Stupid things you've been told at Guitar Center

[HIGHENDONLY]

Make sure you get a warranty on them reels

[loaf]

I went on a NYC 'exploit the weak dollar' trip "do have the FMR really nice compressor' looks on computer 'No, never heard of it'

[Tone Obsessed]

Originally Posted by HIGHENDONLY

pretty soon you will see a usb microphone and preamp plugins.....than ssl will come out with a ssl9003 firewire interface....Adam will come out with digital wireless monitors...so no more converters needed......oh and itunes will be the new stardard no more cds...just itunes and ipods,everything will play just mp3's.....and best of all you will be able to buy everything at walmart in the electronic section next to the playstation.....than you can go up to one of them old ladys with the "how may i help you" apron and ask them if the neve 1073 plug in is as good as the original....when that day comes...come back and post her reply.

Here's some news from NAMM: Best Buy and Fender are doing some sort of deal and will be installing "Fender Shops" within Best Buy this year...

The logic is kids are buying games, mp3 players and the like there, parents go there to buy gifts, so Fender will be able to reach more "potential buyers" this way.

AND YOU THOUGHT GC WAS BAD!!! WOW!!!! CAN YOU IMAGINE THIS????

GC, Ash and others will be in even worse $$$ shape. Can't you see the day where you go into Sam's Club for a Fender? It WILL happen. The cheap India and China made gtrs are in there already - cheap a** acoustics, too.

IMO, on-line will be the only "REAL option place for high-end gear. It's already happening. 99% of my purchases happen this way NOW.

Also, DIRECT sales from manufacturers will grow which should mean better prices ( that too, is already happening)

Guess we'll see.

TJ

[pan]

Originally Posted by mpr3

Do you have any Quantegy GP9 in stock?
...


GC: *sigh* OK.... Wow, looks like we have 12 reels of GP9.

Since they stopped making it and no one uses it anymore, can you give me a a great price?

GC: Yea, how about $150.

I'll take all 12 reels.

Gotta just LOVE GC ! Try getting a better deal online....

[scorpiwoman]

I'm waiting at the pro audio counter to pay for some xlr cables when I ease dropped into a conversation a white sales rep was having with a black guy maybe 20 yrs old, it really pissed me off! I guess the guy was looking for some recording software when the sales rep took him over to large display they had out for the M-Audio Fast Track Studio USB Bundle and told him that this was the same recording setup Kenya West used on all his albums and that Kenya West uses it day in and day out in his personal studio. The cherry on top... he would throw in the M-Audio speakers with the bundle all for $299.00!!!

[mrface2112]

Originally Posted by HIGHENDONLY

pretty soon you will see a usb microphone and preamp plugins.....Adam will come out with digital wireless monitors...so no more converters needed

..........well..........

MXL has a usb mic (MXL USB-006--$129)

and neumann just recently announced km183/4/5's (called the KM D series) with converters inside them (AES or s/pdiff out). $3495 is what i saw bandied about somewhere.

and Edirol's got itty bitty monitors with s/pdiff (the MA-15D Digital Stereo Micro Monitor). another one of those $120 marvels.

so, you're covered on two ends with the mics and i'm sure there are more monitors out there with digital inputs.......so brother, we're already there.


cheers,
wade

[TL2]

I worked a short stint at a GC when I first moved to LA (I was 21) and saw some pretty frightening things happen. Such as...

1. Marshall had just released some new 4x12" cab (1960?) with special vintage 30's in them. You couldn't buy these aftermarket at the time so certain employees would have their friends purchase the cabs, switch out the speakers with some shitty whatever's and return the cabs to the showroom floor. Moral of this story... Buy FACTORY SEALED BOXES.

2. The Ernie Ball EVH (Van Halen) had just come out and it had a custom Dimarzio in it (maybe it was a Duncan - can't remember) that wasn't available aftermarket either. So... certain employees would pull the pickups out and replace them with standard off the shelf pickups. Moral of this story... Buy FACTORY SEALED BOXES.

3. How many of you guys would have your Morley Wah's or Crybaby's take a dump on you after gigging relentlessly for months? What if you could buy a new one, exchange the guts with your fried pedal and then return it to the shelf without anyone knowing? Hmmmm.... Moral of this story? Buy FACTORY SEALED BOXES.

I'm not insinuating that this is standard operating procedure at any GC - only what I saw happen at a specific location at a specific point in time with specific employees that shall remain anonymous (in case any of you are readiing this 15 years later).

