What to say in GC.

[fenjazz]

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'll never complain about Guitar Center since I grew up with Apple Music in Portland. The employees back in the day were rude, disinterested that thought they were above working retail. What sucked is that for a long time they were the only place that had non-Fender stuff and the occasional boutique bass like Alembic. When I passed by a few years back and saw they were closed for good, I didn't shed a tear.

 

[ThudThudThud]

When you have a wannabe shredder trying to impress everyone an easy way to throw their game is to look at the stuff on the wall opposite where they are playing, and tap your foot in their peripheral vision. Use their tempo, and keep the tempo going (you know, like bass players can). They won't be able to keep up...

 

[Peavaria]

When my son was a toddler, we had some time to kill at a nearby mall, and went into Guitar Center. He was riding on my shoulders. Just as the salesman walked up, my son pointed to the wall of electric guitars, and said: "Daddy, what are those little basses?"

Smart kid.

I had an experience like that once. I walked into a gander mountain in the winter. I saw a lot of tiny fishing poles the most I had ever seen..... I wondered why so many kids fishing poles were on sale in the winter!??!

 

[TolerancEJ]

I don't like playing in the main room. I prefer music stores with the private rooms to test instruments.

 

[Keger Jupit]

I'll never complain about Guitar Center since I grew up with Apple Music in Portland. The employees back in the day were rude, disinterested that thought they were above working retail. What sucked is that for a long time they were the only place that had non-Fender stuff and the occasional boutique bass like Alembic. When I passed by a few years back and saw they were closed for good, I didn't shed a tear.

Yep, same here! My friend Craig went in with $3,000 in cash to buy a 6-string. This would be 93-94. He got the "I gotta check with my manager" treatment, waited for 15 minutes, saw the crew standing around at the counter, & decided to spend his $$ on a handbuilt David King (Awesome bass!). Before he left, he slapped the entire wad of cash on the counter, in front of the store manager & the owner, just to stick his middle finger in their eye & show them how much they lost out on that day! EPIC!

 

[Keger Jupit]

They closed in 2015. I was actually treated pretty well and they let me test a 60's P bass. That being said I was wearing business clothes.

I shed no tears that day...

 

[Keger Jupit]

Yep, Apple Music was a mess, worst service ever. Luckily they went out of business several years ago. Portland Music ended up with all their leftover stock.

This is how I felt everytime I went in there...

Love your avatar by the way!

 

[nnnnnn]

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.

Nope. You can. I can't. I can tell very quickly that a bass or guitar is not right for me. Takes me a lot longer to decide that it is right for me. I'm not so rich that I can afford to buy without being sure.

 

[IamGroot]

Maybe the solution is a GC loyalty card, earned by ACTUALLY BUYING STUFF.

With it, you get access to the pricey big boy instruments and amps.

Without it, you get 10 minutes on a Squier, tops, through a Behringer painted pink.

 

[pcake]

Man, so much hate among musicians...what ever happened to "live and let live"?

on a serious note, last year, i was looking for a smallish combo and this year i'm testing cabs. and the problem is, i can't hear 'em. i'm looking for a tone that i like, and all i can hear is guitar players who turn up to rehearsal level and guys attempting to slap to higher ground. which means i can't hear the amps/cabs i'm going to a store to test in person rather than buying online where it's easier.

and unlike all those guitar players and flea-wannabes, who almost inevitably leave without buying anything, i wanted to buy something but i wanted to buy something i enjoyed hearing. that's why we go to stores for amps rather than - again - just ordering online. i blew out my right ear trying to get a slight idea of what those amps/cabs actually sounded like. and i still couldn't really hear them.

do i hate the folks who play loud and in addition poorly at GC stores? no, but they keep me from trying out gear in any meaningful way.

 

[Ronzo]

do i hate the folks who play loud and in addition poorly at GC stores? no, but they keep me from trying out gear in any meaningful way.

So, @pcake, you and @Arie X saw Nathan East’s clinic at your GC, too?

 

[MynameisMe]

and guys attempting to slap to higher ground.
.

Always find your posts informative Pattycake.

