Not serving EBMM well

[Big Poppa]

All of the above is valid. It is unfair to compare your one store to an entity with over 200. The way I look at it is that the customer is very lucky to be in a town with a GC and a good focused independent.

I do agree that a bass with problems should be fixed. I also hate it when I go into any store and see a dirty Music Man

 

[Dr Stankface]

The above mentioned Sterling has been at this GC for quite some time as well.

GO THRASHERS!!!

 

[ptg]

It did not come from the MM that way. It is a product of weather and climate. Spring and Fall.


Be a reasonable customer.

tk.

Hey, I hope I'm not coming across too harshly. I know that it did not ship from the factory in that condition. I'm also not bashing GC. I have a MM on order with that very store. (Can't wait for it to come in!)

I was just saying that it's a shame (for the store and the customer) when it's obvious that there is an unplayable instrument on the floor and that it is being neglected.

Again, sorry if it came across the wrong way.

 

[WillPlay4Food]

It did not come from the MM that way. It is a product of weather and climate. Spring and Fall.


Be a reasonable customer.

tk.

What I want to know is, if a bass lives inside the store and the store is climate controlled (our GC has a soundproofed bass room to boot), how could the changing of the seasons outside affect the instruments inside?

 

[petch]

The two EBMM's I played at Akron, OH GC- a Bongo and a Sterling- were in fine shape, very clean and no issues. Action was a bit high, but in an Ohio winter this is expected and easily remedied. Climate changes outside will definitely affect musical instruments inside! They keep the EBMM's up higher on their wall but still "right there" if you ask. In this case, the salesman asked me if would I like to play a few. So I did! I bought the Sterling. It has exceeded all my expectations.

 

[bubbao]

from Ed O @ GC

Years ago when I worked at our Sherman Oaks store, my district manager called and said he was coming by for a visit (inspection). When he arrived I walked the guitar floor with him. He found guitar after guitar with broken strings on them, hanging on the wall. All I could say was "Just think how bad it would have been if you DIDN'T call ahead!"
My point is that keeping the guitars clean is part of the sales persons job. But you know how hard it is to keep all those plates spinning. And because we encourage customers to play any guitar or bass that they want, our instruments can get funky fast.

Thanks for the post. It's a reminder that we can never afford to get complacent.
Ed Ocean
Bass Buyer, GC

PS: If I had one wish, I'd wish that someday there will be a post about "all the perfect basses" I saw at my local Guitar Center store. Wouldn't that be cool.

 

[Bartmanpdx]

What I want to know is, if a bass lives inside the store and the store is climate controlled (our GC has a soundproofed bass room to boot), how could the changing of the seasons outside affect the instruments inside?

Different seasons require different climate control. In winter, one uses a heating system, which tends to dry out the air. As a result, the wood dries out more, and shrinks, causing fret sprout. A humidifier can help greatly in this regard, and some GCs may have them, particularly in a room with a lot of acoustic guitars.

But if there's no humidifier, and the basses hang up high on the wall (warm air rises) for a long time in a winter when the heating system is going full blast, you're going to get problems.

FWIW, the EBMM basses at my local GC are pretty well set up and maintained. My Bongo (bought in February '06) had been on the wall long enough to get pretty dusty, yet played like a dream, needing nothing in the way of a setup besides a slight intonation change. The Fenders are the ones that usually seem to have the problems. Not sure why that is -- could be due to the different locations of the factories, or less QC at the Fender plant.

 

[petruccirocks02]

Not to sound like a broken record with something thats already been said, but I definitely think there's just employees that care and employees that don't care how their instruments are set up, cleaned, etc. I know the GC where I live (Oxford Valley GC), just the other day I went in there to try a Sterling and the neck was so bowed it was horrendous. I asked one of the guitar guys to set it up and it played fine after that except for the fret edges sticking out. Now the SR5 I tried, it was just ridiculous. The neck was so bowed you could probably literally row a boat with that thing. The majority of the basses and guitars I see at my GC are always set up horribly and I don't know whether its that the employees just don't care or what, but I don't think it can be the weather all the time thats causing this. I remember when I worked for I****z, I actually almost got fired for setting the action a little lower than specs and there was no buzz. My argument was "If I was a customer walking into a store and I picked up a guitar that had action that was sitting at 3.0mm I wouldn't even try any of that company's other guitars on that wall". I'm sure each GC is different, and I will definitely say that the East Brunwick, NJ store is one of the best as far as setups and selections of MM's go.

-Phil

 

[SteveB]

throwin' a bone to Bubbao

Here ya go, Mr. Ocean:

Last summer I took my bass player to my nearest GC (Robinson Towne Center in the Pittsburgh area) to try out the various EBMM basses. I had to play them for him since he's a lefty, but he wanted to hear the tonal differences.

Consequently, I played a Bongo, a Sterling and two different StingRays for him. All of them were in great shape and well set-up. No complaints, just a bouqet!

 

[EBMM7181]

How about the Sterling at the GC in Atlanta I played yesterday had those black DR strings on it.

I saw that one last time I was there, about 3 weeks ago.

 

[SLUGGO]

While I do prefer buying from smaller, speciality stores like Bass Central, I had a great expirience when I bought my 30th from GC.

I was doing my monthly run through the local GC when a 30th SR hanging on the wall caught my eye. (This is starting out sounding more like a Penthouse Forum story!!) Anyhow.....I take the guitar off the wall, noodle around for a sec, and relize the set up is horrid. I tell the sales guy, he took it immediately to the tech on duty. 3 minutes later he brought the bass back, it was perfect....just a small trussrod adjustment was all it took.

Well, I could not stand to see the poor bass suffer any longer on the GC wall, so I took it home. After a little clean up, she was nearly as clean as just coming out of the box.

