Guitar Center - your opinion?

[MikeS]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

MikeS,

Have you ever made the trip from Cincy to Wilcutt's? I have to admit I didn't care for some of the employee's attitudes when I shopped there (went to college in Lexington), but they have some awesome guitars in the shop. You should check it out if you haven't; it's def worth the drive from Cincy if you're looking to buy.

I have not, on purpose. I've only known of them for about two years (no thanks to JeffB). I'm pretty sure that my going to Lexington would result in coming back with more gear and less money than I left with. It's hard enough not to buy based off their webpage, I can't imagine how easily I'd buckle under GAS if I walked in their and played some of their stock.

On a different note, can you haggle much on the used gear in the store at GC? In my local shop they have a '94 57 reissue Strat that's calling my name...but the string tree, nut and saddles have all been changed to graphite and it's kinna beat up...but I loved the feel. The other issue is that they want $1000 for it, even with the shape it's in. Would I be wasting my time to try to bargain with them?

It's worth a shot. If they're selling it for $1000 then they probably gave some poor soul $500 for it. There's certainly some wiggle room there. My HWY1 is an '03 that I bought in Feb '05. It's a very good HWY1 specimen that was mine (with a slightly used SKB hardcase, strap locks, leather strap, and a pack of DR strings) for $400 out the door (number included tax). They originally wanted $400 for just the guitar.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

no, go in and beat em up. point out all the things that are wrong with it.

say you dont like graphite and its all beat up, it better come with a fender hardshell case and it should be a tweed case (im not sure about this but it sounds good). is this a custom shop guitar or just production ri? if its production ri then it probably wasnt even that much new.

if they bought it "right" then they should have given the guy $500-$600 and with other costs involved they should have about $600-$700 into it. they buy cases for a penny usually so dont let em charge ya for a used case even its a nice one. dont let em throw in a non-g&g or fender tweed case either, the kaces ones are crap.

if it was me i would try and give em $800 including tax for the guitar, good case, and new strings and any other little thing you need, picks or whatever. Thats $740+tax around here and is a fair price assuming that you dont waste lots of the sales monkeys time. it could be they have $700 into it but thats their own fault for putting too much money into a piece of gear.

show up with either cash or a card thatll take the hit with no problem, play the guitar for a while to make sure you like it. find the sales monkey and try and make the deal. if he says no, ask why. dont be afraid to walk away.

so is it a cs model?

 

[Farkus]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

I have not, on purpose. I've only known of them for about two years (no thanks to JeffB). I'm pretty sure that my going to Lexington would result in coming back with more than I left with. It's hard enough not to buy based off their webpage, I can't imagine how easily I'd buckle under GAS if I walked in their and played some of their stock.

If you suffer from GAS in any way, shape or form avoid going to Wilcutt's, lol. He has some of the coolest axes in there. The ability to try before you buy can be killer when the guitars are awesome.

 

[baritone]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

I prefer Sam Ash. The people who work at the Sam Ash in Las Vegas are really cool. The people who work at the Guitar Centers here are totally annoying. They don't seem to know anything about gear, cash registers, or how to add or subtract when matching prices. They offer to match prices, but they can't figure out how to work the buttons. The newer Guitar Center is so much closer to where I live, and the Sam Ash is really far away from me. Sometimes I go to a place called Cowtown, which is right next to Sam Ash, just to drool over their boutique amps and guitars; sometimes I go to Ed Roman's for the same reason.

 

[devastone]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

GC is like Wal-Mart, it's okay for a few things, but I'm with Scott, try to support the independent guys. Most of the local shops I deal with can and will beat GC prices (they aren't that great). I do sorta know a couple of the guys at the local GC, and they know that I know gear, so they will usually give me really good deals. I have never bought a guitar or amp from GC/MF though, more stuff like strings, picks, occasionally a pedal, and recording gear (the local indies that I shop at don't carry much recording gear, and it is nice to have the 30 day return policy on).

On a side note, if a local shop tries to act holier than thou and treats you the same or worse than a mega store, and I have found some of those also, I avoid them more than the chains.

 

[Farkus]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

no, go in and beat em up. point out all the things that are wrong with it.

say you dont like graphite and its all beat up, it better come with a fender hardshell case and it should be a tweed case (im not sure about this but it sounds good). is this a custom shop guitar or just production ri? if its production ri then it probably wasnt even that much new.

if they bought it "right" then they should have given the guy $500-$600 and with other costs involved they should have about $600-$700 into it. they buy cases for a penny usually so dont let em charge ya for a used case even its a nice one. dont let em throw in a non-g&g or fender tweed case either, the kaces ones are crap.

if it was me i would try and give em $800 including tax for the guitar, good case, and new strings and any other little thing you need, picks or whatever. Thats $740+tax around here and is a fair price assuming that you dont waste lots of the sales monkeys time. it could be they have $700 into it but thats their own fault for putting too much money into a piece of gear.

show up with either cash or a card thatll take the hit with no problem, play the guitar for a while to make sure you like it. find the sales monkey and try and make the deal. if he says no, ask why. dont be afraid to walk away.

so is it a cs model?

It's a non-cs model, but it plays and sounds unbelievable. It has the nice tinted neck and is vintage white...I could really put it back to stock for a few bucks, but I just felt like I'd be getting taken advantage of at that price...I could get out the door with a new Clapton or SRV for not too much more as I don't think they still have the Fender tweed case, so if I bought it myself ($140 or so) I'd be in $1140 for the guitar before buying the parts to return it to stock. I just have a problem (in principle) when I could have an Artist Signature for close to the same price, no matter how good it sounds.

