Sound levels at GUITAR CENTER today... Wow!

[rasputin1963]

Today I went to GUITAR CENTER in San Antonio, on San Pedro Avenue (formerly HERMES MUSIC) to buy a MIDI/USB interface.

 

Say what ye will about GC, but I got treated more nicely there today than I EVER did when the business (in the same building) was HERMES MUSIC... (Used to, you could cut the "I'm a wannabe rockstar way-y too cool to wait on you" attitude with a knife. There was also a persistent rumor that HERMES was owned by the cosa nostra as well!)

 

Anyway, today they had some deep sub-bass techno dance music thumping away on their colossal, arena-sized speakers throughout the store... it was deafening... I could barely carry on my business transaction with the bloke across the counter, even though he was three feet away!

 

He was an older fellow, about 60 (!), and he did say that working there for so many years (nearly 20) had screwed up his hearing, blottoed out his treble frequencies, such that he had to crank up the treble when playing on his own music gigs... ouch!

 

What a workplace hazard, no?

[Jesse G]

Just makes me wanna avoid Guitar Center like the plague, even more.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Pack plugs.

 

Seriously. If I am going anywhere that I even suspect will get loud, I take some earplugs with me. I've got a small plastic container for them, and they fit easily into my pocket. Concerts, clubs, shooting ranges, music stores, auto races... anywhere I suspect the noise levels will be too loud for too long, I take the plugs. Which means I have them with me a lot.

 

I may not always need them, but I've never regretted having them with me.

[the stranger]

Pack plugs. Seriously. If I am going anywhere that I even suspect will get loud, I take some earplugs with me. I've got a small plastic container for them, and they fit easily into my pocket. Concerts, clubs, shooting ranges, music stores, auto races... anywhere I suspect the noise levels will be too loud for too long, I take the plugs. Which means I have them with me a lot. I may not always need them, but I've never regretted having them with me.

 

I agree. I did regret not taking them to see Obituary at The Alrosa Villa that time I forgot. Always remember to protect your ears kids!

 

I just keep a handful of green foamies stuffed here and there and everywhere.

[MikeRivers]

they had some deep sub-bass techno dance music thumping away on their colossal, arena-sized speakers throughout the store... it was deafening ... I could barely carry on my business transaction with the bloke across the counter, even though he was three feet away! He was an older fellow, about 60 (!), and he did say that working there for so many years (nearly 20) had screwed up his hearing

Most cities have laws about SPL in the community, and I think there's a federal law about SPL in the workplace. Ask if they sell a sound level meter and if they do, ask for a demonstration (or bring in your own). Use C weighting and take the number to your local music police. Want to find out who they are? Throw a loud party! .

[D Charles]

Pack plugs. Seriously. If I am going anywhere that I even suspect will get loud, I take some earplugs with me. I've got a small plastic container for them, and they fit easily into my pocket. Concerts, clubs, shooting ranges, music stores, auto races... anywhere I suspect the noise levels will be too loud for too long, I take the plugs. Which means I have them with me a lot. I may not always need them, but I've never regretted having them with me.

 

I've been known to make ear plugs out of paper napkins for shooting (once worked at an old west show and gunfights used .45s with blanks plus I like plinking) and rock shows. You have to practice to fold em just right to properly plug your ear canal, but loud hurts and I've gotta do something quick. And yeah, finally found some of those sonic ear blasters or whatever they're called and they are nice.

[Billster]

Guitar Center is brutal for that kind of stuff. A few weeks ago I was in there testing some guitar effect pedals through a headphone display system, and this kid sat down at the Mega-Monster amp with 4x12 cabinet behind me and started riffing his face off at 110 db I couldn't even think, much less test anything. Another lost sale for them.

[bp]

Report the store to OSHA.

[G Geezer]

, but I got treated more nicely there today than I EVER did when the business (in the same building) was HERMES MUSIC ... (Used to, you could cut the "I'm a wannabe rockstar way-y too cool to wait on you " attitude with a knife. There was also a persistent rumor that HERMES was owned by the cosa nostra as well!) :

 

 

I heard that GC kept upping the ante until Hermes caved in (and ran off with the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$) I never had any problems with the staff (especially when MARS moved across the street) But that building WAS cavernous...and usually loud.

 

Not sure about the Mafia, but they still have stores in Mexico , Argentina and COLUMBIA

 

 

"and take the number to your local music police. Want to find out who they are? Throw a loud party! ."

