guitar center so called "sale".

they had one of these on the 4th july weekend per the multiple advertisements i heard on the radio. 40ws needed PA stands so i wnt there instead of the local music store figuring i might save a few bucks.

there was nothing resembling a sale whatsoever. no banners or red tags. nothing less than their regular overpriced junk. after i spent too much for PA stands, i went to the local music store and found out just how much too much.

so they are having their 29 year anniversary sale this weekend or some such nonsence per the radio ad i heard today. i think having a sale but raising the price to pay for their radio ads has me just about breaking even guitar center style ... paying too much for junk.

i will not be anywhere near any guitar center, this weekend or anytime soon.

geeze i hate those guys.

There are some things in Life that you can set your watch to, and Guitar Center's BS ads are a classic example. The simple fact is that Guitar Center's weekly sales/special/never-gonna-happen-again-blowout-price-slashing-events are nothing more than their overblown ad campaigns. Going all the way back to when I started playing bass in 1982, I would hear these ads on the radio every single week, only to go in and discover that there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. It was still the same used-car salesmen pressure-selling the same overpriced junk. I have found this to be true each and every single time I have ever walked into a Guitar Center, so I can honestly say that I have not done so since about 1990, and I never will again.

EricHaven wrote:

There are some things in Life that you can set your watch to, and Guitar Center's BS ads are a classic example. The simple fact is that Guitar Center's weekly sales/special/never-gonna-happen-again-blowout-price-slashing-events are nothing more than their overblown ad campaigns. Going all the way back to when I started playing bass in 1982, I would hear these ads on the radio every single week, only to go in and discover that there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. It was still the same used-car salesmen pressure-selling the same overpriced junk. I have found this to be true each and every single time I have ever walked into a Guitar Center, so I can honestly say that I have not done so since about 1990, and I never will again.

Ya, I really hate their BS as well. That's why the only reason I ever go there is to walk in, try out basses and pedals, then leave. This annoys the sales people, and while I try to annoy people as little as possible (well, non relatives anyway), I'll make an exception with these f***ers

I clearly remember one of the last times I walked into Guitar Center in San Jose, CA. There was this woman with her teenage son who wanted a guitar and an amp, and I was standing nearby seeing the basses they had on the wall. Of course, a salesman was there trying to convince the woman that a Les Paul and a Marshall combo amp would be perfect for her son. But then I heard her ask "but he doesn't know how to play yet. Isn't this a bit much?" The salesman still tried to tell her "well, you want him to learn on the best equipment".



That's when I stepped in.

I told her that if he still needs to learn how to play, that she needed to get him an acoustic guitar and a chord book first, and to start with the basics. I further explained that if she did buy him the Les Paul and Marshall, all he would do is make noise, not learn anything, and she would have wasted her money. The woman said to me "thank you! I was thinking the same thing, but I wasn't sure what to do". Even her son seemed to understand this. She walked away to look at the acoustics.

The salesman immediately turned on me with "what the hell was that? I was about to make a sale!" I threw it back in his face and said "you ought to know better! That kid wouldn't learn squat with all of that gear to deal with! You should be a musician first, and a salesman second!" And I walked out.

oh man, a GuitarCenter Horror story thread fake sales or otherwise?

let's see which story I could tell you all before I started shopping at SamAsh and MF.

nope no need...too many.

ya know ... sam ash is a bit better. i've never seen them trying to make a sale to a young kid there with mom and a credit card ... like eric's story above ... but i'm sure it does / has happened.

problem with sam ash ... understaffed. there was a time when i bought gear exclusively from sam ash and the staff knew who i was ... they knew i didnt come in and spend thousands, but they knew i was a local giggng musician. they knew my name and gave me the best advice and service they could (that wasnt always the best). now ... all those cats have left or are managers. i walk in there and look to buy stuff because i either need it now or want to try it before i buy ... both i cant to when buying off the internet. they keep all the effects pedals in a locked case (good) but it shouldnt take me 45 minutes to get a sales rep to get the pedal out of the case and another 20 minutes to get me two instrument cables. i've gone into the store and been rude and just walked behind the counter and helped myself, but they get bent about that. i understand that they are in business to make money, but they loose business when they arent properly staffed. (as well as cheezing me off)

i have also seen them go after the middle aged, balding business man whos dropping $1400 on a vintage tele instead of waiting on me ... the guy who looks like a broke musician. how do they know i'm not gonna drop $6000 on a new bass rig?

i'll continue to buy as much as i can off the internet. i'de rather buy direct from the manufacturer and pay the markup for the shipping, rather than pay some part time kid to give me crappy customer service.

****, you guys don't know the pain of a synthesizer nerd. On average we spend a quarter of our time actually playing them, and 3/4's of our time trying to know absolutely f*****g everything about them. imagine walking into a music store and seeing a salesman trying to sell a synth to someone spurting absolute **** out of their mouths.

