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I hate Guitar Center

M

MyNameIsMUD

Sep 25, 2003
126
0
42
#1
:mad:

Yesterday I made a nice 40minute drive to GC to check out some 6'string basses and everything else they have there. When I got there I saw that they had VERY few things for bass and very few basses. It was like 13 fender jazz's/fenders 3 warwicks 7Ibanez's(4 of them being those cheap one's)and a few other random basses. They didn't even have the GT-7 that has been there eversince I first playing guitar(3+ years ago). And what I don't get is they also had NO 6'ers!!! . I asked someone there about it and he told me they weren't in "style" anymore... When where they ever in style/popular!?! :confused:
Well I walk off and go to the drum room and have some fun then back to the bass room. I saw they had a bongo bass so I try to plug it in and the guy comes over to me and gives me his life story. blah blah blah blah blah while I'm thinking 'can you plz bugga off!'. Then he tries sell me a 5string bass and tell's me a whole bunch of stuff that I had already known about them like the benifets of having that extra string and blah blah blah blah blah blah yackity shmackity. He never did bugga off and just let me play the bongo. So to this day I am still a bongo virgin. :(
Okay thats the end of my rant. 1 and a half hours of driving just to play a few 6'string basses to make sure that's I am really set on one and only getting a life story from one of the employ's.

Side note, I understand he was just doing his job on trying to sell me a bass and he seemed to be very kool. I just didn't want to talk to the sombich. :rolleyes:
 
#4
One thing I've noticed is that the basses just hang around there for years - I mean YEARS!! They charge too much for their high end stuff, so it just sits there being played by passers by and depreciating all the while. The GC closest to my work has a Pedulla Thunderbass that is about 3 years old. No one buys it because they are asking $2,300 for that thing!! The strings are dead. The fingerboard is filthy, and it has delapidated to where it plays like a $230 bass!

There is no one at GC who does any upkeep on the instruments. If you have a high end bass there, you change out the strings, adjust the truss rod, clean off the fretboard, etc. Little things that are inexpensive but will move the instruments out.

The "help" is not much help at all. Just like the now defunct Mars, they have attitudes, are totally ignorant of the products they sell, and can be downright rude.

I guess GC is where you go to get a $300 bass, but anything else, go to one of the retailers that advertise or post on this site. You get better gear, more knowledge, better service, and maybe even a better price!







I feel better now.
 
#5
A new one opened up here in Albany. The bass room is fairly large, but seriously, here is their bass selection: about 30 Ibanez (under $300) basses, 15 Squier P and J basses, a couple (at best) Stingrays, maybe one MIA Jazz bass, and 6 or 7 Warwicks.

And for some reason, the ceilings in this GC are real tall, and they have everything over $250 about 12 feet off the floor. I mean, what ever happened to just going to play around with stuff?

Oh well, I'm not real privy on playing their wide selection of Ibanez basses on their pretty much exclusive Ampeg amp selection.

Grrr. :spit:
 
#6
Thank god we don't got a GC here or I might be ranting with you guys :p

One shop here, Owens Music, it's real small, the staff isn't that knowledgeable but will try and help you to the best of their ability. They have very few basses (I don't even remember what ones, I haven't been there since I got my practice amp when I first started playing about a year ago).

The other one, Grand Performance, is bigger, better selection, but some of the staff are total d*cks. Some will literally follow you around to make sure you don't "mess up" anything. They mostly have Ibanez and Fender basses...they carry EB stuff, but only strings and guitars:rolleyes:. But, there was this one guy working there one day when I went to get strings and while I was checking out some basses he asked if I wanted to jam, so we did for like 20 minutes, was pretty cool.

But, there is one GC in L.A. that Stephen Soto went to and he said it was pretty good, so I might have to check that out sometime!
 
#7
Don't worry guys. Once you hit about 30-35, they don't treat you like a criminal anymore. They start thinking you have big bucks and you want to get an Ibanez for your kid...or that you're going through a mid-life crisis and want to get a bass.

Anyway, I'm treated differently than when I was 20. But I WILL say that an idiot salesperson is an idiot salesperson - regardless of what age the customer is!
 
#9
Originally posted by basstriaxis
It's stuff like this that makes me want to open my own music store....
Click to expand...



That's really why the smaller shops (Bass Central, Bass Emporium, Access Bass, Blueberry Bass, Low End, etc) are really the way to go. They have so much more at stake. Your happiness is much more important to them than the big chains.

It's funny though. It's that kind of crappy customer service that led to Mars' demise. Watch out, GC! There's a lesson to be learned here!
 
#10
Yeah, i really hate it when 15 employees ask me how i'm doing and if theres any help i need... i love when they try and EQ things for me... I bet i know way more than they do about that kind of stuff... but it was cool last time i went into a GC... i actually met a Fellow TB'er in there! we were talking for about an hour just about gear and stuff, it was alot of fun. he told me to save up and get a Sadowsky... heh, maybe i should. But that was a real fun experience.
 
#12
Yeah, GC sucks in chicago too. And there's like three of them. Mostly Ibanez, Fender and warwick crap....... wait, I play a fender and an Ibanez!!!


Anyway, yeah, the people that work there are like REALLY scarry, and those damn kids playing metal riffs they learned in their basements on cheazi-a guitars!! I SWEAR IT"S THE SOUNDTRACK TO HELL!!!!! I feel bad that I actually buy strings and cables from them.
 
#13
Originally posted by Zon4John
Don't worry guys. Once you hit about 30-35, they don't treat you like a criminal anymore. They start thinking you have big bucks and you want to get an Ibanez for your kid...or that you're going through a mid-life crisis and want to get a bass.

Anyway, I'm treated differently than when I was 20. But I WILL say that an idiot salesperson is an idiot salesperson - regardless of what age the customer is!
Click to expand...

