Guitar Center

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 19 Sep 2008 4:47 am

Do they have some sort of invisibility ray they shoot you with when you walk in the door?

We have had a GC in our area for quite a while now and one Saturday afternoon I finally decided to go visit it. Since it was Saturday, it was quite crowded with customers, trying out guitars, basses, drums, pedals, etc.

I spent about an hour, looking at high-end guitars and amps, and not one employee ever acknowledged I was in the store. I wandered over to the counter where all the f/x pedals and pickups were, peering through the glass at all the goodies that were in there. Two guys were behind the counter, talking to each other. Nothing directed toward me. Same thing in the bass guitar area and the drum room. Lots of employees, but I guess none of them could see me. When I left the store, I walked by the two "guards" that are posted at the desk near the door. They said not a word. I guess the invisibility ray was still working.

Yesterday, I had a meeting near the store, so I decided to stop in and see what I could see. This time, instead of wearing jeans and a t-shirt, I was wearing a business suit. As I entered the store, the invisibility ray hit me and the two guards never acknowledged my arrival. It was about 5:15 on a weekday, so the store had very few customers. There were more employees than customers. Once again, I made the rounds to the different areas of the store, trying out several guitars. Many employees walked right past me with no eye contact whatsoever. Same thing in the room where all the f/x pedals are. There was one customer in that room and two employees, talking behind the counter. While I was looking in the glass case, I thought I heard a question directed toward me, so I looked up and said, "I beg your pardon". He looked in my direction and said, "No, I wasn't talking to you". Since I was invisible, I guess he was startled at the voice coming from the other side of the counter. I went to the acoustic room and played a few expensive Taylors and Martins, and the same thing in there. Nobody ever said a word to me. I finally left, walking past the two guards at the front door who never even looked in my direction. I know the invisibility ray wears off as soon as you leave the building. As I was walking out, another customer was walking in and he nodded and said hello to me.

Now I'm beginning to wonder, was I invisible while I was in the store, or are the "employees" that I saw all created with some sort of holographic device that projects their images around the room.

Lee, from South Texas

c c johnson · Post by **c c johnson** » 19 Sep 2008 5:04 am

Lee, I know what you mean. In most stores of any kind in this area I have walked down an aisle trying to find something. An employee will be walking toward me a few side aisles between us and I guess they read on my face I need help and they do a quick turn down a side aisle. If I had ran my business this way I would not have lasted 32 days, not 32 yrs. cc

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 19 Sep 2008 5:10 am

It's not all the Guitar Center's. The one in Tampa, Fl you walk in and someone will usually acknowledge you as soon as you walk through the turnstile at the front.

In the recording/P.A. systems department if the clerks are not busy at the counters with other customers someone will be on you like stink on you know what fairly quick to see if they can help you with anything.

Jeff Hyman · Post by **Jeff Hyman** » 19 Sep 2008 5:28 am

In most cases it's never nice being ignored. The Guitar Centers do have a pretty good inventory of a wide range of equipment. I use their access to inventory to buy something that I would want to touch-n-feel before buying. I just purchased my son a set of Pearl Drums and hardware. No way would I buy this over the internet. Same with a guitar. For most other items I use the internet. I like the fact that I get a 45-day no-hassle return policy, no shipping cost nor sales tax. Try contacting TC-Electronics? What a piece of crap company with a great product. http://www.AmericanMusicSupply.com did a swap without any problems on a bad M-350 unit I recently purchased.

Now... let me respond to your invisability issue. Some retail chains actually train their staff to leave the customer alone. Why? Ever go into a Circuit-City and get bomb-barded and attacked by a bunch of commission driven sales people. Now THIS will p#%s me off. Guitar Center takes a different approach, but they go to far in the other direction... by completely ignoring you. They figure that if you want help, you'll ask. If I want help in their store, I get very aggressive (in a nice way) and literally grab a sales person asking for their knowledgeable advise and wisdom to help me decide what to purchase. Use that word purchase ... as it works every time. Get in there and play the game. Make it be a fun experience. What the heck, you're only a musician! :-)

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 19 Sep 2008 7:33 am

Guitar Center can spot a steel player a mile away. Whether or not you're wearing your Sho-Bud ball cap, you will repel those sales people like similar poles on a magnet.

Jim Eller · Post by **Jim Eller** » 19 Sep 2008 7:38 am

Guitar Center here in Knoxville is kind of that way too, but I like. It sure beats the experience of having someone by your side all the time.

I don't go in there on Saturday. It seems to be "kids day" and the distortion is usually deafening. Not to mention the drum room.

I really like the fact that I can buy almost anything there and take it back within thirty days if I don't like it and no questions asked.

My overall experiences with Guitar Centers had been very good.

Jim

Ken Pippus · Post by **Ken Pippus** » 19 Sep 2008 8:16 am

Overall, you're probably better off when they ignore you, unless you intend to buy something right away. To quote a good friend who owns a really good music store in town "To be employed by Guitar Center, you have to flunk the aptitude test at WalMart."

This, however, has its advantages: they often don't have a clue. I found an eight string Melobar in the one here, strung with six strings, and tuned EBGDAE. Understandably, it had not gotten a lot of play, and a really good deal was available. I bought a Silver Hawaaian from the same store a few weeks later, again tuned to Spanish guitar tuning, this time tuned with a ViseGrip, cuz the tuner buttons were oxidized off. Again, smoking deal. Stupidity has its advantages, as long as it's someone else's stupidity.

But heaven help you if you actually want a reasonable price on a 1975 three bolt stratocaster.

KP

Jerry Hayes · Post by **Jerry Hayes** » 19 Sep 2008 8:20 am

The Guitar Center in Virginia Beach is the same way and I love it! When I go into a music store I know what I'm there to buy or look at and don't need any help until it's time to pay for it. The only thing I don't like about it is the loud music that's always playing over the store music system. I wish they'd just leave it off. There's another music store a few miles down the road who's prices are similar and it's quiet inside. Guitar Center always seems to have 19 versions of Stairway to Heaven or Smoke On The Water being played by some kid who just comes there because he can't afford a guitar yet. Oh well, I guess I was there once.....JH in Va.

Ellis Miller · Post by **Ellis Miller** » 19 Sep 2008 10:40 am

I have had experiences at two GC stores, Denver/Park Meadows and Las Vegas on Tropicana. I had a good experience in both and good follow-up on the purchases.

chris ivey · Post by **chris ivey** » 19 Sep 2008 11:24 am

i've had the exact same 'invisibility issue' at the guitar center in sacramento. very irritating..to the point of the hundreds of dollars of mine that they didn't get!

Ron Whitfield · Post by **Ron Whitfield** » 19 Sep 2008 12:07 pm

We don't have a GC in the islands, but I too prefer the invisible aspect when making a rare appearance at our contemporaries, where they usually don't have anything I'm interested in (so being truly invisible is worthless...) and the clerks are generally a waste of time.

I miss Zody's.

Tim Hurst · Post by **Tim Hurst** » 19 Sep 2008 3:46 pm

Barry Blackwood wrote:Guitar Center can spot a steel player a mile away. Whether or not you're wearing your Sho-Bud ball cap, you will repel those sales people like similar poles on a magnet.

Actually, I've found the reverse to be true. On a couple of occasions I have gone into GC wearing a Jagwire shirt with a picture of a Zumsteel, or some other T shirt with a steel on it and some of the heavily tatooed and body-pierced clerks came to me and asked me about steel guitar without ever really trying to sell me anything. I think a lot of younger guitar players really are interested in knowing more about steel guitar but are never really able to have much contact with the instrument or anyone who plays one.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 19 Sep 2008 3:48 pm

The same at GC here in San Jose. I agree that it's best if their sales people leave you alone until you need to pay. I have purchased keyboards at the store here, and all except once, I knew more about the products than the sales guys. The last thing I bought there was a Korg digital recorder. The sales guys weren't much help. One guy was a drummer and the other was not a musician at all and knew little about the products. I actually wanted a Yamaha recorder, and the only one they had was on display (and powered up). He told me he could sell me the unit but he did not have the power supply (HUH??). Too lazy to get the stuff together and find the box.

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 19 Sep 2008 8:41 pm

Hmm, the invisibility ray seems to have worked on your avatar, too.

