Guitar Center stories good and bad

[Jeff White]

Yeah, I'm totally psyched, hope that they show up new etc. Sometimes I hate taking chances, but this seems legit.

Anyway, GC sucks.

[scottiedoo]

I bought a replacement 421 mic clip from sweetwater a few months back via the web. I now get calls like every couple weeks on my personal cell phone in the middle of the day from the sales rep that handled my $20 transaction, trying to sell me shit for my studio.... I bought a damn mic clip!! it's not like I'm some big spender or anything.... quit bugging me!!!!!

about GC.... just the other day I was in desparate need of a remo 22" clear powerstroke kick drum head during a session... not evans... not aquarian.... not a coated head... just the most common kick head in existance that I've been using exclusevly for like 10 years now... I called the tacoma store(35 min. away) to make sure they had one in stock, they did...I drove there... then they didn't... I stated that I really needed one and would settle for a coated powerstroke, but since they told me on the phone they had the clears & they didn't that I should get a few bucks knocked off... no way dude... I said I would rather drive in traffic to the next-nearest GC to pay full price for the clear one I wanted.. so he called the other store... they had 5 of them... are you sure???? I'm POSITIVE he says... I drive in traffic another hour to the tukwilla location... and wouldn't you know it... they dont have any clear powerstrokes in the store... except the ones in the "pre-packs" which "can't be separated".... so I tell him my sob story... ask for a price break on the coated version... no way dude... now I'm just pissed so I track down a manager wait like a half hour for him to finish what he was doing... I tell him what happened... he walks me back to the drum dept. and sells me a $40 kick head for like 16 bucks.... even though it wasnt the one I wanted and I had to deal w/ all that crap... I still got head for cheap!!

[chovie d]

pfffffffft. IIIII get postcards signed by my salesdude saying thanks and offering me a free (shitty) guitar cable or a pair of (balsawood) drumsticks with my next purchase (over $10). so chovie, go get me a latte and tune my drums already.

oh man, I'll tune your drums but I dont think you really want that.
I got one of them postcards too (I know I know ...SURE you did chovie!)
No really...it was weird, cause the salesdude was actually a sales lady and she was goo-goo-gaga-ing all over me...and you know I'm no Kip Winger so I was kinda surprised...then i get postcard from her saying come and back and see me anytime (for a set of free strings with any $500 purchase!)
yeah baby!!

Im married or I woulda worked my Pickup Artist moves on her. Perhaps opened her set with a gambit , and then thrown a couple negs...maybe try and bounce her to the starbucks across the street and score some Kino.

see, and you guys thought GC sucked.

[Rolsen]

I went to GC to try out a sansamp bass di. In the 'pedal' section, they provide a crappy bass and bass amp - I didn't care so much about that, but I was highly annoyed by the Nickelback blasting from their sound system. One of the store speakers was right overhead. I asked if the clerk could find a way to subdue the volume for just one minute - he said he would try. Never happened, and I didn' buy the sansamp. I'll order it online and not pay sales tax.

[dune5233]

ME: Well, we're running three HD systems and have a pair of Studer A-800 tape machines.
SALESGUY: Still using tape huh? You should check out the firepod. Get into the digital world.

I just pissed myself!!!

I got in to a argument with a sales person at the GC in Cherry Hill NJ. It was around the time those Trident preamps came out about 2-3 years ago that were going for $1000 a pop. He was telling this dude that they were made in the same factory where they manufactured the A range consoles. I called his bullshit, which made everybody so uneased that they left that part of the sales floor. Even the other sales people left. When i told him that all the A Range board were made by hand by Malcolm Toft where ever he was sitting at the time, he snap back "NO ONE CAN MAKE A MIXER BY HAND!!!" After that everytime i had to go to that GC that kid would not look at me. Jump to 3 years later i move to NY and i am walking by the GC on 14th street and 5th ave and guess who is standing outside smoking... the same sales guy!! he see me and gives off a face of horror then flicks his cigarette and runs back in to the store.

[C_R_J]

i got yelled at by a kid workin there a few days ago. no one in town has my kick drum head right now, and i wanted one immediately, so i figured id check there. nope. dont got it. so i see a brand new dw kit set up and ready to play. i grab some sticks and start playin quietly. no probs. no one around either. so i start jammin out a little but not hittin hard and this kid comes in yelling "hey! you cant play those! stop right now! i stop, and say "jesus! sorry. why cant i play them? blah blah blah they are for some drum off thing that night and they are perfectly in tune and he doesnt want anyone messing them up. asshole. i left...

and btw. they werent in tune...

