Some humble advice to Guitar Center

[NoSlapForYou]

Do some sort of minimal setup on your instruments. I'm not asking for perfection here. But it's very hard to tell whether you like a bass when the action is six feet high.

I'm also constantly finding instruments with the knobs missing or the output jack fallen into the body cavity or listed as new and having some obvious defects in the finish. Don't they have someone who regularly does a walk through to test if they need to repair or reprice stuff?

Doing basic setups seems like the lowest hanging fruit though.

 

[Garret Graves]

It's been a complaint ive had for decades

 

[dramatwist]

GC is the Wal-Mart of guitars, amps etc. They don't pay their employees enough to care about anything, even keeping the restrooms clean.

 

[Yummy Notes]

GC is the Wal-Mart of guitars, amps etc. They don't pay their employees enough to care about anything, even keeping the restrooms clean.

Spot on. No one at GC cares.

 

[nostatic]

Plenty of people want the lowest possible price. Cutting labor costs is one way to get there.

 

[ModuMan]

It's a bummer but honestly you are going to be giving it a good setup, changing strings, replacing hardware, etc. to make it more suitable to you. Maybe you can negotiate a bit if it is missing knobs and such but I would definitely not expect GC to have an instrument in tip top shape waiting for me on the wall. That just isn't where they make their money. It may ruin your evaluation of it but someone else will buy it, making room for the next one.

 

[cmcbass]

I went into a GC to play a new 5 string stingray. The neck was back bowed to a point where I couldn't even get a note out of it. I was certainly disappointed.

I've grabbed multiple "new" basses off the wall at guitar centers that we're completely unplayable.

High action doesn't bother me nearly as much as super low action and a back bowed neck.

It's true that they don't care. The company doesn't care about its employees, therefore the employees don't care about the company. It's just a paycheck.

 

[nFinnyD]

I usually negotiate them to lower the price to what's fair after the cost of a setup or repair. I usually just do it myself anyway. Or have their tech fix it before purchase (the ones close to me actually have a few decent ones)

 

[The Bass Clef]

Ahh, good ole GC. I had to go there a couple weeks ago because my guitar player needed to replace a pedal on the way to a gig. I could have joined the f@%*@ing Navy in less time than it took to buy that single pedal (which was even sitting on display in the cabinet, right there under the register)... Oh but, they couldn't sell that one. Of course not. The salesman had to ask a different employee, who was busy doing something else, to go in the back and search for an unopened pedal, even though my guitarist told them that he's fine with the display and we just wanted to get on the road. 20 minutes later the other dude emerges from the back and says he can't find the unopened one that the computer said they had. So then they start discussing inventory problems for a few more minutes while the first guy is typing crap into his computer, trying to look like he's doing something to help us. My bandmate is an easy going dude, but he had to get a little bit pissed and raise his voice to get them to just sell him the display pedal like he asked for in the 1st place. We were in there for about 45 minutes by that time, and it was supposed to be a 5 or 10 min stop max. Then of course, the credit card reader wouldn't work, so we waited another 5 minutes for the other register to be open to ring him up.

Anyway, as all this was going on, I walked into the bass area and picked a $2k Fender Original '60s Jazz Bass off the wall, and I can't say I was surprised that even on the most expensive bass in the store, they still didn't put any effort into making it play even remotely well. The action was over 1/2" high at the heel end of the neck. It was also missing a volume knob and had a couple chips and lots of scratches in the paint. Still full price with "brand new" on the tag. I didn't even bother saying anything. Luckily we still got to the gig in time, but that's because we always try to give ourselves a time cushion. GC is a masterclass in what not to do for your business.

 

[NoSlapForYou]

I get what you guys are saying about cutting costs on labor. And I also understand that most of their inventory will eventually sell regardless of condition. But I still think some of their stock would move faster if it was playable. I've definitely seen basses/guitars sit there for a year or so, and I suspect it's because no one made the simple necessary changes to make them appealing to customers.