So True, LOL!

Hey kids!
Here's a way to get some respect at GC:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#14
I think it depends on what GC you go to. The Chicago GC (on Halsted south of Diversey) pretty much blows for all of the reasons everyone's mentioned already and then some. However, the GC in Arlington Heights (NW suburbs of Chicago) has generally impressed me in terms of both stock -- still not many sixes, though -- and service.

I think it's because they seem to have a core staff of older, more experienced, more knowledgable folks who actually treat you like a human being and peer. One guy recently even helped me build my own Neutrik cables right there in the store so I could save a few bucks.

I think every store -- large chain or otherwise -- has its own culture. Unfortunately, it seems that GC's culture generally sucks...
 
#15
There's a shop here in town that's a very small chain...2 stores...one here at where I go to school, which is the bigger one, and the one in my hometown, not so big but very cool.

The place is Dave's Guitar(shameless plug www.davesguitar.com ), and even though I'm a poor college student, they let me plunk around on many notables, such as an MTD 535, Fodera Victor Wooten 4, an FMT 5, a Fender Victor Bailey sig, a '63 Fender P, a Zon Sonus 519...and they didn't really care. And that was the first place that I was able to have an intelligent Bass conversation with a salesman, who convinced me (and after much thinking) to maybe go back to active electronics...well, I might leave my P-bass passive.

The smaller store is cool because it was moved into a old bar, I believe. It's a little dark, but has a cool vibe! They have some decent stuff there too.
 
#16
Originally posted by Kaz
Well, I hate GC too. They have a very limited selection of fender basses, a bunch of warwicks, Ibanez's, and a TON of spectors.

So I get even.
Click to expand...

The GC's by my house rarely have more than 1 or two spectors in stock. Your one of the luckier ones. I love Spector...
The GC's here usually have a whole wall of fender P's and J's (MIM of course) a wad of cheap ibanez, a few warwicks, and several misc. crappy low-end basses. The one closest to me does have a really cool guy that's a bassist, but works in teh accessories department. He's been trying to get a seperate bass department so that he can manage it and order cool stuff. The funny part is that he says the guitar department guys are constantly asking him stuff about basses because they can't answer customer's questions. :D
 
#17
I agree that GC staff can be lame. Some bonehead kid is always bugging me when Im trying out gear. Theres a benefit if you know someone who works there though. I have a friend working at GC and I call him when I want to buy something. I think its a good store if you know what you want to buy. I wanted a fender so I went in, found the one I wanted and then I called my friend and bought it from him when he was working. The best part of this is that he gives me the best deal he can get away with.
 
#19
I agree with a little of everyone. I've had good and bad experiences at GC. First of all, you need to know what you're looking for, if you don't, someone will yack your damn ear off about what they think. Second, I've noticed that about 90% of the ppl working there are poor musicians who need money (and a GC discount) to buy gear, and most of them (not all) totally suck.

However, I bought my Pedulla ET-6 at the one in Chicago back in '94 and that was awesome. They only had 2 6'ers (which is what I was looking for) the Pedulla and an Ibanez SG. So the choice was pretty easy, which was good for me cause I didn't know much about different brands back then.

I don't think you'll EVER find a good selection of basses at GC (after all, it's GUITAR Center, not BASS Center) but I check every now and again so see what they have, you never know what kind of used gear they might get. I almost got a Warwick Thumb 6 there once, and a Fender American Deluxe FMT 5 that was gone when I went back to get it. The one here in Sacramento is a little better than some that I've been to in the past, they actually have a pretty good selection of Warwicks, almost a dozen, and they just started carrying Spectors, it's the Euro's and Koreans right now, but they migt start carrying the USA made ones in the future. Other than that they always have at least 2 dozen fender's 2 dozen ibanez's a handful of Schecter's.

It's always hit and miss though.
 
#20
I disagree. I think that all the GC haters misapprehend the real usefulness of that wonderful store. I discovered years ago that GC is one of the best places I can go for some free comic relief. Here are some things that I do to that end:
1. Grab the most expensive new electric guitar hanging on the wall, get a chord from behind the guitar counter (only ask if I can't get it any other way), plug in to the most expensive amp on the floor, crank the gain, volume, and treble, dump the low end, and proceed to badly strum folk chords. Sometimes I'll throw in a bit of badly plucked "House of the Rising Sun" or "King of the Road". While playing, I practice my badass GIT poses. Then, just as the nearest worker bee is coming over to "help me out", I stop playing, hold the guitar out in front of me like I'm studying it, and say, "Hmm. I think the intonation's a bit off..."
2. Same thing with the basses. Use the bass with the most strings at the store. With your thumb, pluck quarter notes on the lowest string. Keep poor time.
3. Go to the "Pro Audio" room. Get the attention of an employee. Tell him that you are buying all the equipment for a new club, that you need PA, monitors, mixers, mics, all the cables, ADAT, all the ****, and that you need to try it all out before you buy it, but that you definitely want to buy it all today, from them. Tell him you'd like to set up at least a trio, to test out the system, and ask if he can get a few co-workers together to play the instruments as he shows you how to "run the boards". Just before he's about to either a) crap his pants; or b) say he can't do it, ask if you can use the store's bathroom. He'll be telling his manager(s) about you while you're in the bathroom. Stay in there a long time. Groan as loudly as possible. Finally, come out and walk quickly out the front door, without looking at or speaking to anyone.
4. When purchasing strings (the only actual consumer purpose of GC, IMO), "inspect" each string in the set. Pick only "the best" string out of each set. See if you can get through 10 sets of strings, looking for that "perfect" G. Spread the others out on the counter, for comparison. Talk to the employee about how much you hate, "Those goddamned string-winding machines."

Good times.
The Boognish
 

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