[The Real MC]

I haven't had a bad GC experience but I also heard/read the horror stories. The ones in Rochester and Syracuse seem pretty good.

I got a good deal on my new Alesis HD24. Because it was a floor unit they dropped the price to $1350. Bought one of the last Vox Valvetronix 60 watt heads (discontinued at the time) for a good price too.

But I refuse to give them my name and address because I don't want the junk mail or junk phone calls. I tell them to put it under "John Doe" and that there is a federal policy that prohibits retailers from demanding addresses on credit card purchases.

[JASIII]

I have never set foot in a GC, but after reading these stories I am going to make a point of driving 40 minutes to the closest one to see what kind of trouble I can cause......

[Anthony Caruso]

A story with a happy ending based on an employee mistake....

I bought an MBox2 Pro and the clerk comes back from the warehouse (in a very reasonable amount of time) with not only the MBox but one of those Presonus Faderports. He said it came free with the purchase, made me feel better about dropping the extra cash on the Pro. Then the clerk next to him says "Dude, that only comes with the regular MBox2". Sure enough in the promotional ad it specifically says MBox 2, not Pro. But he gave it to me anyway. So I lucked out and he was very cool about honoring the "deal" even though it could have (and may have) gotten him reamed by his boss.

In general I hate the atmosphere in GC (too frikkin' loud and chaotic!) but have never been screwed by them. I also slung gear at the notorious Daddy's Junky Music in Boston and it was the WORST WORST WORST job I've ever had, so I'm sympathetic toward their plight.

[high five]

I don't have any stories, but all the little annoying things really add up. Like when I pointed to the cheapest guitar wall-mounts behind the counter, the guy quietly grabs the ones that cost $10 more. I told him "those aren't the right ones... it's the $x ones". Instead of acknowledging his "mistake", he says "oh, well these ones are a lot stronger. you can hold a ton of weight with these, and they won't break"..... (stupified) UH, I don't need to support a "ton of weight", just a 5lb guitar. So he mumbles back "okay... all I'm saying... it's your wall...". I probably should've walked out

And what the hell is with all the dude/man/boss/etc lingo? Do they train the sales wurms to use "cool guy" names, or is that just something that happens? I always look for older guys who probably won't call me "dude" and maybe have a clue... but they are rare.

By the way, most people here are irritated by the staff at GC... but what about the other customers? Nothing is worse than trying to shop for guitars when some wanker, who is not going to buy anything, is playing Steve Vai solos (or Stairway to Heaven) while he stares at you, waiting for any recognition of his awesomeness. Then you have to wait for him to get up because there are no stools/cables left. Or people who turn up some shitty music real loud and walk away in the DJ dept.

[0xeneye]

Here's one that chaps my ass:

I walk in, pick up an acoustic guitar, start playing. Dude walks up:

What's that?

What's what?

What's that you're playing?

I dunno I just made it up.

Really? Wow, it sounds like something.

[The Scum]

This just floated up the Denver craigslist. I'm posting it in case it gets flagged and disappears...it's too awesome to not have for posterity.

Jesus and the Devil at Guitar Center

I?m at Guitar Center this afternoon to buy a new set of tubes and there in the accessories section, auditioning some type of super-mega-mondo-distortion pedal, sits a 20-something man in dirty, pale blue denim jeans. He wears tan work boots and a black skull and crossbones T-shirt, topped off with a fitted black baseball cap worn backwards, accessorized with a pair of Oakley-style reflective orange bug-eye lens sunglasses perched on his forehead like a second set of eyeballs. Dark, monochrome tattoos of some mythical cross between a bat and a reptile crawl up his forearm and disappear into the sleeves of his T-shirt. Around his neck is a heavy chrome chain. His complexion is white?pale white like a basement ghost. His facial hair is an elaborate construction, precisely shaved and clipped short, giving him the look of the spawn of an unholy?and entirely impractical?marriage between Judas Priest and the Backstreet Boys. He?s hunched like a question mark over a Washburn Dimebag Darrell signature model guitar, a bright white, devil-horned affair with gold hardware and a cheesy lightning bolt paint job. His hands are a blur on the fret board and his shredding serves as background music as I wait my turn at the counter. Chng-chugga-chugga-chugga, chng-chugga-chugga-chugga, screee-screee-screee-chng-chugga-chugga-chugga-wahh-wahh-chng-chugga-chugga!!!

