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Guitar Center and New Basses

E

EBMan

Oct 10, 2006
175
2
#1
Yesterday was new bass day at several of the Dallas area Guitar Centers. They received shipments from Fender. There is a lot of talk about how people abuse the basses at Guitar Center. From what I saw, the abuse starts the minute the GC employee unboxes the guitar. They were stacking brand new basses against each other leaning against a bass stand while they were attaching price tags. Wood and metal against wood creates damage. I went to another GC to look at a new Fender that they had just unboxed that day. It had a dent in the body, light scratches on the back of the body as well as a dent in the neck. And I think that that I may have been the first person to look at it because it was hanging up high. At yet a third CG a two day old one had multiple dents on the headstock.

I think that they are careless with them the moment they are unboxed.
 
#7
alembicbones said:
If you want a new Fender, you're probably best off to go through Musicians Friend as opposed to Guitar Center. The deal might not be as good as you can negotiate with GC but you are the one opening the box.

Bones
Click to expand...

Yes. Which leads me to wonder why GC and similar places have the same prices on bass guitars than online stores, as well all know those basses are played a lot every day -- after a month they should really be considered used gear... --Kent
 
#8
alembicbones said:
If you want a new Fender, you're probably best off to go through Musicians Friend as opposed to Guitar Center. The deal might not be as good as you can negotiate with GC but you are the one opening the box.

Bones
Click to expand...

that's true. i must say though i hate buying off the internet because you can't try out the exact bass youre getting.
my suggestion would be to go to a small shop where they care about the instruments and the customers, pay maybe 30 bucks more(often times they'll even match or beat the price of guitar center/musiciansfriend) and know that you're getting exactly what you want with good customer service, etc.
 
#9
ksandvik said:
Yes. Which leads me to wonder why GC and similar places have the same prices on bass guitars than online stores, as well all know those basses are played a lot every day -- after a month they should really be considered used gear... --Kent
Click to expand...

Well, for one thing, the manufacturer sets a "suggested retail price" for their basses, the famous MSRP price. So GC and other retailers have to price their stiff within a certain range of the MSRP. For another, GC and Musicians Friend (as well as other online retailers, Music 123 I believe) are owned by the same parent company, so they have identical prices for equipment.
 
#10
mellowgerman said:
that's true. i must say though i hate buying off the internet because you can't try out the exact bass youre getting.
my suggestion would be to go to a small shop where they care about the instruments and the customers, pay maybe 30 bucks more(often times they'll even match or beat the price of guitar center/musiciansfriend) and know that you're getting exactly what you want with good customer service, etc.
Click to expand...

I'm with mellow, it's better to pay a little more where you know they've treated the instrument with care........
 
#12
I hear you Mellow about not being able to try the bass before you buy but at GC, the basses are generally set up quite poorly so they don't give a very good test anyways.

I personally think most Fenders are very adjustable so they can be set up to your specs soon after leaving the box. If this isn't the case, you can return the bass to MF.

Bones
 
#13
EBMan said:
I think that they are careless with them the moment they are unboxed.
Click to expand...

I've purchased two brand-new basses and two acoustic guitars in the last four months, all from mail-order (one bass and one guitar through an eBay "store").

All four of those instruments came sealed in the original shipping carton into which they were put in the factory (Ibanez, Michael Kelly, two Breedlove acoustics).

Something to think about.
 
#15
DeanT said:
Well, for one thing, the manufacturer sets a "suggested retail price" for their basses, the famous MSRP price. So GC and other retailers have to price their stiff within a certain range of the MSRP. For another, GC and Musicians Friend (as well as other online retailers, Music 123 I believe) are owned by the same parent company, so they have identical prices for equipment.
Click to expand...

They might be owned by the same people, but the deals you can get at GC are FAR better. I've always gotten at least 10% off the price on the tag at GC just by asking. I got my B2RE, brand new in the box, for $480, tagged at $580. I just picked up a new Crown XTi1000 for $405, tagged at $499. You can't do that type of negotiating at MF or M123 as far as I know.
 
#16
need4mospd said:
They might be owned by the same people, but the deals you can get at GC are FAR better. I've always gotten at least 10% off the price on the tag at GC just by asking. I got my B2RE, brand new in the box, for $480, tagged at $580. I just picked up a new Crown XTi1000 for $405, tagged at $499. You can't do that type of negotiating at MF or M123 as far as I know.
Click to expand...

Yes, unless you have a rebate online coupon, those happen from time to time, and you could get 10-20% discount, as well as free shipping.

--Kent
 
#17
maybe it's just my store, but we try to make sure every instrument is cared for as much as possible. of course, floor models are floor models... they get played a lot by all kinds of people (from people who care and handle them well to people with complete disregard for stuff that's not theirs to people who will intentionally damage GC gear because they hate GC to kids who just don't know any better) and get dinged up pretty easily. there should be brand new instruments in the warehouse (one or two brand new, factory sealed, fresh, etc. with the floor models acting as "examples" of said instruments).

as far as the floor models go, stop in on a big sale day and pick them up at great prices if you don't mind some dings and scratches. or, pick one up if you like the sound and feel and have your salesperson order in a fresh one to exchange for you!

and regarding setups: hopefully, in the next few months, every guitar floor employee will know how to do a basic setup on a guitar and bass. the corporate heads are putting great emphasis on knowing how to do this for our customers. no one likes to play a bass or guitar with a poopoo setup... i'm glad the company is finally investing time, effort, and money into teaching its crew how to make an instrument look, feel, and sound good.

also... have any of you tried the 1975 reissue jazz? with the black block inlays? i think i'm in love....... :)
 
#20
Kind of off topic, but I went to GC recently, and as we came in, there was a huge group of those creepy emo/goth kids in the bass room all playing the most expensive basses with horribly aggressive pick technique, and when I checked the basses out, all of them were in freakin drop C!
 

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