What to say in GC.

[Pings Bass]

I hope NO ONE who is a member of, or has ever used Talk Bass, EVER had to deal with Apple Music in Portland, OR back in the day. They were the worst. Anything costing over $500 was hanging from the ceiling, just out of reach (I'm 6'5", my reach is 8'3"). You had to ask a salesdouche for help, & they ALWAYS had to "ask the manager". If you didn't look like you had $$, you wouldn't see them again.

A popular T-shirt in the scene in the 90's was an "Apple Sucks" T-shirt. I saw several of them one year...

I moved to P-town in 1989, and went into Apple looking to see if they had a Hartke 2x10. The sales person had never heard of Hartke, and tried to sell me something else. Anyway. As much as I hate the tyranny of MF and GC, I'm glad I'm not at the whim of provincial Portland retailers with BS attitudes. (I later worked at Portland Music, and have stories.)

 

[Koshchei]

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.

No offense, but if I'm about to drop $2k on an instrument, I'm going to spend as much time as I want making sure that ticks all my checkboxes. I don't especially care whether or not you feel inconvenienced by my presence. If you give me attitude though, I'll give the commission to somebody else.

 

[two fingers]

No offense, but if I'm about to drop $2k on an instrument, I'm going to spend as much time as I want making sure that ticks all my checkboxes. I don't especially care whether or not you feel inconvenienced by my presence. If you give me attitude though, I'll give the commission to somebody else.

No offense, but commission barely comes into play with guitars. There's so little markup in them. I made more on one mid level Obanez or Seagull acoustic than I ever could on anything electric. Heck, I made more selling strings and drum sticks than I ever made selling guitars and basses. (Pianos are where the real money is.)

That being said, I was only sharing MY experience having worked in a store. Have YOU ever worked in a store? I didn't think so.

So, again, in MY experience, over a DECADE, the people who spent the MOST amount of time playing instruments spent the LEAST amount of money. I can name you the ONE guitar customer who would come in and spent a half hour with high end guitars. I literally closed the amp room for him when he came in. He bought a half dozen from me. Others who spent lots of time with basses and guitars bought nothing. We had a Ken Smith that must have been played by 500 people who had no intention of buying.

Frankly, I don't care what that means to you.

 

[MordBass]

I'm willing to bet that half the replies here are also "that guy" to better players stopping in for strings or accessories.

 

[MordBass]

No offense, but if I'm about to drop $2k on an instrument, I'm going to spend as much time as I want making sure that ticks all my checkboxes. I don't especially care whether or not you feel inconvenienced by my presence. If you give me attitude though, I'll give the commission to somebody else.

100%. I find that when it comes to playability of a bass or guitar, you dont notice the shortcomings until you're pushing your limits.
If the shop doesnt like it, they dont have to offer that sort of thing, if the employees dont like it, they dont have to work there, if the customers dont like it, they dont have to shop there.
But in the meantime, GC is in the business of selling instruments and a full test drive is one of their value propositions.

 

[Ronzo]

When I traded in a bass at my local GC a few weeks ago, I plugged into a Rumble 40 (same as I use at home) to check the new bass out. I played quietly for a couple of minutes, then told the salesman I was interested. He asked if I wanted to try it in a different amp. I said, “No, I don’t want to interrupt the Nathan East clinic going on.” He looked at me strangely, and said, “Clinic?” I pointed toward the guy wanking slap licks on a MarkBass rig at volume, and said in a bit of a raised voice, “That’s gotta be Nathan East. Who else would be giving a clinic at that volume on a Sunday afternoon?”

The dude nonchalantly unplugged and talked to another salesman about strings. Mission accomplished.

 

[One_Dude]

One of the places I have found to be worse than GC for loud guitar heros is a local guitar show. Good luck trying to play something you are really interested in and be able to hear it. There are always one or two guys who know three power chords and play them over and over at ear bleeding levels.

The last time I was in GC near my sons' house in Kentucky I was trying out a bass I was interested in. After a few riffs a young woman ( maybe 18 or 20) comes running up saying "I want to play like that". At first it was a compliment, but then she asked to play the bass I was trying out. This then led to her asking me to show her the riffs I was playing. I don' t mind helping someone learn a new riff, but after about 20 minutes it became clear that she had never played a bass before and needed more basic instruction before focusing in on riffs.

Finally I suggested she find a local instructor that can help her learn to play the bass. She didn't seem to be interested in doing that, and the guy with her looked bored with the whole scene, so maybe this was something she did all of the time. I moved on to check out some other instruments while she continued to play around with that bass. Eventually she and her friend left and I went back and bought the bass.

Thump on,

One_Dude

 

[The Deep]

Had to go to GC the other day for a couple of cables. Could not get out fast enough.