John Macy · Post by **John Macy** » 19 Sep 2008 9:21 pm

GuiTarget....

Tay Joslin · Post by **Tay Joslin** » 19 Sep 2008 9:31 pm

Buddy Church (former lead picker for Freddie Hart) is the only reason I do business with Guitar Center of Memphis! He is one of the only Country pickers around Memphis, and he does it well! He sells more guitars than anybody else in that store, and was awarded the Guitar Center National Leadership Award for top U.S. salesman last year! Other than being pals with Uncle Buddy, I cannot say that I would have much use for that store.

Guitar Center of Memphis caters to kids and Rock 'N Rollers. The employees are all trying to make it big in the music business; I know this for a fact because upon occasion I will have a suit on when I visit the store, and almost always some "new guy" will try to sell me on his talents. Then, I politely inform him that I am not who/what he thinks I am as I pick up a Telecaster and pick "Buckaroo" for him.

Steel players are laughed at out loud at Guitar Center of Memphis. I was "test driving" a nice Gretsch lap steel one day (using my own bar and picks), and some smartaleck kid (an employee) explained to me that he did not care to hear that twangy crap because it was running customers off. At that instance, Uncle Buddy walked by and said, "Keep pickin' it, Tater! I need some twang today!"
As aforementioned, Uncle Buddy is the only reason I shop at Guitar Center of Memphis. He is 57, whereas everybody else is 18-25. 'Nuff said!

-Tay

P.S. I must be an oddball- I am only 28
myself!

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 19 Sep 2008 11:33 pm

Its called poor management and under paying your employees. They have employee turn over on a monthly basis up here, and rightly so. They pay their employees garbage and are poorly managed.

Steve Morley · Post by **Steve Morley** » 20 Sep 2008 2:23 am

At the local GC, I find what I want, then leave the store, safely protected by the invisibility ray. Somehow, by the time I get to Daddy's Junky Music right down the street, I'm uncloaked, and when I walk in, the friendly people there say, "So what did you find up the street that we can help you with today? Would you like it new, or reconditioned?"

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 20 Sep 2008 5:45 am

Actually it's rare that any music store knows what a Pedal Steel Guitar is. Practically all cater to the "stairway to heaven" crowd.

Along with G.C., Sam Ash is no different as is all except one local music store. The exception is Bondz Music (Wildwood, Fl) and that's because the owner, Johnny Bondz, is an excellent Pedal Steel Guitar player.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 20 Sep 2008 1:16 pm

Richard Sinkler wrote:

One guy was a drummer and the other was not a musician at all

It's OK Richard, you can say that neither was a musician ...

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 20 Sep 2008 1:20 pm

Tim Hurst wrote,

Actually, I've found the reverse to be true.

Of course. That's the difference between a GC in TN, and one in CA.

Drew Howard · Post by **Drew Howard** » 22 Sep 2008 7:25 am

Its called poor management and under paying your employees.

Agreed. I suspect for the GC younguns it's their first job and they're overcome with their new-found coolness, which doesn't include old people or basic business smarts. Greeting customers is square one.

However, my last visit was to the Grand Rapids GC and the young counter man was quite nervous and sincere in helping me buy some picks

GuiTARGET, indeed.

Steve Norman · Post by **Steve Norman** » 22 Sep 2008 8:28 am

Opposite in Seattle,,they must be commissioned here.
I get mobbed by guys showing me "what I need for killer tone" whenever I am in. They push the monster cable thing at you,,and when you say no they act like your an idiot for not buying 40. I hate the place and only go there as a last resort. I would rather pay a local guy 2x as much in his shop than buy from those morons at gc.

Ben Jones · Post by **Ben Jones** » 22 Sep 2008 11:44 am

had a female clerk ask me out at the GC here.
Couldnt take her up on it, Im married, but that coulda been some nice customer service

I try not to go in there tho. The music blasting on their sound system makes that really easy.

Bob Ritter · Post by **Bob Ritter** » 22 Sep 2008 5:51 pm

gc is a joke. $:\$ I wont shop there anymore. The only need I have for them is to go down and test something I wanna buy from another place...I have a local dealer in town that I enjoy doing business with