It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:32 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 26 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2
Go to page Previous  1, 2
Author Message
Post subject:
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 6:57 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 2:55 pm
Posts: 238
Hollis Prince wrote:
Parents use GC as a baby-sitter.


I use GC to get free whammy bars :D




























Just kidding

_________________
Most people don't realize that large pieces of coral painted brown and attached to the skull by common wood screws can make a child look like a deer.


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Guitar Center is not McDonalds
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 6:58 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2008 6:05 pm
Posts: 65
Location: East of Texas, West of the Atlantic
McDonalds food tastes the same everywhere, but Guitar Center varies depending upon location. Some GC's have a lot of kids, others have customers that are way past 21. As for the Strat-a-thon, I got an American Standard Strat for $899.00 which is $100.00 less than their regular price.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:35 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2007 5:06 pm
Posts: 410
Location: Florida
I don't think that 10% is a big deal. If you could've waited 'till Black Friday your savings would've been 200 bucks (that's quite a bit). But not everyone can wait and I also don't know if all GC have the BF sale.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 7:37 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2007 4:36 pm
Posts: 2
GC is a great place to compare guitars side by side, gather info and such. I allways buy from the small local music stores. better service and most of them will compete with the GC price sometimes they are a little higher . I don't have a problem with that. I would rather keep MOM and POP in business :D


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:10 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:25 am
Posts: 356
I went to the local Guitar Center twice. Local, being about 35 miles away.

I had heard how wonderful and great they were - and how they had 'everything'.

My trips there was much the same as some of the posts here. The rock stars were out in force both times, with the line6 amps they were using turned up to the max. If they would bother to learn to play, it wouldn't have been so bad. But as it was, I couldn't stand very much of that.

I went there with the intentions of buying a Buddy Guy strat. The ash body sunburst model, not the MIM polka dot model. I figured, since they have everything, that they would be the place to go.

Well, the first time the rock stars were so obnoxious with their noise, that I left in disgust after a few minutes. I didn't have time to waste listening to that crap.

The next time, I went with enough time available to hunt down a sales person to get the guitar from stock for me. And hoping I had timed it when the kids weren't there.

No such luck. That 2nd time was almost a repeat of the first. As soon as I walked in the door, here are what appeared to be the same young people running to the line6 amps and just trying to see how much racket they can make.

Oh well ... so I find an employee and ask for the Buddy Guy strat. Well guess what, they not only don't have one, they NEVER stock them. (remember, they are supposed to have everything) The only way they will order one in is if I prepay for the guitar before they will place the order. What if I don't like the guitar, or something is wrong with it? Well, in that case, they will 'help' me sell it - for a fee, of course.

And what about those kids making so much noise that you can't hear well enough to judge the sound of a guitar or amp you are interested in? I was told they encourage that kind of thing. To which I replied - well if they are allowed and encouraged to do that, then it should be just fine if I do that too. He frowned - big time. I was tempted to grab a strat and crank a Twin Reverb to 10 for them. If I had had some ear plugs, I might have.

As it was, I just decided to leave and never go back. I'll buy somewhere else.

I did notice, like someone else said, that the guitars were either scratched, chipped and/or dirty and didn't look new. Even at a discount price, they would not have been a good deal.

What I don't understand is why any body would run a store that way. It was like they were trying to ruin their business. It doesn't make sense to me. But then I'm just an old gray haired guy, so what do I know. You gotta be young to know anything, right?? At least that's the way the green haired one there acted.

I haven't seen the add you mentioned - but after those two visits I wouldn't want anything they had. Nor would I trust anything they had to say.

I decided to wait on the Buddy Guy strat. And when I get ready to buy - there are plenty of other places to buy a guitar from. I don't have to drive 35 miles to be treated that way - I can get that locally, if I look hard enough and the place isn't already out of business.


Last edited by rholloman on Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 8:18 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:32 am
Posts: 390
Location: La-Z-Boy
I don't care for them. Go there to test out gear, not buy. Pretty much every guitar they have is basically reduced to a second from all the abuse from what I call "killswitch engage syndrome." And go during the weekdays when school is in session.

Sadly, I get their mailings from buying a power supply from them years ago. It's something to read whilst on the crapper.

_________________
It's okay, because the ball is on a string and attatched to the cup.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:23 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:47 pm
Posts: 91
i guess the GC near me is one of those exceptions. The 3 or 4 times I've been there is hasn't been that bad, even on that big "List" sale they had a couple weeks ago. I'll go there to try out amps before I decide what one I purchase, but since there aren't many options for music stores near me I'm undecided how I'll acquire my amp.

I also had no idea Musician's Friend is owned by GC...good to know.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:28 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 10:32 am
Posts: 390
Location: La-Z-Boy
mexstrat mike wrote:
I also had no idea Musician's Friend is owned by GC...good to know.


Yup, and the big parent company owns other stuff like Burger King, for example.

_________________
It's okay, because the ball is on a string and attatched to the cup.


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:31 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:40 pm
Posts: 873
Location: The Heartland
liveatsix wrote:
mexstrat mike wrote:
I also had no idea Musician's Friend is owned by GC...good to know.


Yup, and the big parent company owns other stuff like Burger King, for example.


Man that would be the place to go instead of the Mall a GC with a Burger King both sharing the motto have it your way.

_________________
I played on stage once, they kicked me off when the band arrived


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 9:49 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:58 pm
Posts: 7714
Location: Planet Earth
liveatsix wrote:
mexstrat mike wrote:
I also had no idea Musician's Friend is owned by GC...good to know.


Yup, and the big parent company owns other stuff like Burger King, for example.
It also owns Music 123 and Music & Art Center stores plus the web site Harmony Central its just a big advertisment for them not a community like this. Bain capital (Goldman Sachs) bought GC and it holdings almost a year ago for over 2 billion suposedly. They also own Toy r US ,Domino's Pizza , and Warner Music.

_________________
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson


Top
Profile
Post subject:
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:13 am
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician

Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:09 pm
Posts: 440
Location: Rochester, NY
And to think I started this thread because I thought the photo on the front cover looked odd...

I have mixed feelings about Guitar Center. The one near me is definitely one of the best, based on your stories. It's not often that you'll find kids playing as loudly as possible. In fact, the youngest people I've ever seen there were really good. There was one day that the store seemed to be filled, and it was loud, but not really because people were playing loudly, there were just a lot of people.

There was one guy playing a Jackson through a Marshall stack, as loud as he could... an employee actually told him to turn it down. He was probably 30.


Some of the employees are intelligent, others aren't. One was pushing a ladder and knocked over a Les Paul, which I caught by allowing the strings to stick into my hand, leaving a nice cut. But there are others who know what they're talking about.

I like the idea of supporting my local businesses, but at the same time, I have to remember that I'm a local business, and if the local store wants $700 for something Guitar Center was selling for $450, I'm going to Guitar Center.

Fortunately, we also have the Great House of Guitars relatively close. It's not the closest, so I don't go there often, but they will match the price of Guitar Center, or beat it, without any bargaining.


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 26 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2
Go to page Previous  1, 2

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: