Some humble advice to Guitar Center

[groooooove]

i definitely agree, there were many fine instruments i possibly would have bought had someone been willing to tweak it.

it wouldn't be a bad idea for them to adjust an instrument as needed (ie when a customer points it out.) I understand they have a lot of stuff in stock and keeping all working perfectly would be a lot of labor.

 

[DJ Bebop]

I do agree with the OP but a lot of comments here feel like first world problems.

Coming from a small town in France where the biggest store carried at most 20 guitars and 5 basses, the first time I made it to GC in New York or Ishibashi in Japan I was in awe. So many instruments lined up. Many of them beautiful and affordable.

I get the grumpy grandpa thing but sometimes you should remember to count your blessings.

 

[Kukulkan61]

I remember the time I took a bass to the guy at the counter and asked him if he could adjust the truss rod to lower the action it was bad, he literally pulled out an Allen wrench out of his back pocket and cranked on the nut like he was ratcheting a bolt on an engine, I was like oh that neck is gonna snap, it was crazy funny as hell, I'll never forget that...

 

[GIBrat51]

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.

I understand your pain... but, sadly, only on an intellectual level. Things like this are one of the very few perks of being left handed. I never have to put up with stuff like that - because there's NEVER anything at GC for me to play. The only things I EVER go to Guitar Center for, are miscellaneous doo-dads; EB Hybrid Slinky strings; or if a right handed friend wants somebody to go with him. I very seldom go there, though, because I have to pass the Sam Ash store to get there - and they also have EB Hybrid Slinkys; miscellaneous doo-dads (better ones, too); and every once in a great while, they also have something that I can play. But, yeah, I'm sure it's a bummer, being a righty in a Guitar Center...

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

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.

I have noticed that GC unfortunately hires people who don't actually play.

They are retail "associates", and many are still in training judging by the skills exhibited.

You take your chances, sometimes you get lucky.

 

[higain617]

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.

The nonfunctional credit card reader seems to be a universal GC feature. Maybe they need to develop their own cryptocurrency.

 

[Tazziedevil]

I don't have GC where I am... in fact, in my neck of the woods there isn't even a big box music store. As far as New instruments go, you're limited to two small locally owned shops - One shop stocks Ibanez & Gibson (guitar and basses), the other stocks Fender. Both shops cater far more to guitarists, both have I'd estimate 60 guitars and 7-10 basses only. If you want to try something they don't have, your mostly out of luck. They won't order anything in for you unless you pay a deposit, which you don't get back if you don't like the instrument.


One shop (the Gibson/Ibanez) has employees who care a lot and take pride in their work, the Fender shop hiores part time University students (usually music majors who spend as much time on their phones as they do working, at least everytime i've been in). Stock rarely turns over, at least with the basses.

I'd love to walk into a big showroom and at least be able to look at new guitars and get a feel for them even if they aren't perfect.

 

[vid1900]

I have noticed that GC unfortunately hires people who don't actually play.

You can't work at GC and play in a band, because they are open until 10pm on weekends....

 

[DJ Bebop]

You can't work at GC and play in a band, because they are open until 10pm on weekends....

You can, it just mean you don't have any gigs

 

[wmhill]

 

[Huw Phillips]

I went in there yesterday 14th St in Manhattan, I see a pedal second hand for $90 and ask to buy it there is some weird mix up and another guy changes all the prices then I am told the pedal that was $90 is now $189, no excuses just take it of don't
I will try to use Sam Ash

 

[4001]

The last flyer they sent to me (I think it was Christmas) had 0 basses or bass gear in it.
Plenty of other things, and if I remember correctly, the cover displayed a..... DJ turntable...

I sent their propaganda rag through the shredder after a quick laugh.

 

[beatdatthang]

I don't mind GC too much. I rarely if ever shop there but occasionally you can find a deal, especially online, where they sell a used instrument that they don't really know the value of or are just trying to get rid of it.

As far as setups are concerned, why give you one for free when they can charge you for one, right? Their "tech" gets paid to do setups and they aren't gonna have him or her doing freebies on $199 Squiers to just sit there when they can charge you $40 or more to do one after you've bought the unplayable instrument.