Is there a lesson here? Oh yeah. BUY FACTORY SEALED BOXES!

[sounddevisor]

Originally Posted by scorpiwoman

...Kenya West...

Would that be a subset of Afrikaa Bambataa?

[khameln]

It's funny, but I was thinking it actually might be more exciting to have a thread about things people were told at Guitar Center that WEREN'T stupid... Those rare gems fall but once a year or so and it might be exciting to know was actually lucky enough to come away with a useable piece of information :D


Actually, my biggest gripe with guitar center is that they don't know what they have in their *own freaking store*.


Last week I had to help a client purchase an MBOX 2 Pro. It was a semi-emergency and there was no time to order, so we had to go to GC. It went like this:

Me: "Hi, I need to pick up an MBOX 2 Pro, just the regular retail, not the Factory version"

Guy: "MBOX 2?"

Me: "Yeah, 2 Pro"

Guy: "Uh, I don't know if we have any more of those... Let me look." (I've heard this so many times at GC)

At this point he starts looking around the Pro Audio area of the store (where we are, and where he's been working for months) for about 4 minutes while I wait. Then he brings back an MBOX 2. Yeah, the regular, non-pro one.

So I say:

Me: "No, we need the Pro... Not the regular MBOX 2"

Guy: "Hmmm... Oh the pro... I don't know if we have any of those left in stock..."

And he starts searching around again. At this point I figure I could do a better job looking *myself*. So I do, and there's a big fat MBOX 2 PRO box sitting RIGHT in front of him in the counter display case.

Me: "Uh, how about THAT one in the counter?"

Guy: "Umm, let me see if that's what it is... Oh ok, ths one looks like a Pro. Is this what you need?"

Once he pulls the box out, I can see that it's a Factory model. So I say:

Me: "Hmm, well that's the Factory... Do you have the regular retail version?"

Guy: "I don't know, I don't think so, let me check though...." ... And he starts *looking it up in the computer*!!

So while he fiddles around staring at the monitor, I scan the wall shelf behind the counter *myself* and guess what... There's one on the shelf right behind him. So basically, due to actually trusting the sales staff to know what's in their area (and it's not like an MBOX Pro is a small, easy-to-miss package by any means) I wasted 15 minutes of time for what should have been a simple, 3-minute pickup job. And this wasn't an obscure piece of old software or a quirky audio connector... It was a *flagship piece of prosumer audio hardware*. Sigh.

Welcome to GC!

[jay22]

So... This is a bit different, not as extreme, but i figured Id tell the story anyways...

Went up to a local GC looking for a jmp-1 a few weeks back and a real nice guy helped me out and took care of everything. He said a Texas store had one and he would have it shipped, along with a new el34 100/100 that actually was to come from marshall. (Marshall had jmp-1's back ordered, and the one in texas was brand new, so we were told...)

So, they are supposed to ship it, a week goes by, and they havent shipped it yet, so my guy calls them and says, "hey, next day air it, you sat on it a week and it would have been here by now".

So the Texas store says, "Sure no problem, we will do it tomorrow."

Two days later, they ship it ground. *sigh* So it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience, but what the heck. So it shows up today and it turns out some dummy in Texas dropped it. Its got a little dent and one ear is bent. *Great*.

However, since im basically stealing this setup from them, I dont mind. It turns out that musicians friend advertised a combo marshall jmp-1 preamp and el34 100/100 poweramp for 1789.00 US. Now, if you do the math, thats like paying the full 1400 for the preamp, and another 379 bucks for the power amp, which is usually 1800 bucks or so. I printed the ad and took it to GC and told them to match it, and they did. (which is the only reason I went there in the first place, I had this planned out...)

Now Musicians Friend has the combo set at over 3000.00 us, i dont know if it was a misprint or what, but I still got that low price at GC. My guy even caught the new price too, but he said the deal was already made and he had to make good. That made me smile! Just waiting for the power amp to show up. Otherwise I would have said forget it and got it from my other local shop. But at that price, Ill take a headache or two.

So, i guess score one for the consumer at GC!

[DeathMonkey]

Originally Posted by Tone Obsessed

GC, Ash and others will be in even worse $$$ shape. Can't you see the day where you go into Sam's Club for a Fender? It WILL happen. The cheap India and China made gtrs are in there already.
TJ

Doesn't Sam's Club already sell certain Gibsons and Marshalls?

[grindx]

There is a help wanted ad on careerbuilder.com for the Guitar Center near my house. Here is an excerpt from their ad.

