Guitar Center - AAARRRRGH!!!

[mstreck]

I passed a Guitar Center while on the way back from a Mike Keneally clinic on Saturday. I stopped there with my wife and intended on actually shopping for the American Fat Strat that I've been on the lookout for... until we got in the door.

 

We ended up leaving instead of shopping because of all the racket - kids hacking out power chord riffs on amps cranked to 10 and a guy on bass cranking it out at "11". And this guy worked there! What was he thinking?

 

My wife ended up with a headache so my shopping trip was about 5 minutes long. I found the guitar I was looking for but it would have been a waste of time to plug it in. I wouldn't have been able to hear it unless I cranked it up to 10 and I wasn't about to do that to the customers who could still hear.

 

What's up with that? GC could have made close to a thoudand dollars if I would have liked that guitar enough after playing it. Instead they let non-buying customers chase us out the door.

 

Is it just me or does everyone have this experience when they go into GC???

 

Mike

[Djinn1973]

Yeah, I have had the same kind of thing happen at the one in Sacramento. LOUD, packed, and almost never worth the effort. But I think its like that with almost all "chain stores"

[doc taz]

I've been lucky so far. The last time I visited the GC in Queens in New York City, it was fairly quiet. I did try a few guitars and basses, but not at ear splitting volumes. I think you just came across a bad bunch.

 

I would've at least tried asking the manager if the kids and employee could turn it down a bit. I know I've been told to before. That was at a Sam Ash store, though, when I was shopping for a new bass.

 

Sometimes you gotta take the proactive course. Don't let the goddamned punks ruin your day.

[Guitar Geezer]

I was recently talking to the guys at the Local Mega Store (no GC here in SA..yet) about the same thing... Their position is...when it starts getting out of hand (usually saturdays0 One of them is appointed Amp Police...and starts posting the xeroxed sheets all over the place:

.

.

LIMIT 5 MINUTES

on AMPLIFIERS

.

.

.

But he also had a good point...you never know when the little wanker has Dad - and Credit Card...and is going to spring for that 5150!!!!

[Darklava]

I'm not trying to defend the annoying people

at guitar center,but if I'm laying down big

money for a les paul or marshall you bet

I'm going to give it a once over.Guitar Center

should have a sound room so you can try out the

gear.Some stores I've been in have such a room.

Whats annoying is the older musicians not giving

the younger kid's (hey way to go kid)instead of hey no playing stairway to heaven.Your killing

their spirt before it grows.It's been going on

at the guitar center store's for years after awhile you learn to tune it out.

[Pretzel logic]

I agree with Garvin. I can't even count how many times, as a teen, I spent half the day playing every guitar and amp in the store. It's like Disney Land for most people. When you grow up like i did, and you only get to buy a major piece of gear once every couple years, you spend alot of time trying stuff out.

[fallfast]

I won't go to GC on the weekends any more just because of the crowds and the noise. I'm just lucky I guess, there is one less than 2 miles from where I work. I can stop by during lunch and there is usually nobody else there. I can noodle around with all the gear I want and the sales staff for the most part are very good and helpful. In fact on several occasions 3-4 have shown up there and taken over a small room with the high end LPs and amps and jammed during lunch.

[Lee Flier]

Yeah, I have to say... as much as it annoys me to go to GC on a weekend (which I try not to do, I go on weekdays but I know a lot of people don't have that option)... for the first year that I played guitar I didn't own one. It took awhile for my parents to consent to getting me one. So I used to borrow friends' guitars, and/or I'd walk down to the neighborhood music store every day after school and they'd let me play. I don't know what I'd have done if they hadn't. And of course, I did eventually buy my first guitar there as well as several subsequent ones.

 

I should add though that this was a small store and they had a room specifically designated for people to try stuff out. GC does have a couple of smaller rooms for this purpose, but I try to picture myself at 12 going in there instead of my little neighborhood store, and I don't know... it's mostly too big and noisy to be able to get much done, it seems. I have several friends who work there and I'm about to go in there and try out some effects units, and we'll see how much I'm really able to hear what's going on.

[doc taz]

GC does have a return policy. Two weeks, I think. So if you find something that you like, you can always buy it, then return it for a full refund or exchange if you don't end up wanting it so bad that intimate nights with your lovely aren't worth it anymore. Don't abuse the piece, though or you might pay the restocking fee (15 percent I think).

 

It might also help to get in their mailing list, which isn't a bad idea if you buy gear and accessories frequently enough.

[Darklava]

Originally posted by Dr. Taz:

GC does have a return policy. Two weeks, I think. So if you find something that you like, you can always buy it, then return it for a full refund or exchange if you don't end up wanting it so bad that intimate nights with your lovely aren't worth it anymore. Don't abuse the piece, though or you might pay the restocking fee (15 percent I think).

 

It might also help to get in their mailing list, which isn't a bad idea if you buy gear and accessories frequently enough.

Yes that is correct Doc.But when you live

75 miles away from the nearest guitar center

it's a pain to drive back and forth all the

time.P.S Musicians friend ams who ever you

still pay freight on returns.

