Guitar Center would sell more basses if....

[50hz]

They would sell more basses if they had more basses , most have had a pretty poor selection-I know not all are like that but i get jelly when i see how many guitars they have, there needs to be more bass players for more basses and guitar center would in turn sell more basses

+1 my local GC has zero MIM anything and zero Squier anything in their wall

 

[Munjibunga]

Bass is purchased sight unseen by the word of a guy at GC #1. Bass arrives not quite in described condition. GC #2 makes the instrument right.

This, to me, sounds like a happy ending. The buyer was a bit mislead at first, but GC made it right. The buyer ends up with a cheaply-purchased bass and a major company has shown good service.

What exactly was the problem?

Oh, sure. There you go, getting all logical and stuff on us.

 

[Munjibunga]

case in point. now GC has P.O another customer, lost their trust, and he is telling everyone on a forum. how can this not hurt sales? all because of the dishonesty of employee, probably in an attempt for comission.

Because we all say we will never go to GC again, but we lie.

 

[tuckomf]

I usually don't have a problem. If I am ready to buy something, before I enter the store, I make sure I have a very stern and tough look on my face upon entering. That usually stops the sales' pitches from the non-bass salesmen.

The other salesmen are probably chuckling to themselves - "Get a load of this guy; he made 'bass face' so long it got stuck like that!" The bass salesmen can tell you're one of their own.

 

[xxx666]

Guitar Centre is like MCDonalds... No one will admit they eat there but they are the biggest food chain in the world!

 

[caeman]

I admit to shopping and purchasing at Guitar Center. I have availed myself of their plethora of pre-battered wall hangers on many an occasion. I bought my Hound Dog Deluxe reso from there, my GK Backline 210 (use) and many things via their web site.

I like the box stores for all the things they can have out and ready for me to touch. The mom and pop music stores of less appeal to me due to their inability to negotiate better pricing.

 

[STRINGSLINGER]

Guitar Centre is like MCDonalds... No one will admit they eat there but they are the biggest food chain in the world!

It's so true!

 

[phillybass101]

Man, I've never been to a GC and there is a relatively new one in my area. I have to go check it out

 

[caeman]

Go. It is a wonderland of things you can touch and not have to pay for. Also, you be regaled with riffs from many songs you may know, played badly.

 

[coreyfyfe]

Go. It is a wonderland of things you can touch and not have to pay for. Also, you be regaled with riffs from many songs you may know, played badly.

I take a bit of solace in the fact that the nearest GC to me* is also 2 blocks from Berklee. At least the noodling is listenable, most of the time.

 

[smcd]

I take a bit of solace in the fact that the nearest GC to be is also 2 blocks from Berklee. At least the noodling is listenable, most of the time.

They're opening up a second Boston store near Berklee???

 

[bassbenj]

Guitar Centre is like MCDonalds... No one will admit they eat there but they are the biggest food chain in the world!

Oh I never eat there! But I do shop at GC and Sam Ash for that matter. I've bought a LOT of basses and things at BOTH stores. You'd think they never have anything you'd like, but it's not true. With patience all manner of intersting items come sauntering through.

I never do trade-ins in box stores because they can't give you anything for the stuff. Usually I do a consignment sale at Music-go-round instead. The beauty of the box stores is you actually get to finger the stuff and give it a close look before you buy. Also, because of their low trade-ins prices are often excellent.

Usually I've bought used basses at GC while Sam Ash on the other hand seems to locate piles of VERY interesting things for a song periodically. I don't know where they find the stuff but they seem to have much better connections than GC in this regard. I'm STILL kicking myself for not buying a Tune bass when a huge pile of them appeared there cheap as dirt.

I also have done factory Direct (Carvin) and Mom and pop stores. The local Mom and Pop (which is owned by a dude who looks a lot more like a stoner than Pop) does great service and will order my anything, but you pay through the nose for it. So their main competition is online. But I still fork out when I get in a hurry for a 6 string set of flats or something. I did buy my Alembic there and he gave me a great trade-in when I bought the G&L tribute. They were just out then so looking used (which would have been more optimum) was out of the question.

So on occasion ALL these stores do something that torques me off, and I swear I'll never go there again. But then I come to my senses, because no matter WHICH store it is, I think, but if I never went there at all I wouldn't now own: This and this and that, and that other cool thing...

 

[EtoG]

I admit, I've only lived in big cities. The GCs in the areas that I've lived in have always had a substantial selection. Yes, some of the basses definitely could use a setup, but as said here they're a large corporation with many factors that work against this being feasible with every bass on the wall.

That being said I've only had positive experiences at every location I've been to. Employees are always friendly, plus I've gotten killer deals, especially when I trade in gear I was unable to sell otherwise toward something in the store.

 

[wcoffey81]

with the buying/selling power that GC has it seems to me that they could make a deal with a sting company that would allow them to restring, when needed, all in-house guitars and basses with that brand. that would help with maintenance costs. plus the labor costs could/should be covered under warranty considering the guitars are new-unsold units.
i came from the auto industry and if we had a new car on the lot with a flat tire we didn't wait until someone wanted to test drive it before we fixed the tire. we would pull that car off the lot so no customer could see it and made sure it was right before we put it back on the lot. why should we expect any less when we are looking at instruments?
to me it doesn't matter if it's a $200 bass guitar or a $40,000 car i expect them to be right. if a certain bass is junk knocking $50 off of the price doesn't fix it, that just makes it cheaper junk. we shouldn't expect a $200 bass to play like a $10,000 hand built bass either but warped necks, dead electronics, dead strings and terrible set-ups should not be tolerated on either one.
we as consumers are the only ones who can fix this situation. anything that sounds like " good enough" should never be used when any purchases are being made. if GC, or other sellers, saw their bass sales drop by a large % changes would be made. it's up to us to start the changes

 

[BassBrass]

If I'm buying a classic or an antique I want to see the original patina! (the original condition, not fixed up)
You can assess a bass with dead strings with your ears.
GC is what it is. At least it's still there.
I just bought a new Lakland 1501 (from Mr Music Allston MA) with new nickle strings that seemed dead to me because they always do, but that's an individual preference. I put new steel DRs on it and now the sound leaps out, it sustains as I need and the tone is as rich as I expected. I don't expect any new bass to be set up perfectly For Me.

 

[BassBrass]

i came from the auto industry...

Totally different market. You can't drive a car with a flat or any safety issue but some bassists actually love dead strings. $20 on a $200 bass is 10% added cost. Fixing a flat or a muffler on a $40,000 vehicle isn't 10%. BUT if it was, the trade deal in would take it into account and deduct the cost. Also, auto dealerships need to lure customers with service and good financing. They have a budget for it. (someone from my dealership sang "happy birthday" to me on a phone message, but they are slightly crazy. They also made me ring a stupid bell...)