what i want to know is how a dude from austrailia ended up in my local GC. of all the places to be un the US, you were in youngstown, ohio? wow.
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Guitar Center Rant
- Thread starter John Deacon
- Start date
what i want to know is how a dude from austrailia ended up in my local GC. of all the places to be un the US, you were in youngstown, ohio? wow.
I usually play quietly since I suck, especially seeing some other bass players.
There was this one time where a guy was playing a Dean Dimebag bass so loud that the whole place could hear it. The tone was horrible and he couldn't even get a good bass line.
Never plug into the biggest amp on full volume.
There was this one time where a guy was playing a Dean Dimebag bass so loud that the whole place could hear it. The tone was horrible and he couldn't even get a good bass line.
Never plug into the biggest amp on full volume.
GC is like Walmart. You go there to get things cheap, that's it. I don't go there to get a Fodera or Sadowsky, maybe an Ibanez or a Fender. They cater to young high school rock stars and the Christmas rush, not to professional grade players. Every one is different and is managed by different people. You may get a deal on something there every once in a blue moon but all in all it is what it is and I just don't go there anymore.
You guys are both right, you can play through the amp, just not the speaker, unless you want damage to be done.
My uncles speaker cab got blown cause some moron decided to play bass through it
you actually have to be VERY careful with the guitar speakers if you don't want to blow em, just because you saw someone play through themn doesn't mean its right.
After all Lemmy does but the speakers blow just about every concert
in complete and total honesty, i dont mind guitar center, i can go there to pass the time, and just as i have become adept at tuning out my parents, i have become adept at tuning out patrons i dont want to hear... my biggest gripe (which cant even really be considered one) is when salesmen (who are just doing their jobs) come pester me... its very minor, and i understand that so in all fairness, they do what they want to do and if i leave there with something cool, if not... no biggie
So why do you keep going back there?
There's a lot of places where GC is the only game around.
GC is sometimes the only music store in a 50 to 75 mile radius or even more in a lot of the US.
well, the last "i hate gc" thread fell apart so i didn't relate my story:
my local gc is almost an hour's drive away. i was down there a while back. i asked the kid behind the strings counter for a pack of 5-string half-rounds (nobody else carries them around here). he grabbed a pack, rung them up, i payed, he stuffed them in a bag, and i left.
quick aside: it seems to me that if you are a knowledgeable salesperson with experience and seniority you aren't stationed behind the strings counter. that strikes me as a new-hire location.
anyways, i get home and pull out the strings and its a 4-string pack! lotta good that does me! so who is the idiot? the kid who grabbed the set of strings next to the set i wanted or the guy who drove an hour home before looking in the bag?
the selection at my gc is not that great, they mostly cater to people who are not looking to spend a lot of money. however, the employees are all nice folks even if they are not always super knowledgeable. maybe that is a mid-western trait?
the gc employee posting on this thread seems to be making an effort to be calm and rational thru everyone's b!tching.
so i ask:
what exactly did they do to you to "deserve it?"
maybe the guy needs his job cause he has a family to support even if it requires wearing a suit? i wonder if you have that weight on your shoulders? maybe he loves his music and this is a welcome break in his day? i wonder if you'll ever walk a mile in his shoes? mostly, i wonder how priviledged does one have to be, to be so judgmental?
my local gc is almost an hour's drive away. i was down there a while back. i asked the kid behind the strings counter for a pack of 5-string half-rounds (nobody else carries them around here). he grabbed a pack, rung them up, i payed, he stuffed them in a bag, and i left.
quick aside: it seems to me that if you are a knowledgeable salesperson with experience and seniority you aren't stationed behind the strings counter. that strikes me as a new-hire location.
anyways, i get home and pull out the strings and its a 4-string pack! lotta good that does me! so who is the idiot? the kid who grabbed the set of strings next to the set i wanted or the guy who drove an hour home before looking in the bag?
the selection at my gc is not that great, they mostly cater to people who are not looking to spend a lot of money. however, the employees are all nice folks even if they are not always super knowledgeable. maybe that is a mid-western trait?
the gc employee posting on this thread seems to be making an effort to be calm and rational thru everyone's b!tching.
so i ask:
then i went online and ordered the exact bass
kinda low balling them outta commision but they deserve it
what exactly did they do to you to "deserve it?"
maybe the guy needs his job cause he has a family to support even if it requires wearing a suit? i wonder if you have that weight on your shoulders? maybe he loves his music and this is a welcome break in his day? i wonder if you'll ever walk a mile in his shoes? mostly, i wonder how priviledged does one have to be, to be so judgmental?
Sorry, folks. I edited my original post on pg3.
I have been purchasing strings in bulk packs at GC for a few years. Two days ago, I went into a GC to purchase a bulk 5 set pack of bass strings. The sales representative said the five set packs were "old stock" not for sale. What does "old stock" mean? Why would a business not want to sale their "old stock"? The salesman stated that Guitar Center will only supply individual sets of strings, no longer supplying bulk packs at a discount.
I have been purchasing strings in bulk packs at GC for a few years. Two days ago, I went into a GC to purchase a bulk 5 set pack of bass strings. The sales representative said the five set packs were "old stock" not for sale. What does "old stock" mean? Why would a business not want to sale their "old stock"? The salesman stated that Guitar Center will only supply individual sets of strings, no longer supplying bulk packs at a discount.
