• 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.

My Guitar Center Experience

#21
I have no issues with the mom and pop stores either. Shoped at several when I lived over in Detroit. I shop at both. I was just making the point that this is only bad issue I have ever had there and they handled it profesionally for me! :) The guys at this store seem to be very knowelgable about music. Yes they are more sales orinated than some of the mom and pops but that is ok with me. I am a automotive mechanic and I have to up sell to make a living ( I am paid flat rate, simular to commission). The key is always to be very ethical about it! Like I would never recomend any thing that was not needed as maint or repair. I have to live with myself :) Hopefully they are the same way, and I think at this store they are! So they will continue to get my bizzack, atleast untill that changes!
 
#23
Steer clear of the Albany, NY GC store!! What a constant nightmare! We are very fortunate to have about 10 music stores within a 30 mile radius in the Capitol District of New York and Parkway Music is king in this area, always beating out GC in the local music paper polls. GC is good for ONE thing: Buying an instrument/amp for a gig/recording then returning it within 30 days!
 
#26
80'sRocker said:
Steer clear of the Albany, NY GC store!! What a constant nightmare! We are very fortunate to have about 10 music stores within a 30 mile radius in the Capitol District of New York and Parkway Music is king in this area, always beating out GC in the local music paper polls. GC is good for ONE thing: Buying an instrument/amp for a gig/recording then returning it within 30 days!
Click to expand...

What's wrong with the Albany store? Typical big box store...nothing special either way as far as I'm concerened. I've really only bought small stuff there. There's one sales guy who hangs around the bass section and he's pretty good. Selection is ok. Drome Sound is moving to a bigger store. I've never been to Parkway.
 
#29
I'm new to this site, and playing bass for that matter, but stumbled on to it looking for posts about the acoustic b450 combo bass amp.

My two cents:
The guitar center near me (Castleton, IN) employs a couple of very experienced bassists. The one I worked with while shopping for an amp/bass spent quite a bit of time with me and was very flexible on pricing and freebies. He not only had the know-how as far as the mechanics of the basses (he adjusted the neck of the bass to pull the strings closer to the fretboard on the guitar I purchased) he was also very honest and a very good bass player. He showed me the amps they had and demoed two of them playing a mean funk (slap style) and traditional (I guess), but complex bass line. He was showing off the different modes on the schecter bass I ended up buying.

The amps, he didn't hold anything back. He was quick to pick apart the "high end" amps that would earn him the greatest commissions (I imagine they work on a commission program) and guided me in the direction I really needed to go.

In the end, I walked away with a schecter raiden special 4 and an acoustic b450, free guitar cable and over $150 off of the total purchase not including the discount i was already getting because it was on sale! When I need to make another purchase I will definitely go see them again. My only close options for a "mom-n-pop" store are a very small, non-knowledgable staff at a local store (the staff is one hippie that is hardly ever in) or a severly overpriced music store 25 miles away that doesn't want to help unless you're spending big bucks.

For my small stuff: ie.strings, cables, etc. I go to zzounds.com. Good prices and free shipping on a lot of stuff!

Of course, my opinion comes from a guy that lives in a small town with no real options locally. If we had a Bad a$& music store here, I'd probably frequent it as well.
 
#30
I had my first GC experience today as Omaha finally got one that opened recently, a huge one with rehearsal studios, etc for rent, and an overwhelming selection of gear as I expected. It is larger than the now defunct Mars Music store we once had, and that store was sizable. I found the employees to be courteous and non condescending, and I was given a tour of the studio and class facilities by one of the managers, who was very polite. So far I'm impressed with what I've experienced, as far as a first time experience goes.
 
#31
My take on the whole situation is that when you buy from a mom and pop store you almost feel like your doing it for a good cause (if that makes any sense?) like you know the proceeds are going towards honest hard working people where as when you buy from GC you kind of feel like you are just contributing to a big corporation and there is almost like an "empty" feeling associated with buying from GC even though I still always do =) My point is that it is just a different feeling buying from a mom and pop store. I also feel like you are more likely to find a hidden treasure in a mom and pop store, perhaps something rare or valuable that they didn't pick up on where as say at GC one of the employees might buy it before they put it out on the floor...anybody get what I am saying?
 
#32
crozier247 said:
My take on the whole situation is that when you buy from a mom and pop store you almost feel like your doing it for a good cause (if that makes any sense?) like you know the proceeds are going towards honest hard working people where as when you buy from GC you kind of feel like you are just contributing to a big corporation and there is almost like an "empty" feeling associated with buying from GC even though I still always do =) My point is that it is just a different feeling buying from a mom and pop store. I also feel like you are more likely to find a hidden treasure in a mom and pop store, perhaps something rare or valuable that they didn't pick up on where as say at GC one of the employees might buy it before they put it out on the floor...anybody get what I am saying?
Click to expand...

