How hard is it for a guitar shop to keep its guitars tuned?

[trill]

Not a rhetorical question, because I really don't know, and it seems like a lot of them have a lot of trouble doing this.

 

Now, I don't mind having to tune up a fixed bridge, non-locking tuners/nut guitar. I can usually do that, sans electronics, in a minute or so. However:

 

1. It's pretty annoying to hear someone try to tune a guitar through an amp; even if it only takes a minute, if you try out six guitars, that's six minutes of *harmonic* *harmoooonniiiiic* *sour E major* *harmonic*. I dunno if that's better or worse than the riff from "Day Tripper" through a cranked Dual Rec, but it's not what I want hear.

 

2. If the guitar is has a vintage-style trem, it takes a little longer to tune. If it's got a Floyd Rose-type, {censored} it, I've got no experience with those, and it'd probably take me a good hour to figure out what needs to be unlocked and screwed down and fine-tuned and battened to the hatches.

 

I don't expect Guitar Center to make sure all 600 Mexican Fenders on its walls ring at a perfect A440, but the so-called Mom&Pop stores should be able to keep their guitars in tune, with non-gunky strings on them, right?

[Sadowsky13]

agree completely, especially in small store where there is not much stock. When someone walks in and tunes the guitar to something else the sales person should tune it back once the person is done with it. I don't mind tuning myself but it gets frustrating when out of 5-6 guitars you pick up 3-4 are out of tune big time. I have actually started bringing a tuner with me when trying out guitars to save time.

[golias]

When I was at one of the new music store-within-a-store places at Best Buy, I went into the climate-controlled room where they keep the acoustics.

 

Three in a row that I tried were tuned to dropped-D by the customer before me.

 

I was at Guitar Center mainly to look at amps last week. Grabbed a Les Paul off the wall-o-guitars. Way off. Grabbed another (didn't feel like tuning). Even worse. So I grabbed an SG that was out on the floor being constantly tried out. That one was fine. I guess they just count on their customers to tune 'em up.

[Hamer_Time]

I think all shops expecting to sell a guitar should have that guitar properly set-up, be relatively clean, have fresh strings on it and have it somewhat close to being in tune..........Who is going to drop $2K+ on a guitar that is lacking any of these? It shows a lack of care for the product and the customer. Move on to a better store!

[Johnny Z]

I worked in a music store back in LA when I was in High School, part of my job was to polish and tune the guitars. My boss told me you sell more guitars if they are in tune and look good.

[trill]

When I was at one of the new music store-within-a-store places at Best Buy, I went into the climate-controlled room where they keep the acoustics. Three in a row that I tried were tuned to dropped-D by the customer before me.

 

I have no problem tuning up an acoustic, because you can do it visually (looking for sympathetic vibration from the strings), no matter how loud it is in the store. With an electric, however, you've got to plug into an amp and turn up loud enough to hear yourself.

[stormin1155]

It's pretty rare to find a guitar off the wall at GC that IS in tune. My local mom/pop guitar store hires a kid to go around each day and tune and clean all the guitars in the store. He has a little cart set up like a little work station with an electronic tuner. I really like that. And they sell their stuff at the same prices as GC.

[WRXF_Atrox]

I dont know about you guys, but when I go into guitar center and I see and play a guitar I like...I make sure to ask for a unopened version of it unless its used. But if you think about it, every guitar hanging in there is used, demo version's so to speak and if you schmooze the sales person enough you do not pay what they are asking for. and if by chance you pick up a guitar that is not tuned, big deal just tune it. its not the end of the world by any means, we should be so lucky to have store's that let you try before you buy and have so much cool stuff to try out. But I will agree it sucks when you see a guitar you like, you pick it up and its just crap...loose pots, trem arm missing, missing knobs etc. but half the time no one says anything to the sales people about it and put it right back where they got it from...kinda like grabbing a guitar out of tune, not tuning it putting it back and having someone after you pick it up and repeat process.

2 cents

[trill]

 

2 cents

 

 

I dunno about you, but I don't expect to have to check the tire pressure and oil level on a car I'm about to test-drive.

 

As I said above, it's not the easy-to-tune guitars that I've got a problem tuning. It's the ones that take 45 minutes to tune, on a clear day, when all the planets are aligned and the store is perfectly silent, in a room with no corners, sitting in an armless chair.

[kenh]

i don't really care so much, as long as they are not abused when they are sitting on the wall. I may tune my guitar at home, every time I pick it up, and I certainly don't keep them all in tune every day. And I don't have that many.

 

So I don't really mind if they are not kept in tune, as long as they are in reasonable setup shape.

 

For many shops, when I have requested to play a guitar, the saleperson tunes it for me, which I agree is kinda nice. But I don't really care either way.

[kenh]

 

As I said above, it's not the easy-to-tune guitars that I've got a problem tuning. It's the ones that take 45 minutes to tune, on a clear day, when all the planets are aligned and the store is perfectly silent, in a room with no corners, sitting in an armless chair.

 

 

This is a big deal. There is no way I would buy a guitar that I could not tune in more than 2 minutes. Even 1 minute. So, in this repect, perhaps it is a good idea that the guitar is NOT tuned, so at least you can see if you can tune it easily. Otherwise, I would argue that the guitar has a problem.

 

If I would test drive a car, and they guy is checking the oil right before I drive, that would kinda concern me.

[trill]

Well, the guitars I'm talking about have Floyd Rose setups, with locking nuts/tuners/bridge. The problem isn't that the guitar doesn't stay in tune, but that the mechanism requires a little bit of technical know-how and experience that I just don't have. Once you get those guitars in tune, they stay in tune for a looong time; it's not an issue of the quality or reliability of the guitar, but one of the shop having to put a bit more effort into keeping it playable over time.

[DaveAronow]

Well, just immagine one of your OWN guitars that you might have played non stop all day long for a week straight, in which time, maybe it got a little bang here, a little bump there, an overly agressive string pull here, a hit on the tuning key there when putting it back in the stand/hanger, and THEN, multiply that by 100 and you might get an Idea of why most bigger guitar stores dont worry about keeping their guitars in tune.

 

I guess they figure most people can tune them themselves, or if they cant but can actually tell they are not in tune, well, then they are usually happy to tune it or have it tuned so the customer to play it.

 

In the larger stores, they could hire a full time employee to do nothing but tune guitars all day and he still wouldnt be able to keep up with it.

 

It isnt worth the trouble.

 

People rarely pass on buying a guitar because it was out of tune when they first picked it up.

[trill]

 

People rarely pass on buying a guitar because it was out of tune when they first picked it up.

 

 

You're probably right about that. However, I don't even bother picking up 12-strings in guitar stores anymore.

[Guitzilla]

 

I worked in a music store back in LA when I was in High School, part of my job was to polish and tune the guitars. My boss told me you sell more guitars if they are in tune and look good.

 

 

I used to work in a store in the early ninties, and everything was clean and in tune when I worked. When I go to a music store, I refuse to tune someone elses guitars and will just put it right back on the wall if it is out of tune. Guitar Center has lost a lot of potential sales from me due to this.

 

At my favorite store (Flores Music in Peoria) in general everything I pick up is in tune and clean. I buy most of my gear there, because guitars, in tune and clean, would suggest better customer service overall. They have never let me down.

 

Brian

[vcnyls]

In the larger stores, they could hire a full time employee to do nothing but tune guitars all day and he still wouldnt be able to keep up with it.

 

NOT a job I would want.

[steve_man]

Yeah, it's annoying, but with a steady stream of customers, guitars are going to be out of tune. Plus, there are so many alternate tunings used these days that you never know what you are going to get when you pick a guitar up!

 

It would be nice of places like GC would put tuners on all of their amp "stations" so that you can get tuned up quickly. Usually, I try and find a solid state amp with a built-in tuner to start with. Then I move to the tube amps. Yeah, it's annoying, but I find that GC takes better care of their guitars than our local mom and pop...

 

I'd buy any day at GC over our local store...tuned or not...

[Professor Tom]

Having worked in a guitar store for a while I can tell you that the biggest problem are kids with greasy fingers (from eating burgers) playing the guitars as the strings lose their crispness very fast indeed. Have you ever restrung twenty guitars one after the other, it's a real pain.

[Guitzilla]

 

Having worked in a guitar store for a while I can tell you that the biggest problem are kids with greasy fingers (from eating burgers) playing the guitars as the strings lose their crispness very fast indeed. Have you ever restrung twenty guitars one after the other, it's a real pain.

 

 

 

Yes. The store that I worked, was in a mall, so every parent in the area would drop their brats off for the mall employees to babysit. On weekends, all we would do would be to shoo away kids that were only there to goof off. We would let them try out guitars if they were being respectful and careful, but as soon as the horseplaying started, they were out the door. Unfortunately, the cheaper guitars closer to the floor, needed strings constantly.

[Rusty_Chains]

 

People rarely pass on buying a guitar because it was out of tune when they first picked it up.

 

 

I agree with you. Stores like GC will set a guitar up for you after you buy it, but they push too many instruments to worry about making sure everyone is ready to rock out of the box.