[Gruupi]

I can get annoyed at Guitar Center if it's to noisy to really check out the equipment I want. But I also remember being a teenager and young adult and being treated very rudely by music store staff. When I graduated from college I decided to buy myself my first professional grade instrument ( if there is such a thing). I would ask to play a Les Paul and would be asked "are you going to buy this today?". If I said I don't really know but I am in the market for one, some stores wouldnt even let me play it. I never went back to those stores, even for strings.

I think Guitar Center understands that even though the guy might not buy the amp he is looking at that day, he may save his money for 6 months or recieve it as a gift later. Guitar center is pretty good if you seem serious about making a purchase of setting you up in a quiet room to test out what you want. If you go on a saturday though, you are not going to get the best service. Try going during during the week.

You have to remember also that the kids today areas passionate about thier music as we were. Whether it's "better" or not is another discussion but I see a kid playing loud dropped D chords and I may be seing the guy in a few years onstage somewhere.

[strat0124]

I avoid those corporate stores like the plague. I'll drive out of my way to go to a mom and pop store....anyday.

[Darklava]

Originally posted by Gruupi:

I can get annoyed at Guitar Center if it's to noisy to really check out the equipment I want. But I also remember being a teenager and young adult and being treated very rudely by music store staff. When I graduated from college I decided to buy myself my first professional grade instrument ( if there is such a thing). I would ask to play a Les Paul and would be asked "are you going to buy this today?". If I said I don't really know but I am in the market for one, some stores wouldnt even let me play it. I never went back to those stores, even for strings.

I think Guitar Center understands that even though the guy might not buy the amp he is looking at that day, he may save his money for 6 months or recieve it as a gift later. Guitar center is pretty good if you seem serious about making a purchase of setting you up in a quiet room to test out what you want. If you go on a saturday though, you are not going to get the best service. Try going during during the week.

You have to remember also that the kids today areas passionate about thier music as we were. Whether it's "better" or not is another discussion but I see a kid playing loud dropped D chords and I may be seing the guy in a few years onstage somewhere.

[elferoony]

Originally posted by Gruupi:

But I also remember being a teenager and young adult and being treated very rudely by music store staff.

I agree. I hate having to wait 5-10 minutes for a cable.

[NMcGuitar]

I don't have a problem with the "kids" who just want to play, but they don't need to have the amps set at "11" all day to do it. They can (and should) be told to turn down.

 

I also don't mind the serious customer who needs to test the Marshall full-out before they drop big $$ on it. Fortunately, most serious players don't need to spend 45 minutes doing this.

 

So this adds up to:

I think GC gets loud & annoying when it doesn't need to, but I also think that you have to be ready to accept a certain amount of noise in a big music store (especially on weekends!! ).

[mstreck]

Yeah. I don't have a problem with anyone playing anything at GC. I'm in no position to be a critic... It's those insane (and unnecessary) volumes that I can't handle! It was definitely the "more ME" syndrome happening all over again! There were even a lot of customers complaining among themselves... you'd think that a store employee would have heard the others if I did. Maybe they did and just didn't care?

 

Maybe I'll take a day off work and go up at 1:00 in the afternoon.

 

Mike

[alguit]

I live near two Guitar Centers in New Jersey, and they certainly not free of the young players blaring drop-D riffs and playing at ear-splitting levels. However, most of the time the staff is pretty good at getting them to turn down, and there are those "loud lounges" that either they or I can go into.

 

Now, if I'm really there with the intent to buy, I'll gladly cart an amp into the lounge so I can put it through its paces. If I'm not there to buy, then I'm really not in a position to criticize the kids-even if I really, really, really dislike their song choices, buzzy tones, and generally poor technique.

 

I think the point has been well made above, most of us older players were probably annoying the heck out of others when we were younger, and I would have loved to have had a GC around when I was a kid-they truly are "candy store" for guitarists. Corporate bastards, yes, but lotsafun!

[ihategarybettman]

The noise level can be bad, and I too like to patronize small indie stores, but the great thing about GC is that you don't have to track down an employee to get a guitar (at least at the one in Buffalo); you're allowed to freely touch the merchandise and can walk up and play anything you want without asking.

[Tedster]

Who is Gary Bettman, and why do you hate him?

[Caevan O’Shite]

Originally posted by Grandpa Tedster:

Who is Gary Bettman, and why do you hate him?

He used to be a damn fine spawn of Satan, 'till he got mixed up in the administration of the NHL... !

[demarc]

I stop by the one in Hallandale Beach, FL periodically. Not my fav store, but I like to check stuff out.

 

One time I saw a Charvel / Jackson with Floyd Rose for 200. I wanted it, but too much for me at that time(can you say GAS?), but I checked back a few weeks after and found a Yamaha Pacifica fat strat(copy). It sounded sweet with no amp, but when plugged in was dead. I ended up with a deal at 40 and re-soldered the jack ground to make for a great little strat for cheap. That started another electric phase, after 10 years of just acoustic (call it a sabbatical....)

 

I still check back every now and then, looking for a deal. I will put up with the crap, if there is a silver lining....