My recent encounter at GC

[DanDBassist]

If there'd been a shim, would it have fallen out? Unbelievable.

It could have, I used a tiny strip of very thin tape to keep it in place while assembling.

And? Hopefully they were slack before he loosened them as well.

Thank's to his training the strings were plenty loose. When he started tuning the g string he went way high before realizing it was wrong. I said "you don't play bass do you". (I know...some of us have done that, too).

Next time, get in the car and drive to Nashua NH. The staff there have always been awesome .

My wife and I plan on visiting the Northeast someday.

The one time I took a bass to GC I didnt get a chance to get mad about them dismantling it.
I was busy being steamed about what they were offering me for it.
I know they have to make money on the deal....but....C'mon!

He did tell me that after I asked him to stop what he was doing. I had no problem with him disassembling it, if he would have just asked me first.

curious, and asking for clarity--did you disclose the bass was not an actual fender bass right up front?

When he first looked at it he said that the body looks like a Squier and that the Fender decal was a silk screen copy. I then told him the neck was genuine and he replied that he had a way of checking it out and ran off.

 

[micguy]

I consider removing a bass from GC to be a "rescue", not a purchase. Although I'm sure there are good techs at some GC's, from what I see hanging on the wall, no way am I going to let any of them work on any of my instruments.

Yes, he was squarely in the wrong trying to take apart your bass without asking first.

 

[Element Zero]

The one time I took a bass to GC I didnt get a chance to get mad about them dismantling it.
I was busy being steamed about what they were offering me for it.
I know they have to make money on the deal....but....C'mon!

The used market is fickle. In my decade of experience working at GC buying peoples used gear, most people have A TON a sentimental value in their gear and believe it’s “worth more”. I believe it. I’d laugh if someone only offered me $175 for my ‘98 Ibanez ATK305 too. Bottom line, they’re there to sell what they can. At least, that’s how it was from ‘04-‘14.

 

[mdogs]

Blah, blah, blah, with all the things going on in the world, this hardly meets this level of outrage. I am happy that he at least thought enough to take a look to see if it was real. If I were them, the last thing I would do is believe anyone who walks in the door with a trade.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I once traded in a car and they opened the hood. Anyways, the offer they were going to give you would have been the topic of a different thread. A parts bass, is a parts bass. The offer was going to be less than $200.

 

[rickster4003]

I took my FrankenBass to GC today just for my curiosity in order to see if they might be interested in buying it or maybe for a store credit. The body is an 80's Lyle PJ style and the neck is a Fender replacement that I bought when I had my little music store around the early 2000's.

The first thing that the person who helped me implied was that the decal was a fake but he could determine if so. He ran off with it to his work station leaving me to wonder what he was up to. When I got to his bench he was beginning to remove the neck. Does anyone else here think that he should have asked me if it was OK with me to do so? I asked him to stop what he was doing and he informed me that he couldn't assess it until he inspected the heel of the neck in order to buy it. He said he was a Certified Fender Technician. The strings were completely slack after he tightened the neck screws and he tried to hand it to me. I had to demand him to return it to the condition it was in when he ran off with it.

Nothing wrong with the inspection, but should have asked permission to take apart, perhaps explain why and described what would be taken apart. If refused hand bass back and say have a good day.

 

[Jefenator]

Before trading in a bass at GC, I would:

• Consign at my local ma & pa shop
• Sell on TB Classifieds
• Sell on CL
• Sell / swap with a local player
• Consign at a big city bass store
• Donate to a local school or charity
• Drop it off at a thrift store
• Leave it by the creek for a homeless person to scavenge
• Burn the wood for heat

 

[Silky Johnson]

What was the trade offer like $50? You'd be better off selling literally anywhere else other than maybe a pawn shop

 

[vivaknoxvegas]

They are the worst. No idea how the one here in Knoxville is still open. It is a total dump, and their bass gear options are comically bad.

 

[Five String]

May I join in? I'm spitting distance from Nashua.

Didn't your mother tell you not to spit? The Natick GC isn't bad either.

 

[Brich]

Sure he should have asked, but you're selling them a parts bass. I wouldn't offer any amount of money without inspecting ALL of its parts. The neck being the 1st thing I'd inspect. I worked as a GC tech here in Cleveland, I would want to see the neck heel if permitted, otherwise I'd hand it right back to the person if they weren't cool with it.

 

[Brich]

Yes, he should have asked.

But, yes, he should have taken the neck off before making you an offer.

100%

 

[dalkowski]

Didn't your mother tell you not to spit? The Natick GC isn't bad either.

Mom told me a lot, and a lot has proven to be BS. But yeah spitting is disgustive.

 

[turf3]

I once traded in a car and they opened the hood. Anyways, the offer they were going to give you would have been the topic of a different thread. A parts bass, is a parts bass. The offer was going to be less than $200.

Yeah, but I bet they didn't take off the cylinder head.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

You asked him to assess the bass and that is what he was doing.

 

[DanDBassist]

Before trading in a bass at GC, I would:

• Consign at my local ma & pa shop
• Sell on TB Classifieds
• Sell on CL
• Sell / swap with a local player
• Consign at a big city bass store
• Donate to a local school or charity
• Drop it off at a thrift store
• Leave it by the creek for a homeless person to scavenge
• Burn the wood for heat

I agree with you and should have never gone to GC.

What was the trade offer like $50? You'd be better off selling literally anywhere else other than maybe a pawn shop

No offer was made because he wanted to evaluate it first. And again, I admit that I should have not gone there, I was just curious.

 

[Ostie]

I’d be miffed too. Try going back to that GC and grabbing a bass and start taking the neck off. When they squawk, tell them you were interested in buying, but wanted to make sure it wasn’t a fake. Would they tolerate? No, and I wouldn’t tolerate them doing the same to me. Ask first.

 

[yodedude2]

...
When he first looked at it he said that the body looks like a Squier and that the Fender decal was a silk screen copy. I then told him the neck was genuine and he replied that he had a way of checking it out and ran off.

i wasn't there, and of course i didn't hear the exact conversation, but it almost seems like someone was willing to quietly pass off a 'frankenbass' as a genuine factory instrument just to see if the store wasn't smart enough to catch it. am i wrong about that? i'd like to be.

i agree that the 'tech' absolutely should have asked before disassembling the bass. very poor form on their part, and you have good reason to be upset and never return there again.

 

[LBS-bass]

it almost seems like someone was willing to quietly pass off a 'frankenbass' as a genuine factory instrument just to see if the store wasn't smart enough to catch it. am i wrong about that? i'd like to be.

It sounds like the GC employee knew more than most, at the very least, since he was able to recognize that the body and the neck didn't belong together, and a replacement neck (as opposed to a swapped out neck) wouldn't have a proper serial number on it, so that would make the decal seem suspect. OP says he told the guy it was a genuine Fender neck, but yeah the only way to know that for sure is to look at the heel.

Where this went south to my mind is that instead of saying something like, "OK, I can check that out by looking at the heel of this neck, if you don't mind," the salesperson instead got sneaky and ran off without asking, presumably to an area of the store that had the tools to unscrew the neck plate. What he should have done was ask, invite the OP to be present during the inspection (assuming the OP agreed) and checked it out in front of the OP.

So, instead, we now have a salesperson who probably thinks he was being lied to because the OP didn't want him to see the neck heel.

 

[Gustopher]

They are the worst. No idea how the one here in Knoxville is still open. It is a total dump, and their bass gear options are comically bad.

You're right, I'm in Bristol and once in a while have to come down to Knoxville for work and I always stop in there and I am always disappointed. The one in JC is just as bad, if not worse.