You get one wish from Guitar Center.........

[SLUGGO]

I don't care for the policy of allowing exclusive products at exclusive stores. I understand that brands like Mark Bass and Mesa Boogie are only stocked at certain stores, but why couldn't they be available to purchase (via special order) from all stores or on line?

Additionally, I ordered a cab from GC once the was in stock "at the warehouse', but had to be ordered for the store to receive. I was then charged shipping...for the cab to go from the GC warehouse to the store!? That seemed kind of odd to me but nobody held a gun to my head to buy it , you know?

Overall though, I like the stores and accesibilty to the gear.

 

[Big Poppa]

Good point Sluggo

Lefties keep coming up. I think that maybe Musicians Friend could solve that problem

 

[Psycho Ward]

Good point Sluggo

Lefties keep coming up. I think that maybe Musicians Friend could solve that problem

I brought up the lefty issue for the brotherhood, I personally won’t be buying any more basses, I’m done, I’m finished, I’ve got all I’ll ever need, I don’t have anymore room, I don’t even like bass guitar anymore, I’m going to buy a motorcycle, and move to Myrtle Beach.












…. And if you believe that I’ve got this great lettuce mine in Kentucky and ocean front property in Kansas.

 

[Beth]

Hey Beth, you can always take a trip 30 minutes west to the I. E. We have one in beautiful San Bernardino and my local GC in Rancho Cucamonga

BP, my one wish for GC would be for them to perform regular maintenance on the guitars/basses that have been hanging around for awhile. A little truss rod adjustment, a good wipe down, new strings for anything older than six months and just tuning them once in awhile would go a long way....

Yeah, I've thought about that, but 30 minutes on I-10 brings me to Morongo Casino. Not exactly the place I'd think Marty would want me to be intercepted by on my way to GC.

 

[meeder2]

Originally Posted by Randracula

BP, my one wish for GC would be for them to perform regular maintenance on the guitars/basses that have been hanging around for awhile. A little truss rod adjustment, a good wipe down, new strings for anything older than six months and just tuning them once in awhile would go a long way....
BP, my one wish for GC would be for them to perform regular maintenance on the guitars/basses that have been hanging around for awhile. A little truss rod adjustment, a good wipe down, new strings for anything older than six months and just tuning them once in awhile would go a long way....

I have to agree with this, every time I walk into any GC this is an issue.
They could move more product by doing this alone. They could get those fretwipes out and do a little tweaking. many of the basses need new strings
Sometimes first impression is the key.
I have noticed some "not so generic colors" recently such as a rolls burgundy bongo with a tort guard and a few dargies, and Stealth finishes.
That is my wish for success.

 

[Big Poppa]

Hey a little birdie told me that the Pit has stolen this thread...master of originality.

the responses are very mature.

 

[leftymike]

Good point Sluggo

Lefties keep coming up. I think that maybe Musicians Friend could solve that problem

I do remember several years ago you could buy a Lefty Stingray in black sparkle from Musicians Friend. The only problem was if you searched under "lefty" or "left handed" it didn't come up on the search. You had to stumble upon it by looking under the right handed instruments.

But being able to actually walk in and see a lefty Bongo/Stingray/Sterling/ would be amazing (and detrimental to my bank acount, but hey, what are you gonna do. )

 

[Enzo]

Thanks for all your great suggestions. Here are a few thoughts in response...

1: "Quiet Rooms"
Last year we started rolling out "Platinum Rooms" in some of our larger stores. They are intended to create an environment more suited to the needs of our high-end customers. While targeted more towards the 6 string guitarist, we also encourage bassists to use the rooms. They have chairs (for you and your friends), rugs, tables, TV's - and a lot of cool gear either in the room or available to be brought in from the main guitar floor. They have dedicated staff responsible for the care of the instruments and personal attention to our customers. They also have....

2: "In-Store Guitar Techs"
Every "Platinum Room" has an in-store guitar tech either on the GC payroll or sub-contracted from the best service center in town. Their job is to keep the guitars in top condition, both before and after the sale.