"Our success is based on core values that embody a winning attitude and incorporate the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We're proud to do whatever it takes to satisfy our customers."

[R3k]

Hey. 1st post, love the forum.

Just wanted to say guys, enjoy it while it lasts. (not the forum... I mean GC)

In a few / quite a few years I believe, these 'physical' 'mega' stores and their 'clerks' will be a rarity. Replaced like many things, by the online superstores. Then, IMO, we'll end up with a smaller number of boutique music stores selling the type of stuff that you need and want to hear / feel before you buy, staffed by people who know their gear and are into their jobs. Places where you will be happy to pay the 'physical store' overhead because on the invaluable service / hands on / advice that you get there.

IMO, gotta wait until the 'walk in consumer' generation is fully replaced by the 'armchair' consumer generation... then the psysical megastores will fall.

And those clerks... well, they'll probably be working at the warehouse packing boxes...

But hey, It'll probably be all drop shipping in the future.

So probably those clerks will be working for UPS instead (as all the ex military will be working for fedex)

Anyways, my GC story.. hmmm.. Nothing funny, just general incompetence where I ended up cancelling my order of 824's cause the salesperson wasn't really interested in shipping in a pair for me.. (they'll be in next week.... oh sorry, I forgot to place the order, try next week.... yeah sure, I'll throw in some stands, but I dont know when they'll arrive, etc) I mean WTF, they were available at Musician's friend, dont GC and MC share the same factory?

Paul from Sweetwater calls me like I'm his mother every time I make an order. I think his life is empty when I am not ordering anything... just turns up to work each day, waits in his cubicle staring at a picture of his wife and children, waiting for me to order. Lonely and empty.. I should order a drum key or something just to put a smile on his face.

Zzounds overcharged my account once.. i no longer shop with them, power to the consumer!

The smaller retailers.. love em

Jon at Alto music runs the best deals on High End I have ever encountered, but maybee he was just selling me stuff at cost to be friendly after we chatted over a Ebay 2nd chance offer scam

Front End Audio's website is screwed, emails me that the microphone is shipped when it's out of stock..... on telephone it's all cool and the people there rock..

All fun and games..

[R3k]

Originally Posted by Fman

R3K,

I'm glad you are a fan of the boutique store ways, but Sweetwater functions on the same principle...hence it is truly honestly disheartening to see you bash Paul. You could say I'm biased to be sure since I work with the guy and know him personally, but really that makes me more of an authority on the type of person he is.

Paul makes it a point to personally contact every single one of his clients, even just the guy who orders a single pack of guitar strings, because he is thorough and diligent in making sure everyone he knows gets what they need. You are absolutely justified in your distaste for the unconcerned nature of megastores, but Paul is not a kid selling used Mexi-strats. He is a trained and educated professional; I actually learned more about digital signal processing and live mixing under his tutelage than I did in school.

You may just not know all that about him, and so I personally take your words with a grain of salt; but if you don't want him to call you, just let him know and I'm sure he will honor your request. As to his life being empty I wouldn't worry about that; Paul's got plenty going on, makes a good living, has an awesome family, and even makes time to check in on people who may profit from his technical expertise despite the fact that some of them drop his name on a forum like he did something wrong. I hope you aren't completely turned off to Sweetwater, because honestly at the end of the day it's a place that was built around ethics and not gimmicks. With that, if you 100% just want to order online and be left alone, I'm pretty sure that could be accommodated as well with little trouble!

Feel free to PM me if you'd like and I can give you my information to contact me directly; I really just wanted to expound the point that Paul's a good guy, but am open to hear what you've got to say.

Best Regards,
Forrest

umm.....I Like Paul, Im glad he contacts me, and I like Sweetwater. I do most my purchases through SW.

I was actually complementing him, by way of caricature.

Was I too subtle?

I sincerly hope P has more of a sense of humor, as I do think him cool and dont want to hurt his feelings.

Best
_R3k

[R3k]

Originally Posted by Fman

I suppose my radar is broken, makes sense.
Thanks for setting my mind at ease.

Cool, I am glad you spoke your mind, so that I could clear that up.. the last thing I wanted to do on my 1st post was to insult someone I didn't mean too.

[drumkideric]

Originally Posted by R3k

Paul from Sweetwater calls me like I'm his mother every time I make an order. I think his life is empty when I am not ordering anything... just turns up to work each day, waits in his cubicle staring at a picture of his wife and children, waiting for me to order. Lonely and empty.. I should order a drum key or something just to put a smile on his face.

I have been doing business with Paul for years. He is a great sales engineer. Shouldn't you be happy that he makes sure that you are happy with what you buy? After all, it is his job to sell stuff and make the customer happy.

[LoopQuantum]

OT!

More Funny GC Stories!

ArtGarceau Promised us thousands!!!!!

More!!!

[Spectacle]

Originally Posted by drumkideric

I have been doing business with Paul for years. He is a great sales engineer. Shouldn't you be happy that he makes sure that you are happy with what you buy? After all, it is his job to sell stuff and make the customer happy.

I think that's actually what he was saying. That customer service like Paul's is precisely what's good about Sweetwater, and why things are going the internet way. Seemed pretty clear to me.

And I magically predict that in precisely 59 minutes, someone else will repeat exactly what I have just said, just to drive the point home.

[Chucho]

Originally Posted by drumkideric

I have been doing business with Paul for years. He is a great sales engineer. Shouldn't you be happy that he makes sure that you are happy with what you buy? After all, it is his job to sell stuff and make the customer happy.

he's being sarcastic everyone.
(here comes the lumpy explanation)
what he really means is that he's a TERRIFIC sales guy !!!

[R3k]

To avoid further confusion.. What is was trying to say (and somehow failing)

That the man is so good at personally following up every order I make, that I was joking that its like he just sits there and waiting for me to order, that his whole job description reads something like "customer service for R3k" It was praise as his attentions make the transaction feel like a 1 on 1 experience, and not like he has 100 other such customers to take care of as well.

If you're reading this, keep up the good work.

Cheers, I'll go sit in the corner now.

[jaketanner]

"DAT, what's a DAT?" when asking the pro audio depatment for a DAT tape a few years back. Where do they find these people???

[Matt Grondin]

I was recently in our local GC to get some cables that I needed on the spot. Fortunately, they had some Mogami cables so I at least I felt like I was getting a halfway decent product (although people say there are better even though I can't really hear a difference).

Anyway, as I'm headed for the front door to have the little security dweeb go through all my shit to make sure I'm not stealing, even though they could just use security sensors like every other retail store in the world, an employee begins to approach me from the Pro Audio department.

He wasn't the guy who helped me, but he comes up and says, "Hey man, I just wanted to shake your hand. I've got mad respect for anyone who buys good quality cables like Mogami" or something like that. WTF

Maybe next time I'll buy the fancy diamond coated, pure gold wire GC cables and see if I can't get a blow job from one of the GC ladies. Do people really never buy decent equipment there?

[Cujo]

When the huitarist was trying out some resonator guitars at GC recently the sales guy opens the caes one came in and shows him the little brass thing and says look it even comes with a compass! The thing is a little humidifier.

[Sqye]

..

a sales guy at guitar center told me gene simmons is a virgin....

do you think it's TRUE ?

..

[Sqye]

Originally Posted by dobby12

Maybe next time I'll buy the fancy diamond coated, pure gold wire GC cables and see if I can't get a blow job from one of the GC ladies.

lol

..

[Sid Viscous]

I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure that the words pro and tools were used during it.

[Jonboy79]

Originally Posted by Sid Viscous

I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure that the words pro and tools were used during it.

Oh look, you made a funny about pro tools, how original of you.

[Sid Viscous]

Originally Posted by Jonboy79

Oh look, you made a funny about pro tools, how original of you.

It was a funny about Guitar Center and true. I'm sorry if your feelings were hurt.:(

[ja_remi40]

being from canada (no GC's, sam ash's, sweetwater) i just recently returned from orlando and visited the GC on orange blossom trail..

the 2 two guys i met in the pro audio department each knew their stuff...one was a graduate from fullsail..and the other worked in the studio when he was younger, graduated from another recording school (cant remember the name) and was working at GC part-time just to get the discounts..

i didnt have too much money but i knew i needed a compressor/gate..he suggested the one i already had my eyes on from reading reviews and whatnot..and being relatively new to this stuff he took it out of the box, hooked it up to the allen and heath gl2400-424 mixer they had playing some music, grabbed a mic and showed me EXACTLY what each feature did and how to use it effectively in many different situations..i already had some knowledge on the basics of compressors and whatnot but he really got me to understand and use it..

it might just have been the one good GC from listening to these stories but i love them!! keep them coming!!

[Jonboy79]

Originally Posted by Sid Viscous

It was a funny about Guitar Center and true. I'm sorry if your feelings were hurt.:(

No feelings hurt here, just thought it was a really lame attempt at a jab toward GC/protools, a bit cliche also.