• Ernie Ball
  • MusicMan
  • Sterling by MusicMan

pack-rat

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Messages
440
Location
vancouver BC
It's actualy quite nice to have a retailer in the forum. Now we can get another perspective.
Welcome an I look forward to reading your posts.
 

peter71

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 16, 2002
Messages
238
Location
Tacoma, WA
Yes, I echo the sentiments of Pac-Rat. I would also like to pose a quick question:

What is the most annoying thing that a customer can do in a store. I would like to avoid doing this if possible. To be honest, I am always kind of leary when I enter a guitar shop because it is like entering an amusement park for me. I want to try all the "rides" so to speak. But I also don't want to be a nuisance, or to damage anything, becuase most of the time I am just looking and not really buying.

Anyway, thanks for any info you can offer and welcome to the site!
 

NorM

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 18, 2003
Messages
4,177
Location
Tucson
When I finish playing one in a store I ask to borrow a polish cloth.
 

SGMan88

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 2, 2004
Messages
609
Location
Illinois
I too do what norm does. After sitting and playing a guitar at the Store and then end up not buying anything, I at least clean it off before I give it back to them. Then again the workers at my local Music center don't really care how long you are in there even if you have no intentions of buying anything.:D
 

pack-rat

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Messages
440
Location
vancouver BC
I'll buy something even if it is just a couple of picks or some strings.
I feel funny if I leave after playing with eqiupment and not buy anything.
I'll also ask if the sales staff is on comission so if I am not buying something ATM but will in a couple of days I'll go back to the same salesman who showed me initally.
 
Last edited:

kbaim

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
Messages
4,949
Location
Red Rock Country
I don't know what the real answer to Peter71's question is but my guess is not buying a big ticket item...closely followed by playing at excessive volumes.

Looking forward to the real answer though.
KEITH
 

koogie2k

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 28, 2002
Messages
5,859
Location
Moyock, NC
I happen to know a manger at one store really well and what gets him p.o.'d is that people don't respect the gear. Many guitars come back with pick marks all on it (i.e., someone with no pick control what so ever), finger prints all over it (this is not such a big pet peeve of his), but the belt buckle marks is the real bitch he says. Some guys come in thinking they are rodeo cowboys (big silver platter on a leather string they call a belt) and pick up a nice PRS, EBMM and act like freakin' Billy Ray Cyrus. Not only do they extremely suck at what they are doing, they are carving gulleys they size of the grand canyon in the guitars. We, people who love guitars and what it means to own and play them, are the most respectful. I too, clean the instruments when I am done. Hell, I even spent a couple of hours at a store polishing them. Made my buddy happy, plus I get worked in for that employee discount.;)

The other pet peeve of his......newbie playing Mesa at 11! People, we all know what I am talking about. Some dude thinking he is the next guitar god playing a crappy guitar through a Mesa at extreme volumes. I am bold enough to tell them that doing that is making them look like a butt nugget in front of the whole world. Plus, if they are that good, playing at a lower volume will still attract attention, to their playing, not to their noise. Mostly, I will sit next to them, crank an amp, do the same thing and watch them cringe. Then I play a nice Vai, Gilbert or Satch run to make them go away. I hate intimidation, but sometimes you have to pull out the big guns. Usually, I get a student that way.;)
 

pack-rat

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Messages
440
Location
vancouver BC
I like to deal with the person that helped me initialy seems like the right thing.
I guess as a store owner you want people to come in first and then stay. If they keep coming back they will buy something (hopefully). I remember as a kid not being able to afford a guitar but I went in to the music shop regularly and played crap. I ended up buying the guitar (on lay-away) so a sale for the store. Once I got the guitar they had me coming in for strings, books, straps, cords, amp, picks, etc.

In wayne's world wasn't there a list of songs you were NOT allowed to play on the guitar ?
Smoke on the Water, Stairway to Heaven...
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom