• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

I hate Guitar Center

#61
I scored my Pentabuzz @ GC for $2k...

You just have to know what you want, why you are there, and how far you are willing to go (price). Yes, sometimes the bass you bought last week goes on sale in 2 months and you get all mad and such. If you ARE looking for the higher end stuff, check out the reputable BASS stores like Bass Central, The Bass Place, Bass NW, etc.

Now, for a quick rant...

Now, I could NEVER work @ a GC. Why? It's those freaks that go into the bass room and SLAP and POP EVERY freakin' THING! Practicing all week at home to go to GC and slap Higher Ground all day with a tone like a$$... I can't wait for that style to go back in hiding...save the GC audition for a real audition...
 
#62
To those who don't like GC (this includes myself), I say:

Deal with it!

Because they ain't goin' nowhere. If anything, their number of stores will increase.

MARS Music offered a professional, viable alternative to the GC teenage wank/slap/pop atmosphere. Many people, however, were hostile to MARS, claiming that MARS would take away business from small stores (which is true, but who else is going to stand up to GC?).

One observation about GC: With everybody wanking/slapping/popping at the same time, how are you supposed to evaluate the sound of the bass you're playing, in the midst of that grand cacophony?
 
#63
Here is what you do. Call Guitar center & ask to speak to someone in the bass Dept. Ask them what they have in stock on the walls etc. Decide if it's worth the trip. When you get there ask the sales person their name. Tell them you'll be here for a while poking around & you will ask for them if you need any help. Done & done! Also get to know these people. The deeper you get in with them the better your chances of a great deal or trade in are. I've got a GAS attack like a .45 to the head & the people I've made friends with at GC will come through in a pinch.
 
#64
McHack said:
Yep, this is true.
Click to expand...

Disagree completely.

My story: I went into a GC, looking like the over-40 guy I am, and checked some stuff out on my day off. I had questions... Scate-Punk Thrashmaster behind the counter wouldn't even look me in the eye, just muttered some stuff about "out of stock, uh... getting that in soon...uh..."

When some similar creatures waltzed into the store, he was *all over them* to help.

I found *another* salesman there who gave me the same treatment. I was just not *cool* enough, even though I had a wallet full of credit.

Want another GC horror story?

I went into a GC to see if they had any freteless ABGs I might like. I am picky, so M. Kelly is *right* out... Anyway, I walk in, see nothing on the wall, so I turn to leave. Dude asks me what I'm looking for... I tell him, and I politely tell him "look, you have nothing on the wall I want to play, and I don't do the whole "order it now, play it later thing", so thanks for your time. He *insists* that I need to sit and play this fine Kelly dragonfly thing and I tell him "No... I want to see a Tacoma - GC carries Tacoma... But you don't have a Tacoma. Thanks anyway"... He says "well, ignorance is bliss, I guess"...

GC = B A D
 
#66
Every time I go, which is rare, it seems like it is impossible to get someone to help or someone helps you and then won't leave you alone the whole time you're there and talks to you like you're an idiot. Not a fan of GC. As far as Nashville goes, I'll take Corner Music any day of the week.
 
#70
my music store selestion is limited.... i live near no gc but my selection is music emporiaum... the have a decent selction and plenty of parts but they want crazy amounts of money ... $30 for ernie balls there staff like sitts there till you say hey can i try this bass.. yea. they give you a cord and say use that amp watch to make sure you do no taboos then leave ... then theirs richies music which ive never been to but it apppers to be mostly geared tword drummers and cellos and the like.. the theres coustom guitar works which i love its small and there selsction is limited ... around 18basses at a random time .. but they have great prices awsome staff like they sit talk.. very helpful .. give you pointers all that i remember when i bought my first bass .. walked in 13 years old had no idea what i was doin... had thirty dollars said hey im lookin at getting into bass have anything cheap and decent after looking for a bass that was sold he showed me a well used sqier p bass said yup it was my wifes... $50 i said ok thanks you'll see me back soon bought it a week later... just a random story because i often wish i had access to a bigger music store but i guess things arent always what they seem
 
#71
Even though most of my gear is from there, i dont care much for it either. most of their better basses are not taken care of at all; they all feel and look really dirty. their selection is made up almost exclusively of musicmans, some ibanezes, and an assortment of squiers and fenders. Its interesting that the best feeling and best sounding basses there are the squiers, since every guitard who thinks they can play bass tries out and wears down the more expensive basses.
 
#76
Fortunately I have never been to a GC and had a terrible experience. Though, i will say my GC experiences have been less than fruitful and pretty disappointing the last couple years.

What bums me out is that there used to be a HUGE GC in San Francisco that I would spend all my money there. It was amazing. The staff was great, and actually knowledgable about their products. Each section had sales associates specific to that area and actually lead to to make better purchasing decisions/recommendations for yourself. It was not uncommon to see a guy remove a bass or guitar off the wall to a little area to look it over and clean it. They actually cared. lol - I remember once I went in about an hor after opening on a Wednesday and it was kinda slow, but one of the associates in the Bass dep't was arranging all the Stingrays by model and color.

The customer service was really good, too, and the people who worked there, for the most part, were great (you get your jerk every now and then, but that's just life - jerks are everywhere). Floor staff would engage you without being pushy. They wouldn't sell you crap you don't want and leave you be if you ask. If you wanted to test something out you'd get a, "Sure thing, man. Let me grab some cables for you." and in a minute you'd have everything you need. They'd even re-arrange rigs for you without being pissy. And if somebody was playing like an ass (loud) they would go over and tell them to knock it off.

Their Bass section was HUGE! The whole left half of the store when you walked in was just bass gear. And they had it all. This is the only store where I actually seen Modulus(es?) Moduli ( :confused: ) on the wall - though could've been used. But I'm saying they didn't just have Ibanez and EBMMS and Fender. In fact their Fender section was pretty small and their Squiers were limited to a few guitar stands on the floor.

I know the Guitar Center I'm describing sounds like some mythical, enchanted land full of wonder, but it was REAL! :D It was THE Guitar Center of the Bay Area, as far as I'm concerned. And it closed down in 2005 I think, maybe a bit earlier. Now the only one in Frisco is the one on Van Ness and it is just lame.

I visited the one in Sacramento on Arden and their bass section aka "The Rumble Room" :eyebrow: is smaller than my bedroom.

Never thought you'd hear anyone say this I bet, but god damn I miss that guitar center.
 
#78
theboognish said:
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
Click to expand...


this really made my day
 
#79
The best thing about GC is their return policy. Good place to buy strings & stuff. Even so, I buy those off the 'net when I can.

About a month ago, I was in one looking for 5-strings to try out. They didn't have a very good selection. So of course the sales guy was trying to talk me out of getting one, "It's only got 4 extra notes, you don't even need...," "You only need it for death metal kind of music..."
 
#80
I go to our local GC to look on occasion, and have seen a few amazing "business deals." My favorite was the young man, 17 or 18, buying his first bass. He picked out a nice Mexican Precision, as he was craving a Fender but on a low budget. The one he tried sounded okay, and looked fine, it was black as I remember. The salesman says, "of course, you don't want this one, I have a brand new one in a box." He proceeded to go in the backroom, and came out with one that was in it's shipping box, probably just as it came from Mexico. The poor sap walked out with his brand new Fender Precision still in it's original box. The impulse to say something was killing me, but really none of my business.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back