We've all seen the basses and guitars that look a little "showroom rough" - loose hardware, missing knobs, scratches and dents, etc. Those are the breaks of A) allowing anyone off the street to just come in and grab an instrument off the wall and bang on it and B) everyone's favorite "generous return policy" that a lot of people take advantage of as a free rental.

Let's be honest, just with the threads I see here, GC gets rope-a-doped with buy and returns all the time. They just can't cut the price of every instrument that a 16 year old takes home for a week and scratches and dents and brings back because it's not for them or even better the guy who gets home to have wifey give him the death stare so he has to return it. GC would never make any money if they immediately sold all returns as "used" and marked them down.

Those if you Kibitzing about GC probably haven't lived in a place that doesn't have one. I have. The closest to me is over an hour away and the mom and pop shop nearby sucks. They carry one kind of bass string. One. GHS bass boomers in one gauge. They typically have 2-3 basses (one used) at any given time.

Frankly, I'd rather have selection at the cost of dealing with unknowledgeable employees and un-setup instruments to having to wait 3 days for delivery or drive 2 hours round trip for a set of bass strings or a decent cable or strap.

 

[allintime]

I complained to them about a used 6 str fanned feet bass that had two dead strings. I said it was two messed up for me to try out and play. They got their guitar tech to do a full set up on it, then dropped the price by $10. Called me a few days later and said it was ready. Great experience with my local GC!

 

[JoshS]

The last flyer they sent to me (I think it was Christmas) had 0 basses or bass gear in it.
Plenty of other things, and if I remember correctly, the cover displayed a..... DJ turntable...

I got the same. 40-50 pages and no basses. Plenty of drum kits, guitars, keyboards, and PA, though.

I don't mind GC at all, but Wildwood is 1000x better, and often less expensive, plus locally owned.

 

[selowitch]

I have had pretty good experiences at the Rockville, MD Guitar Center. The staff are friendly and helpful. Yes, the instruments usually lack a decent setup but I mainly go there for solid deals on used gear. If you know what you want and are willing to do your homework, you can land a nice deal on a used guitar/bass/amp/pedal/whatever and you get the benefit of a good return policy that you don't always get on Reverb, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, et al.

 

[Knavery]

I got the same. 40-50 pages and no basses. Plenty of drum kits, guitars, keyboards, and PA, though.

I don't mind GC at all, but Wildwood is 1000x better, and often less expensive, plus locally owned.

I keep forgetting that's down the street from me. I always go to the GC in Arvada down Sheridan. I should head up there this weekend. The last time I was there, the guys were extremely busy so I checked out a couple guitars then bolted. I know they have high standards.

 

[JoshS]

I keep forgetting that's down the street from me. I always go to the GC in Arvada down Sheridan. I should head up there this weekend. The last time I was there, the guys were extremely busy so I checked out a couple guitars then bolted. I know they have high standards.

You should. Their brand new facility is awesome. Picking a new one up there this weekend and have another on order with them!

The GC you mention is my favorite of the three (and closest), but the Centennial one is right by my work. I stop in way less than you'd think.

 

[La Faro]

My bank automatically retracted a payment as they hadn't processed my order. When I emailed to make another payment, just got an automated email saying I had to ring them.

Bought the pickups from somewhere else

 

[vvvmmm]

Your point, to all the parties involved save for the end purchaser, is irrelevant. The idea is a "total fail" only from the perspective of some customers. It's great from everyone else's
.....
The real problem here, if you see it as one (I do not) is that people keep buying instruments at Guitar Center no matter the condition they are in, rewarding this behavior.

Because of this attitude/evaluation/approach, I haven't bought from Banjo Mart since 2010 - not even strings.

That means the 20 or so guitars, 5 or so amps, 35 or more pedals - not from anyplace with that attitude since 2010, or even before.

What, 10K, 20K, more? that a decent music store would have rec'd - instead it's the Ebog, reverb, Craigslist ...

That includes strings, because I refuse to be even arguably a hypocrite.

I confess to buying from GC online, because i don't hafta deal with the attitude you profess is, "great".

But, obviously, YMDV.