 

San Antonio Police in the North Side of town? Yeah Right

[Gus Lozada]

Not sure about the Mafia, but they still have stores in Mexico , Argentina and COLUMBIA

 

No, HERMES does not have stores in Mexico. They are distributors for several manufacturers but do not sell to final customers.

 

Argentina, same history.

 

ColUmbia? Is that a city in the US, right?

[thankyou]

I've never been to a GC; however, I was really put back by the SPL at a (now former) Mars store. They had a PA suitable for a small arena. Every so often, some of the store personnel who did know how to play, would get up and crank up. This sent me out of the store in short order. I've worked several loud jobs and that was over the top.

 

It's like the sign I'd like to see at buffet restaurants - all you can eat doesn't mean all you should eat. Just because you can get it to eleven without unbearable feedback does not make it musical, or even fun.

 

edit: I had thought of checking out the San Antone music stores next year when I go to Kerrville. My list is a bit shorter now.

[philbo]

It's too bad somebody doesn't come out with a PA sound processor with an embedded mic that uses actual SPL measurements to kick in a limiter. It's no substitute for brains and common sense, but it's better than nothing....

[blue2blue]

If Sartre was right (in No Exit) that we create our own hell, I'm sure the bad boys of rock will be toiling for eternity in the special hell that is the Endless Saturday Afternoon at Guitar Center.

[rasputin1963]

At this particular GC store, the interior was dramatically dark, with black walls, but punctuated with a number of gyrating overhead "rockstar" spotlights on stage scaffolds, beaming and swirling in different colors....

 

Though these goodies-- like their padlocked glass case of gleaming Neumann mics--- were WELL out of the price range of the young amateur/aspiring musician, I think they seduce the customer into imagining himself a rockstar... there were also a couple of sexy young, tattooed female SA's as well to make the customer's (temporary) fantasy complete...

 

Oh well; advertisers always say, "Don't sell the steak... sell the sizzle."

[thankyou]

 

It's too bad somebody doesn't come out with a PA sound processor with an embedded mic that uses actual SPL measurements to kick in a limiter. It's no substitute for brains and common sense, but it's better than nothing....

 

 

I've thought of that too, but room dynamics change a lot between set up and the arrival of a multitude of adoring fans. It seems you'd have to have the sensor up front somewhere.

 

We went to a Jamaican restaurant last time we went thru Kansas City. They had an enormous house PA that was uncomfortable from the get go. I think they wanted to be a dance club and ethnic restaurant at the same time.

[G Geezer]

No, HERMES does not have stores in Mexico. They are distributors for several manufacturers but do not sell to final customers. Argentina, same history. ColUmbia? Is that a city in the US, right?

 

I thought they had retails there, is the McAllen - Pharr Border store still open?

 

"ColUmbia? Is that a city in the US, right?"

 

Yessir, that's where Universidad De Estado De Ohio is

[thankyou]

I thought they had retails there, is the McAllen - Pharr Border store still open? "ColUmbia? Is that a city in the US, right?" Yessir, that's where Universidad De Estado De Ohio is

 

Nossir, that's where the Universite De L'Etat de Missouri is located. LA Universidad De Estado De Ohio is situated at ColumBUS, which is larger than Columbauto or Columbcycle. Sorry Mizzou, you aren't goin' to the ColumBCS game.

[Jeff da Weasel]

Just to play Devil's Advocate, I can only IMAGINE the whining on this thread in the opposite direction.

 

"Dude, I went to GC to buy an amp, and they wouldn't let me turn it up to even try it out! How am I supposed to buy an amp if I can't even hear what it's going to sound like when I play it with my band?!?!?! I don't play live at low volumes, and I have nowhere else to try the amp out. GC is a bunch of fascists! I will NEVER buy anything from there! How can they call themselves rockers if they make everyone play at 20dB? Let's boycott the store!!!!"

 

I'm still waiting to hear about the perfect store that meets everyone's expectations.

[Billster]

I'll grant that Jeff, but I think they could design their stores a little better. At least they have an acoustic guitar room isolated from the Marshall people, but the open floor is out of control. They also need to enforce some time limits and reality on the space wanderers. The Ford dealer doesn't just hand out keys to every kid who wants to test drive a Mustang GT.

 

And it's pretty discourteous of some folks to riff away for extended periods - how long does it take to determine if an amp is loud? Maybe I'm a special kind of nutcase, but I have specific test criteria in mind when I look at an amp, so that I don't end up playing Pride & Joy for 20 minutes. I check the benchmarks I'm looking for, maybe experiment for a few minutes if I find that I can dial in the sounds I rely on, and get out of the way so somebody else can do their shopping.

