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What to say in GC.

#61
Flamingo21 said:
This gets me curious: what questions do real customers ask? That is, if you're at liberty to say, of course.
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The most obvious was "Does it come with a case?"

But they were always questions about the "deal".

"Can I get a new set of strings on it?"

"If I buy it can you lower the action a little?"

"Is that the best you can do on the price?"


Tire kickers always asked questions about knobs and switches, where the bass was manufactured, etc. They also asked questions about other people's gear. "What do you play?" and that kind of thing. It was never a question about buying the bass (or guitar, or keyboard, or whatever).

Another thing a serious customer would do is ask for my name. They would say something like "I'm gonna play around on this for a sec. I'll ask for you when I'm ready to buy."
 
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#63
If GC closed the complaints would start about the super small selection of anything at the one tiny store in their town. There are a handful of small music stores here locally plus 2 GC, one Sam Ash that used to be a George's music and one remaining George's.
The closest small store to me is run by a guy I can't stand and I'm glad I don't have to go in there.
I must be the lucky one because both our GC have treated me great.
I was looking for an acoustic guitar and they gave me a good deal on a Taylor because of a website listing error.
YMMV.
I hope they stay in business.
 
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#65
I work a couple blocks from Guitar Center, so I do stop in a lot just to try stuff out. But I've also bought quite a few things there also.

If I'm going to go, I go in there early in the day on a weekday. Generally there's no one there and it's a much nicer experience.

A few times I've stopped in on the weekend and it's pretty bad. I'm in a big city so it gets a lot of people coming through the store. I honestly couldn't even tell if I like a bass if the stores is too loud.

I used to live by a small music store on the east coast and I do miss it. But I like the large selection of basses at guitar center. Generally there's close to a hundred basses at the store here
 
#66
it's not always bad. there was a guy at hollywood GC a few weeks ago who took over one corner of their new bass section in front. the thing is, he played fieldy-style and was incredible. i listened with great enjoyment on and off for an hour. on the other hand, last week in lawndale GC, there was a family of 2 kids, dad and mom who took over the corner of the bass section i was trying out amps (and that awesome PJ) in, sat down and used it like their own table at a mcdonald's while discussing.

i can never convince my husband to play 32nds loud to intimidate the crappy metal guitar players, but some of them hear him playing when he's doing full speed death metal at low volume, listen, look wowed, then depressed and slink away. it's very satisfying. maybe they should turn down if their playing sucks, but somehow the lousier players always seem to want everyone to hear them play.

years ago, we were in pasadena guitar center, and it was the first time we saw a pair of guys between 16 and 19 in the guitar department. they weren't that good, but they turned up and struck rod god poses that played off of each other like they were super famous guitar player on stage. it was hysterical, and my husband named them "team shred". i considered pointing and laughing, but didn't except in my imagination. when they went to impress people in the acoustic guitar department, i went and played some fancy stuff loudly next to them, and they sort of shrunk in on themselves and went back to electrics. i know, not very nice of me, but it was so satisfying :D

btw, we've seen team shred there a few more times. no doubt they feel they're impressing the locals :D
 
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#68
We can all laugh at the experience that is Guitar Center but without their model there would be far fewer people playing music. Retail is a slog, for those folks that work in the trenches at GC I can't imagine how frustrating it must be. So give them a break. If you hate noodlers buy online , if you hate kids that don't know what you know, stop asking, you already know the answer and to GC corporate, a set of Kloss open back headphones plugged into every demo amp might go a long way in ending threads like this one (:
 
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#69
I do like the GC here in San Marcos/Escondido. But maybe because I am here just before they close or during the dead hours like after lunch or opening time. I also usually come here to buy something or pick up an online order, so it's in and out. One of the guys I always chat with, did sound for Brad Mehldau and Grenadier. He has given me good advice on DAW software and mics. Keyboard department is usually quieter. I also like the one in Santa Clara. Saturday and Sunday is not a good time to go to GC. Plan to lose 1/2 hour just waiting to pay for something.