"Platinum Rooms" can be found in our stores in: Manhattan, Hollywood, Atlanta, Chicago (Halsted), Nashville, and Dallas.

We have another 5 rooms scheduled to open around the country during this year.

3: "Inventory"
As Marty said, we buy all we can from Ernie Ball. If you can't find what you are looking for in your local GC, ask the salesperson to do a "Green Screen Search" through all our 200+ locations. If you would like to place a special order (as a huge proportion of our EBMM customers do), we are happy to help.

Thanks - and keep these great ideas coming!

Michael Doyle
GC V.P. Product Marketing

 

[timmy5strings]

There's been so many good suggestions. I'm not sure if this was mentioned or I missed it, but there are times that I wished they did some Demos or a brief class on an item, to show how it works or how you can use it. This is a little different than asking "what does that do?" and getting a verbal explanation, as its sometimes difficult to open things up and get them running in the store. I am interested in recording and there are times I want to do something and not sure what I need. Maybe you could hold a brief demo and offer a discount to those who attend on the product?

 

[AnthonyD]

Great Thread!

Awesome opportunity to share GC insights with and get straight talk from the buying public.

A few of us had the opportunity to speak directly with Marty and a number of GC corporate leaders in Dallas. I was amazed at the rate of retail staff turn-over, but equally impressed by some of the employee programs in place to address the issue.

For me, Guitar Center is doing the right things - I have seen improvements over the past two years. Most importantly, I have always appreciated the access to equipment that GC provides. Within an hours drive I have a GC, a Sam Ash and a few "Mom & Pop" stores and whenever I feel like just visiting a music store to see what's available it's the GC that I visit. The access to equipment and the freedom to touch and feel is key and unlike any other store I've been in.

This extends to my two sons as well who have been told - in harsh tones I might add - to "Do not touch" in more one of those "Mom & Pop" shops. They are always up for a trip to GC.

But let's not forget that the individual we're dealing with in the store is a big part of why we like coming in and a bigger part of how we feel as we're leaving. As folks have mentioned, I would wish for consistent courteous, knowledgeable and sincere staff people. Folks who speak of what they know and more importantly, do not speak of what they don't know.

Thanks for listening Marty!

 

[drewbixcubed]

Something I alway run into when I am shopping around IN a store, is a place to review other options available from a certain manufacturer. No one store will have or know about every option available.

I think it would be cool to have a kiosk with a virtual catalog of other options/instruments available for the products sold in the store.

You wouldn't have to go to store after store to compare or know what is available. You wouldn't have to go home to browse the web,and then come back to the store to find the product you wanted. Employees & customers could use it to have complete knowledge of whatever is out there (this could be great for a place with such high sales turnover)

Another cool thing about it, is customers could look up the options they desire, and could utilize a dealer finder, or simply request items they wanted...as the requests grew in numbers, the store could focus their inventory on what their local customers desired.

I think the information obtained by both the customer and the store could be extremely beneficial for on-the-spot purchases/sales.

 

[ScottCoLefty]

Something I alway run into when I am shopping around IN a store, is a place to review other options available from a certain manufacturer. No one store will have or know about every option available.

I think it would be cool to have a kiosk with a virtual catalog of other options/instruments available for the products sold in the store.

You wouldn't have to go to store after store to compare or know what is available. You wouldn't have to go home to browse the web,and then come back to the store to find the product you wanted. Employees & customers could use it to have complete knowledge of whatever is out there (this could be great for a place with such high sales turnover)

Another cool thing about it, is customers could look up the options they desire, and could utilize a dealer finder, or simply request items they wanted...as the requests grew in numbers, the store could focus their inventory on what their local customers desired.

I think the information obtained by both the customer and the store could be extremely beneficial for on-the-spot purchases/sales.

...And that is why you are my hero
I always end up trying to research things at home and remember what it was I was looking at once I get to the store....Research + hands-on in the moment would be priceless.

of course...I'd be banned from the club if I also didn't ask for more Lefty's.

