A few laughs after my trip to Guitar Center

[jem7vwh]

I visited the two of Houston's three Guitar Centers this weekend and I thought I might share my amusement with you guys.

1. The Search for an Ibanez JEM.

I couldn't find a JEM anywhere. Seriously. I finally asked the salesdood who replied, "We sold our last one a while ago, I don't know why we don't have anymore. But have you checked out Schecter?". These aren't even comparable! I asked for a guitar with a list price of $2399.99 and I was referred to some POS Schecter blue light special at $499.

2. The Search for Sane Pricing.

GC has been expanding their selection of used gear over the last few months. Unfortunately, they seem to be pricing based on their mood at the time they buy the gear. On my visit I saw the following items.

Ibanez RG-470 circa 1990 beat to hell, $799
Ibanez Roadstar circa 1988 cracked neck, $499
Marshal JCM-800 head white and beat to hell, $1099
Peavey 5150 combo, mint condition, $500
Tom Anderson custom guitar, near mint $799

They were selling a Tom Anderson in great shape for the same price as the POS 470. Furthermore, they wanted more than twice as much for a pos white tolexed marshall than a brand new 5150. The 5150 sold before I could buy it or else I'd be even happier. Not all of the prices were bad, but some were so out of whack with reality I wondered who they put in charge of pricing.

My point here really is that Guitar Center makes me laugh due to their sheer incompetance.

[Given to Fly]

Their used pricing is pretty off sometimes. I got a mint (except for some yellowing of the paint) UV7PWH for a little over $900.

[screamndemon69]

i visited GC in Arlington, VA over the summer and bought a new Gibson Explorer for less than they wanted for a beat up used model - go figure? they had a used UV7BK that was marked $1099 - not too bad. a new JS that they were asking the same $ for as well. they wanted over $1400 for each of the two used Tom Anderson models on the wall.
they were trying to sell the UV to a customer that couldn't play a trem guitar, none the less play a seven, "you'll get used to the trem and the seventh string in NO time at all!".
i work in a local music store (Band Central Station) and my big thing is to fit the right piece of gear or guitar with the customer. you end up building a relationship with your customers when you actually care about what they buy and use. just my 2 cents.

[jemaholic]

Unfortunately, we'll see lots more of this as long as they continue to have the "retail sales" mentality. Sam Ash initiated this "cheap" music sale mentality years ago. I worked at Sam Ash in NYC 18 years ago and it hasn't changes a bit.

On the bright side, real musicians will seek out the "boutique" stores with educated people who can talk about the instruments and care about what you buy.

P.S.- not ONE of those type store has a fraction the info as Rich H. has on his WEBSITE FOR FREE.

Think about that.....

[sindlei]

well Rich is just awesome.

[ChrisReedSmith]

Hi Guys. I work at a Guitar Center.

Only excuse I can give as to the off center pricing of used gear is this...Guitar Center is blooming and growing faster then they can aquire good help. All of that mis-marked gear you find, or any salesperson who sounds like a moron, probably is.

Its so hard to find good help these days.

What do most musicians do? (Not all), DRUGS. Guess who show up to get jobs at GC? ...Musicians???

There is lots of great people and talent at the GC I work at, and Im sure others will agree about other stores too. I personally would like to think most of my customers love me. Im honest, knowledgable, and helpful.

But as I said. With over 120 stores chain-wide, 30 new stores opening within the next year, and going international to Europe and Japan, we must be doing some right. No?

Its so hard to find good help these days.

[screamndemon69]

just curious Madwell, what state or condition are most of the New electric guitars in your or other GC stores? i am only asking because the GC i went to (the only one i've been to) had bad strings and set ups on almost every guitar i picked up (i was there 5hrs trying out guitars). i know they have a massive inventory to keep tabs on, but are the instruments getting neglected in this process or was it a fluke in the GC i went to?
i was kind of sad to see/play some beautiful instruments that were new stock with huge chips and dings (a massive amount of PRS were were almost all flawed in some way).

[Dylan7620]

i saw a used rg7620 for $799, then a mesa dc-5 combo for $550. where do they get these guys?

[adamcbest]

yeha the guitar center by me always has bad setups.. stuff is never in tune. i played a jem a couple times i was there that had the high e tuned down to almost a Bb and had the nut locked. then i asked for a wrench to fix it myself and it took them like 15 minutes to find one. i found similar tings with their other high end models too. A lot of the PRSs at the store had finishing problems. I think guitar center might get like the factory flawed models for a lot of their stuff

another thing that ticked me off (someone else before said something about neglected inventory) was when i asked to play that Jem. they had it on the top tier on the ibanez wall. in front of the wall on the floor they had about 15 low end ibanezes on stands. they had to move those out of the way to get the ladder in, and they sure didn't do it carefully. they let them all bang together; they hit them with the ladder. it's stupid.

MADWELL, you work there. whats the pay rate like and do you get benefits/commissions and stuff?? I don't do drink or do drugs at all and i really enjoy helping people pick out stuff. I actually plan on opening my own guitar store someday. I suppose working at a store for a while could show a bit what its about. I know I'd sure keep my stuff in better shape than what GC does.

[ChrisReedSmith]

Umm. Well.

I guess if I had to sum it up. Some people can have great experiences with us, some can have bad. The pay. Pretty much sucks. The vibe? Can be cool sometimes. But its totallu corporate.

It has its ups and downs. And the downs really f'in suck.
As of right now Im not really feeling it. I dont know I just woke up.

Sorry.

[jay ratkowski]

Guitar center used stuff rocks. Just tell them the price you want and they'll usually bite on it. Chances are that guitar has been there for over a month and they want it gone.

I've picked up a lot of good stuff at GC used. P3 for I think $700, JEMPBK for about the same, several other goodies. It's very easy to talk them down to 70% of the asking price. If you're real good you can get to 50%.

[Gresh]

I agree, I've had great luck getting deals on used gear in there...and stuff that's been around for a looooong time. Trick is to find someone that you can get on with and just go to them for everything, they'll work whatever deal they can to move it. The markup on used stuff is enormous usually, so they have lots of room to move on some pieces.

[jay ratkowski]

If you can make buddies with someone there, you're in like Flint.

In the Chicago (lincoln park) store, I hadn't been there in like 2.5 years and my regular guy still remembered me when I went back... I don't think he's there anymore, but I used to get used stuff almost free. Love it! Now I need to go back.

Too bad all the new GC store models suck. All cheap stuff that moves quick and no used.

[sandman]

a GC close to me had a used SLO with the Haynes, SRV and Depth mods for $3999.99 ... a brand new one with those mods would cost around $3500...

[jemaholic]

Check This Out:::::::::::::::

AMS catalog with Alanis on the cover has a MISPRINT price on Neuman microphones.

I brought the catalog into GC and played dumb saying "...I thought you guys will match EVERY qualified price???"

Well.....THEY DID, without even checking online. Got 2.
That deal alone cost them almost a grand.

Snooz, ya lose..........