Guitar Center Salesman...I have heard it all now!!

[charlie7]

So I went into a local GC this week and wanted to see if they had a Silo in stock to play on. Of course they didn't, but this salesman approaches me. I ask him about pricing on a Silo and he says their computers show no Ernie Ball guitars. I then asked him, "Does Guitar Center not carry Music Man anymore?"

He says, "OH!, I didn't know Ernie Ball made Music Man's"

So he gives me a bogus price on a Silo, $x and says by the time it is ready to ship it maybe $x + 100, so he cannot give me a guaranteed price yet.

I am completely uninterested in what he has to say, so I wanna plug in the VWH Jem they have on the wall. I start playing it and he says the JEM's are far better than any Ernie Ball guitar. The scale length on the Ernie Ball is too short and everything feels "cramped", says the salesman.

Then he brings over a JS1000 and says to try this. So I plug it in and it doesn't play very well, but he says the JS1000 & JEM are the same sounding guitar because they both have the same pickups.

Then he says the JEM is the best because it is the same guitar that Vai plays out of the box. It is great for studio and live work. He then goes on to tell me that the problem with Ernie Ball guitars is that they do not sound good in the studio, they are only a live guitar. He also tells me that Petrucci only plays his Ernie Ball guitars live. He asks me, "Would Petrucci play a guitar that only sounds good live in a studio, or the guitars he has been playing for the last 20 years?"

In response to all of his lies and biased crap, I just nodded with a smile, while laughing my ass off inside.

I have been around some misinformed salesmen before, but never like this before. Just hysterical really and thought my fellow Ernie Ball family might get a kick out of this as well.

 

[robelinda2]

You just want to scream. Instead, go have a Snickers and chill.

 

[charlie7]

You just want to scream. Instead, go have a Snickers and chill.

hahaha

 

[ShaneV]

And the rigorous application process to work at guitar center failed to weed him out? Shocking!

 

[beachjammer]

They might ought to give him another drug test becuase he obviously used his girlfriend's pee the first time around....

 

[phatduckk]

made an edit to remove the dealer price

 

[charlie7]

sorry phatduckk, didn't know I couldn't put that there.

 

[phatduckk]

sorry phatduckk, didn't know I couldn't put that there.

no problem

 

[Sigmunds Couch]

People used to think the world was flat once too.

 

[TNT]

Charlie, that was the mall "maintenance" guy you talked to!!

That day a couple GC employees called in sick, and the maintenance guy said he played a little guitar once when he was a kid (as he was finishing up patching the gutters and downspouts). Said his neighbor used to be in a band too.

Well, now you know the rest.

 

[Paul Warren]

Well, bad salesman certainly aren't confined to any one guitar store or chain. Evidently they breed and multiply because they're all over.

I had one student order a new axe and they ordered the completely wrong item so when he came to pick it up, he was sad to find out about the mishap. Ok, mistakes happen. No biggie. But then when the correct guitar came in, he tried it and every note fretted out above the 12th fret. You would think a salesman would do nothing but offer assistance with an obvious problem like this. But no no. He offered this gem of wisdom "ah, it's not a big deal because most people don't play up on the high frets anyways". He said this to a college student who is a pretty good player and offered him no solution. Obviously, my student requested it be taken care of. It really boggles the mind to consider some of the things that are said by salesman sometimes. There are some out there who really don't think their clients have any brain cells. Makes me really appreciate the good ones that much more.

paul

 

[charlie7]

sad part is, I used to me a mgr at this guitar center about 8 years ago. I treated everyone's gear quest like it was my own. Went above and beyond, and needless to say I had a lot of loyal clients. I was one of the few associates who was not high or drunk every day though.

Sad.

 

[puppyonacid]

You have to tell me where this GC was. I wanna email them with youtube clips of Petrucci playing EB's in the studio. MY word, what a pleb this guy is. Makes my blood boil and I know it shouldn't really.

 

[charlie7]

plano,texas

 

[whitestrat]

So I went into a local GC this week and wanted to see if they had a Silo in stock to play on. Of course they didn't, but this salesman approaches me. I ask him about pricing on a Silo and he says their computers show no Ernie Ball guitars. I then asked him, "Does Guitar Center not carry Music Man anymore?"