The Colorado Avenue GC?s recent remodel, I think to myself as I wait for the accessories sales guy to scare up a couple of EL34s in the stock room, is a huge improvement: From every vantage point the sight lines are deep and inviting. To my twelve o?clock is a mind-boggling assortment of strings and cables and effects boxes and software. Pro Audio is at my nine and my three o?clock is the cute, skinny 20-something, vaguely gothic GC greeter chick. My four and five o?clock is guitars and amps galore: PRS, Gibson, Fender, Mesa Boogie, Marshall. My six o?clock? Owned by the 20-something tattooed shredder boy. Completely owned.

I give up and turn 180 degrees to watch him. I would not have been the least bit surprised to see him sprout horns and start pumping his fists while head banging like Jason Newsted. Instead, he stops, mid-shred, looks at me with an evil grin and says, ?Dude?this pedal is RAD!!!?

At precisely this moment I lapse into a verbal coma. I am frozen in time and space. Words fail me. I cannot in good conscience agree with him. That pedal, I think to myself, isn?t ?rad? at all. That pedal, I?m beginning to think, totally sucks.

At precisely this moment plus 200 milliseconds, over the shoulder of the reincarnation of Dimebag Darrell appears the accessories salesman, a guy who can exist only in the exact opposite universe of the one inhabited by tattooed shredder boy. He looks, in fact, just like Jesus, or at least like every artist?s rendering of Jesus I?ve ever seen. This guy, I think to myself, is the un-shredder boy. He?s wearing a plain brown T-shirt and jeans. His hair is straight and long and brown, his eyes are clear and bright and his face, even behind a full beard, is smooth and angelic and open. He looks me straight in the eye as he returns to his position behind the counter and says, ?Sorry to leave you here so long?with that. How about I pay the tax??

That, I think to myself, is exactly what Jesus would do.

[mcsquishytooshy]

I hope those two places are still around.

Yep. Still here. The only music stores of consequence in the DC area that've survived the GC invasion. Personally, I love Atomic, because it's totally different and unique, while Chuck's seems to have survived by looking, feeling and acting like just another Guitar Center, so I'm not too keen to go there anymore...

Yo, Atomic's selection is kinda bad these days cause they're putting everything that's good on ebay. On top of that, they're using ebay as a pricing solution- pricing things higher than on ebay, and then going "okayokay, you can pay $XXX amount," which is exactly ebay price.

I mean, why pay ebay price at a store when I can pay ebay prices on ebay?
That said, Atomic is still a fun place.

[robmix]

A few years ago I needed and a hard drive at the last minute, right before a session. I ran around to the local computer stores and everyone was out of the ultra SCSI drives (this is back before firewire had really hit). So, out of desperation I hit the local GC knowing that they stock Glyph products. I figured I'd pay through the nose but I'd get the drive I needed.

So I walk in and grab the first mook.

Me: I'm looking for a hard drive, preferably ultra scsi 160, but I'll entertain any drives you might have.

She looks completely dumbfounded,

her: what do you need it for ?

me: for my pro tools rig (I then rattle off the computer specs, and SCSI card model)

her: she says I think I got something for you

elated, we walk over to a pile of Digi 001's . . . . . .

her: if you just get yourself one of these you'll be all set

me: but I've got a Mixplus rig, I just need a hard drive

her: yeah, yeah, but if you pick up this digi 001 you won't need anything else . . .

I just walk out, and head to another computer store.

[robmix]

A few years ago I needed and a hard drive at the last minute, right before a session. I ran around to the local computer stores and everyone was out of the ultra SCSI drives (this is back before firewire had really hit). So, out of desperation I hit the local GC knowing that they stock Glyph products. I figured I'd pay through the nose but I'd get the drive I needed.

So I walk in and grab the first mook.

Me: I'm looking for a hard drive, preferably ultra scsi 160, but I'll entertain any drives you might have.

She looks completely dumbfounded,

her: what do you need it for ?

me: for my pro tools rig (I then rattle off the computer specs, and SCSI card model)

her: she says I think I got something for you

elated, we walk over to a pile of Digi 001's . . . . . .

her: if you just get yourself one of these you'll be all set

me: but I've got a Mixplus rig, I just need a hard drive

her: yeah, yeah, but if you pick up this digi 001 you won't need anything else . . .

I just walk out, and head to another computer store.