Guitar Center, opinions?

[rvai]

what do you think about this stores?
compared to the prices, quantity of guitars, the way the people at the store treat you and all that stuff, that we have in mexico gc is like heaven
but what are your opninions?
in july im going to las vegas, so if you know any better stores or with better prices let me know because I´m buyin massive amounts of gear lol

[alecmm61]

sam ash? i htink there prices are a bit better than guitar centers.

[shreddersymphony]

There is NOTHING worse than guitar center. Seriously I'd rather make out with an old lady than go to guitar center and shop there. It's a cancer on the face of the entire world of musicians. If i had the means monetarily I'd open up a shop with no other intention than making sure that guitar center files for chapter 11. I can easily name 5-6 experiences there off the top of my head to support my point that GC = tumor (and some stories about sam ash and daddys as well). If you want em, just ask.

Sam Ash and Daddys are really no better (well, only a little). All of those stores with commissioned sales people are to be avoided like the plague. Anything there can be had online for much cheaper, and with a lot more detailed info on the product than the clueless berklee dropouts that work there can provide.

NOTE: not all people who work in these stores are morons. I put this note here to avoid pissing off a person on jemsite who might work there and be like "hey im not a moron!". There are some good folk working there but they are FEW and FAR between.

[rvai]

Originally Posted by shreddersymphony

There is NOTHING worse than guitar center. Seriously I'd rather make out with an old lady than go to guitar center and shop there. It's a cancer on the face of the entire world of musicians. If i had the means monetarily I'd open up a shop with no other intention than making sure that guitar center files for chapter 11. I can easily name 5-6 experiences there off the top of my head to support my point that GC = tumor (and some stories about sam ash and daddys as well). If you want em, just ask.

Sam Ash and Daddys are really no better (well, only a little). All of those stores with commissioned sales people are to be avoided like the plague. Anything there can be had online for much cheaper, and with a lot more detailed info on the product than the clueless berklee dropouts that work there can provide.

NOTE: not all people who work in these stores are morons. I put this note here to avoid pissing off a person on jemsite who might work there and be like "hey im not a moron!". There are some good folk working there but they are FEW and FAR between.

so what are some bette stores to shop at? also if you could tell me your bad experiences I´d appreciate it

[shreddersymphony]

Originally Posted by rvai

so what are some bette stores to shop at? also if you could tell me your bad experiences I´d appreciate it

Experience 1: Guitar Center

I walk in, hoping to check out the Jackson DK2M (it was just released at the time). I grab one off the wall. It's so out of tune that I think someone must have literally taken it off the wall, opened the locking nut, grabbed all the tuners at the same time and yanked them in opposite directions as hard as they could at random intervals. I think they damn near invented a new tuning.

Anyway, I manage to get it back in tune. I then approach a "guitars manager" and ask him what high gain amps they have in stock. He names a few mesas, some peaveys, I finally settle on this nice Soldano cuz that's the kind of tone I like. I grab a stool, and sit down. I literally played 3 power chords and he was right behind me with "oh man, that guitar sounds so awesome! oh dude, you gonna be takin' that bad boy home today? You should totally pick it up, you f'in slay on that thing!" Enough said, I think.

Experience 2: Daddys

1). There was the time I called the store and the manager of the store couldnt tell me if the guitar he was holding IN HIS HANDS was a bolt on or a neck thru (it was one of those jackson soloists that there wasnt too much info about online).

2). I once put a down payment on a guitar they had, to send it over from one store to one near me so I can try it and buy it. I called a week later asking where my guitar is, and they told me that they sold it. So, the commissioned sales ahole over at the store sold it to someone, TOTALLY ignoring my down payment because he wanted the commission for himself. That aside, the lady at my store handling the whole fiasco was very sweet and polite about it and made sure to point out what a dick he was and that she would report him to the administration.

And so on and so on. I dont recommend shopping at any stores nowadays really. There arent many good ones. There are some cool mom and pop shops, I've been to mattsmusic and I really dig their environment and knowledge about the instruments they're selling.

[kotornut]

Originally Posted by shreddersymphony

And so on and so on. I dont recommend shopping at any stores nowadays really. There arent many good ones. There are some cool mom and pop shops, I've been to mattsmusic and I really dig their environment and knowledge about the instruments they're selling.