Maybe I'll just go in there and try to bargain...I considered telling them I'd do $500-$600 if there was no case, but I figured they'd laugh at me.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

nah its worth a shot and see what they can offer for a case. any good fender case or skb66 (not the freedom case) is good.

 

[The Owl]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

I'll only shop at Guitar Center now if I absolutely HAVE to, I'm done with those mindless soulless corporate dweebs! Their sales staff knows little to nothing about their products. :rocket:

I've had good experiences with Musicians Friend so far, gotten some good deals there.

My go-to website nowadays is Sweetwater Sound, great stuff at many price points and customer service second to none! I also buy locally from the small, ecclectic and verty cool Earthshaking Music

 

[tubeman87]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

I'm not going to waste my time with a long disertation on the subject...they suck, they suck, they suck, I'd rather buy a guitar at the flea market, they suck!....The End!

 

[Guitar Guy]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

Guitar center itself isn't bad for a music store. They have a lot of crap but once in a while they'll will get some really high end stuff in like Budda or Bogner amps.

I really like musiciansfriend and puchase from them a lot. Its is cool that you get free shipping over 100 bucks and they have most things that you want to buy. The only problem i have found with them is that if you are trying to order a limited edition item they may only have one and therefore it may be very dificult to get.

 

[EveryMn]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

Guitar Center in my experience is okay. A friend of mine works at one near me and I've been getting some pretty good deals...

 

[metallicaxlxl]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

the best thing about musiciansfriend, the pricematch. just find any old website online that has what you need for crazy cheap, make sure its a US dealer, and your gold. i got my amp from them for 600 instead of 750 all thanks to amazon.com. gotta love amazon.com err i mean musiciansfriend.com

 

[EveryMn]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

The don't think that the Guitar Center has any relationship with musicianfriend.com. their website is http://guitarcenter.com

There are many guitars stores on the net. When I want to buy a new axe I usally compare a few before buying or driving to the Guitar Center store.

The people at guitar center told me to print out any lower price from another store and they will give me the gear at that price....

Guitar Center has owned MusiciansFriend for about 10 years now. Someone may have already said it, but the thread is tl;dr.

 

[RealkarmaPolice]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

I always like to try equipment before I order anything. I will usually go to my local guitarcenter and try out the item I plan on ordering, or if I have the money right then I will purchase it at the store. The only complaint I have with Musiciansfriend is that I have been put on back order a couple times which can get irritating.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

nah its worth a shot and see what they can offer for a case. any good fender case or skb66 (not the freedom case) is good.

Jeremy's got skillz yo!



Seriously though, go in the morning, better if its mid-week, towards the end of the month (remember, sales monkeys make commision & they'll do anything to close a deal towards the end of the month).

Offer $650 out the door w/ a SKB case. I'll bet they'll take it, especially if it's been dead that day.

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

From the sounds of it.. I'm so glad that there isn't Guitar Centre in Canada.. or if there is, none near here. We have Long & McQuade.. the stock is generally pretty good for Gibson, Epiphone, Fenders, Ibanez, Jackson and Musicman.. as well as most amps I would look into. (including some Dr. Z's in the local one).

And although you still have loads of useless employees.. they don't suffocate you, they might ask you if you need anything but otherwise you can sit and play all day without being bothered.

 

[matt99camero]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

I just got back from Guitar Center actually. For once it wasn't crowed at all and I actually got to really try out some gear, not a bunch of chugga chugga stuff blasting like usual. I spend 2 1/2 hours in there, walked out with two speaker cables.

I don't mind GC, ours isn't too bad. That said if I'm playing a guitar and the sales person wants to give me his opinion about it, I don't listen. They are not the one who has to play it, I am. The only thing the employees can do for me is markdown the price. I bought my HRDx and Ibanez there.

I've bought quite a bit of my gear at MF, pedals, cables, my Tele, LP Jr. and my Taylor. All of them I bought sight unseen and all turned out to be wonderful players, but I'm not near as anal about guitars as some are. No mom and pop shop around here offers a return policy and they are always overpriced.

 

[Stratman]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

I like to go the GC just to pissoff the sale jerks.

1) Ask really stupid questions about gear that you know they know nothing about, and then ask didn't you see it in the latest guitar mag? Do you have a copy of it yet?

2) Tune the guitar to really odd tunings and then put it back on the rack.

3) Play SMOKE On the Water (Pick what ever song you hate) with the amp turned up to 12 when some one else is playing, watch when the sale jerks come walking (running) up and quickly turn the amp to 2 and play something complicated - while looking hard at the other guitar player. If they ask you a question, tell them that you heard it also, but did not know who was killing the song, all the while playing a really hard piece.

4) Ask to buy one string and then tell them that you want the next gage size, after they open the package...

 

[El Dorado]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

I haven't been to guitar center in years. I pretty much buy all my stuff off the net. I have bought most of my guitars from ebay. A lot of people don't like to do that, but I have had nothing but good experiences. As long as you know what your doing and don't take ill informed chances it usually works out, or you can just resell it and not lose much if any money. I don't support monopolies like guitar center of wal mart because I believe competition is good for the consumer and the workers, but I have not been very impressed with the service I have received from many of the small shops I have been in either. I took a guitar I was having trouble with to be set up years ago, when I wasn't as good at doing it myself, and not only did they not set up the action properly they hadn't even stretched out the strings. I don't know what the hell they did.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Guitar Center - your opinion?

The one thing I hate about Guitar Center are the other shoppers, especially the ones in their with no intent to ever buy anything. Whether they're window shopping or trying to irritate the sales guys, they always end up irritating me. When you're sitting in front of a 100 watt Marshall that is plugged into a 1960, there's no reason to turn the volume to noon. Those people deserve to have the pointiest BC Rich in the store repeatedly shoved up their back side - I don't care how talented they are.