I was at GC yesterday and...

[luvmybongo]

I asked the salesman why the Bongos were on clearance (a carbon blue was $, and a desert gold was $, among others). He said they were selling them virtually at cost because they couldn't move them at retail. Said that they had a good reputation, but people "didn't like their looks."

I must, say, I'm surprised. The quality of this guitar is really outstanding and I don't find it ugly at all. is it the big round (and in my case, white) pickguard??

Anyway, I was rather surprised that they are already being discounted. I mean, I find a lot of other basses ugly (not impressed by the standard looks of a Spector, and the warwick thumb is just plain ugly and absurdly small), but the bongo "ugly"??

 

[TSanders]

Youll have to be careful about GC employees. A lot of the one around here will tell you things that they know nothing about and just talk stupid s**t just to hear themselves talk. Just my experience though.

 

[philthygeezer]

Youll have to be careful about GC employees. A lot of the one around here will tell you things that they know nothing about and just talk stupid s**t just to hear themselves talk. Just my experience though.

Amen. Walk into any Future Shop, Best Buy or any of the other geek toy warehouses and see exactly how little they know. There are exceptions but they are rare.

 

[midopa]

EBMM doesn't want their products' prices posted. You'll have to edit that post, I'm afraid.

Anyway, you've got a point. There are lots of other high-end basses out there that look, in my opinion, like crud compared to the Bongo, yet people tend to flock to those models instead. To each his own, eh?

 

[TSanders]

Pardon me, but Im getting so pissed at peoples criticism over the Bongos looks.

The same person thats plays an 8 string, spalted dingleberry wood, purple fart neck, half fretted half frettless tells me the Bongo is ugly. Ive had a freakin nuff.



And Sam youre right, no prices are to be discussed here at the forums. See the FAQ for why.

 

[luvmybongo]

well, he may not have been an expert BUT he knew what people were saying that were coming in to buy bass guitars - that a lot of people said the bongo was ugly and instead were going to the traditional, Fender style (and he admitted that the quality of Fenders has gone waaaaaaaay down. they're still living on reputation).

Ok. no prices here. Didn't see that. BUt they had discounted these things down to well below the "suggested retail" and had put them on "clearance" - every one of them.

bassists KNOW these are good guitars. The beginner or the novice doesn't. They just want something that looks hot.

At talkbass.com, where I usually hang, the Bongos have some detractors, sure, but in general they are considered a tremendous value for the price. I certainly agree. I love my bongo.

 

[koogie2k]

I have heard mine called several names and when these detractors play it, they tend to shut up and continue to play. They won't give it back......that alone tells me something. Once they get their mitts on her, they say the tone is huge and the feel is unbelievable. Funny, they forget about how she looks......and I think she looks HOT!

 

[jongitarz]

What I want to know is, do they come with cases?

 

[GWDavis28]

What I want to know is, do they come with cases?

Doubt it Jon, as you know it's GC's MO.

Hahahahahahahahaha

Glenn |B)

 

[Disquieter]

edit: i should say, i am starting to understand what you guys are talking about, i dealt with 3 different gc employees in atlanta today and none of them could remove their heads from the communal butt for long enough to do anything good..

i'm just spoiled because the seattle area kicks ass in general for employees.

 

[basspastor]

Amen. Walk into any Future Shop, Best Buy or any of the other geek toy warehouses and see exactly how little they know. There are exceptions but they are rare.

Best Buy, a geek toy store! Hmmm, I love my high dollar Toshiba Laptop, and my wife really enjoys hers, and many other items we have purchased there. What a great toy store. Oh yeah! The sales personal in the East Texas stores are very knowledgeable about products in the depts. which they work.
It's Sat. night, I just had to comment.

 

[philthygeezer]

Best Buy, a geek toy store! Hmmm, I love my high dollar Toshiba Laptop, and my wife really enjoys hers, and many other items we have purchased there. What a great toy store. Oh yeah! The sales personal in the East Texas stores are very knowledgeable about products in the depts. which they work.
It's Sat. night, I just had to comment.

I agree it's not ubiquitous, but I've had my fair share of wrong information from these kinds of places.

 

[marleaux-user]

A sale of Bongos? Good news for you guys ain't it?

 

[Bluesbob]

I've seen this before...

GC has a sale at "dealer's cost" of all their old stock every couple of years. I almost bought a nice Sterling in white sparkle for about seven twelfths of what my Pacific Blue Burst cost me. (But I love my Blue Burst. I was playing it yesterday on an outdoor gig and some guy comes over and starts telling me all about how much he loves his Sterling. But I digress.) As far as the employees go, some are in it for the "glory", and some just like working with musician's and their instruments. I doubt if any of them are in it just for the money.

 

[luvmybongo]

A sale of Bongos? Good news for you guys ain't it?

If you're curious as to where, it was the GC in Fairfax, Virginia.

 

[Big Poppa]

Heres the scoop,

GC is not discontinuing the Bongo. They are changing their color mix. They tend to Auto re order the same colors over and over and the colors tend to get tired.

I have had numerous battles and pleadings with Guitar Center regarding representation,presentation, and product mix. Sometimes I get their attention.