Even here in customerserviceland I hate going to our equivalent of GC. Although, they do always take the guitar and tune it with a tuner and they also lock up the guitars so you have to ask for assistance to play a guitar. That sucks when everyones busy and you have to wait around, but it's great when the guitars are still in new condition. I still hate all the pressure from sales reps and so on.

The problem is that mom and pop stores don't have great selections. I love the guys at this place here in Nagoya called Real Standard. They have some cool stuff. They have some nice Schecters Japanese Custom superstrats not the Diamond series and great Fenders and a few high end fender copies called Van Zandt. But all of these are high dollar and to be honest all are Strats or teles. So there isn't much choice. But as far as service and tech goes I won't go anywhere else. They also have a great practice studio with great equipment.

[shreddersymphony]

Originally Posted by kotornut

Even here in customerserviceland I hate going to our equivalent of GC. Although, they do always take the guitar and tune it with a tuner and they also lock up the guitars so you have to ask for assistance to play a guitar. That sucks when everyones busy and you have to wait around, but it's great when the guitars are still in new condition. I still hate all the pressure from sales reps and so on.

The problem is that mom and pop stores don't have great selections. I love the guys at this place here in Nagoya called Real Standard. They have some cool stuff. They have some nice Schecters Japanese Custom superstrats not the Diamond series and great Fenders and a few high end fender copies called Van Zandt. But all of these are high dollar and to be honest all are Strats or teles. So there isn't much choice. But as far as service and tech goes I won't go anywhere else. They also have a great practice studio with great equipment.

Exactly dude. I would rather have to wait 5-10 mins to try out a guitar and get it in mint-y condition and in tune and setup than be able to just pull it off the wall and have it be totally f'd up. And the selection thing is true as well, that's why i shop at the store with the biggest selection in the world - the internet . In reality though as most people know, I prefer to deal with a SINGLE person when im talkin' bout buying guitars, so I work with a local luthier to build what I want/need. He's been a buddy of mine for over a year now, gives me great deals because I bring him a bunch of business (literally 40-50% of what he charges other people for similar stuff), does free setup work for me when I need it, and stands behind his work 100%. When he missed a deadline we set to finish my 2nd custom guitar, he freaking drove it up to where I live for me the following week. That's about a 250 mile + trip each way. Compare that to places like Guitar Center who won't even apologize when a guitar they said was gonna take a week to come in takes 8. And those are the reasons why he gets all my money and guitar center gets none (although I once had to emergency-buy strings there...couldnt help the situation).

[DEADTUNES666]

I've said in various threads, but the GC by me in Moosic PA is wonderful. They know me by name, in all the departments. I've purchased amps-pedalboards-drum hardware-keyboard parts-guitars...I just purchased a Parkwood there and enjoyed fantastic service...

The GC in NJ blew dog poop it's true, but I still bought stuff from there...Got my Jem 20 from the East Brunswick store (the address was 666 Rt 18 by the way...right up my alley )

The GC here is just a wonderful mix of salesguys happy to have a GC in this area finally, so they don't take it for granted. Again because it's still fairly new you get that close knit mom and pop feel but with a superstore mentality (that's a positive by the way)

The GC has energized a pretty good scene out here and excited it enough to get even better...

[shreddersymphony]

Originally Posted by DEADTUNES666

I've said in various threads, but the GC by me in Moosic PA is wonderful. They know me by name, in all the departments. I've purchased amps-pedalboards-drum hardware-keyboard parts-guitars...I just purchased a Parkwood there and enjoyed fantastic service...

The GC in NJ blew dog poop it's true, but I still bought stuff from there...Got my Jem 20 from the East Brunswick store (the address was 666 Rt 18 by the way...right up my alley )

The GC here is just a wonderful mix of salesguys happy to have a GC in this area finally, so they don't take it for granted. Again because it's still fairly new you get that close knit mom and pop feel but with a superstore mentality (that's a positive by the way)

The GC has energized a pretty good scene out here and excited it enough to get even better...

Count yourself lucky dude. I've been to over 12 of them. Everyone has sucked about equally.

[rvai]

any of you guys know everything about guitar center las vegas?
keep posting your thoughts!

[TMatt142]

I'd like to add some more ammo to Shredders rant. GC suck for what reasons....?

