I know that GC is a easy target for bashing and rightfully so. They usually hire very dumb people trying to play hip and talk down to you. Recently I was at a GC in Pittsburgh on saturday just looking around and seeing what new stuff they got since I am half looking for a new amp. I decided to plug in a Gibson LP Studio into a Mesa F-50 to see what the mesa hype is about (btw it sounded real real nice). A sales person came over and asked me if I liked it, and I did and asked me what I was looking for in terms of sound. He asked me first if I knew anything about tubes vs. ss technology. I did and explained that I wanted a more vintage gain and tweed cleans, and I told him I dont want a heavy 5150 gain and he understood! By god I had a competent person I talked to at Guitar Center of all places!! He showed me different amps and I was impressed with his knowledge, he was young but he had knowledge. Just saying theres hope yet for GC