 

[Melissa]

My one wish would be decent customer service without the lip.

The staff at our local GC was so horrific the few times (months ago) I've actually gone there, from the managers to the sales staff, that I won't go back because of the hostile shopping environment.

In a nutshell, when I go into a music store I can understand the desire to help the person if they need it, but I don't understand the desire to be a jerk. If I'm looking for something specific, help me if I need it, don't cop an attitude and tell me that I don't want X bass because of ::insert asinine reason here::. Contrary to opinion, I might actually know what I'm looking for and if I don't and am seeking assistance, offer it in an unbiased, positive manner not "We're being forced to sell Musicman because of the Warped tour, you really don't want one". The manager/sales staff's beefs shouldn't be my problem.

It would be one thing if I was the only person I know this has happened to in regards to GC (and their issues weren't Musicman related), but it's happened to several people I've spoken with.

 

[bassmonkeee]

Hey a little birdie told me that the Pit has stolen this thread...master of originality.

the responses are very mature.

You might be surprised to find out who Jammie17 (thread starter) is, too. Then, again, you might not.

 

[Bass Control]

Maybe I'm the only one with a Guitar Center that suffers from this (VA Beach, VA), but when I go into the bass section there are several basses that aren't in tune or even setup. I went in one time and the Bongo in stock had a noticable bow in the neck, some of the action was set way too high (even as an upright player, I found the action much too high). This wasn't a problem with just EBMM basses, but it was a general problem across the board.

If I had a genie, I'd replace all their employees with one who actually give a damn about the product they are trying to sell. It has been my experience with sales people at GC that they just know the name of the company and just splurt the typical words "Yeah, it's a great company and they make great sounding basses." Very few of them know how to setup the instruments properly (I had asked questions two years ago when I first started playing). Everything that I've learned about instruments and how they work has been from working in local music stores, and I have always been turned down by Guitar Center despite my experience. So, I think the initial passion of helping fellow musicians has been lost in becoming a "big name business."

I go in there every once in a while still to play, but Guitar Center has lost me to a different music store in the area. I still tell people to go to Guitar Center for their instruments needs, but always praise that other store for doing a much better job than GC has.

 

[Big Poppa]

Melissa
Which store is your local store?

 

[newtley]

win-win

I tend to "shop local" as my independant store has plenty of cool stuff; plus he's a pal. I've only been to GC twice; once here in Maine and once in Denver...

Just to say it out loud, one thought would be to foster a spirit of cooperation among other retailers in the general area; in this case specifically other MM dealers.

My retailer had a request once for a specific MM bass that would have been several months out if ordered directly. He called around and found another dealer that did have that model in stock and worked out a trade deal with them. I thought that was a great way to get the customer exactly what they wanted right away as well as model a positive way of partnering with a "competitor" rather than posturing all that adversarial stuff that tends to plague retail.

music is love..spread the word..

 

[johnfrazier]

GC wish list

I had a great experience at the San Marcos, CA, GC store on 5/20. The staff was friendly and polite, fairly knoweldgeable about the 30th Anniversary model (I was stunned to have my pick of two at this late date), very patient as I compared every detail of both for 40 minutes, and then they cut me a sweet deal. It was the first bass I've bought at GC since 1985, and I probably won't wait 22 years to buy another one.

I can't speak for other stores but GC in San Marcos is all right by me. One suggestion: a bigger bass room. I feel like part of the JV when I have to walk by the guitar pantheon to get to the bass cubbyhole.

 

[Melissa]

Melissa
Which store is your local store?

5777 W Fairview Ave
Boise, ID 83706

Let me know if you need more info (names, dates, etc).

 

[Big Poppa]

John

we bassists are JV, Remember?

Newt Trust me GC would love a sense of cooperation...the mom and pops are joining forces and really feell it is a war for survival. I have strong opinions on this and for once Im going to go eat my salad. (cant be a blimp for the royal wedding)