Hmm... I do agree that, almost always, some board of directors is less "human" or w/e than actual working people. But IMO to equate running a small business with honesty and work ethic ignores a great many dishonest lazy people out there. We've all come across them. There isn't necessarily something about a small business that requires a better spirit. It's not the priesthood. (And obviously, we've had some issues with them too.)

I just question why small business owners sometimes automatically get the high road to such an extent that I, another working person, should pay more than I have to, or put up with unprofessional treatment to support them. Not saying that you are saying that, but sometimes I feel that it is implied.

--Bomb :bassist:

p.s. I also agree that you're more probably likely to find something rare *not* at GC.
 
#34
crozier247 said:
My take on the whole situation is that when you buy from a mom and pop store you almost feel like your doing it for a good cause (if that makes any sense?) like you know the proceeds are going towards honest hard working people where as when you buy from GC you kind of feel like you are just contributing to a big corporation and there is almost like an "empty" feeling associated with buying from GC even though I still always do =) My point is that it is just a different feeling buying from a mom and pop store. I also feel like you are more likely to find a hidden treasure in a mom and pop store, perhaps something rare or valuable that they didn't pick up on where as say at GC one of the employees might buy it before they put it out on the floor...anybody get what I am saying?
Click to expand...

So how many jobs does the corporation provide? Thousands? How about the mom and pops? One? Two? The people who work at GC (including the execs) are no less human than mom and pop. I have met some real jerks (and dishonest ones, too) in mom and pop stores. The execs in the large stores are just more ambitious than mom and pop, who apparently can't grow their companies, thereby increasing the return on their investment.

Yes sir, I get what you're saying, and I'm not buying a word of it.
 
#35
And one more thing. I have the good fortune to live near an excellent "mom and pop" bass store (or "Chris and George" shop, as it were). The problem with most mom and pops is that their selection is typically pitiful, and fraught with off-brands. I don't know how he's done it, but Chris has stocked his store with a huge inventory of nothing but top-quality gear at decent prices. He and George treat customers with respect and service.

Amen.
 
#36
crozier247 said:
My take on the whole situation is that when you buy from a mom and pop store you almost feel like your doing it for a good cause (if that makes any sense?) like you know the proceeds are going towards honest hard working people where as when you buy from GC you kind of feel like you are just contributing to a big corporation and there is almost like an "empty" feeling associated with buying from GC even though I still always do =) My point is that it is just a different feeling buying from a mom and pop store. I also feel like you are more likely to find a hidden treasure in a mom and pop store, perhaps something rare or valuable that they didn't pick up on where as say at GC one of the employees might buy it before they put it out on the floor...anybody get what I am saying?
Click to expand...

So, what you are saying is that you can both support honest people, and ocassionally rob them blind on something rare or valuable. Gotcha. :hmm:
 
#39
crozier247 said:
My take on the whole situation is that when you buy from a mom and pop store you almost feel like your doing it for a good cause (if that makes any sense?) like you know the proceeds are going towards honest hard working people where as when you buy from GC you kind of feel like you are just contributing to a big corporation and there is almost like an "empty" feeling associated with buying from GC even though I still always do =) My point is that it is just a different feeling buying from a mom and pop store. I also feel like you are more likely to find a hidden treasure in a mom and pop store, perhaps something rare or valuable that they didn't pick up on where as say at GC one of the employees might buy it before they put it out on the floor...anybody get what I am saying?
Click to expand...

I'm a lot more skeptical of the smaller stores any more - GuitarPartsSource included here. This store was NOT a GC - I shouldda known better! Silly me.

But I wanted a simple part - a push-pull DiMarzio pot in 250 Ohm, and I prepaid for mail delivery to my house from their Mom-N-Pop store once it arrived - prepaid for everything, actually - in the store - standing in front of the cash register - with cash.

They'd receive it, and post it to me. Get this part one more time : I PREPAID FOR EVERYTHING.

Since I have to drive over 56 miles to my GC and with gas at $4.00/gallon I try to not go every day - so this was supposed to be a good deal since I pass this store every time I go

Anyway - I could have called the DiMarzio factory and had them send it by dogsled and it would have gotten to me weeks earlier.

The pot arrived at 'one of their other stores' (they have two) and they 'lost' it - somewhere.

They took their sweet time finding it and when it finally got to me it wasn't a DiMarzio but a cheap Chinese copy. I was enraged!

So much for the mom-n-pop honesty and business reliability.

No - one can be screwed by all sorts of people, but I think with GC you've got a secure channel for your complaints by their chain of command.

I'll stick with GC unless I walk into a privateer store and see what I want - on the wall - with a clear posted price - and I don't have to order one from wherever they want to get it for me.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back