Members SmoothJK Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Is this just a local thing? Our local Best Buy now has a small section selling guitars and amps. I was really surprised and confused ... and we're not talking First Act guitars or something like that. They had Fender Strats and everything, and according to the guy there, they're trying to expand into getting Martin acoustics and other big brands. This is totally random to me ... anyone know what's going on? Seems almost like an experimental trial thing. Electric guitars and amps kind of make sense at a consumer electronics store, but acoustic guitars? Seems like they're trying to eat into Guitar Center's market share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grantus Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 They seem to be experimenting with instrument sales at several stores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3red Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 they used to sell guitars at record stores. strings and cables too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JC777 Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 They've been doing it for several year but just in certain markets. From what I understand and have read, it hasn't been a big success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jim85IROC Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 They've been doing it for several year but just in certain markets.From what I understand and have read, it hasn't been a big success.I'm not surprised. Ever ask one of those idiots for advice on a product? They're all borderline retarded. At least GC and the other similar establishments have a tendancy to hire people who are at least somewhat familiar with the hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members songsforbears Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 My buddy is a Best Buy manager. It's going on at a few stores and will continue expanding. Buddy Guy actually opened the shop at the Best Buy near me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members falsethreats Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 You mean the Best Buy in Fair Lakes? I've been to their musical instruments dept. which also has electric drum sets, acoustics, fog machines, DJ equipment. I applied for a job there, but it seems they have too many electric guitar specialists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members songsforbears Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 You mean the Best Buy in Fair Lakes? I've been to their musical instruments dept. which also has electric drum sets, acoustics, fog machines, DJ equipment. I applied for a job there, but it seems they have too many electric guitar specialists. You forgot to put specialists in quotation marks. It's "specialists." Let's just say if these guys are as knowledgeable about guitars as they are about electronics, then there's going to be a lot of new guitar owners throwing their guitars in ponds to clean them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kap'n Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Real deal guitars or "Baldwin by Gibson" instruments? Toys R Us sells the Baldwin crap, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kap'n Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 they used to sell guitars at record stores. strings and cables too Yep. Even Western Auto had guitars back in the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stingxnj Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Check out the reviews on the Fender Starcaster: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=product&tab=7&id=1183767507527&skuId=8448254&childSku=null&count=null#headerCustomerReviews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members samuraiBSD Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 All I've seen is Maestros and Starcasters (not the semihollows, I mean the crappy ones...I was actually thinking about dropping $50 on a Maestro and doing some turd polishing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sfla99 Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 They are just ripping off Target's idea http://www.target.com/Fender-Starcaster-Strat-Guitar-0284001106/dp/B000VOADMU/sr=1-1/qid=1215455455/ref=sr_1_1/601-2020892-3062501?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Afender&page=1 They sell the amp, acoustic and drum kit to match.. Just do a search for fender on the site. PS.. Gotta love the interwebz, read the 1st review where he discusses fender amps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JC777 Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Real deal guitars or "Baldwin by Gibson" instruments? Toys R Us sells the Baldwin crap, too. The Real Deal, Fender and Gibson in the store I was in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SmoothJK Posted July 7, 2008 Author Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 You mean the Best Buy in Fair Lakes? I've been to their musical instruments dept. which also has electric drum sets, acoustics, fog machines, DJ equipment. I applied for a job there, but it seems they have too many electric guitar specialists. Haha yea, it's the Fair Lakes one. This will be an interesting thing to keep tabs on, see where it goes (if we're lucky, better prices). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members golias Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Okay, just to clear it all up: This has *not* been going on for a few years. It's a new initiative that has only been going for a few months, and business has been okay, considering how little fanfare they've put into it so far. It's a store-within-the-store concept, in which they wall off and soundproof a corner of the warehouse specifically for musical instrument sales. It's only in a few stores so far, and it's clearly the testing of a long-term strategy to eat Guitar Center's lunch. (Here in the Twin Cities, where Best Buy has their corporate headquarters, they've opened two such stores... in the locations they have that are CLOSEST to the two Guitar Center sites in town. One even shares a parking lot with them.) Yes, it's real instruments, not the toys and crap you see in their regular stores or on their web page. The vast majority of their electric guitar stock is Gibson/Epiphone & Fender/Squire, but they also carry a little bit of stock from Parker, Yamaha, Peavey, First Act, Ibanez, etc. Their amp selection is limited to mainly small combos, and solid state rigs with DSP dominate the room. Mainly VOX, Roland, Epiphone, and Peavey, but they supposedly have a deal with Crate to be a Blackheart distributer as well (if ANYBODY starts having their stuff in stock any time soon.) They also have a little humidity-controlled area with a wall of accoustics, everything from $100 parlour guitars to ultra-expensive Martins and what-not. Prices on Fenders and Gibsons are usually pretty much identical the the same "Minimum Advertised Price" that everybody else has. Want a MIM Tele? $399, same as everywhere. However they do cut pretty good deals when the manufacturer has less bully power. I managed to get a really good Fuhrman power strip for my rack there on clearance for $50, and they gave me a good open-box deal on my VOX DA-10 because their floor model was the only one they had in stock at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members golias Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Oh, one more thing: The staff in these departments have generally known their stuff, but it appears that they spend a great deal of their day apologizing to people like me for things they don't have in stock (i.e., the pathetic selection of after-market pickups). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Help!I'maRock! Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Oh, one more thing: The staff in these departments have generally known their stuff, but it appears that they spend a great deal of their day apologizing to people like me for things they don't have in stock (i.e., the pathetic selection of after-market pickups). see, i don't think having replacement pups is a big deal. if they didn't have strings, that would be something. but a small selection of pickups? way low on the totem pole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leopardstar Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 well, we will see now won't we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rock-lobster Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Check out the reviews on the Fender Starcaster: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=product&tab=7&id=1183767507527&skuId=8448254&childSku=null&count=null#headerCustomerReviews "First I wanna say i buy this guitar in Best Buy Great Guitar.. i playing guitar for many years and this a great price for a FENDER guitar its perfect for beginners and medium guitar players includes all for playing cable is so good bur is short includes the tuner for guitar and the case before i dont like the fender guitars i love les paul but now i love the starcaster : )" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members leopardstar Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 "First I wanna say i buy this guitar in Best Buy Great Guitar.. i playing guitar for many years and this a great price for a FENDER guitar its perfect for beginners and medium guitar players includes all for playing cable is so good bur is short includes the tuner for guitar and the case before i dont like the fender guitars i love les paul but now i love the starcaster : )" LMAO:lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 's mel gibson Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Best Buy must be ordering enough Gibson products to keep the Gibson Co. happy. Not every retailer can meet Gibson's requirements regarding quantities being ordered. In western Canada, I think Long & McQuade is the only Gibson dealer. Tom Lee Music sells used Gibsons but no new ones. So how did Best Buy get to join such an elite club? By ordering enough stock or does Gibson own a piece of Best Buy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members golias Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 Best Buy must be ordering enough Gibson products to keep the Gibson Co. happy. Not every retailer can meet Gibson's requirements regarding quantities being ordered.In western Canada, I think Long & McQuade is the only Gibson dealer. Tom Lee Music sells used Gibsons but no new ones.So how did Best Buy get to join such an elite club? By ordering enough stock or does Gibson own a piece of Best Buy? I suspect that Gibson sees the writing on the wall. Best Buy has a long and storied history of beating "specialty" warehouse businesses to a bloody pulp. They went selling music, the record warehouses like Musicland and Sam Goody were wiped out. Then they went into selling computers, and the computer warehouses like Computer City and CompUSA have been bulldozed. Now they are going in to selling musical instruments. It was a nice run, Guitar Center, I hope you enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fiverz Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 I work at one ... grand opening is the 18th-20th ... Buddy Guy is going to be playing at our store too. Maybe other stores have varying level of talent, but in our store all the specialists actually play instruments. The supervisor is in a band that's had some moderate national success actually ... he's a drummer though. We're kinda in an affluent suburbia area ... from the stock I've seen it'll be a miniature GC in a BB basically. I have not seen our actual pricing yet. One thing I know is employee discount DOES apply to musical instruments. However I think that the cost on guitars and amps is going to be very high with little discount, while the strings and accessories are making all the margin (just like in TVs and computers). I'll post here next week with how it went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d_dave_c Posted July 7, 2008 Members Share Posted July 7, 2008 The website tells you if there's a Geek Squad or Magnolia Home Theater or Large Appliances at a given store - anyone have any idea when you'll be able to tell online which stores sell gee-tars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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