More GC Stupidity!

[Embryodead]

If that is true I'll never go back. It's hard enough to get in and out of a GC, some purchases have taken me more than an hour to get out the door. I am certainly not going to spend more time to have a sales assoiate look for a manager to OK a price.

Can anyone verify this?

It's true, like in my previous posts i have a Bandmate that works in the pro-audio department, i had started a thread in december about it when i first heard about it and it was confirmed. Like i said Poor workers make a poor store. Complain directly to corporate.

 

[Musiclogic]

LMAOT



The musician makes things better... so be as condescending as you like, it'll most likely be more amusing than such.

Unless you actually play all of the instruments in question, you'll only have cursory knowledge of what makes what "better". Then again, some may appreciate getting advice on something from someone whomay just have bought into some hype elsewhere and is now parroting it. Generic experts are worth their weight in pudding.

In my time (I'm 50 and have been gigging for 30 years... does that precede your time?) knowing that one guitar amp was "better" than another meant zip to me... still does, for a couple of simple reasons.

I don't play guitar.

If the guitarist in question prefers the lesser of the amps in question, why are the other ones "better".




And here you said you weren't going to be condescending...

LMFAO....yeah....you might have 2 or 3 years on me, but our times are definately in the same decades. I do actually play multiple instruments, including Guitar, cello, keyboard and Tenor Sax. I have only been giggin about 25 years, but my playing time has greatly diminished in the past 5, as my business began to grow.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Just to let you guys know I'm not a total GC basher, I just got a nice deal there today. They dropped almost a third on the marked price on a Peavey Foundation 5 for me. This was in response to prices I mentioned on ebay.

 

[Brad Johnson]

LMFAO....yeah....you might have 2 or 3 years on me, but our times are definately in the same decades. I do actually play multiple instruments, including Guitar, cello, keyboard and Tenor Sax. I have only been giggin about 25 years, but my playing time has greatly diminished in the past 5, as my business began to grow.

I don't recall being familiar with bandmembers' instruments that we didn't play being anywhere near a priority back then. Still isn't.

I play part time and end up busier than I need to be.

I used to play trumpet but since I don't anymore I don't pay attention to it. Because I have no reason to... and better things to concentrate on. If someone in a band with me needs suggestions or help on instrument specific gear, they can do what I do... research.

 

[Brad Johnson]

The strange thing about GC is that all managers, be it Asst. Mgr, Guitar Manager, Ops Manager and Store Mgr. are all suposed to be trained in proper set-up of guitars and basses. NOT!!! The ethic there for set-ups is "Jack up the strings until it stops buzzing"....That's a GC set-up. It's really sad.

You can't please everyone. I have some basses that most people can't play without buzzing. OTOH I can. Put those basses in GC and I guarantee someone will complain about it.

You're saying that GC trains store managers to do trussrods and basic setups? That seems like a waste considering their payscale... why not just hire a basic setup tech?

 

[Brad Johnson]

i bought a used wt 800 head at cs. i payed 900 for, little did i know that the bi-amp switch was not working properly, and the preamp needed to be replaced. I ended up spending 450 on repairs, i could have gotten a new one for that amount. GS is just like every other corporate out their, dont care about anything but the money

What was their return policy? How long did it take for you to figure out something was wrong? If longer than the return period, why?

 

[Brad Johnson]

Here's an experience I had today concerning a trade-in at a local dealer. This dealer had a beautiful NOS baby blue USA Millennium four string standard for a great price. Since it was not something I budgeted for, I asked him about a trade-in. He wasn't interested in my old Foundation (it's pink) and he really didn't know anything about my TBC, so he offered me a price about 1/3 of what I could sell the TBC for here. I understood what was up, and I said that I would be back later with money for that Millennium. The point is that we TB'ers spend alot of time on the internet, just talking basses, while merchants have to spend time actually running a store. The result is that we often have specialized knowledge that we can't expect them to have.

Off topic, a pocket knife dealer I talked to today told me how he filled out a major knifemakers questionaire with the complaint that the company needs to keep dealers up to date with new models instead of leaking word out on the internet. He said, like I said above, that he has a business to run, he can't surf the web all the time. When we get a rare boutique bass or a little know bass like my TBC, we have to understand that we just can't take it anywhere and get close to true market value, or even true trade-in value.

What you can do is provide the store documentation to give them an idea of the value of the bass. Printouts of websites that sell them new for instance. Magazine reviews. Contact info for someone in the industry who can vouch for it. When you have an outside the box instrument, you have to think outside the box when trying to maximize it's value at trade-in time.

That said, I never trade-in instruments.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I just got back from a visit to Sam Ash AND GC this afternoon.

I can tell you that, for the most part, the people at Sam Ash know their stuff better than the staff at GC and they tend to have a nicer selection (if you stay away from the "Sam Ash Specials" (i.e. companies owned or partially owned by Ash))...HOWEVER, I find that they (Sam Ash) do not deal as much as the guys at GC....I just bought a Hartke VX2510 for a full street price of $599 a few weeks ago....the sales guy would not go down and I really wanted the amp so....

Anyways...I am now on the lookout for a Squire modified fretless and Ash had one. GC did not (and the bass guy (who really is a bass player - surprise!!) at GC had not even heard of them...well, I was told the best deal I cold get from Ash was $263 (down from 279)...NOT a very deep cut if you ask me - especially since the guy made a good commisssion on the Hartke and I was ready to buy...I am sure I could have talked GC down to at least $250 if they had one....will keep looking....

I'm all about the art of the deal but here's a thought... how much is your time worth?


You're saying that, instead of buying a bass you found, you'll keep looking in the hope that you'll save $13.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

I am actually really happy with the last 2 purchases I made at GC. The Markbass CMD 102P I have delivered from the Towson MD store, and the SB-2 I bought from the NYC store. I give them credit for taking a risk and rolling out a new product like Markbass instead of playing it safe and sticking with the usual assortment.

 

[Brad Johnson]

I am actually really happy with the last 2 purchases I made at GC. The Markbass CMD 102P I have delivered from the Towson MD store, and the SB-2 I bought from the NYC store. I give them credit for taking a risk and rolling out a new product like Markbass instead of playing it safe and sticking with the usual assortment.

The Markbass line was the best thing I've seen there in a long time. Pro grade stuff that exceeds expectations.

 

[jeff_bass28]

Best deal I've ever seen: Several years back, a guitar-player friend of mine snagged a brand new $900 Ampeg combo for about $200.
Apparently, the thing arrived at the store with a blown speaker. They tagged it at $200 while they waited for a replacement speaker; then forgot to reprice it when the new speaker was finally installed. Whoops.
This was at a small local shop. I believe the owner let someone go for that.

 

[Bryan316]

Heh heh heh. Just after reading the first page of this thread... I gotta say...




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