1. I go in to buy an S-470 (back in 03' when the ZR first came out). So the saleman is sayin "This ZR will NEVER go out of tune...this is the wave of the future....you gotta pick this up man.." So after hearing his rant about the tuning stability, I drop coin for it...as well as a GT-6. I get home with my new toys...Can't keep the thing in tune at all! I look a bit closer and the trem studs aren't in alignment with one another...weird..but true...So I call and tell them what's going on....He says, "Well we have another one identical to it at our other store. The other store being another 45 min away. I'm like cool, I'll bring the guitar back in. So that's what I do, bring it in, they look it over and agree that mine should be swapped for another. So then he says.....Ok, so you know where the other store is located? I'm like...yes but, isn't someone going to bring it up from the other store for me?? He just says, "well we really didn't bank on that.." I just replied, "yeah but you sure did bank my $800 plus I just layed down here. I yanked the receipt out of his hand and drove down to pick up my S.

2. Just this past weekend, wife and kids are gone visiting relatives, so I plan some time to head down to GC to pick up some strings and maybe a new pickup. Plus it's nice to browse a bit, check out the new gear. I get to the gear counter and ask the kid "I need two packs of 7-string, strings. One set will be .09's, the other .10's. He turns to the guy working next to him and asks.....Do we have any 7-string strings?" Guys like, yeah right there. The kids pulls ONE pack off the wall and tosses in my general direction. "Is that all you need?" I'm like, no, I need two sets, one in .09's, the other in .10's, Not these .11's...."Oh, sorry dude, that's all we have" he says.......ON top of that...not one frigin Dimarzio pickup did I see...not one...All EMG, Gibson. That place needs to burn!!!! All they do is cater to the next big fad. Cripes! It's GUITAR CENTER...The name denotes all things GUITAR!!! Flippin morons.......(not all, just most). The best place to shop for all things guitar is right here online!

[shreddersymphony]

Amen brother, amen.

[DEADTUNES666]

I think too many guys expect way too much from GC, so that when you get there it can only be horrible. The GC in NJ was bad, but it was always packed with 75-100 customers at all times, and only like 4 sales guys. It was high volume, plus high pressured employees to perform and sell their @sses off. If you go in thinking these guys know everything there is to know you're bound to feel screwed...chances are they're just some musicians working for the weekend, and trying to get by

[shreddersymphony]

Originally Posted by DEADTUNES666

I think too many guys expect way too much from GC, so that when you get there it can only be horrible. The GC in NJ was bad, but it was always packed with 75-100 customers at all times, and only like 4 sales guys. It was high volume, plus high pressured employees to perform and sell their @sses off. If you go in thinking these guys know everything there is to know you're bound to feel screwed...chances are they're just some musicians working for the weekend, and trying to get by

I certainly dont expect that from guitar center. I expect them to be moderately knowledgeable about the gear, to maintain the gear in relatively decent working order, and to give me more than 3 power chords to try an instrument before breathing down my neck and trying to pressure me into a sale. Every single one I've walked into, from the moment i stepped in I could tell that to them I was a giant dollar sign. I know they dont make a lot of money and commission is important to them, but I would be MUCH more willing to drop big bucks with a salesperson there if they treated people like valued customers and not like some person annoying them.

[jallen]

Originally Posted by TMatt142

ON top of that...not one frigin Dimarzio pickup did I see...not one...All EMG, Gibson. That place needs to burn!!!! All they do is cater to the next big fad. Cripes! It's GUITAR CENTER...The name denotes all things GUITAR!!! Flippin morons.......(not all, just most). The best place to shop for all things guitar is right here online!

Kind of afraid to admit it, but I used to work at a GC back in the day. I can tell you that the locations used to have some autonomy in what was ordered... not much, but some. Being a bit of a pickup nerd, I always special ordered a bunch of DiMarzio, Duncans, etc. to have on hand. I had a few guys who I worked with as well who would special order some pretty obscure stuff, often for specific customers. I would agree that if you get someone who knows their stuff they can really set you up. But I will also admit that it can be very hard to find those people in most GC's I've been in. The other problem is turnover- most of the people you find in GC who are really competent are on their way somewhere else...

Also, now that I live in the middle of nowhere I kind of miss being able to go to ANY larger guitar store, no matter what it is!