 

[IamGroot]

on a serious note, last year, i was looking for a smallish combo and this year i'm testing cabs. and the problem is, i can't hear 'em. i'm looking for a tone that i like, and all i can hear is guitar players who turn up to rehearsal level and guys attempting to slap to higher ground. which means i can't hear the amps/cabs i'm going to a store to test in person rather than buying online where it's easier.

and unlike all those guitar players and flea-wannabes, who almost inevitably leave without buying anything, i wanted to buy something but i wanted to buy something i enjoyed hearing. that's why we go to stores for amps rather than - again - just ordering online. i blew out my right ear trying to get a slight idea of what those amps/cabs actually sounded like. and i still couldn't really hear them.

do i hate the folks who play loud and in addition poorly at GC stores? no, but they keep me from trying out gear in any meaningful way.

You dont hate them,....but I do..... with a hot and heavy hatred. This keeps yin and yang balanced and maintains our earth in a steady orbit.

 

[Acoop]

You also notice they travel in packs. ... Wanks don't walk alone. ... I did one long year in music retail and Saturdays were the worse. ... I learned pretty quick to spot who was looking and who was there to buy. ... And a friendly reminder of the horrors of 'warehouse acoustics' never ruined a sale.

 

[Cliff Colton]

GC wouldn’t sell many cabs and amps if there was a sign at the door that said: ‘Quiet Please!’

 

[Nashrakh]

I like the way local music retailers handle it:

A strict 'headphones only' policy (last I looked, they had enough multi fxs with headphone outs for the whole town). Customers specially interested in amps and cabs may test them out in dedicated rooms. I think it cuts down on goofs considerably, at least I never ran into one.

 

[Ronzo]

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.

I understand why your SO would do that. Back in 2000, I was getting ready to divorce my ex. I was upset, and I guess I was subconsciously looking for a “divorce present” for myself. I went into a nearby Sam Ash when I saw their ad for MIM Strats with a tweed gig bag for $399. Trying to keep my fear of imminent financial ruin in check, I pulled an Arctic White/maple board model off the wall and plugged in.

That guitar was magic. It felt right and sounded right immediately. It was “the one”.

I didn’t buy it. I left the store, and throughout the ride home I regretted it.

The following day at work in North Miami, I decided to see if all MIM Strats were that good. At that time, there was another Sam Ash nearby in Miami Lakes, and both a Mars Music and a Guitar Center less than a mile from my office. I took a long lunch hour and went to all three. And played about 40 MIM Strats.

None of them felt like the Arctic White one I played the night before. It was a night and day difference.

When I got back to the office, I frantically called the Sam Ash in Margate, and asked if the Arctic White was still hanging there. It was. I asked them to put it aside, and they took my credit card number to hold it. Immediately after work, I drove up there and played it again. It was still magic. I paid and walked out to the car, happy but scared.

It all worked out financially in the long run. And I still have that instrument today. If I hadn’t played the other 40-odd instruments, I would have lost it. And all three of the other stores got a lot of business from me thereafter, because they let me go through the process without interference.

 

[bound'n'blocked]

That won’t work because the guitar player starts to play the intro to Smoke on the Water, then the bass joins in with the root notes, and when it gets to the part where the bass gets to have some fun, the guitar player stops playing.

I've always wanted to do this:

Me, my guitar player and drummer, all go to GC. Walk in seperately, about 2-3 minutes apart. I go to the bass area, grab a bass and noodle. Guitar guy does the same and so does the drummer. Then the guitar player starts playing a song (we always talked about doing this with Highway Star), and then we just kinda go with it. The other two pick it up about where the vox start.

BnB

 

[IamGroot]

I like the way local music retailers handle it:

A strict 'headphones only' policy (last I looked, they had enough multi fxs with headphone outs for the whole town). Customers specially interested in amps and cabs may test them out in dedicated rooms. I think it cuts down on goofs considerably, at least I never ran into one.

You live in a much more orderly place.

BTW, when my children were young and we were in Austria, my 3 year old son screamed in a store and a women slapped him. There are some merits to this.

 

[Cliff Colton]

I've always wanted to do this:

Me, my guitar player and drummer, all go to GC. Walk in seperately, about 2-3 minutes apart. I go to the bass area, grab a bass and noodle. Guitar guy does the same and so does the drummer. Then the guitar player starts playing a song (we always talked about doing this with Highway Star), and then we just kinda go with it. The other two pick it up about where the vox start.

BnB

Sounds like a precision military operation. You should bring your own cables in case the counter employee is busy with a customer and the manager trying to work out a price match on a can of Finger-Ease.