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Is your guitar center like this?

#22
Last time I was at my local GC, I looked at the pickguards hanging on the wall, next to a guy who looked like he was probably the manager. I would like to find an interesting PG form my P-bass, which is burst. Like,,,tort. Or gold anodized. Something interesting. They had ten or twelve pickguards. Half of them were black, and the other half were.....you guessed it, white. I told the guy I look at the PG's each time I am there, and never see anything interesting. I wonder if he listened.

I'd like to play a decent bass there, but they don't stock decent basses.
 
#23
There are 2 GCs here in Vegas. I almost never go to either of them, because;
1. Odds are 50-50 that, between them, there won't be a lefty anything. If there is, it will be a Squire p-bass.
2. I'm tired of having to explain to a pimply teenager with studs and things all over them that bass strings are different from guitar strings; then finding out that they don't have what I want, anyway.
So, I usually go to Cowtown Guitars, or Sam Ash.
 
#24
kleinenenten said:
There aren't any places closer for strings? I'm hoping one is well within that hour away.

There is one store closer but they average about $10 more per set than GC. I refuse to go there since about 10 years ago, I was getting ready to do a tour of the southeastern US. I realized that I needed a couple of sets of strings so I went to my local music store. When the clerk put the strings on the counter, I told him that I was surprised that they were $10 higher than Guitar Center. He took the strings off the counter, threw them over his shoulder and said "then go to Guitar Center". I haven't been back since.

I have a deal with a string manufacturer which has served me well. I can buy strings for about $12 per set, but I recently discovered Ernie Ball Cobalt Strings and like them much better.

QUOTE]

coreyfyfe said:
I know the three you're talking about and yes, they usually suck. Natick usually has good used gear at the very least.

You should head up to Boston if you want decent gear. I was in the other day, two SVT-CLs and an Orange AD200B, good selection of higher end basses (pedulla, fender, ebmm, gibson), great selection of used gear, plus the platinum room.
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The three stores I was talking about are North Attleboro, Braintree and Boston. I haven't had much luck at any of them.
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#25
Timely rant. I've given up shopping at my local GC for bass strings, because I play short scale and use either flats or pressurewounds. I'll give them a pass for not stocking either of those, because I know I'm in a minority in my preferences. However, I just added a guitar to the collection of instruments in my music room, and decided that if I was going to make it playable it needed new strings. So I head there tonight after dinner and ask for a set of stainless 9's - any brand. How many do you think they had? That's right, absolutely none. I was willing to settle for 10's - still none. They did have a set of 13's, but I'm not building any bridges this week that I need support cables for so I passed on those. Surely I'm not the only guy in this town that wants stainless roundwound guitar strings in a reasonable gauge. Oh well, another excuse to internet shop. Thanks for listening!!!

Blooz :bassist:
 
#26
Sure, I could complain about GC and have,but I thank God they are around and hope they never go away. They usually have one of the best selections and best prices in my city. We got killed on both before they hit town. They keep everyone else honest, so to speak. A couple of the local stores try to pretend they are not around and also pretend there is no such thing as the interweb, but their days are numbered if they don't get with it.
 
#27
Ours is horrible. One of the Fender PJ basses they have has a massive body crack next to the pickguard, and it still hasn't been marked down. All the basses have crappy/old strings, and the only good part of the bass section would be the amps. That and the fretless I have on layaway there.
 
#28
I love my local Guitar Center and it's mainly for the customer service I get. I can only comment so much on the selection since my needs are pretty simple. But I can say that there seems to be a pretty decent selection of basses ranging from very inexpensive to higher end equipment (as far as I can tell, they don't have a "Platinum Room") across a fair cross-section of brands. No surprise though, what with it being in a major shopping center in the Archduchy of DuPont (Wilmington, Delaware…aka the Home of Tax-Free Shopping).

Most, if not all, of the employees by me are experienced, working musicians ranging from their twenties to forties…and one guy who was probably around to see the Second Age of Middle Earth. More importantly, none of them have ever tried to talk up something they know nothing about. If they know it, we can discuss it (as opposed to getting an "I'm right…you're wrong!" attitude). If they don't know something or have little-to-no experience with a brand/item/accessory, they tell me straight away…no B.S.

It saddens me to hear when people have a bad experience at their local G.C. I wish they could all be as decent as mine, but I suppose it can't be helped when you have a large company with many, many locations. Law of Averages and all that, I guess.
 
#29
I really like the guitar center in my town. They are awesome if used properly. I don't ask questions because I do my own research. I don't buy much new stuff there although I do have a bass on backorder with them right now. I got my used Peavey gear through them and every bit of it has been exactly as they represented it would be. Prices are pretty good too. I got luthiers in other shops around town so I don't go there for that. All in all I like GC.