I am not bothered by noodling and noise. It's GC. Even the rehearsal rooms of music schools where there are actually virtuoso's are equally chaotic. You need to learn to tune out
 
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#70
two fingers said:
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. ;)
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I did my time in the retail dungeon and I taught for many years while I was in school. I treated every customer equally because I realize that just because they might not be buying today, that doesn't mean that they aren't saving to buy tomorrow (I was a music store gadfly when I was younger, so I'd been in that position - people were always extremely nice to me). The only part of the experience that sucked was the parent living their rock and roll fantasy vicariously through their kid. The kid didn't want to be there, didn't practice, and wasn't into music. My boss was cool with me cutting bait, so I'd try to have the "serious discussion" with the parents after a month or so of zero progress.
 
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#71
I'm Old Blastard and I'm a noodler. I wander by the local store 3 times a week, fool with the basses at low volume and try to get a feel for them just because.

The folks working there let me play even though I seldom buy anything I fool with. On the other hand, they have a 30-day return policy so I have ordered 4 basses in four years and accidentally sold three to other customers because they thought I was a sales person, asked questions that I answered while the employees were busy and was polite.
 
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#73
I have only visited 2 Guitar Centers (on 5 or 6 occasions)... Wilmington Delaware and Moosic PA. Both had a fair selections of basses...not too many customers playing "Eddie Van Halen" or "Victor Wooten" licks and pretty good sales staff. No one following me around but responsive to my request to try different basses. I ended up buying 2 (on different visits) and had a pleasant experience.

My only complaint is that most of the "upper end" basses needed a set up. When I mentioned it to the salesman, they immediately took care of it. So, I would buy from GC again if I needed anything.
 
#74
Keger Jupit said:
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...
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It made sense though i bet they had lots of junkies coming in trying to steal stuff. The mini mart on 4th and burnside locks their soda up.
 
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#76
Koshchei said:
I did my time in the retail dungeon and I taught for many years while I was in school. I treated every customer equally because I realize that just because they might not be buying today, that doesn't mean that they aren't saving to buy tomorrow (I was a music store gadfly when I was younger, so I'd been in that position - people were always extremely nice to me). The only part of the experience that sucked was the parent living their rock and roll fantasy vicariously through their kid. The kid didn't want to be there, didn't practice, and wasn't into music. My boss was cool with me cutting bait, so I'd try to have the "serious discussion" with the parents after a month or so of zero progress.
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Oy. I feel you on lessons. My biggest problem was no-shows. I learned quickly to charge by the month. I had a short speech I gave. "You're not paying for a lesson. You're paying for me and that chair (point to the student's chair). I will be here. The chair will be here. So you're getting what you paid for." :D


(Of course, if I were given NOTICE that they wouldn't be coming, I would try to work with them to reschedule.)

Also, I did treat every customer with respect. But I dropped hints to those I knew were kicking tires..... especially if actual customers were waiting to try out gear. (We had a small amp room.)
 
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#77
I use my eyes and keep my mouth shut and Look at the used offerings in bass and effects. Used has kept me as a customer. There's a good flow of stuff in the Fenway GC and North of town is still rock guitar crazy, so less basses, but always effects. A 4 knob Keeley compressor and an elOsso bass fuzz, an epi Jack Casady in black have been the latest scores there. The comp solved a problem at the time. The elOsso is my favorite fuzz/overdrive.

A couple of Spanish cats in the bass room the other day were teacher and student (totally rote learning) but they were quiet and no issue. Pretty good idea if you don't have a suite. A few months ago a guy was wanking on a Stingray, or so I thought, it was a lowly Sterling, but it sounded fantastic, so I bought one. Used it on 2 sessions this year so far.
 
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#79
I don't see a lot of that, just cliche licks and strumming, usually at tolerable levels, usually in the guitar section. If I'm trying out a cab or amp, I will definitely crank it for a bit to assess the health. Loud bass in the store isn't nearly as irritating as loud guitar or drums.
 

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