to help me. Like standing behind the counter and looking cool with their bad tat's , faux-hawks and gauges is more important than actually helping customers. There is one assistant manager who is usually cool, but for the most part it is poser-city in there.
Like some have mentioned, the bass department is DEFINITELY an after thought, in selection, product placement and set up, and knowledgeable staff. Case in point: when they first opened, the basses were in a separate little room (about 10x12'). They then moved them out onto the general floor area and turned the room into the acoustic guitar room. Now, the basses are way in the back - by where the employess enter the stock area - and are all hanging up high on the wall of guitars wehre you can't even reach them.
I don't know if it is all intentional, but the signal I get as a customer interested in basses is that they are not interested in me...
...and it is because of the experiences I always have there, which are usually bad ones. Now, having said that, I think that is less in the overall companies control, and more in the individual store's control. My biggest problem has always been the numbskulls that work there.
I feel like I always get "talked down to", or like I am putting them out to help me. Like standing behind the counter and looking cool with their bad tat's , faux-hawks and gauges is more important than actually helping customers. There is one assistant manager who is usually cool, but for the most part it is poser-city in there.
Like some have mentioned, the bass department is DEFINITELY an after thought, in selection, product placement and set up, and knowledgeable staff. Case in point: when they first opened, the basses were in a separate little room (about 10x12'). They then moved them out onto the general floor area and turned the room into the acoustic guitar room. Now, the basses are way in the back - by where the employess enter the stock area - and are all hanging up high on the wall of guitars wehre you can't even reach them.
I don't know if it is all intentional, but the signal I get as a customer interested in basses is that they are not interested in me...
Oh man! Some kid needs an a$$ whooping!
Most people here seem to understand factory set ups are done so that the instrument is seen to be playable and tests out before being shipped- and then drastic temp and humidity changes messes all that up, and can make a formally playable bass a fret buzzing wreck. Therefore blaming any manufacturer is suspect here.
If you get a chance take the Fender factory tour, it's fun and interesting. At the end you wind up at the row of testing benches, where you see the men and women taking a surprising amount of time with each one. They were not rushed or sloppy. I watched a dude during the whole speech and q&a session set saddle height and intonation with a tuner tweaking and adjusting the saddles just like we do at home. He was making the guitar playable and properly intonated, so that when done, and he handed it to you, you know what you have. Sure, the nut needs to be slotted deeper for most tastes, and that might not be your string height, but you can play it just fine. You would get a proper idea of the axe you'd be getting. Now, follow that same guitar with its set up to NYC, leave it untouched for a few weeks and its suddenly unplayable. It might even fret out and not make a sound. This not unusual, and shouldn't surprise anyone! I wouldn't for a moment assume it left Fender the way it sounded in NYC those weeks later, that would be foolish.
Guitar Center has lost my business forever...they shipped my amp to me with the tube taken out, but left in the same box as the amp unprotected. Now they are trying to screw me out of replacement tubes, but I'm fighting them tooth and nail on it.
Funny, I picked up a used MIM Fender 5 string for my son from a guy off Craigs list. He had problems with it having high action even with the bridge saddles all the way down. He thought it was a flaw in the construction so sold it for cheap. It turned out all it needed was the truss rod tightened to flatten out the neck. He had got it from GC that way and never realized it wasn't a flaw, but it just needed a setup. If GC would have set it up correctly, he would have been a happy customer with his purchase. I took a chance on buying it not knowing that was the problem.
So, if I'm reading this thread correctly, it's okay to ORDER a p-bass from GC, but not to buy one off the floor.
I've seen 'new' basses on the wall at GC that were so poorly set up, grimy and dinged that I'd not buy them sold as 'used' in that condition.
I've also seen basses that were perfectly fine. As stated before, it depends on which young hooligans have been abusing them before I got there.
I recently bought a used USA deluxe Strat at GC that was in perfect shape, with all accessories, for substantially less than I've seen them sell on eBay or elsewhere in the internets.
Everything I've bought from Musicians Friend has been perfect or was gladly exchanged or accepted for return.
I've also seen basses that were perfectly fine. As stated before, it depends on which young hooligans have been abusing them before I got there.
I recently bought a used USA deluxe Strat at GC that was in perfect shape, with all accessories, for substantially less than I've seen them sell on eBay or elsewhere in the internets.
Everything I've bought from Musicians Friend has been perfect or was gladly exchanged or accepted for return.
Just Thumpin'
Commercial User
- Mar 7, 2008
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Actually, all the instrument should need is a small (usually less than a quarter turn) adjustment to the truss rod. The weather change will affect the amount of relief in the neck but there should be no reason that anything else should need any adjustments -- unless you desire a set-up that is different than what was asked for when we built the instrument.
