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Hey, BP! You're gonna love this . . .

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tadawson

tadawson

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What with the thread with the CEO of Guitar Center, I find this particularly amusing . . . .

Well, anyhoo, I was bored today, and decided to stop at the GC in Plano Texas, just to see what they had. I was bumping around, and the sales droid came by who claimed to be the "bass guy". We talked amps for a bit, and he asked what I played. I told him a couple of Bongos, primarily. He proceeded to tell me that MusicMan was sold to Fender (of all people) about six months ago, and that all MusicMan production was now coming out of the Fender factory! He really didn't want to accept the fact that my last bass shipped from SLO, or that Sterling had not seemed to hear of this . . . . . . then again, this was the same guy who didn't know what a Mesa Bass 400 was, despite being a dealer, so perhaps not the sharpest pencil in the bunch.

It might be entertaining to ask the GC CEO, though, why his stores are basically slandering the MM name by calling it Fender . . . . . .

- Tim
 
I had a guy tell me that the Atlanta GC, that Leo Fender invented/designed the Bongo. I just shook my head and said, "cool".
 
I guess it just keeps reproving the old saying:

"Even genius has it's limits. Stupidity, however, is unbounded . . . ."

- Tim
 
He proceeded to tell me that MusicMan was sold to Fender (of all people) about six months ago, and that all MusicMan production was now coming out of the Fender factory!
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Oh my. This is going to be interesting.

Where do these people GET this stuff?
 
Yeah, one of the staffers at GC once told me that ESP was headed by Leo Fender after he left Fender.
 
Yes, I have actually informed at least 5 individual GC employees that Musicman is coming out with new two pick-up models. How could they not know? I don't think a couple believed me, thinking "how could this teenager know this before me?" kinda thing.

Oh well, I must say I still give them business for certain things, but only for convenience' sake
 
Our GC here in Indy is actually one of the best. The manager makes a strong effort to run it as a top rate musical instrument store. He has a very nice inventory of new and used basses. I usually deal with about one of the 4 or 5 salesmen that I know best. They know me by name.

When the new dual-pickup Stingray showed up, I took the time to point it out to them and go over how the new switch works. I told them that the bridge pickup is in the same spot as the single-pickup basses, and some other relevant info. I mentioned attending the Open House and factory tour in SLO, and sang high praises of Sterling and the whole EB staff.

The director of our band at church goes to GC quite a bit, and he's invited a few of the sales guys to come play in the band at times - guitarists and a keyboard player - and it's worked out really well.

Most GC's, however, aren't in the same league. When I'm travelling and stop in, I'm usually in and out in about two minutes. I walk to the bass section, take a quick look, and out the door.
 
basserfire17 said:
Oh well, I must say I still give them business for certain things, but only for convenience' sake
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I know what you mean... Ampeg and D'addario are the only two reasons I keep my Guitar Center card handy. :o

This thread is hilarious!:D
 
in 6 years working at GC, only once did i see an EBMM catalog....


most of the time, you just wing it at those stores.

you may know more about EBMM basses and such, but most of the good salesguys (read: ones i trained:D ) could talk circles when it comes to general guitarness stuff.


when you've got 250 different product that you are expected to know the in's and out's of, it's tough. Sometimes new stuff falls through the cracks, whether due to lack of management training, or lack of promotion by the company. We all knew about the dual PUP basses, but did anyone see an ad for them? i didn't.

My pals who are currently at GC only knew about them because I wouldn't stop talking about them. and if they don't know how it all works and sounds, it's because I bought it before any of them could touch it with their bigmac hands.

Oh well, give GC a break, a few stupid kids get hired, but they don't last long, and when they spout off a falsity, correct them, educate rather than ridicule. Whenever i didn't know something, or I was wrong, i wanted to know the truth, and I appreciated when someone informed me in a polite manner that was neither judicious or belittling.


everyone learns sometime....
 
Disquieter said:
Oh well, give GC a break, a few stupid kids get hired, but they don't last long, and when they spout off a falsity, correct them, educate rather than ridicule. Whenever i didn't know something, or I was wrong, i wanted to know the truth, and I appreciated when someone informed me in a polite manner that was neither judicious or belittling.
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+1
 
Dr Stankface said:
You guys are all wrong.

Yamaha owns everything.

Yes. Even Congress.

Andrew
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We heard in the UK they started the war too......
:D

Every guitar shop the world over has its good and bad salesmen par for the course. By my reckoning you find somewhere with people you like and stick to em.
We have Sound Control over here that sound the same of GC (big loads of shops and lots of buying power) but the bass guy is one of the best - despite the rest of the staff who can be clueless from time to time about bass and kit.
 
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Disquieter said:
in 6 years working at GC, only once did i see an EBMM catalog....


most of the time, you just wing it at those stores.

you may know more about EBMM basses and such, but most of the good salesguys (read: ones i trained:D ) could talk circles when it comes to general guitarness stuff.


when you've got 250 different product that you are expected to know the in's and out's of, it's tough. Sometimes new stuff falls through the cracks, whether due to lack of management training, or lack of promotion by the company. We all knew about the dual PUP basses, but did anyone see an ad for them? i didn't.

My pals who are currently at GC only knew about them because I wouldn't stop talking about them. and if they don't know how it all works and sounds, it's because I bought it before any of them could touch it with their bigmac hands.

Oh well, give GC a break, a few stupid kids get hired, but they don't last long, and when they spout off a falsity, correct them, educate rather than ridicule. Whenever i didn't know something, or I was wrong, i wanted to know the truth, and I appreciated when someone informed me in a polite manner that was neither judicious or belittling.


everyone learns sometime....
Click to expand...

thanks joel
 
Also agree with Joel, but it's important to remember what you know and what you don't know.

If a regular knucklehead (like me, for instance) posts on an internet forum that Gibson has acquired Fender, I might do some checking around before I passed that one as gospel.

A while back on another forum, some kid SWORE that instruments were no longer being produced at San Luis Obispo. And that he should know, because he lived in San Luis Obispo. Uh-huh. How many people out there were nodding their heads and thinking, "Well, he should know...." until someone swooped in and cleared it up with personal observations and photos of instruments being produced right where we know they're being produced, SLO?

I know what I know, but I also know what I don't know. Not blaming GC as an entity for some kid passing on bad information, but it's an object lesson for all of us, if we're smart enough. (I'm trying.)

Jack
 
Now that's a classy response!

BP, you are truly an enlightened individual...here I was reading this thread, expecting that, when you weighed in, it would be to quash this ridiculous rumor, perhaps with a gentle zinger about GC...

...instead, you chose to reinforce Joel's well-reasoned and sympathetic remarks!

+1,000. IMHO, it is not fair to paint every GC employee with the same brush! And besides, when I was a young lad growing up in the wilds of Vermont, I had to drive 30 minutes to buy a cheapo cable at Radio Shack, fergawdsake! I would have LOVED to have had a store like GC available! Remember: this was before the internet, before GC and Sam Ash were everywhere! Sometimes I think we don't realize how good we have it these days!


"a gentle answer turneth away wrath" (or something like that..I'm not terribly devout, in case you haven't noticed!)
 
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