A trip to some Guitar Centers

[rrhea]

I have never returned any large-ticket musical item, so the 30-day means nothing to me.

For me, it has been a lifesaver. It's literally saved me thousands in the last year and a half. I have bought over 12 guitars in that time, and I've settled on about 8 of them. Saved me tons of money, and helped me cull out the weak guitars in my collection.

The 30 day thing is worth it's weight.

Ryan

 

[nobozos]

Okay, call me demanding, but I have certian expectations when I go to a guitar store. One of those would be that the inventory that they have that is marked at a new price is in new condition, not with dents, scratches and components missing. If the guitar is in this condition, it should reflect in the price.

Another thing that I expect is that if the sales rep does let me try out a guitar, (which is the way it should be) that guitar should be reasonably well set-up, or at least playable as a minimum. When I say playable, I mean little things like, the neck not fretting out above the 13th fret, or the guitar actually making a sound when plugged into an amplifier.

Oh yeah, something else I expect is that if you have used gear, that it be priced as used gear. For example: a Mesa Thiele cabinet marked at $399 used. A PRS CE22 marked at $1600 used, and get this, you plug it in and it doesn't make a sound.

These are problems with GC that I see. These probems are not problems at my local M&P store, Flores Music. I also believe that they will match the GC price on their stuff. You can actually go into Flores and try out a guitar or an amp and hear yourself playing. You don't have to compete with the Green Day Video on the TV, or the 14 year old that learned his first 3 power chords trying out the Mesa Dual Rectifier on the other side of the aisle. Flores staff will get your guitar for you, as is required, and ask you to keep your amp at a responsible level, however they will allow you to turn it up to check it out at volume for a couple minutes.

Now, if I was a kid with no money, and I wanted to go somewhere to bang away 3 chords really loud on an expensive guitar and amp, I probably wouldn't like Flores very much, but as an adult with expectations of what I will recieve for my money, I appreciate a little discretion in a store.

GC is however a good store to have around. To their credit, they do carry a lot of things that M&P stores never did. For example, a Sennheiser Silver guitar cab mic.
Also, Pro audio stuff is another area where they do a little better than the local stores. More of a selection, and the ability to pay via a store credit card for big purchases is a plus.

In short, I personally don't see any advantage in going to GC over Flores in Peoria, if you are talking strictly guitar stuff, but they do pretty well in other areas.

 

[fsmith]

I stopped into my local GC last night after my wife took me to Hooter's to celebrate my 20 year anniversary with the University... Wow 20 years.

Anyhow back to the topic, I do frequent the GC's in my area becuase they usually have what I'm looking for. I'm all for shopping at my local store, but if they don't have what I want/need I'll either shop on line or go to GC.

At least GC typically has a few EBMM's on hand to play around with. Last night it was a Saph Black Petrucci and a beautiful flame Honeyburst ASS. My local store has had the same 2 Axes (trans red and trans teal) and 1 used Sport (pewter) for the past 3 years. I did order my Petrucci and Y2D there but they just don't seem willing to carry anything other than PRS, Fender and Gibson. Their string selection sucks and I've mentioned it to the manager but I'm just some dude who's bought a couple of EBMM's in the last 2 years. And as much as I hate to do it to the local guys, my future purchases will be through Pete.

GC has a tremendous stock of pedals (not just Boss) and amps. Where else can I go and try out some really nice Mesa Boogie products? They always have the strings I want and usually have some sort of sale going on. I was also able to snag my EVH from them, thanks honey!

I can't bash them for everything that's wrong in the world, they have their short comings but everyone does. They've always had what I wanted in stock. So for better or worse they'll still get business from me.

fred

 

[beej]

As someone who doesn't have access to a GC (they're not in Canada), I'd love to frequent one.

Oh sure, I'd also bitch about pricing, policies, etc, but I think Fred's right on the money- I'd love a place that had that much gear on hand to try out. I always have to jump from store to store looking for some new amp, etc. (don't even get me started on EBMM selection - I've always had to buy sight unseen on ebay, etc.) and would love a megastore to frequent.