Some humble advice to Guitar Center

[Watchootognbout]

My latest bass was bought from GC online from S.Carolina.
A fretted twin of the fretless that I already had.

I WANTED the bass.
So whether the bass was set up was of no concern.
One man's great set up is another's unplayable set up.

Besides,I know how to do my own set up.

 

[FugaziBomb]

Oh look, another bash GC thread, weeeeeeee.

There's a reason there are so many...

 

[Bass Thunder]

I was in a GC looking at a Jackson guitar for my son. Setup was a little wonky. They took care of it right away.
I was in a Sam Ash looking at a Korean Spector and truss rod needed adjusting. They took care of it right away.
Sometimes you just need to ask. They actually thanked me for pointing it out.

 

[arbiterusa]

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.

Guitar Center has an agreement with their suppliers. It's very simple. The instruments are to arrive in ready-to-sell condition. It would take at least one full-time guy just to maintain in-store setup work, and they don't want to shoulder that expense (and frankly shouldn't have to).

That the manufacturers don't do this is not Guitar Center's fault. It's plain and simple breach of contract from their suppliers.

We can discuss all day whether GC should give every instrument the Sweetwater treatment - and they probably should, given that the manufacturers are not living up to their end of the bargain - but you're gonna be paying Sweetwater prices and experiencing Sweetwater wait times for them.

 

[WI Short Scaler]

IMO, many of us brought this on ourselves by doing so much online shopping. I'm guilty of buying things off Reverb, CL, Ebay, Mus Friend, Sweetwater, etc. All of that buying $$ going online almost guarantees that no mom/pop locally owned music stores can survive. So all we're left with in many cases is GC.

They're a national chain, like Wal-Mart, or Home Depot. In the same manner that Home Depot's board of directors is probably not made up of contractors/builders, GC's board is probably not staffed with musicians. It's all about $$ and the bottom line. The knowledge of the employees will be directly related to the compensation they receive. So yes, many don't care. There will be some good employees at some stores but it probably isn't the rule.

If you hate them, don't shop there. I don't have one close to me, I actually don't have any good stores close to me. But the two transactions I've had at GC went well so I'd go back.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

What you're asking for is labor to be invested into the sale. Are you willing to pay a higher price for the instrument if that labor is added to the instrument? I'm going to go out on a limb and answer "no" for 90% of us. The best part of Guitar Center is using the 15% off coupon code. I can do my own setups.

 

[BeSeeingYou]

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.

I've always had a (mostly) good experience in both the Wilmington, DE and Oxford Valley, PA stores. As a beginner, I'm admittedly not on the same level as many here, but I have yet to encounter a truly unhelpful individual in either store. (Marginally helpful on occasion, yes, but I've never been just left hanging.) I bought my first bass at Oxford Valley over the weekend, and even though the tech was out (at NAMM, apparently), the sales rep offered to adjust the truss rod for me to straighten a slight bow in the neck.

I can't speak for other GCs, but I see most places like this as auto shops - there are some that are very good with knowledgeable and helpful staff, and others with shoddy practices, incompetent staff, and even perhaps nefarious agendas. Depends on which kind of store you have near you; I guess maybe I've been lucky.

 

[g-dude]

Here's what really bugs me about guitar center: depending on where you live, their inventory can suck really hard.

You can see this in SoCal really well.

Go 25 miles to the east of their HQ to Sherman Oaks, and they have a great selection. Go 25 miles to the west of their HQ to Oxnard and their selection sucks.

Unless you're in what I'll call an "A" market, you're never going to find anything in a GC that's worth putting up with the fact that you're going to a GC.

 

[gln1955]

They should train the sales staff to do some kind of minimal setup. They spend most of their time standing around doing nothing anyway. They could figure out how to implement it if they cared.

There's always a lame excuse and you see them in this thread. Really, go to GC on a weekday morning and there will be no other customers there and two or three employees shooting the bull. It ain't rocket surgery. Any GC employee that can't be taught how to do a minimal setup probably shouldn't be allowed to touch guitars at all.

 

[bassicmike]

In retail, it's all about the merchandise.

If it's not out, you can't sell it.

If it doesn't look its best, no-one is going to buy it.

A 10 minute tweak on a $1000 instrument can mean the difference between a sale and someone walking out and posting another GC Sucks thread.

It makes me sad to see the nice basses hanging there that deserve to be played, but they're not, because they currently play like crap.

 

[Koog]

Much of the content of this thread is why I enjoy buying and selling instruments using the classifieds section of this site. You get to deal with mostly experienced and knowledgeable players who, for the most part, represent the instruments in an honest way. Prices here are usually fair, and most buyers and sellers are reasonably open to negotiation.

I've had only a couple disappointments and those were either easily resolved with the seller or resale, if the instrument just wasn't for me. And, I've had the privilege of experiencing some truly unusual and exquisite instruments along with finding some real keepers.

I seldom travel the 50 miles to the closest music store anymore. I typically get some parts and electronics from Sweetwater, which has been good to me, more specialized things from Stew Mac, and strings, knobs and other goodies from my favorite luthier, who is also a good friend and helps me with setups if I run into something I can't handle.

There are so many tried and true instruments available within trusted secondary market sources that I find no need to experience the frustrations of a store and employees who typically know far less than I do about what I'm looking for.

It also helps to have a realistic expectation about the instrument. Regardless of how many questions I ask and information I gather about basses that interest me, I always expect to have to clean them up, restring them, and do complete setups when they arrive. This way, I'm rarely disappointed.

I completely agree about the frustration with GC and other "box store" retail outlets. TB as been good to me in relieving those frustrations. I also enjoy the sense of community among members here.

Koog

 

[donahue]

Then tell them.

 

[Gringo Basso]

I was "surprised" at the difference between the local Sam Ash vs the local GC. Does Sam Ash pay better, or was this just good management at store level? Because the gear was playable and the employees knew their stuff and seemed genuinely interested. Isn't Sam Ash also a huge chain? GC really should and could get their sh*t together. Decades ago the West Hollywood store was a cracking place to shop at - I went to the new WHWD shop and it was a completely different place. That's poor management from the top - counting their money and taking their eye off the ball. But you can shop online at a spot like Sweetwater and they'll ship you out a guitar with a decent set-up for the same price as that sloppy GC guitar with the DNA of hundreds of peeps all over it! The way to go is to skip those GC's - the options are numerous!

 

[donahue]

My good friend is a tech there. He's worked there for three years and they purposely work him 1 hour less than full time every week so they don't have to give him insurance or pto. He asked his manager how much pto he has because he wanted to go on a vacation. Zip nada none.

He's the one that would set up their instruments at this store.

Would you want to?

 

[Ric5]

My experience with GC employees is that they know a lot about black nail polish and they know little about setting up instruments

 

[BergerHead]

Since I'll not buy anything anymore, I'm not very onto settings on store gear, 1 advice only:
when you're interested or attached to some stuff, take a maintain-set with you and set the axe after your desire.
don't discuss such in a store which give a doodoo on their gear for sale ... they'll take it or leave it.

 

[KevInDaBassment]

It's hit or miss for the ones I know of in Houston. The people working there are either cool as hell, or you downright avoid eye contact every time you go in. On the upside, a guy named Darren at the store knows me by name and always asks me how I'm liking various bits of gear (he remembers what I bought) when I come in. Super helpful dude, so I always make sure I'm buying from him if he's there.

On the other hand, a manager in the same store yelled at me one time after I had waited a solid 35 minutes for a manager to handle a trade-in. The manager told me he'd give me $180 trade-in on a GK Fusion 550 that was in very good condition. I asked him if he was sure he was looking at the right head, and sure enough he was looking at the GK MB Fusion 500 prices. He then proceeded to tell me he's still only going to give me $180 for it. I said that I know they have to make some profit on the trade-in, but that 50-60% of the going used price is usually what they do. He then yelled at me and told me he didn't have to do anything for me and that it's $180 take it or leave it. I walked the hell outta there. After posting about it on here, the store manager called me up to apologize and offered me a more substantial trade-in offer. So at least they made it right on a management level.

YMMV, but I relegate them to used purchases (because of the return policy) and killer financing deals.

 

[jerry]

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.

I've been to a ton of Guitar Centers and I agree, that store seems to be a cut above the others. The staff I dealt with were cool too.

 

[Watchootognbout]

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.

Was the bass with missing knobs new or used?
Did it arrive with knobs missing?
Or did the knobs"walk away"in someones pockets?
You don't know.Do you?

 

[Smooth_bass88]

I've had very good experiences at Guitar Center. But then again I see the good in things.