We're talking about one full-time guy doing setups. I'm not sure how much someone like that would make, but it seems to me that his weekly pay would be offset by 4-5 extra guitar sales a week. In other words, fewer than one a day. The smaller stores seem to manage to maintain their instruments despite having a much smaller staff and lower profit margin.

 

[Mastodon2]

I went into a GC to play a new 5 string stingray. The neck was back bowed to a point where I couldn't even get a note out of it. I was certainly disappointed.

How are you supposed to find out where the dead spots are if you can't even get a note out of it? Shameful that an instrument would be on a shop floor that way.

 

[casualmadness]

I could have joined the f@%*@ing Navy in less time than it took to buy that single pedal

This is why I hate GC. Same thing happened to me Monday. Stopped in for a speaker cable. It took nearly a half hour...for one speaker cable. I honestly wanted to choke slam the idiot behind the counter. Also the manager...the counter idiot called the manager over the loudspeaker three times before he hauled his fat ass to the counter.
I've completely written off Walmart. I refuse to shop there because of piss poor service, massive hordes of people, cheap crap, etc. If I need something I would normally buy from Walmart, I go to target. If target doesn't have it, I find it online. GC, as someone pointed out, is absolutely the Walmart of the music world and I'm reaching my breaking point with them.

 

[mdogs]

Oh look, another bash GC thread, weeeeeeee.

 

[gip111]

Do we not know what to expect whenever we walk into a GC? Though I can only speak for the GC's in my area and years of being a customer, i have little to complain about. Yes there are plenty of high action bass guitars and guitars and rusty strings but I have easily negotiated a new set of strings and a twist of the truss rod when needed. If I don't like the guitar on display, they look to see if another in stock is available and if not, I move on. You have 45 days, a month and a half to bring a guitar home, put strings of your choice, set it up to your liking and if not satisfied, return it for a full refund no questions asked. Lately their used dept has better prices than some outrageous internet sites selling used stuff and you still get 45 days to try it at home. I don't work for GC but it works for me.

 

[Bass V]

it must be a Manager thing, some care, some don't. our new GC seems pretty good for a catch-all music box.
the basses I've tried were set up at least ok and the Epi T-Bird I'm now obsessed with was dead perfect.

 

[bassicmike]

I posted one of these threads a little while ago.

They. Don't. Care.

 

[Bassdirty]

It's a bummer but honestly you are going to be giving it a good setup, changing strings, replacing hardware, etc. to make it more suitable to you. ..

Sorry, I have to disagree. A setup, yes. But to imply that the buyer just deal with it because they "Might" replace hardware sometime down the road is NO excuse for missing knobs/jacks falling into cavities etc. on a NEW instrument? I can't get on board with this thinking. If used, well.. buyer beware.

YMMV (and clearly does)

T$

 

[UNICORN BASS]

The G C's in my area employ a repair/set-up person. Surely it would be his responsibility to at least ensure the instruments are playable?

 

[Core Creek]

I've been tempted to go to GC one day and just tune everything up... for free! That's how out of tune everything is. The worst is when I try out a guitar with a locking trem. I'm lucky if someone even knows where to find an Allen key to unlock the nut. And Basses.... there are three high end Fenders out of reach and locked, and everything else is sub $500 and just downright crap.

Maybe ten years ago that place was awesome, but they almost went bankrupt and decided to focus on the bottom of the market and bring in lessons for more foot traffic. And it shows.

 

[Nedmundo]

it must be a Manager thing, some care, some don't.

I agree. The Philly metro area has three GCs, and only one of them is sometimes plagued with the problems we all know about. Last time I was there, I tried to test a bass, and the most accessible Fender amp didn't work. I've also encountered an Ibanez with its neck in a severe backbow, so it was unplayable. Most of the time stuff there is OK, and the folks are always friendly, but it has issues.

The Wilmington, DE GC, on the other hand, is very well-managed. For many years, it was the same dude managing the place, and he might still be there. The instruments are always in decent shape, the amps all work, etc. And Delaware has no sales tax, which is a nice bonus.