He says, "OH!, I didn't know Ernie Ball made Music Man's"

No they don't... We all know that all the MM guitars we get are grown right in BP's backyard! The EB factory has NOTHING to do with them...

I am completely uninterested in what he has to say, so I wanna plug in the VWH Jem they have on the wall. I start playing it and he says the JEM's are far better than any Ernie Ball guitar. The scale length on the Ernie Ball is too short and everything feels "cramped", says the salesman.

does he know how to count? What's he counting in? Metric? or Imperial? 25.5 inches is 25.5 inches. There's no 2 ways about it... (though this isn't the first time I've heard this... For some reason, every else I've met who's never played a Ball thinks it's a shorter scale length... Then what's a Les Paul considered? a midget?)

Then he brings over a JS1000 and says to try this. So I plug it in and it doesn't play very well, but he says the JS1000 & JEM are the same sounding guitar because they both have the same pickups.

Right... So the PAF Joes and Freds and Mo Joes have exactly the same number of winds and inductance as the Evolutions and Breeds? Hmm... interesting... But in defense of the JS series, I have to say those are really good guitars. I think you piucked up one which wasn't set up properly... I personally love them...

Then he says the JEM is the best because it is the same guitar that Vai plays out of the box. It is great for studio and live work.

Right again... Those "EVO" and "FLO" guitars are just for confusion's sake... I think this guy would have a cardiac arrest if he knew that Vai uses a JEM555 neck and a Fernandes Sustainer...

He asks me, "Would Petrucci play a guitar that only sounds good live in a studio, or the guitars he has been playing for the last 20 years?"

Ok... When was the last album we heard JP use the Ibanez JPM? Liquid Tension Experiment 2? or Falling Into Infinity? I can't remember... I think Scenes From A Memory was already the JP6 right? And that's in 1999? And I sort of remember hanging around the JP forum in those years seeing JP himself selling off his few Ibanez guitars to benefit charity...

I have been around some misinformed salesmen before, but never like this before. Just hysterical really and thought my fellow Ernie Ball family might get a kick out of this as well.

I think the real Ernie Ball family would be hopping mad knowing they're not properly represented by their own dealer! I know I would...

 

[candid_x]

The shorter scale/neck perception is almost certainly due to the smaller headstock.

 

[Spudmurphy]

I agree with Candid - loads of people have commented on the "short scale length" of the AL and have looked shocked when I plonk the AL neck onto of a "normal" guitar to prove that it it is a normal scale length.

 

[Sweat]

plano,texas

OK, I may get bashed for this but, a little defense for GC, first the Plano location does not stock EBMM guitars, as it has been pointed out before not all GC locatins stock them.

If you want to check out EBMM go the the North Dallas location or Arlington.

Since Plano does not stock them and not everyone is familiar with EBMM, not suprising that the sales dude was ignorant on the product and of course they are going to try and sell you what they have and are familiar with, they et paid on commision, which you know already.

Yes his comments were ignorant and stupid and even made me laugh but you should have asked for the manager.

I find that GC is getting much better these days and this makes it sound like all there employes are druggies or drunks which is not the case nor is it fair.
If you want to try some EBMM go to North Dallas, check out the stock and ask for Robbie, hell of a great guy.

End of Rant.

 

[mikeller]

That is why I believe 100% in a buyer-beware approach to making purchases.

 

[DaPatrooch]

LMAO I love these Guitar Center stories! We ought to have a thread where everyone posts their stories of idiot salesmen at Guitar Center.

I wish Guitar Centers around me had Music Man guitars. They only carry basses nowadays. The one closest to me used to have them, the first Music Man guitar I ever played was a Rosewood ASS with humbuckers there, and I was hooked. But supposedly they didn't sell, and they stopped carrying them. Last time I was there, the guy told me they didn't carry the guitars anymore, but a couple times a month, people come in asking for a Petrucci. And I was like "oh yeah..." Then I was hanging around the Mesas with a cheap Ibby and plugged into a RectoVerb combo. The same guy said he had the head version of it, and it is his favorite amp ever. It is definitely up there with my favorites! Sorry to get sidetracked, but that is one of the few times there was actually a good salesman at GC.