[franknputer]

Shouldn't they have an amp room for that?

[strathound]

Just to play Devil's Advocate, I can only IMAGINE the whining on this thread in the opposite direction. "Dude, I went to GC to buy an amp, and they wouldn't let me turn it up to even try it out! How am I supposed to buy an amp if I can't even hear what it's going to sound like when I play it with my band?!?!?! I don't play live at low volumes, and I have nowhere else to try the amp out. GC is a bunch of fascists! I will NEVER buy anything from there! How can they call themselves rockers if they make everyone play at 20dB? Let's boycott the store!!!!" I'm still waiting to hear about the perfect store that meets everyone's expectations.

 

Mars used to have soundproof rooms for just that sort of thing. That's why I always preferred Mars, back in the day. RIP.

[bbach]

 

Anyway, today they had some deep sub-bass techno dance music thumping away on their colossal, arena-sized speakers throughout the store... it was deafening ... I could barely carry on my business transaction with the bloke across the counter, even though he was three feet away!

 

 

I stopped in at a GC in Salt Lake City on my way through and same thing. Wow was it loud. I tried to look around a bit but it was simply too much for me. I had to leave. I had stopped there to make a purchase, but I guess it was not to be. The employees were nice enough. No complaints there.

[Jeff da Weasel]

I completely, 100% agree that the stores can be laid out to better accommodate this. But I'm going to walk you through a little scenario that any of you with any background in business will understand.

 

1. Customer says, "Man, I hate shopping at store X! I can go over to Store Y and audition gear in private soundproofed rooms!"

 

2. Customer goes to Store Y. Gets great service. Enjoys a great private demo room with a friendly, knowledgeable salesperson.

 

3. Customer finds out that the $799 he played at Store X goes for $999 at Store Y. Goes back and buys amp at Store X.

 

See, Store X laid out the store in a retail planogram that allowed for more gear of different variety to be on display at all times. Store X was then able to then sell more gear, and then purchase even more gear from the manufacturer, allowing them to get high-volume discounts and thereby offer lower retail pricing. So the rest of the story goes...

 

4. Store Y eventually goes out of business, and everyone says what a shame it is, and complains about the environment of Store X, but still buys gear from there because at the end of the day, 90% of people make purchase decisions based purely on price when comparing two identical items.

 

You can't have it both ways. GC's choice to use more of their store square footage to sell more things (even at the detriment of creating the perfect environment for musicians) makes good business sense. There are always boutique places in most cities where people can pay a premium for the better environment, if that's what you define as being important to you.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I'll grant that Jeff, but I think they could design their stores a little better. At least they have an acoustic guitar room isolated from the Marshall people, but the open floor is out of control.

 

Actually, both of my local GC stores (Rancho and San Berdoo) have iso rooms for acoustics and vintage / boutique amps. The prosumer amps are on the main floor, which can get pretty loud at times... but pro audio / keyboards are separated, acoustics are separated and isolated, drums are in a separate room, etc. etc.

 

I've been to loads of stores that didn't even take those steps to make things easier to audition, and that were even louder than any GC I've ever visited.

 

Jeff brings up a good point - it IS a double sided coin. Some folks will complain that they can't test it "real world", while others complain about the noise levels. Can't please everyone... and as far as not giving the keys for the Mustang to the 16 year old whenever he wants them, I can understand that.... OTOH, you'll hear complaints that "I guess I didn't look like a high dollar sale and they ignored me / wouldn't let me try out the amp, and mom and dad are definitely getting me one for Christmas, and now I'll tell them to go elsewhere..." - IOW, as a salesperson, you are not always going to get it "right", and IMO, need to treat everyone as a prospective purchaser, and treat everyone with civility and respect...

[Jeff da Weasel]

For sure. Life is WAY too short to ever be treated like crap when you're trying to give a company your money. My advice is that if you are ever mistreated at any retail store, music or otherwise, ask to immediately speak to a manager. If you are not satisfied with the treatment by that person, feel free to pick up the phone and start calling the company's HQ to talk to their HR department.

 

If you just accept bad treatment, it's always going to continue. Take the time to make sure other people don't go through the same experience. At the very least, your report of a bad experience will end up on the person's work record to be reviewed the next time he/she is asking for a raise or trying for a promotion.