Haha I know how you feel with those little kids. I just am leary about Guitar Center. My buddy told me that he took his guitar into the Guitar Center store and asked for his neck to be fixed. The not only broke the neck, but they charged him for it. And he just got the guitar...from them.

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“The guitar is a small orchestra. It is polyphonic. Every string is a different color, a different voice.”


- Andreas Segovia

Wow thats terrible. I am blessed that my guitar teacher also sets guitars up for a lot of guys so whenever I have any issues I take it to him. Something I am thankful for. Ya know with it being thanksgiving and all.

Local stores do have a charm. Sometimes when you walk into a big chain your just a drop in the ocean and nobody really cares.

I couldn't agree more with you.

I try my absolute best to stray people away from Guitar Center only because you're just a number there.

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“The guitar is a small orchestra. It is polyphonic. Every string is a different color, a different voice.”


- Andreas Segovia

A very good buddy of mine opened a music store just before Long and McQuade came into town-talk about bad timing-and because he couldn't compete with their low prices especially after just starting up he had to abandon the venture.Another buddy of mine who owns Reid Music in near by Mt. Pearl had enough established clientelle to weather out the competition from Long and McQuade and matches any of their advertised prices and has given me deals that L&M can't match.Even though the manager of L&M is an old schoolmate of mine I prefer to do business with my locally owned Mom & Pop as the profits stay here and don't go into the pockets of well heeled shareholders in Toronto. A buddy of mine ordered some pickups and other guitar parts through a national chain 3 months ago and was told that he would get them in 10 days but had to prepay as they said they'd been burned before by people who ordered stuff and didn't want it when it arrived yet they won't refund his money insisting that the parts are in transit-they must be coming by way of a very old horse and cart.Mom and Pop stores value their customers too much to do things like that.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

ther is a local owned store that is about a mile from where i now live. i took my first lesson there in 1960.

the only problem i have is that they have a limited selection of products, so if there is something other than the most popular products, they won't have it there for me to try. they offer to order it in, and if i don't want it there is no obligation to try. i don't like having to do this-it's not fair to the owner. he has to pay for the product.

the other option is to visit another store, try the product, and go back to the other place and have him order it. i have a job in sales, and don't believe in having somebody spend his time with me, only to turn around and get it elsewhere.

it's tough for the small guy to survive these days. my company was purchased by an international company 5 years ago. it was tuff at first, but i hung in there, and this company can offer many things that i could not offer my accounts when i was with a small company.

I was in a similar situation a while back. My favorite new instruments store moved an hour and a half away from my place. Now he's out of the game totally. The guy gave me $1,300 available credit every year! Now if I want to buy a new P or J bass(which I really don't have the need to)...no can do. I had been going there since they started.

The local store in my town is run by an arrogant $@!&*,that's the truth,when she first started out long ago all of the local guys bought from her and we helped build her business up from selling strings and stuff out of her house to having a large building,she would give us good deals and she could be nice at times depending on her moods.
But over time she started catering to beginner musicians and selling mostly bottom line guitars and gear.
In her arrogance she has lost the business of most of my friends by either completely cheating them or in my case,running her bitchymouth and trying to humiliate me,that was years ago and I drive 40/50 miles to buy my stuff,I'll never walk into her store again.....and I hope she reads this,she's lucky I didn't tell her where to go and what she could do when she got there,but my mama raised me better.

I read through the forums and I couldn't find a "Introducing Myself Thread" so I figured this might be a good place to start as any based upon my recent experiences.
I put down my bass in 1985 after 7 years of playing in party bands and in clubs. 25 years later, the band mates get together and decided to see if we could play again and after a few rough rehearsals (with potential) on a borrowed guitar, I decided to buy a bass and amp.
There are a few chain stores in my area and one indy. The band's guitar player recommends GC and I had another friend who worked in the same store many years ago, I figure what the hey.
I walk into the store, start playing basses and settle on a bass and small practice amp. Within 4 days, I return the first bass an Ibanez SR200M for an Ibanez SR300M. After the first rehearsal, the amp is traded for a bigger amp. 3 weeks later the second amp is returned for a Bassman 250/210. Two and half months later, 15 days out of "Protection Plan" status, the Ibanez SR300M is traded @ full original price toward a new, Fender Marcus Miller Sig J Bass.
Every individual I came in contact with was professional, courteous and knowledgeable. In my personal situation they went the extra mile and then some. Did they remember my name? Not each salesman but they knew who I was. I can't complain about that though, when I sold cars for many years, I could remember a face but couldn't for the life of me remember a name.
I have a long way to get back in many ways. In other aspects, I'm a better player after 2.5 months than I was in 7 years.
Thanks and I look forward to reading more here!

Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy your stay. Lots of good people here........ Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

I don't know if it my age (60) but no matter where I shop I get attitude
(I guess they think what does this old gezer want to buy his grand kids?)

Then when I finally get someone to help me I start rattlling off model numbers then all of a sudden it's HOW YA DOIN' BUDDY!!!

This burns my butt big time. It is hard enough to find lefty guitar as it is without attitude...

Two years ago I went to buy a Lefty Gretsch 6122 Country Gentleman from a retailer where I live (they told me Gretsch don't make lefty's, told them to check the Gretsch site (this retailer was listed as an authorized seller) I also mentioned I had seen one on the net but I wanted to buy it where I live (what a consept) any way I went to another retailer (45 min. away) they told me they could have one in two weeks, needless to say two weeks & $2700. cdn I had my Gretsch.

Went back to the first retailer with my new Gretsch & politely suggested if they had better customer service they would have had the sale,

I don't think they cared, thing is, since then I have purchased the following lefty guitars, but not from them... good service = $$$$$$

MIM Jazz Bass
MIM Strat
MIM Tele
Hwy1 Strat
Epi Les Paul plus top
Epi Dot
Epi SG G400

Don't have much around here besides Long & McQuade but the guys in my local store are a great bunch. They always look after me really well. With the exception of my Jr., my YGM-1 and my old Fender acoustic I've gotten everything from them.

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Donnmac

'09 American Deluxe Strat Sunburst Rosewood
'63 Les Paul Jr SG body
'80's Fender F 15 Acoustic
'09 Larrivee D 03RE
'09 Squier Affinity J Bass
'10 Martin D12X1AE
'66 Traynor YGM1 (tube)
'08 Traynor TRM30
'11 G-DEC 30 Blues
'09 Fender Rumble 15

I see I just went to the other store today and they were closed, but I was going to give them my information to teach lessons again.

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“The guitar is a small orchestra. It is polyphonic. Every string is a different color, a different voice.”


- Andreas Segovia

my local store closed to du to lack of customers. only one within 20km to.

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riley

Man that bites. I took a ride past the one down my street and I am just thankful I bought my amazing guitars from him while he was still here.

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“The guitar is a small orchestra. It is polyphonic. Every string is a different color, a different voice.”


- Andreas Segovia