Took a trip to GC

[Rayk]

I haven’t been to Guitar center in a long time . Had to take my kid to the dentist which down that way so when the dentist was done and he was nice and grumpy I said were going to Guitar Center .
Well that went over well , not so good and I got the eye roll along with other some faces and some or many mental words not spoken aloud .

anywho it was less then a gratifying experience . Not much as far as guitars go depending on interest .
I thought they had a Guild S100 Newark but nope ugh

I wanted to try a SG which they had under lock and key it was only priced at a 1,000 if it was unlocked I could of made out the door . Lol

so next to that a bunch of empty hangers and on it went . There was one section that was full but I’m not sure what they were .

In the acoustic room it wasn’t much better it seemed Taylor’s ruled the roost . There was a few Breedloves which I was curious to try out dead strings didn’t help but was not impressed at all . I just got to a point where I’d run my finger along the the strings from low E to high E while they hanging on the wall .

There was few Guilds westerly collection the F30 or what they call it now sounded better then the Breedloves which in a way was unexpected.

So that was that . I wasn’t going to mess with a 5 grand Taylor plus my son was out in the truck .

Only a few customers there counting me. I guess a sign off the times ? Some shops say there selling guitars left and right I guess it’s all online .

anyway I killed 30 min there Yaaaaay happy happy joy joy . lol

 

[DrumBob]

 

[Rayk]

Yeah that’s my thought as well to both my experience and typos which I hope I corrected . lol

 

[Westerly Wood]

Our GC is hopping. Good store and the employees seem generally happy to help. The west side store, not as enjoyable at east side store. Totally different feel. Interesting.

 

[Guildedagain]

Cliff notes;

Guitar Center

Less than gratifying experience

;]

I think I may have been permanently harmed by the few times I visited a GC. I'm not sure if there's compensation, maybe a class action thing. What I always found amusing about our local store was the super easy to steal sheet music right next to the door, as well as a goon to check your receipt.

Pedals are always behind glass, and Murphy's Law of visits to GC says the only pedal you're interested has the tag turned backwards and you can't read the price, but if you could, you'd walk away instantly because it is ridiculous.

The better guitars are so high up the wall that after eyeballing a 10 top PRS all the way up to the ceiling your neck may come back to haunt you years later like mine has.

The clerks barely understand the difference between guitar strings, and lie to you over the phone, you come in and they didn't have the strings you wanted but you're desperate so you buy some other strings that turn out to be total bunk. I still have some strings from a GC in Cali, stopped in on a road trip because I was finding guitars and needed strings, ahhh the good old days, the strings were some weird sales brands in sometimes odd sizes, turned out to be fairly unusable as in I still have some in a box somewhere and that says it all.

When I think about our local GC, I just automatically assume it would be closed by now, but probably not.

 

[davismanLV]

Our GC on the East side of town here used to be good. I've bought one guitar there. Don bought his Avalon there, too. It was nice with nice people but then the help became less helpful but I don't go there to be "helped" or learn stuff. I just go to look at the guitars and such. Then they remodeled. Put the high end acoustic room right next to the Amp room where people come in to play screaming solos and they're only separated by glass doors which they mostly keep open. Who thought of that?? I've only been back twice since the remodel. I've been meaning to go again. One day soon. If there's something I want to play I have no problem asking them to get it for me. That's what they're there for!! I actually tried to give them my business buying my last two guitars, but they were not interested. Easier to buy online with a return policy, no lie. But I'll go again soon. See what's up.

 

[Rayk]

Cliff notes;

Guitar Center

Less than gratifying experience

;]

I think I may have been permanently harmed by the few times I visited a GC. I'm not sure if there's compensation, maybe a class action thing. What I always found amusing about our local store was the super easy to steal sheet music right next to the door, as well as a goon to check your receipt.

Pedals are always behind glass, and Murphy's Law of visits to GC says the only pedal you're interested has the tag turned backwards and you can't read the price, but if you could, you'd walk away instantly because it is ridiculous.

The better guitars are so high up the wall that after eyeballing a 10 top PRS all the way up to the ceiling your neck may come back to haunt you years later like mine has.

The clerks barely understand the difference between guitar strings, and lie to you over the phone, you come in and they didn't have the strings you wanted but you're desperate so you buy some other strings that turn out to be total bunk. I still have some strings from a GC in Cali, stopped in on a road trip because I was finding guitars and needed strings, ahhh the good old days, the strings were some weird sales brands in sometimes odd sizes, turned out to be fairly unusable as in I still have some in a box somewhere and that says it all.

When I think about our local GC, I just automatically assume it would be closed by now, but probably not.

Makes you wonder how some of them keep their doors open .

 

[Rayk]

Our GC on the East side of town here used to be good. I've bought one guitar there. Don bought his Avalon there, too. It was nice with nice people but then the help became less helpful but I don't go there to be "helped" or learn stuff. I just go to look at the guitars and such. Then they remodeled. Put the high end acoustic room right next to the Amp room where people come in to play screaming solos and they're only separated by glass doors which they mostly keep open. Who thought of that?? I've only been back twice since the remodel. I've been meaning to go again. One day soon. If there's something I want to play I have no problem asking them to get it for me. That's what they're there for!! I actually tried to give them my business buying my last two guitars, but they were not interested. Easier to buy online with a return policy, no lie. But I'll go again soon. See what's up.

The one thing that’s good about the GC I went is the amps are on the open floor .
With the electrics.

there’s a set of doors across from that area that leads to the acoustic section . The doors are the only windows . There’s also a privacy room next to the acoustic room so you go in with whatever and play as loud as you want or get isolated to hear that nice acoustic .

The acoustic room is pretty good size and is L shaped and at that inside corner of the L there’s a large oak door which goes into the vault or the good acoustic guitar room . It’s nice and quiet and was a nice place to visit , not so sure now .

That’s suppose to be the high end room and I remember a associate getting upset that they had the Epiphone DR500MCE in there . I bought that guitar because at the time it sounded better then just about all the others , It was my introduction into all solid wood guitars so It was a score for me . Lol

Anyway now there were 600 buck guitars filling a fair amount of hooks around the room . Now they had as I mentioned mostly Taylor but they had a “few” Gidson and Martins . Kind of hate to say it two of the Taylor’s looked a lot better then the Gibsons and Martins .

I haven’t been back until yesterday in 2-3 years because nothing changes same O’l same O’l .

There’s a Sam ash on the East side of town traffic night mare every time so I don’t go there much either their acoustic room Is Ok but no option for a privacy room to play in so it becomes impossible to hear what your acoustic really sounds like amongst all the noise .

 

[SFIV1967]

I think it depends on the local manager and the staff there. More than 10 year ago I was pretty happy with the one in Beaverton South of Portland, OR, mind I went there for many years during the week on mornings so it was all empty and the staff was great. I bought a guitar there and also was close buying a second one there in 2011 which I still regret that I didn't... (a CS Martin).
Two more I liked were in Dallas, one on LBJ FW and the second on 75, just North of the city. I visited them for a few years, also always during the week when I was there. A friend bought his Martin EC there. They were well run I thought. Weekends are different, too many people.
Ralf

 

[Nuuska]

. . .The clerks barely understand the difference between guitar strings, and lie to you over the phone, you come in and they didn't have the strings you wanted. . .

HAH - had similar experience few years back when searching for ROUND - circle - ball - coin - etc - shaped eyeglasses for reading . . .
Called several shops in downtown - and some (re)plied - "Yeas - we have them" - so I went to check - and what did they have? - some oblong frames . . . - upon asking "Are these ROUND ?" - the answer was - "Yeah - kinda sorta . . . "

Ended ordering them from eBay - search word is Lennon . . .

 

[bobouz]

I think it depends on the local manager and the staff there. More than 10 year ago I was pretty happy with the one in Beaverton South of Portland, OR, mind I went there for many years during the week on mornings so it was all empty and the staff was great. I bought a guitar there and also was close buying a second one there in 2011 which I still regret that I didn't... (a CS Martin).

Ralf, I believe around that time, the manager at the Beaverton store was a fellow named Jake - super nice guy who had been at another GC across town prior to becoming the store manager. We used to share stories about how hard it was to hire & manage competent staff. He developed a nice vibe in that store, but l’m guessing his tenure there lasted no more than four or five years. Unfortunately, the high overall staff turnover rate will always doom Guitar Centers to the level of chaos we’ve come to expect in pretty much all big-box stores.

 

[walrus]

I have a GC relatively close that has always been fine to go into, never had any issues. Have bought a few guitars there, have returned a few. Same with another one about 40 minutes away. I've also been to one near Fenway Park, in Boston, about an hour away which is OK but not as customer-friendly.

But aren't we talking about ANY business? The manager can make a huge difference, and high turnover will make a manager's job much harder. These are not unique problems to Guitar Center. You can find employees who are not interested in learning about the products they sell at any store you go to.

Even my local music shop, decades in business, has shifted to a slightly different model since being bought by a new owner. A few of the same people there but several new people who do not seem as interested in chatting or being overly friendly. They've gone to selling more of GC's type of stock, although they are still a Guild dealer. But the overall "homey" atmosphere is gone, it left with the previous owner.

walrus

 

[SFIV1967]

Ralf, I believe around that time, the manager at the Beaverton store was a fellow named Jake.

Possible. The sales guy who sold me a guitar in 2006 was Matthew James Sasser, he is one of the guitar players in Portland based band "El Gringo Mariachi" (he is not shown in the video below, I posted it only because their band leader Joshua Josue owns a nice 1967 (?) Starfire V )






Ralf

 

[sailingshoes72]

I enjoyed that song “Big Train”. If the SF V is the guitar he tracked with in the studio… it has a beautiful, bell-like tone!

 

[Norrissey]

their band leader Joshua Josue owns a nice 1967 (?) Starfire V!)

That Starfire sounds sweet! '60s Starfires are awesome!

I am fortunate to live near the Pasadena, CA Guitar Center, it's a good one and the repair people there are better than the best known luthiers in LA who seem to ride on reputation and do their best work for famous musicians and phone it in for non-famous people like me.

 

[Guildedagain]

I saw a Martin EC when they just came out, at GC, played it, wow... It was the only Martin there I'd even look at.

 

[mavuser]

Guitar Center...
"hi id like to buy this pack of strings for $5.99"

"no problem, whats your phone number? whats your address? whats your email address? whats your mothers maiden name? whats the capital of South Dakota? ok now wait right here for another 25 minutes"

 

[davismanLV]

Guitar Center...
"hi id like to buy this pack of strings for $5.99"

"no problem, whats your phone number? whats your address? whats your email address? whats your mothers maiden name? whats the capital of South Dakota? ok now wait right here for another 25 minutes"

Exactly!! LMFAO!!!

 

[Guildedagain]

Pierre

 

[dreadnut]

Guitar Center...
"hi id like to buy this pack of strings for $5.99"

"no problem, whats your phone number? whats your address? whats your email address? whats your mothers maiden name? whats the capital of South Dakota? ok now wait right here for another 25 minutes"

Do you have any blind one-legged chickens? Do any of them play the oboe?