Aside from the noise there are also 4 different store employees who constantly follow you around, "Doin' alright?" "Find watch you need?" Somehow the next guy never hears you tell the first guy you don't need help. When you do ask for something, the guy says, "Oh yeah, Ill get one from the stockroom" and then he promptly gets distracted by the next customer and forgets all about you. After all that, when you get to the counter and you want to hurry up and pay and get out, they all disappear, leaving you to stand there listening to all the wannabe rock stars going to town on guitars and drum kits and basses while your brain slowly dies, leaving only the part that makes you breath, eat, and keep going to work at your own mindless job each morning, losing all hope for a happy future of any kind or any desire to even listen to music ever again.

LOL that is some funny stuff. The elements of truth are what seals the deal!!

 

[Clark W]

GC is like the insane asylum for the tone deaf. Employees tell me how bad it gets, but they can't say anything. But I can.....


To the wannabe guitarist noodling at full volume:
"You waiting here for lessons?" or
"Do you know any real songs?"



To the kid pounding the snot out of a drum kit:
"Do you play in your high school's marching band"

To the guy at the counter (very loudly)

"I want to play cool stuff like these guys.What type metronome/ guitar book do you recommend?

You forgot to mention those who want to try out microphones....

 

[klejst]

"Where's the guitar section and can I play the opening of Stairway to Heaven?"

 

[5StringBlues]

 

[2112]

In this thread: musicians who think they're better than everyone else are made fun of by musicians who think they're better than they are.

 

[Spectrum]

In this thread: musicians who think they're better than everyone else are made fun of by musicians who think they're better than they are.

And then there are the musicians who think they are better than everyone else who are making fun of musicians who think they're better than everyone else are made fun of by musicians who think they're better than they are.

We can do this all day. Just like those guys at GC.

 

[Machiavelli]

I actually dont see how GC is still in business. I never see anyone buy anything.

I’ll swing by about 4 months and THE EXACT SAME basses are still hanging. They must sell like one a week or something.

 

[TrevorR]

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.

Never heard that happen but it would be just like living in an episode of “The Kids From Fame”!

 

[AudioTaper]

I worked in a local chain store (not GC...) for 8 years. I worked non-commissioned sales half that time a noticed a few thing...

98% of the time when people come in a play for an hour, they are killing time or kicking tires of something they dont have the $ for.

Be nice or you will lose the sale of those other 2% who want to check all of the boxes before a purchase.
There was one guy who came in twice a week for several weeks to poke around at the basses. He would ask questions and quietly play one here and there, but always came back to one Pedulla Thunderbolt 4 string. Eventually, he bought it and seemed pleased with it anytime he brought it back in for restring/setup work.

 

[jamro217]

The few times in GC

when something​

caught my eye that I was seriously considering buying, there wasn't a crowd wanking at full volume. Maybe I caught it just right, or maybe the crowd saw me walking in and ran out the other door. Whatever the reason, I never had to think of a line to use. I'd probably just yell "Fire!!!" and test drive the gear until the drill was over. The fire alarm can't be any louder than the guitarists and at least it's in tune.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

That stuff goes right by me; back in the day when I worked in music stores, I don't even play guitar, but I bet I could do a half-assed 'Eruption' . . . . . because I heard it nine million times.

Nope, for me, it's the guys in training for the Bass Player Olympics, or at the very least, some bad YouTube videos or a weekend gig demo'ing axes at the NAMM Show:

'Stay Back, Folks, here comes the finale where our Stunt Player will now play ALL of his Jaco, Victor, Stanley, and Bill Sheehan licks, back to back, in 30 Seconds ! ! Please don't make any sudden moves and keep all food out of sight ! ! !'

I was once in Sam Ash here in the It City trying to whisper sweet nothings in the ear of a neckthru StingRay, first time I'd seen or held one in the flesh. Naturally, there was a 'stunt player' down at the other end of the amp line whacking away with all these fiendish slap licks and trick shots. I gave it a minute, and when he settled down I started playing a few things, then the crazy riff from 'Black Dog'. Wonder Boy stopped dead in his tracks and says, 'gee, I didn't know you could actually play that, I thought it was keyboard bass . . . . .'

We talked for a minute, and sure enough was complaining to me that he was having a very hard time finding gigs, he couldn't understand why guys thought his playing was 'too busy ' . . . . . . it made me think of the old gunfighters who had lots of notches on their gun but would damn near starve as they couldn't bring down a deer or even a rabbit for dinner.

The hardest thing: Knowing HOW to call your shot.

I'd rather hear three well played, appropriate notes than thirty notes in a lick that doesn't fit. I'm still working on those three notes.

 

[red_rhino]

Oh so GC doesn't stand for Guitar Chat. Because the title made even more sense that way

You must be new here.

 

[Flamingo21]

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.

This gets me curious: what questions do real customers ask? That is, if you're at liberty to say, of course.