GC QC

[Substandard]

When I was a manager at GC (2001-2009) I would require all my guitar peoples to setup at least 3 instruments each day. It's not hard but they have a lot fewer employees now than before so it seems they may be stretched too thin and have a hard time getting to everything.

When I was there people worked there because they loved music and the instruments. It seems the pride in the floor has maybe fallen off in many stores. Sad.

 

[Spidey2112]

You cannot expect to sell it if you cannot even play it...

There is no way that neck should ever get to be in that kind of condition unless they just don't look after their inventory.
How many turns will this one need?

YIKES!

Now there's relief from GAS...

 

[RyanKW]

You cannot expect to sell it if you cannot even play it...

There is no way that neck should ever get to be in that kind of condition unless they just don't look after their inventory.
How many turns will this one need?

YIKES!

I've played a few basses at the GC in my city which weren't far off of this. Horrible for sales.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Sam Ash isn't much better. I told the "guitar manager" once & the general manager another time, about a spinning pot on a SG bass & they did nothing both times
FWIW, the bass is still there, a year later, and still has a spinning pot

 

[RyanKW]

Sam Ash isn't much better. I told the "guitar manager" once & the general manager another time, about a spinning pot on a SG bass & they did nothing both times
FWIW, the bass is still there, a year later, and still has a spinning pot

Complete apathy.

 

[Spidey2112]

When I was a manager at GC (2001-2009) I would require all my guitar peoples to setup at least 3 instruments each day. It's not hard but they have a lot fewer employees now than before so it seems they may be stretched too thin and have a hard time getting to everything.

When I was there people worked there because they loved music and the instruments. It seems the pride in the floor has maybe fallen off in many stores. Sad.

Agreed... there was a lot of substandard (pardon the pun) things going on in that era, specifically '07 and on, and GC of course wasn't the only business that suffered as a result of the course corrections implemented by those in power... it's really hard to see the big picture, when you're micromanaging the nails holding the frame together...

Confunkalicious has spoken... now, back to the cookies.

 

[Gord_oh]

The tech at my GC takes guitars and basses off the wall everyday and sets them up. Never had an issue like that.

 

[cmac_64]

At first I thought it wasn't strung and thats why it couldn't be played, but then I found the strings...

 

[Dave W]

HA!

I'm not surprised at all but that is really bad.

 

[cmac_64]

However, at my GC (cumberland location in Atlanta) this would never happen. The manager there is incredible, the staff is awesome, the gear is immaculate, honestly could not be better. The manager goes around with a microfiber cloth and wipes down every instrument after it is played. They also have a tech come out and inspect instruments. I imagine not all are like this however.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

there was a guitar for sale in my local Goodwill & you could literally put your fingers between the fretboard & the strings at the high end of the neck
I was more than a little surprised that someone bought it, but no I didn't check if it had a truss rod
it was an acoustic

 

[catcauphonic]

When I was a manager at GC (2001-2009) I would require all my guitar peoples to setup at least 3 instruments each day. It's not hard but they have a lot fewer employees now than before so it seems they may be stretched too thin and have a hard time getting to everything.

When I was there people worked there because they loved music and the instruments. It seems the pride in the floor has maybe fallen off in many stores. Sad.

First, your avatar made me smile.
Then i saw you were from Seattle.
Followed the link ... cool stuff & playing

(Sorry for the thread sidetrack/not sorry )

 

[gln1955]

When I was a manager at GC (2001-2009) I would require all my guitar peoples to setup at least 3 instruments each day. It's not hard but they have a lot fewer employees now than before so it seems they may be stretched too thin and have a hard time getting to everything.

When I was there people worked there because they loved music and the instruments. It seems the pride in the floor has maybe fallen off in many stores. Sad.

If you go into the CG's around here (Dayton, Cincy, Columbus) on a weekday, you might be the only customer and there will be three salespeople standing around doing nothing. They have the people and time to do it, management just doesn't care enough to train them and make it part of their job.

 

[mpdd]

that happened to me when a bass left a flooded new york city shipping center for the zero humidity climate control of an art museum in LA

 

[4001]

Did you mention it to them?

About a year ago there was another bass with a similar problem although not as bad as this one and I told their tech about it.
I went in about two weeks later and the bass wasn't touched.
This is the same GC with the same tech... I passed on telling him this time.

Same GC, years ago... a pretty expensive PRS guitar on the wall up at the ceiling, (pretty warm up there all day, everyday, BTW) and low humidity during the winter, dusty.. sad.

I've done lots of business at several GC locations and don't want to bash them but this is the kind of CRAP that gives them their reputation. I don't know what their program is but they should dedicate someone to go through all of their basses, guitars too I guess, and make sure they are all up to specs and keep records on each instrument so it forces them to keep up the maintenance.

I have a hard time believing that the neck on that bass was anything like that when it first arrived there.

 

[mellowgerman]

Yup... sometimes a good deal will slip through, but it's usually a let-down when I spot an exciting bass on the wall at guitar center. This one is particularly bad, but there have been so many cool vintage or rare basses that I've seen at GC's that are unplayable... of course they're usually still marked at the top price you'd expect to see it go for if it were in closet-classic/perfect-player condition

 

[4001]

If you go into the CG's around here (Dayton, Cincy, Columbus) on a weekday, you might be the only customer and there will be three salespeople standing around doing nothing. They have the people and time to do it, management just doesn't care enough to train them and make it part of their job.

They might strike for $15/hour then...

 

[Gizmot]

Between paying people a lot less than they used to to work there and the company's modus operandi of getting rid of everyone who isn't a top salesman every 90 days, who can expect GC to get and hold on to employees that care?

Guitar Center is getting exactly what they deserve.

Good business means that everyone wins - and you can't blame the employees for not caring more since the company doesn't care about them.

 

[Engle]

I saw a Squier VM jazz that was just as bad at a Mom & Pop music store the other day.
Gotta pity the poor kid that ends up with an instrument like that!

 

[leegreenman]

In order to keep prices low and profits high, they pay the lowest wages they can. Stuff like this is the result. Competence doesn't come cheap.
That being said, I can't even fathom how they expect to sell an instrument in that condition. You'd think that sales would increase if they'd invest in quality techs and competent sales people. Maybe they crunched the numbers and determined this isn't the case.