Had a salesman tell someone my age that a Dave smith Mopho was polyphonic( the "mo" in Mopho is for monophonic :\. i instantly corrected him and told the guy about free vst's and that he didn't need to buy a thing to learn synthesis...i got one of the "i was making a deal" looks too.

Heard some shockers from other synth nerds, A verbatim quote from a salesman was that the microkorg used "the mystical van halen sound synthesis method known as the roland supersaw" Which really makes about as much sense as "van halen flibber dee jibbet snap" (sound like eric )

tekkentool wrote:

Which really makes about as much sense as "van halen flibber dee jibbet snap" (sound like eric )

Mopho is spelled wrong...lol we spell it MOFO.

and Eric I guess you found his little typing "mistake" from last night and corrected it.

amimbari wrote:

Mopho is spelled wrong...lol we spell it MOFO.

and Eric I guess you found his little typing "mistake" from last night and corrected it.

MOnoPHOnic

The only thing guitar center was good for was when they would price match any ad, online or print. That dissapeared though, when they changed hands.

Barklessdog wrote:

The only thing guitar center was good for was when they would price match any ad, online or print. That dissapeared though, when they changed hands.

It doesn't necessarily need to be a big chain to be a total rip off, certainly the one independent store in my town is completely overpriced compared to The chain store. They've started selling jacksons now, they're about 500 dollars cheaper online though.

you'd probably be better off putting a parts guitar together over there -- custom but cheap

amimbari wrote:

you'd probably be better off putting a parts guitar together over there -- custom but cheap

Unless you buy the parts from warmoth

Well my brother showed me a polish custom luthier called roter guitars. They can build you a semi custom fanned fret 7 string guitar for under 1000 dollars with merlin pickups. And have a look at this

looks like a ESP'ish design

Indeed, it does. Wicked!

they also do some nice Extended range basses, unfortunately their site appears to be down for some unknown reason :/

I have a great GC story. I go in wanting to try out effect pedals & the when sales guy find out its for bass start telling me bass players dont use pedals & if they do its only bass pedals. A complete ***. The store was empty & it was like I was putting him out to get the pedals out to hook up for a bass player.

Complete moron & I left after only trying one or two.

Barklessdog wrote:

I have a great GC story. I go in wanting to try out effect pedals & the when sales guy find out its for bass start telling me bass players dont use pedals & if they do its only bass pedals. A complete ***. The store was empty & it was like I was putting him out to get the pedals out to hook up for a bass player.

Complete moron & I left after only trying one or two.

jesus christ thats stupid, i love it when guitards try to educate bassists on bass playing
Certainly i'm lucky in that the guitarists i know are top blokes.

we have soooooo many mom and pop shops around me I "audition" stuff at those places then find it 100 cheaper online. I DO give our local stores business, but they also tell me the same thing when they have an item for 199.95 and I can get it online for 99.95...they are nice people and always tell be "if the price is right buy it"

the store 2 blocks from my house is more guitar/drum/keys oriented so I'm not in there too much except to check out the amps and stuff.

I love our GuitarCenter retards and make it a point to F*** with anyone who says "how can I help you sir"

me- yes I am looking for a left handed bass
them- we have 2 beautiful low-cost Chinese imports over there >>>
me- anything more beyond those 2 junk units
them- nope
me- ok let me check out that 1500.00 MIA Fender P
them - sir thats a righthanded unit you wont be able to play it
me- uh, how do you know if I'm just buying to hang on my wall as art - don't matter if I can't play it
them- grumble-grumble
them- that is true...here you go sir
me- I flip it over and WAIL on it
them- oh WOW
me- I guess you just lost a 1500.00 cash sale
them- why's that?
me- because you were an a**h**** and said I couldn't play it.

bye-bye GuitarCenter......

i been thinking of having a 40WS class trip to guitar center.

again ... it would begin with a "can i help you sir?", i would hope ... but probably not.

all 4 of us go in and just start hooking up gear; bass, guitar, drums and PA ............

........ we crank it way, way, way too loud (cuz we all will be way on the other side of the store from one another) ..........

........ and see how far we get thru the set.

hell ya that's the best "F*** with GC" idea yet... do I detect some Pennsylvania EVIL coming out of your brain?

a jam session with a full band using GC's stuff as a practice place?....hmm, I wonder how long it would be before the manager was pissed enough to tell you to stop...IF HE EVEN SAID STOP??

christ I think he would be happy hearing some good music for a change considering all the 13 year old wankers tearing up the equipment and causing more damage than the store can afford to get repaired. I have been in ours where a guitarist is wanking, then a bassplayer plays along with him AND since the bassist is a silly slapper, he kinda keeps the beat, but never a FULL BAND, because the drumroom is a separate glass enclosed area where drummers can wail and not kill everyone's ears in the store !!!!

kinda a real cool thing .......

the sam ash by me actually has a stage with equipment set up for a 4 piece. i've never seen anyone on it ... i guess they use it for guests and clinics.