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GC Memorial Day Blowout .... Yawn...

#41
edbass said:
And others are allowed to hate it, truthfully I do grasp the concept of the capitalist market.
However, I will again say that I do NOT "love" GC. I've bought gear all over the place, a few years ago I bought a new Ashdown rig from Bass Central, I shop Elderly music regularly, and I buy used gear online almost monthly. I do think GC provides a hard to beat package solution for most amateur and some professional musician's gear needs.
But, I'm always open to new ways to save money.

I am not being snide; I would REALLY like to know which retailer does a better job at selling mainstream gear for a lower price.
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It all depends on where you live. Here in DC, Chuck Levin's usually has better pricing than GC. I just grew tired of their sales people's attitude. If you're not buying a $5k PRS, you're low life -- unless you come during slow times. Then they're a bit more attentive.

I still like GC, but I'm finding less and less reason to go there.

On a a side note - anyone else noticed a big jump in DR Strings?
 
#42
I'm baffled by all this "no deals @ GC" you guys seem to be experiencing. They still seem to work with me at the Towson, MD store. Even if they can't haggle the price of a bass, they will usually throw in $100 or so in strings, straps, etc. for free. Heck, I picked up a 30th anniversary StingRay for under $1300 a couple months ago.

I think the trick is not to go in when they have advertised sales. I've noticed they usually put a bunch of stuff on clearance right after NAMM shows (and after the holidays) just to clear out stock for new stuff. I saw a Peavey Scorpio DE for under $400 in my local store just the other day.

That said, I do not love GC. They happen to be convenient and always have competitive pricing. The only other shop semi local to me is Bill's Music in Catonsville and those guys are jerks with overpriced gear.
 
#43
thedude77md said:
I'm baffled by all this "no deals @ GC" you guys seem to be experiencing. They still seem to work with me at the Towson, MD store. Even if they can't haggle the price of a bass, they will usually throw in $100 or so in strings, straps, etc. for free. Heck, I picked up a 30th anniversary StingRay for under $1300 a couple months ago.

I think the trick is not to go in when they have advertised sales. I've noticed they usually put a bunch of stuff on clearance right after NAMM shows (and after the holidays) just to clear out stock for new stuff. I saw a Peavey Scorpio DE for under $400 in my local store just the other day.

That said, I do not love GC. They happen to be convenient and always have competitive pricing. The only other shop semi local to me is Bill's Music in Catonsville and those guys are jerks with overpriced gear.
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You missed the 30th they had on extreme blowout for $899. That was about 6 months ago, or so. Should have picked that up. I've been to Bill's numerous times and have yet to buy one item. Anything interesting is under glass and it's too much effort to find someone to ask permission to touch it. Their used prices are insane. I haven't heard of anyone successfully haggling there.
 
#44
cybersnyder said:
You missed the 30th they had on extreme blowout for $899. That was about 6 months ago, or so. Should have picked that up. I've been to Bill's numerous times and have yet to buy one item. Anything interesting is under glass and it's too much effort to find someone to ask permission to touch it. Their used prices are insane. I haven't heard of anyone successfully haggling there.
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I had an Ashdown ABM head on 1.5 master volume at Bill's and the sales manager came charging across the store and very curtly ordered me to turn it down b/c it was "messing up the demo of effects he was trying to sell to another customer." He told me I could fully explore all the features of that amp at a lower volume. Right. I promptly told him where to stick it, left the store, and haven't returned since. Too bad they have a nice inventory.
 
#46
Last time at GC I commented to a sales kid (with a fake backstage pass name tag) how the geddy jazz bass was a good value. his reply was "geddy's the man". GC sucks but the one here has an awesome selection of music man basses, fender basses and tons of mid level warwicks. i think the labor day sale is the best one.
 
#47
edbass said:
Cool! Another "Dump on GC" thread!
It's been about 15 minutes since the last one, and I was getting worried they would stop completely. :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I've bought a fair amount of gear over the years, and have shopped GC since there was only one of them. It's changed dramatically, but one thing that has been consistent is competitive pricing.
I can't seem to get better deals anywhere else, particularly anyplace where I can walk in (albeit past the kids hammering on Dean products and generally inexperienced sales people) and actually play the gear I'm interested in.
I'm not exactly sure why posters here are so overwhelmingly negative in matters concerning GC.
Am I the only person that thinks they are convenient, fairly well stocked and very competitively priced? :confused:
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I'm with you on this... GC does have good deals, compared to some of the other places I've been. Theyre staff usually consists of 95% asses. But they do have a good selection of stuff, espically when you need something in a hurry. While shopping around for my Warwick Thumb, I called multiple places and GC gave me by far the lowest price around... So I had to go with them.

I like GC... Maybe I'm one of the very few that does :P However I have the salemanship "quality" that the people working there have.
 
#48
Shovelbone said:
I honestly don't expect things to get any better at GC. I have a friend whose sister works for a Bain Capital affliliate and the word is that GC is going to be liquidated. When Bain bought GC they assumed about 200 million in debt so they are going to liquidate the inventory to cover the debt. Then they will sell off all of the 210 store locations, which most are in prime commercial areas. Supposedly this is all to happen over the next 12 to 18 months. If this is in fact true I don't know so take it for what its worth!
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I would be surprised if that were the case; but there certainly could be some store closings. GC is planning a bigger splashier Boston in store that will located near Fenway Park which suggests maybe a change in strategy rather than an outright liquidation.


From Banker & Tradesman:
"Boylston Street Is Ready To Rock With New Tenants


This artist’s rendering depicts 1255 Boylston St. in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood, which will house the Guitar Center, one of the nation’s largest guitar retailers.
By Thomas Grillo
One of the nation’s largest sellers of guitars, percussion instruments, keyboards and recording equipment is opening a mega-store near Boston’s Fenway Park."

Fenway GC.jpg
 
#51
edbass said:
I think it would be extremely difficult for Bain to garner $10M per store from sale of the real estate.
Particularly because as far as I can determine, GC leases the vast majority of their retail locations from various Shopping Mall/Centers, and therefore doesn't own the real estate.

In most states it's illegal to sell and retain the revenue from real estate you don't own. ;)

My guess is that Bain Capital fully intends to make a go of it.

Of course, I don't have a crystal ball, or have a friend of a friend who knows a guy who's brothers wife used to date a guy who works for a guy that used to work for Bain Capitals cleaning service. :D
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Wow! You wouldnt happen to be Gordon Gekko would you?
 
#53
I worked at GC when I was in college and another "large independent" music store as well. They are all the same. You can probably get better deals at independent stores now that GC is doing the "no discount" thing, but they all have the same garbage. All their basses are trashed and the sales staff is more interested in their commission check than getting you what you want. If you really want a good bass you have to go to Bass NW, Bass Central, Atlanta Bass Gallery, etc. Plus the sales staff at these places are much more knowledgeable on their product lines.


Please Note, I am in no way affiliated with any of the stores in any way other than I have purchased from them in the past and have always been satisfied.
 
#54
There are actually 3 GC's within 15 min of me, and a few more within 45 min. Some of the stores are just lame, but one in particular has an exclusive "high end bass room". Always something new and interesting in there. Because of this convienence, I shop at GC regularly.
 
#55
coreyfyfe said:
I went this morning, there was next to nothing good for basses but they had a few used cabs for cheap. A bag end 4x10 for $130 and the mesa cab with a 15/10/2x8 for $250. I had no need for either so i didnt want to spend the money. my buddy was looking to get this 5 string pedulla thats been in the store for like two years now but the guy said at $1700 it was already at cost and they couldnt bring it down anymore than that. probably why it hasn't sold in two years.

ive noticed that their bass selection in all three stores i regularly shop has been dwindling down since the takeover. they've even started moving guitar amps into the bass area in the one i went to today.
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I think that's the same Mesa cab I checked out months ago. If so, it actually has a home made adapter baffle to fit a 12 in place of the 15. And the 12 is a Celestion Rocket. It's a good deal as long as their "blowout" price is no more than $100. I remember one of the 8's making that bad, grating, blown speaker sound when gently pushed in.

I checked out the area stores earlier this week looking for anything that I might be interested in at half the marked price. I realized there was very little I'd want if it was free, so I slept in. Not worth the $25 it would cost in gas just to go there and be disappointed.
 

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