We go through a lengthy, very thorough final set-up process on each instrument before they leave our shop in which each step is signed off on by either Joey Lauricella or me (the only two people that presently do final set-ups). So, yes, the neck will move if the weather is different where the instrument is shipped, but it definitely should not require a complete set-up.
Hope this makes sense.
Regards,
Jason
We go through a lengthy, very thorough final set-up process on each instrument before they leave our shop in which each step is signed off on by either Joey Lauricella or me (the only two people that presently do final set-ups). So, yes, the neck will move if the weather is different where the instrument is shipped, but it definitely should not require a complete set-up.
Hope this makes sense.
Regards,
Jason
IME- I would ONLY buy a bass off GC if it REALLY/TRULY spoke to me when I played it, which is not often as noted here 90% of them have the action setup at 3/8" to 1/2" at the 12th fret and are unplayable and don't sound right either, since the strings are way to high above the pickups. Crap, crap and crap. And I remember I asked them - well if I buy this bass will you include a free setup, you would of think I asked them to turn over there cash register to me, from the look on their faces. AND THEY WILL RIP YOU OFF SO HARD IF YOU TRADE IN ANYTHING, REMEMBER THIS. They will literally offer you 50% of whatever you could sell the same thing for on CL and EBay, EVERY single freaking time!!!
Will I buy strings there, sure, maybe a bass magazine or chord.
To be honest, if I am going to have to get a bass setup anyhow, might as well use Sweetwater or MF, which is what I have done. Not sure how the GC business model works, they also sell used amps which have so much hiss you can't even hear what note you are playing.
Will I buy strings there, sure, maybe a bass magazine or chord.
To be honest, if I am going to have to get a bass setup anyhow, might as well use Sweetwater or MF, which is what I have done. Not sure how the GC business model works, they also sell used amps which have so much hiss you can't even hear what note you are playing.
It's a matter of finding jewels in the rough. You have to look past the crap setup and see if there's potential.
I have made truss adjustments in the store to make sure it would take it, but you can also take advantage of the 30 day return policy.
If there happens to be a bass that isn't perfect, but is all you want and you believe it has potential, buy it and take it home. Do a setup, make it feel good.
If it doesn't meet your needs, return it. Let them take the hit on the transaction fees because they don't care how the bass was. True, you gave them a setup, but you get all the money back, no risk.
And as for my personal experiences with local GCs...
There was a $3,000 Warwick on the wall that I tried once. Bow-and-arrow setup, missing a knob, and the preamp was not working correctly. I made note of that, but it never got fixed.
There was a used MIJ ESP Surveyor. $999, high action ONLY DUE to a truss rod needing a tweak. They never fixed it. Played like crap and they wanted a grand?!?
Shoot, I'll run out of space griping about bad setups. But I've bought a LOT of basses from them that got setup when I took them home and never had to return one yet.
I have made truss adjustments in the store to make sure it would take it, but you can also take advantage of the 30 day return policy.
If there happens to be a bass that isn't perfect, but is all you want and you believe it has potential, buy it and take it home. Do a setup, make it feel good.
If it doesn't meet your needs, return it. Let them take the hit on the transaction fees because they don't care how the bass was. True, you gave them a setup, but you get all the money back, no risk.
And as for my personal experiences with local GCs...
There was a $3,000 Warwick on the wall that I tried once. Bow-and-arrow setup, missing a knob, and the preamp was not working correctly. I made note of that, but it never got fixed.
There was a used MIJ ESP Surveyor. $999, high action ONLY DUE to a truss rod needing a tweak. They never fixed it. Played like crap and they wanted a grand?!?
Shoot, I'll run out of space griping about bad setups. But I've bought a LOT of basses from them that got setup when I took them home and never had to return one yet.
Here is where i have to laugh at alot of people on the web, when Fender sends out a bass or any instrument, they are already set up to the factory standard setting. During transit there are multiple factors on why an instrument will change (heat, cold, how it was handled etc) so what was set up at the factory is most surely going to be out of spec. The they get to a place like GC. There sometimes they set them up sometimes they don't, add to that all the rejects who beat the hell out of the instrument. Then comes along joe snuffy the forum guy who will come in here and bash Fender and GC. I am not a cheer leader for either place but you have to realize once the instrument leaves Fender it is really no longer an issue that Fender did a bad set up. Look at all the variables. Or learn to set up the instruments you buy and then you are ahead of the game! The only thing I will not do on my instruments deals with painting. The reason is because I don't have the equipment to do it. Sorry, rant over but it really is boring listening to the same complaints all the time.
