What to say in GC.

[40Hz]

I can never understand how come when there are two or more guys noodling around they at least don't latch on to the same key, you know, jam.

I tried a few times. Each time I have, the other person stopped playing, glared at me, and then started playing something else. One even stormed over and demanded to know if I was calling him out.

So it goes.

 

[wmhill]

Every Guitar Center that I have been in, the workers are just as bad as the clientele. I'm sure that there is an exception or two, but I've yet to meet them.

 

[fhm555]

..."Do you play in your high school's marching band...

One of the best drummers i ever worked with was less than year out of high school where he had been the leader of the marching band drum line.

 

[two fingers]

The local GC is a couple miles from the house. Must be that rare one with decent employees. The folks that work there are good to me. Unfortunately for me, the bass strings were right next to the EG amps.
I really feel for the employees. From Sweet Child o Mine to Crazy Train to you name it, I've heard it there.

You never have to deal with that again.

Bass and Guitar Strings, Amps and More from Fret Nation

(Not affiliated.)

Also, if you play a new bass at a store for more than a minute or two, you're just killing time.... and wasting others'. You can tell quickly if a bass is right for you.

Having worked in a store off and on for a decade, I can tell you, even before the internet was king, most people came in to kick tires. They had no money. They just wanted to play something nicer than what they owned. Gospel keyboard players were (by far) the WORST!!!! They would take over the keys room for as long as we could tolerate it.... swapping licks, trying out samples, and doing anything other than buying. They never bought anything..... ever. Most guitar and bass players were the same way. So I can see how employees get a chip on their shoulders or start to ignore potential customers. Most of you aren't customers. You want red carpet treatment and questions answered when you rarely (if ever) intend to buy. And even if you do intend to buy, you just want to play one in person so you can order a new (never played) one online.

So, it goes both ways. As an employee, I never copped an attitude. I did ask people to leave after a while. But I did it nicely. (I usually used a horrible joke. "Hey man. You stay any longer and I'm gonna have you clock in a vacuum the piano department.")

I could smell a real customer a mile away. They had a different way of carrying themselves. They asked different questions. I would bend over backwards for them.

As a customer, it's not my job to police what others do. I can see how it's tempting though.

 

[4001]

GC, for these attention seeking noodlers, is their NAMM show booth performance with the hope that someone in the store will hear their jam and offer a gig in a band..... it's like an open audition for nothing.

 

[4001]

 

[4001]

 

[4001]

 

[oldcatfish]

I tried a few times. Each time I have, the other person stopped playing, glared at me, and then started playing something else. One even stormed over and demanded to know if I was calling him out.

So it goes.

I don't really care what or how badly anyone else plays, but I do like to hear an instrument that I am trying out with intent to purchase. So it does annoy me when someone plays too loudly. If it goes on long enough, I usually just ask them nicely to turn down and they usually are fine with it.

One time I was in a shop with a friend of mine who is a phenomenal guitar player who was shopping for a new guitar. Shawn (my friend) can play about any song upon request, pretty much note for note.

He is usually also very considerate of others, but there was one young man that was very loudly playing well known songs (and butchering them terribly) who just got cocky and told him basically "it is a free country. So no, I won't turn down." Shawn just calmly looks at him and says "ok, whatever." And then turns up his amp and starts mimicking the guy's playing, mistakes and all. Then he plays the line correctly. After 3 riffs, the young guy gets up and leaves, with his head down. It was quite funny.

 

[DeltaTango]

The Impractical Jokers having a little fun with music store customers

 

[MynameisMe]

You never have to deal with that again.

Bass and Guitar Strings, Amps and More from Fret Nation

(Not affiliated.)

Also, if you play a new bass at a store for more than a minute or two, you're just killing time.... and wasting others'. You can tell quickly if a bass is right for you.