 

Also, where these big stores lack in QC they make up for in ability to plug in and play. A lot of these stores have combo amps that have built in tuners, so it isn't hard to tune your stuff if it is beyond your ear.

 

 

The problem isn't that the guitar doesn't stay in tune, but that the mechanism requires a little bit of technical know-how and experience that I just don't have.

 

 

I'm glad you brought this up too. Stretching the strings correctly is a process. They aren't going to take the time to do this and there are little bastards yanking on these things and messing with the fine tuners all day.

 

Honestly, I would be more concerned that the tuning pegs are stripped out on those display guitars in GC. You know there are people (who don't even know what a floyd is) twisting the ever-loving-{censored} out of the tuning pegs, while the nut is locked, trying to get them into tune. I would never buy a floor model guitar with a floyd from a major store. Get one in a box.

 

As far as little stores are concerned, I have a bit higher expectations. If your inventory is limited, everything should be in tune and working properly. I understand if used or consigned models are not setup on the shelf, but not the new stuff. They should at least be checked for tuning and dusted.

[Rick 381]

My son works at the local mom & pop. At a good time there might be 2 staff members on the floor. Usually he has to wait on customers, answer the phone, solve problems for the instructors, do repairs and deal with anything else that might come up. If he has a chance he may get a chance to tune a half dozen guitars. Out of maybe 200. Guaranteed the first person to touch any he tunes will either drop tune it or decide his ear is better than an electronic tuner and "fix" the tuning problem. Add in the cheap beginner guitars that you can tune every day and they'll be out of tune tomorrow and you have an endless job for a fulltime guy who doesn't have to do all that other stuff. And yeah the strings maybe gunked and the bodies smudged but guess what, we're the ones who do it. We go in and play 20 guitars then walk out with out buying any then expect them to run around behind us polishing up our mess.

 

What's the solution? A lot of stores won't let you touch unless they believe you're a serious buyer. Do we want to go down that road? Maybe we ought to try to keep guitars we play with cleaner. If you drop tune, re-tune when you're done. Show some respect for other people's property and for the guy who might buy it later. And instead of whining about the condition of the guitar and strings when we buy it ask the store to do a set-up for you and give it a polish, most stores will do that on a new guitar sale no problem.

 

And remember, those who cause the problem have no business complaining about the problem.

[cephus]

Why stop at insisting the guitars be tuned. How about every amp has the knobs set perfectly for a killer tone? And they should give you free lessons so you can play without hitting wrong notes?

[ashasha]

I don't think that it is either practical or realistic to expect them to keep EVERY guitar in tune and freshly strung. Most places have enough guitars of a similar model to try a few out to see if it is built well and hopefully one has a good enough set of strings on them to hear it. But unlike some of us who do not sweat pure frickin acid through out pores, there are some that do and they tend to be the ones that touch every damn guitar in the store. Imagine the cost or restringing 200-300 guitars at a minimum of every week. Not only the costs of the strings, but the manhours involved. And they'll be shot in a day or two or at least out of tune.

 

You just can't have it both ways; either we deal with it as best we can or we don't get to touch them. Sometimes things in life are hard and you have to do it anyway.

 

A possible solution is to make sure that there are plenty of guitar clothes hanging around the store to wipe them down after you play it and make it part of the policy. Retuning will still be an issue, but at least the strings won't be black, dull and slice your fingers.

[csm]

Multiply 'time it takes to tune a guitar' x 'number of guitars in the shop' x 'minimum wage.'

[Rusty_Chains]

 

At a good time there might be 2 staff members on the floor.

 

 

Being short-handed is understandable. My point was, while there are definitely busy times of the day for any store, mom and pops generally don't see the kind of traffic that GC does - leaving more time open for inventory TLC.

 

 

A lot of stores won't let you touch unless they believe you're a serious buyer.

 

 

Honestly, I believe in this philosophy, especially if you're a mom and pop store. Placing a "Please Ask First" sign on a guitar that is over (lets say) $500 is a reasonable request. It scares away people who are just going in there to dick around, but it also opens up the line of communication between an employee and a customer. There is nothing wrong with having to ask to play a guitar. I've never actually seen anyone rejected from playing a guitar when they asked...even if they are very young. If this is the case, the employee will then have the chance to explain the guitar to that person, address any questions, etc.

 

GC has already begun to address this issue in some places. I notice that they are eliminating several of the lower hanging guitar rows in many of their stores in my area. They leave their lower end on the floor for use with the amps, everything else is hanging up and you need assistance to get the majority of them down. This is a similar concept.