Hey, if they want to cater to recreational players that buy 2 sets of strings a year.. let 'em.
There are plenty of places on line that will give bulk discounts, and free shipping. I typicaly buy 6 sets at a time.
I generaly like G.C. because I've done well there with pricing in the past, and they are pretty convenient.
I think what he probably means is that the "5 pack discount" is an old product that they no longer sell. I've heard that a lot of GCs are getting pretty tight about their new "no haggle" policy.
I got a discount the other day there. Not as much as I did in the past, but still reasonalby good. Only 10%, but hey, it's better than nothing.
I'm fine with the new policy, but it just means I'll be looking to other sellers/stores and comparing prices for non emergency stuff.
I am sure that is what he meant. I had no intention to haggle the price. I just wanted to purchase a "5 pack" at the advertised price. They had the "5 packs" on the shelf behind the counter, if the "5 packs" were not for sale then he should remove the items from the sales floor. This is not a big inconvenience as I just purchased the packs online and the additional S&H .
This is an absolutely moronic post. Use the real names and add some legitimate critiques.
On the subject st of GC, I have gotten some great deals there. And both very good and very bad service. When any one retailer is that big, you are always going to get a wide variety of experiences.
Ah well...that's just weird. I agree that if they have the 5 pack on the shelf they should sell the 5 pack.
I don't know, maybe because its a GUITAR AMP. Designed for guitars, not basses. Is the sound that hes looking for a blown speaker? I think not. Clearly that was an immature comment when you don't know what you're talking about.
Anyway, GC wouldn't be so bad if they weren't like vultures trying to make money off commission.
I see my rant spoke to you at least.
As for whether I know what I'm talking about, it's irrelevant to the conversation. I didn't state whether the kid was right or wrong, I just asked a question.
As for the commissions, I'm sure the people that work at guitar center would love to make $50 an hour, but that's not how retail sales normally work. I don't buy a lot at GC, but the times that I have been there the sales staff have been very good at helping me find anything I want to see, get it set up and then walk away without pestering me for a sale. As someone pointed out, walk a mile in their shoes before you slam them for doing a job you obviously don't want to do. I'd venture to guess that many of those sales people are struggling musicians trying to make ends meet while they pursue their dreams of being a big star some day. As a bonus, they get their gear at really great prices.
You guys are all bitching about a store that takes expensive inventory and puts it out there for you to try out. You're bitching about stuff being on display without knobs and switches...who do you think ripped them off? I don't think the store manager intentionally put it out there that way. It's other customers just like you that are destroying the equipment because they don't respect the fact that GC has a lot of money wrapped up in equipment that you want to hammer on.
I don't care who took what off of these instruments, frankly it's not my problem, it's guitar center's problem. I'm not doing it. They need better security or something. I don't go to Circuit city and see stuff on display beat the hell up or any other chain of stores. As a customer, spending my money I worked for, this is a turn off to demo a peice of gear I'm interested in and it's beat the hell up or missing parts. Then you have the nerve not to have a brand new one in the box and want to charge full price for the display model. Get the hell out of here, you suck!
when I was a young guy getting into music, every guitar was behind the counter, none of the amps were plugged in. The only way you could try out a bass was to ask a sales guy to get it out...he'd plug it into the only amp they had available for testing basses and you got to try it for 5 minutes if you were lucky. I bet no parts were missing!
Also, why do mom and pop stores have the secret formula for keeping knobs and switches on basses on display and having what's on display in stock but almighty GC can't? 
If you don't like GC, then don't go there. What I'm hearing is a lot of egotistical, rock star wannabes that want to go to GC, show off their talent and expect everyone else to stop and listen. Heaven forbid someone else is there doing the same thing! You saw a kid plugging a bass into a guitar amp...what's it to you? How do you know that's not the sound he was looking for? When I'm in GC, I can always tell the guys that have not played in a band in front of a crowd....they're the ones always pretending they need to take 5 hours to decide if they like a bass or not....it's the only time they play in front of someone else. It's a free country, I can go where I please. I just go in for the hell of it just to try out basses and equipment because...guess why....are you ready for it.......because I can! I don't go in and show off, I just like to pop in every now and then to see what's new. The only thing I buy is my chromes if the mom and pop store doesn't have it in stock. GC is my back up, never a first choice.
You go there to thrash their equipment and then brag about the fact that you bought the same thing on-line for $2.00 less. If you hate GC so much, don't use their equipment. Show some balls and just order it on-line, sight unseen. Try that for a while and GC won't look to bad to you.
Get over yourselves already. Stop going there if you don't like it and most of all, stop whining about it.
Actually, I like my idea better of going in and playing the already beat to hell equipment then buying it brand new else where and then logging in online to trash guitar center. Yep, it's just better that way.
no they don't cater to "professional grade players"...
but some of us music lovers arent "young high school rock stars", either
I'm an engineer...I play music because I love it...not to say that I'm not a good musician...just that, as a family man, I have a budget to mind. (3 children, a wife, and PRIORITIES, dictate this)
so please, be careful, I'm a bit sensitive to any hint of "gear snobbery". And unfortunately, my senses are alerted.
Oh, and I almost forgot...when I'm in America, I shop at WALMART, too!
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