Having worked in a store off and on for a decade, I can tell you, even before the internet was king, most people came in to kick tires. They had no money. They just wanted to play something nicer than what they owned. Gospel keyboard players were (by far) the WORST!!!! They would take over the keys room for as long as we could tolerate it.... swapping licks, trying out samples, and doing anything other than buying. They never bought anything..... ever. Most guitar and bass players were the same way. So I can see how employees get a chip on their shoulders or start to ignore potential customers. Most of you aren't customers. You want red carpet treatment and questions answered when you rarely (if ever) intend to buy. And even if you do intend to buy, you just want to play one in person so you can order a new (never played) one online.

So, it goes both ways. As an employee, I never copped an attitude. I did ask people to leave after a while. But I did it nicely. (I usually used a horrible joke. "Hey man. You stay any longer and I'm gonna have you clock in a vacuum the piano department.")

I could smell a real customer a mile away. They had a different way of carrying themselves. They asked different questions. I would bend over backwards for them.

As a customer, it's not my job to police what others do. I can see how it's tempting though.

Thanks for the link. I will continue to shop there. I do a good bit of online music purchases already. Sometimes you just want to touch stuff or read the package in your hands.

 

[Steve Dallman]

I love music stores. I used to make the rounds to three in town, at least once a week...usually more.

We did a remodel at church, and upgraded our sound. I was the purchaser there, so I decided to buy locally. I could have gone to any of the three stores in town.

I went to the one that was the friendliest to me...the guy who came in a lot and rarely bought anything.

I walked in one day and dropped $4500 in purchases. That was 15 years ago (or more.)

You never know. One guitar dept manager I used to work for never minded the guys who came in and never seemed to buy anything. He said, from experience, that the average person would be in a couple dozen times before making a purchase. Tick that person off, and whatever they buy will be from someone else.

 

[Cliff Colton]

I sympathize with the employees regarding the often harsh work environment. I apologize if any part of it is my fault. In mitigation, I don’t play guitar anymore and I never ask the guys to get the ladder on Friday and Saturday nights.

On the other hand, I have no sympathy for GC itself regarding people coming into the store to play instruments they don’t intend to buy because GC is paid with ‘exposure.’

 

[40Hz]

o

Also, if you play a new bass at a store for more than a minute or two, you're just killing time.... and wasting others'. You can tell quickly if a bass is right for you.

With all due respect, why assume that what works for you works for everyone else? Everybody has their own working methods. And not everyone shares yours - or mine either.

 

[Spectrum]

As if it wasn't bad enough, now people have to post videos of themselves doing it, too. SMH

 

[two fingers]

o


With all due respect, why assume that what works for you works for everybody else? Everybody has their own working methods. And not everyone shares yours -or mine either.

OK, maybe "a minute or two" is stretching it. But you don't need to play a bass for an hour to tell either. I can only speak from experience. Of the thousands and thousands of customers I dealt with over a decade, I learned one thing. The longer you play, the less you are ACTUALLY interested in buying an instrument.

 

[40Hz]

OK, maybe "a minute or two" is stretching it. But you don't need to play a bass for an hour to tell either. I can only speak from experience. Of the thousands and thousands of customers I dealt with over a decade, I learned one thing. The longer you play, the less you are ACTUALLY interested in buying an instrument.

If you so say.

When my SO buys a new Strat she’ll try out a half dozen or more each time. She’s always polite about it. And hopefully the store personnel won’t give her a hard time about it. Because she will always buy one before she leaves unless somebody cops a big enough attitude with her that she starts getting pissed off.

Interesting thing. It’s seldom the shop owners that get snarky about it or pull the passive-aggressive game these days. It’s almost always someone who just punches a clock.

 

[5StringBlues]

 

[BOOG]

I can never understand how come when there are two or more guys noodling around they at least don't latch on to the same key, you know, jam.

I’ve tried doing that a few times and every time the guitar turns up and starts “shredding”. No sense.

 

[Methaneman]

Went into GC a few years ago with my daughter, grabbed a jazz bass and played "vital signs" and a employee walks by and says it's the 1st time he heard it played correctly. Scored some points with my daughter lol. I never play loud there. Not interested in anybody hearing me there.