Guitar center say what you will

[farmertom]

I know a lot are not fans of guitar center. But I bought this 4x10 cab from them like $280 which is high enough BUT they shipped it from Oregon to Kentucky for $29. They spent more than $29 in bubble wrap. Amazed at how cheap the shipping was. Went a little over my budget but between eBay and guitar center I now have an Ampeg pf500 head and an this cab for less than $700.

God Bless

 

[musicman556]

I know they get a lot of hate, but every experience I've had with GC (literally hundreds over the years) has been positive. I'm going to miss them when they're gone.

Congrats on the cab! How does your newly completed rig sound? Is it what you were hoping for?

 

[MrLenny1]

I've had only one transaction with GC and it went well.
I sold them two cabs, they asked how much I wanted and they
met my price with cash.

 

[Dave814]

My experiences with GC have gone very well so far.

 

[Redbrangus]

Likewise, my experiences with GC, although pretty limited, have largely been positive. I like the thirty-day, no questions return policy.

 

[msb]

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[Basslice]

I have had no problems with GC. The sale people are random, but I have bought gear there over the years. One less place to check out equipment....

 

[Killed_by_Death]

every experience I've had with GC (literally hundreds over the years) has been positive

Only figuratively have all my transactions been positive, which have been many, bust mostly pre-owned.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

I know a lot are not fans of guitar center. But I bought this 4x10 cab from them like $280 which is high enough BUT they shipped it from Oregon to Kentucky for $29. They spent more than $29 in bubble wrap. Amazed at how cheap the shipping was. Went a little over my budget but between eBay and guitar center I now have an Ampeg pf500 head and an this cab for less than $700.

God Bless


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My only complaint with GC has to do with store personnel. How they manage to get so many incompetent miscreants is beyond me.

Would have thought a few employees met the center of a Bell curve, but no!

 

[Killing Floor]

In no particular order:

Nice Cab!
Nice Packing!
Heck of a deal!
Super Cheap Score on Shipping Charges!
And I find it's not the company, it's the people. I've had good experiences in quite a few of their stores in person.
I have learned never to let their techs touch my instruments after I own them.

 

[Killing Floor]

My only complaint with GC has to do with store personnel. How they manage to get so many incompetent miscreants is beyond me.

Would have thought a few employees met the center of a Bell curve, but no!

I think they get a lot of kids who want to work for discounts and they also get some burnouts. But they do get some really good folks too. Same can be said for any retail chain. But with music or anything that is "fun" they'll draw people who want to be around the cool gear more than they want to make a career. I get it. But that's why I think they are so hit and miss with their sales people. Leave it on "some are great".

 

[ItsmeSantiago]

The issue isn't ordering stuff online from GC, it's having to deal with the employees in your local shop. Their sales goals are stupid high before they can get commission, and they have no incentive to set up instruments or learn anything about the product, so it's generally an unpleasant experience in person.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

My average 'not so positive' percentage with GC is 15%, so not that bad. However, I expect to get what I paid for & not expect to fix stuff after it arrives.
SR400EQM, no output, changed battery - no output!
Ampeg amp that had parts falling around inside (could NOT get the thing open), G-K that was nothing but distorted noise!
I could dig out my history, but I won't.

 

[Phlipper]

Only figuratively have all my transactions been positive, which have been many, bust mostly pre-owned.

With the exception of two Les Pauls, a BTB846, and a Gretsch 5154 all my buys have been used. And a bunch of them too. Amps, guitars, basses, cabs. Never had a single issue.

But yeah ... the staff is usually clueless kids or old, broke burnout former semi-pro musicians.

 

[micguy]

GC has cheap shipping between stores, I think it's because they have trucks delivering gear to their stores anyway. Given that, it's a relatively low risk to buy one of their used instruments that's in stock somewhere across the country. I "bought" one bass a few years ago - a Cabronita that just looked cool. When it got to the local GX, the E string was so much lower in output (a misaligned pickup) than the rest of the strings that I decided not to take it home. Luckily, the folks at my GC agreed that it was a flawed product, and I didn't even get dinged for shipping.

 

[Xjenrbcjsmsbfjw]

Great setup, glad it's what you want.

For the record though, used to work in the shipping department for a company that did volume like guitar center and in those quantities, that bubble wrap was basically free.

We'd actually get courted by shipping companies to use their products. I used to get free clothes, ice chests, all sorts of cr*p just to buy their bubble wrap at a price that only mattered if you spent hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It does look securely packed, but that cost them nothing.

 

[Picton]

GC, to me, is like Home Depot: if you go there, you better do your homework and be prepared to help yourself. If you want responsive salespeople, stick with your local guitar store/hardware shop. You just need to know that going in.

Me, I prefer the kind of shopping experience I get at GC and HD. So I've got no complaints. I will say that the one time I really did need a GC salesdude to go above and beyond, he did so without complaining and it resulted in a great purchase.

 

[Davebass77]

I recently bought a Genz Benz MBE 500H 500 watt bass head online from the Alpharetta GA store and had it shipped to my local GC in Richmond VA. Conferred with agedhorse about it. It showed up damaged in shipping with a bent front rack ear and the LED cluster had dislodged and fallen into the chassis, both easily fixed by me.

The other issue I couldn't fix was 2 broken pots, the Gain and Hi EQ pots just spun, no change to the sound when turning them. Agedhorse told me there would be a fair amount of labor involved to get it fixed. Appreciated the advice.

I returned it to GC and they gave me my money back including shipping. Imagine my surprise when I went online 3 days ago and saw it for sale again 2 days after I returned it! It's a miracle!!

 

[LBS-bass]

GC, to me, is like Home Depot: if you go there, you better do your homework and be prepared to help yourself. If you want responsive salespeople, stick with your local guitar store/hardware shop. You just need to know that going in.

Me, I prefer the kind of shopping experience I get at GC and HD. So I've got no complaints. I will say that the one time I really did need a GC salesdude to go above and beyond, he did so without complaining and it resulted in a great purchase.

This. It's great that they can package something and ship it to you using their volume discount. That's a pretty low bar for a great experience. You go in there knowing what you want and why you want it, because no one in there is going to be able to give you accurate information about your choices. It's pretty straightforward as long as you don't expect too much, but as long as you don't expect much you'll have fairly good odds of having your expectations met.

 

[2milehighspike]

I haven’t been in a brick and mortar GC in at least 8 years but I had good experiences when I went in and had minimal interaction with the staff and picked up some decent gear. But I remember one of the last times when I went looking for some strings and there was some guy in the accessories department that looked straight out of the 80s sunset strip and he had the most condescending attitude and asked me if I was actually a “real” musician because I was looking for something they didn’t have. That was the last time I darkened their door. Now with retailers like Sweetwater and many other online outlets, that have excellent customer service and free shipping and returns it makes one wonder how GC is still a viable enterprise.