Cheers!

MJW
 
#30
Kmonk said:
When the clerk put the strings on the counter, I told him that I was surprised that they were $10 higher than Guitar Center. He took the strings off the counter, threw them over his shoulder and said "then go to Guitar Center". I haven't been back since.
Click to expand...

What kind of a-hole does something like that? I'm not one of those people that thinks that the customer is always right, but that's out of line on so many levels.
 
#32
Kmonk said:
The three stores I was talking about are North Attleboro, Braintree and Boston. I haven't had much luck at any of them.
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I forgot about Braintree, that one's newish right? Haven't even been yet. It's crazy that there are 6 stores (7 is you count the boylston st and mass ave stores in boston as separate) in a state this small. I guess that's what happens when all the smaller stores start closing down and they swoop in to fill the void.
 
#34
KablesP said:
Okay, the Guitar Center nearby isn't a major/huge Guitar Center but they had no new Markbass gear (A used LM800 Tube which was just bleh though the Ampeg cab hooked up) No tube heads, and the 1,000$ Fender P bass I played was set up terribly, the pickups were pushing together in the middle almost hitting the string and it sounded bad as well.

Is it just my store?
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Just the same here.
 
#35
I'm fortunate to live where I have access to many great music stores. Some of them are Guitar Centers; some are independents. Many of the independent stores near me are great, others not so much. For me, Guitar Center has its place. It's not a boutique store by any means, but a couple here get close. I'm okay with Guitar Center. It's a business trying to make it work on a large scale, and that's very different than an independent shop. I just don't have the expectation that I'm going to have a boutique experience at Guitar Center -- no more than one would expect a fine-dining experience at any large restaurant chain. Guitar Center has its place with me. They get my money when they earn it, and others get it when they can do better.
 
#36
hags2k said:
What kind of a-hole does something like that? I'm not one of those people that thinks that the customer is always right, but that's out of line on so many levels.
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Someone who:

A) Is seeing a business he worked years/decades to build being ruined by the local Guitar Center,

B) is having a bad day an desperately needs to lash out at someone,

and

C) is too bent out of shape right now to see that he could knock $5 off the price of his strings and probably save a customer.

Someone I would most probably give a second chance, in other words. But not for strings. GC is the last place I go for strings, any other music store is the second to last. I go to BassStringsOnline for strings!
 
#37
Kmonk said:
When the clerk put the strings on the counter, I told him that I was surprised that they were $10 higher than Guitar Center. He took the strings off the counter, threw them over his shoulder and said "then go to Guitar Center"
Click to expand...

Strings are one place the mom-and-pop stores can't seem to compete.

I went into a local shop a week or so ago looking to see what they had in stock for flats. The clerk said that all they had were Chromes. I'm thinking "OK, not my first choice, but at least the price is right". No sooner had I finished the thought when the guy said "they're pretty expensive".

They were marked $53. He offered to discount them down to $40. I said "no thanks" and left.

Invalid Link Removed

http://www.amazon.com/DAddario-ECB8...616854&sr=8-3&keywords=d'addario+chrome+flats

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/accessories/daddario-ecb82-chromes-flatwound-medium-bass-strings
 
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#38
The GC in Sherman Oaks CA is the one I frequent. I have had very good experiences there. I collect Precisions although I have yet to buy one there. I have bought some Stingrays, a Markbass rig and recently a new Ampeg SVT810AV for the ridiculous price of $550 out the door. Their 30 day money back policy is no nonsense and I used it for the Markbass gear I bought there. I have found that they will discount up to 20% or a little more off the ticketed price including tax. So that location at least has earned my respect and my business.
 
#40
Mixed bag at the closest one to me, about 40 miles. Basses, not that many. Maybe couple doz total. Mostly Mexican Fender, Squiers. Two or 3 USAs. Very little high end stuff/ A few Ibanezes or something like that. Probably half the inventory is used. Amps, pretty good selection of Markbass stuff, and the obligatory Acoustics. Usually a pretty good selection of used heads and cabs tho.
A lot more guitars of course. The expensive ones are hung high, but they will get em down for you. Amps, pretty good selection of Oranges and Fender stuff.
The acoustic room is pretty decent for a GC.
Set ups are all all over the map. Guitar might be in tune, might not.
Seem to have a fairly decent selection of low to mid level PA gear.
Staff is mostly clueless but generally friendly. Usually at least one person in the store thats a real musician. They don't mind you trying stuff. Thats their MO.
I'll go there for stuff I can't get or try somewhere else, or if something I really like turns up.
 

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