I guess the bottom line is that nothing will compare to playing a bass that is shipped to your home and you are the only person to ever play it. The mega-stores are a necessary evil to the industry, but you can still get clean equipment that was displayed.

Another thing I ask when buying from the big stores is if they have a new, boxed bass in the back. I have gotten brand new, undisplyed basses many times this way.

When you are buying a bass of this level, or any level for that matter, you should ask the staff to fix whatever ails the bass....or least give them a chance to fix it. If they don't, or can't, reconsider who you choose to do business with. I think you will find in most cases, they will do whatever they can to make the sale!

ok....I'm done...thanks for reading....

 

[EBMM7181]

Jack and I went to the GC on 635 in Dallas so he could buy some PA cabs. I spent my time in the bass room while he was shopping. I picked up a Sterling, plugged it in and no sound. No battery.

When I went into the GC in Atlanta, I had only ever played a StingRay, so while I was there, I thought I would check out a Bongo, and a Sterling ( to see what all the fuss is from Ritchie ). and there was no battery in the Sterling, so I stole one out of a StingRay, hehe, and put it into the Sterling, and man, it sounded great, and felt wonderful, I loved the Sterling neck, felt like a J-Bass, but better! And the Bongo, man, Bongo's sound GRRRREAT! Thanks to that little trip to GC, now I have GAS for a Sterling, and a Bongo!

My new SR4 will help with my GAS, Pete says 5/4/07 ETA
I havn't got much longer to wait!!!!!

 

[EBMM7181]

To be fair, I'm gonna post a '' Positive '' comment about GC.

I love having a Guitar Center in my local area, actually, I have two Guitar Centers near me, Marietta Ga, and Atanta, Ga. I also have two '' mom and pop '' if you will, music stores in my city, Cartersville. These local mom and pop stores have guitar stands, for $25, the same stand at GC, $14

Strings at mom and pop, $30-$35 Guitar Center $16 - $20

Since GC is such a big retail Music store, they buy more stuff, so they get a better price, and that allows them to pass on the savings to us. I have had both BAD, and GREAT expieriences at GC, but sometimes as '' humans '' we let BAD things out-weigh GOOD things. It's just like the news on TV, always report the car chases, murders, ect..... and hardy ever see any '' good, uplifting '' stories on the news. So while Guitar Center gives us great prices, allows us to play any and all of their instruments, for as long, and as loud, hehe, as we want, we never seem to give them '' credit '' or '' thanks '' for that, we always find the bad, and when we find the bad, we POST the bad. And I myself have been guilty of posting the bad here on this forum, but I'm not gonna do that anymore.

So, thanks to Guitar Center for giving us big kids a Toy Store

So, thats my $0.02

 

[mynan]

Since GC is such a big retail Music store, they buy more stuff, so they get a better price, and that allows them to pass on the savings to us.

I think you hit on something...

I think it's the prices at GC that create the draw...and the fact that they are more likely than a mom-and-pop to have something in stock that you need.

They don't have to keep their guitars in good condition. It's not that they can't keep up...the stores by me don't open until 11am and close at 8pm.

So I don't buy the excuse of not being able to keep up. IMHO the real reason that GC doesn't maintain their guitars is because they don't have to. You're still going to shop at GC because they have better prices and better selection in the store than the local mom-and-pop

 

[Big Poppa]

the old line that they get better prices is not true with us they pay the same as any other dealer on everything we sell.

Guitar Centyer is a publically traded company that has to deliver earnings and growth for their investors or the stock price suffers. They have to make a profit. THey have huge buying power for close outs, etc., They have signifigant overhead in the biggest fufillment center in the business, the largest marketing department and so on.

If a Mom and Pop is still selling strings for $35.00 they are creating an opportunity f0or Guitar Center.

 

[francric]

the old line that they get better prices is not true with us they pay the same as any other dealer on everything we sell.

Does that hold true for other manufacturers...................

 

[ptg]

Wow, lots of interesting perspectives.

One thing that has come up is local dealers versus corporate dealers versus mail-order houses.

The pricing issue for sundry items is definitely an issue. Why pay more for a set of strings? I have to admit, though, I always try to buy Mom and Pop when I can.

A question, though: I found pricing to be similar from most dealers I spoke with when I went to order my MM bass. I opted for GC because I was worried that if I had it mail ordered direct to my house and it came damaged, etc., then I would have to ship it back instead of just driving it to the store. Any experiences from some of you who have bought several basses?

On a side note, I had to go the the GC manager to finally get a quote because the salesman would not return my calls! (The manager was very nice, however.) Also, when I asked Musician's Friend about ordering a MM direct (they don't stock fretless) they told me that it would take a couple of weeks just to get a quote!!

 

[EBMM7181]

the old line that they get better prices is not true with us they pay the same as any other dealer on everything we sell.

Guitar Centyer is a publically traded company that has to deliver earnings and growth for their investors or the stock price suffers. They have to make a profit. THey have huge buying power for close outs, etc., They have signifigant overhead in the biggest fufillment center in the business, the largest marketing department and so on.

If a Mom and Pop is still selling strings for $35.00 they are creating an opportunity f0or Guitar Center.

Agreed.

And of course, the $35 strings are Bass strings. My local mom and pop don't even stock EBMM Bass Strings, the $35 strings are one of those '' Acme '' brands, which still are much cheaper at GC.

 

[ptg]

Agreed.

And of course, the $35 strings are Bass strings. My local mom and pop don't even stock EBMM Bass Strings, the $35 strings are one of those '' Acme '' brands, which still are much cheaper at GC.

I went to buy flats at my GC and they had no EB bass flats at all!

 

[EBMM7181]

did you try GuitarCenter.com ?