They have re committed to all of our line, which is good news for Sterling,Luke,Petrucci and Sillhouette fans too. By the fall you will see new displays, a full selection and hopefully always clean guitars and basses. (is BP drinking Kool-Aid?)

It is hard to be in business and not have a relationship with GC. They have their many detractors, but depending on the store there are some really good people in the company too. The detractors usually vote with their dollar and shop there even if they dont admit it. I know the CEO and most of the top level management and they understand the challenges regarding their image and are taking steps to improve

It is not popular to sing the praises of Guitar Center, but I have been close to them since 1971 when it was a two store chain. It frustrates the livin daylights to go to into some of their stores and I make it known to management. I was in San Francisco and the bass guy was a very strong player and he hated the Bongo because of the looks too. As a result the SF store is dead in the water with Bongo's. Some of these salesmen need to understand that their job is to not just sell what they use.

On a positive note If it wasn't for Guitar Center, I would have failed in the guitar business in America. While the independents were deer in the headlights scared or laughing at us with the Silhouette, Guitar Center embraced it and all subsequent models. Ditto the Bongo. They lost their way for the last year or so with us but as I said earlier they have recommited. ( I'll take a shot of that cherry Kool-Aid this round.....i'm getting kinda sleepy though)

Before you start the flames that of course BP loves them, they're his biggest American customer. Consider this.....Is every independent store in you local area chocked full of the stuff you like with good, fair pricing, and knowlegable staff? The answer is no, we know this very well it's our worst nightmare. If you took 150 random independents, you would have 15 really fantastic stores 25 pretty decent ones, 60 average hit and miss types and about 50 that you wonder why they bother or how do they stay in business. Guitar Center is more consistant, but rarely as good as a good independent.

For all of the bitching though they are going to be a 2 Billion dollar company so somebody shops there.

Its the chicken vs the egg thing again Do Guitar Center come into town and hurt the little guy, or did the little guy create the opportunity for GC to come in by not staying involved with their customer, current with the product, and charging reasonable prices? As always it makes for a good debate anyway but its usually a combination of both. Our local store in the desert is a really nice store with a good owner. He charges retail for strings. I have told him in the past that he is a target for GC and here they come. At the very least I'm willing to bet that the Internet outlets sell a lot of strings in our area, and customers only pay $7.95 for a set of Slinky's when they absolutely have to.

What we give you in addition to the many many choices in the actual instruments, but also choices of purchasing outlets. You can go to GC, and independent, or buy online just as long as you buy.

TA TA for now

 

[bovinehost]

Way too many people on this flat old earth do not understand how to actually utilize their ability to communicate. I was forced to learn very early when I realized that bass players in Houston weren't getting rich and so went to work selling stereos during daylight hours. Guess what? I was really good at it. I didn't always get to sell what I thought was good, but finally realized that I could sell people what THEY thought was good - and it was much easier, too.

GC is GC. Love 'em, hate 'em, if you're anywhere near my age, you'll remember what it was like when there were no internet sales and a "BIG" music store (outside NY or LA) had about five basses to choose from.

You want one? There's the price, take it or leave it - and yes, that IS the color you want.

I have my quibbles with the big chains. I expect (right or wrong) for the salesman to know at least as much as I do about basses. That is probably unfair, and I usually come to my senses about an hour after stomping out of Name Your Big Retailer Here.

But Guitar Center and some of the other big movers and shakers are what works, and you have to remember the positive aspects of dealing with a company that moves that much inventory. Do all the sales guys rock? No. Are you depending on him/her for all the information you need? I sure hope not. It's so EASY to learn things now with this big weird-ass internet thingy.

I choose to remember what it was like back when I was buying my first, second, third bass, and you know what? It kind of sucked.

It's easy and fashionable to bash GC, and I may have been guilty of it once or twice myself, but mostly it is a question of evolution. Evolve or we'll see you on the endangered list. They evolved and many of us have seen the benefits of that evolution.

Here endeth my string of BS.

JW

 

[koogie2k]

Well, the GC in my area are great. I know the management there and they know me. So do the sales people who work there. They all know I come for EBMM exclusively and I have been asked questions about the product by the salesman/lady in order to help them. They want to know why I spend money on the product. It is not to bash EBMM or try to steer me in another direction. Some just don't know. I tell them as much info as I can and even make them play all the models so they can see for themselves as to why EBMM guitars and basses are phenomenal. I will say this, the products are right up front by the check out counter and on display in a high traffic area. I see quite a few customers get interested and pick them up. Their guitars are always maintained for the most part especially the EBMM's. I have yet to pick one up in the store and it's out of tune or not set up. At least the store here has for the most part, honest salesman/ladies, who don't try to get you into a F**der or PRS without first discussing with you what you are after. My 2 pennies.

 

[AnthonyD]

The Message Starts at the Top...

Great to hear of the re-commitment of Sr. Management - in any business, the very basic ideals need to be driven from the top to better the chance of success.

And I remember when I was 12 and there were no choices... In fact, just a few years back I found "no choices" when looking for an ABG - until finding Guitar Center. And those "no choices" included checking out Manny's Music and Sam Ash in Manhattan where I found one ABG stocked in each store.

Guitar Center had about six brands of ABG on hand to choose from! Selection like this is a huge benefit to the consumer, and it sounds like things are only going to get better - great to hear!

 

[Disquieter]