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i now go to guitar center for a good laugh


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Originally posted by veracohr

Most of my experiences consist of Dude informing me of the overwhelming quality and appropriateness of whatever it is I'm looking at. I don't think I've ever met one who knew what the hell he was talking about.

 

Haha. I was playing a BC Rich a long time ago at a local shop. The salesman heard me playing and said "You know why you sound just like Slayer, cause they play BC Rich's." I said "No, it's cause I practice." Morons.

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I still think that GC has it's place. Like I said, the prices are right about Musicians Friend level, there is no shipping charge and you can actually inspect the gear in the store.

 

I don't use any retail outlet as a "knowledge center" regardless of what product they sell.

 

You want to be totally dazzled with bull {censored} walk into any local health products store or fitness store.. Talk about hiring the unqualified..

 

But if you know what you are looking for and want to see what the cost is at your local GC or other music retailer, then GC has it's use. Since their prices are well below those of most other local music retailers, they need to cut costs somehow....and it appears hiring "Dude" is a major cost savings.

 

Don't look for something they don't carry... like knowledge.

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The thing that I can't stand above all is that I go in there all the time to try gear out, but the damn salesmen are all over me.t want to check some stuff out, what the hell do they care if I sit and play for a little bit?

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Picking on music shop retail guys is a bit like picking on the handicapped. Or like trying to win an intellectual debate with a gas station attendant.

 

They just aren't paid enough to care. If they were smart, they wouldn't be working there. They need our sympathy.

 

You go there hoping you can buy what you need despite their best efforts.

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If they were smart, they wouldn't be working there.

 

 

That's a pretty big assumption to make, and is fairly insulting as well. Not saying that it's not true in some cases, but I wouldn't make a sweeping generalization like that.

 

-Duardo

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i worked at guitar center (mostly handled outside sales, and not so much working with "floor traffic") and i can assure you i'm no brainless idiot. making the "handicapped" comparison is way out of line. i worked there because i like recording equipment and saw nothing wrong with selling products that i love. i sold a great deal of gear, and made plenty of money to support my own studio. the folks that don't get paid are the folks that don't have a clue. not everyone that works at audio retail stores falls into this category.

 

it's hard work. it's also rewarding work. i prefer actual engineering, which is what i'm doing full time again now, but it was definitely a fun job until the management started getting unruly and cutting my pay despite me outqualifying and outperforming the entire store. i got drunk the morning of my last day, sold 3 vintage mics and a couple of chameleon labs preamps, bought about $10,000 worth of gear with my discount, and staggered out in a daze.

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In general, I agree with Sean and Duardo - while there's no shortage of "clueless sales doods and dudettes" at the local Guitarmart type stores, I have met several people who were far from brainless, and who were very good at their jobs and knowledgeable about the products they sold, and who treated their customers fairly and decently at several of the mega-stores - including several Guitar Center branches. You have to hunt them out, because unfortunately, that doesn't apply to everyone, so there's validity to the stereotype in my experience, but it's really just that - a stereotype - to say / think that all megastore sales reps are one six pack shy of a full case, to pick up on Sean's excellent (now THAT'S real rock and roll! :D ) GC story's liquid theme. ;)

 

How's THAT for a run on sentence? ;):p:D

 

You go there hoping you can buy what you need despite their best efforts.

 

Gotta admit, I LOL at that one - probably because there's some truth in there too. :) But if you find the good sales reps, and establish a relationship with them and get to know them, and whenever possible, deal ONLY with them, you're less likely to have issues with that. And that's true of any gear retailer in my experience, although some tend to have better staff knowledge and professionalism levels than others. I'm sure Kiwi has experienced the same thing in NZ, and wasn't trying to insult any individulals here who work / previously worked in retail, and that he, being a pretty sharp guy himself, understands that a retail sales position could serve as a steppingstone to something else. :) But his point about not picking on people who lack your knowledge or intellectual capabilities is a good one IMO. I see no need for that either. Lord knows there's plenty of people who are smarter than I am running around in the world, and I wouldn't want to be a target for their scorn and ridicule. :(

 

 

 

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yes phil. rock and roll is in my blood, right next to or mixing with endless pints of harp and guiness and fifty thousand too many bottles of cheap red wine. before i grew out the beard, burning the cork from the bottles was great for making a convincing moustache. imagine taking money for an SSL AWS900 with booze on your breath and the customer asking why you have a moustache drawn on your face.

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I think the true nature of those type of stores is that musicians just work there to get the discount and save up enough money to buy what they want and then they're done. I don't think that they are all dumb or anything, of course, that's impossible. It's not just GC either, I have seen plenty of guys at local shops that had no clue what they were talking about. Yet they tried to give me advice on gear that they had no experience with. On, the other hand, there are probably plenty of employees that are quite knowledgeable about their field of music.

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I'm not the biggest fan of GC either, but sometimes, they do offer great deals on certain gear.

 

I usually avoid my local GC like the plague, but after reading some info and opinions on the Yamaha i88x here on this forum, I had to have one. I called GC to see if they had one in stock and they actually had one left - a demo unit that had been racked in the store since they got it. I haggled with 'em for a bit, and managed to get it for $299 - around $100 less than everywhere else I checked!

 

The great price aside, the guy who sold it to me was a complete dick. When I came in and asked about the i88x, he asked "are you sure you want something this complicated? We have an easier to use interface that you might be interested in...". The "easier to use" interface was a Presonus Firebox - the same thing that I had at home, but I needed more inputs and lightpipe, thus my interest in the i88x.

 

I'm not sure why he assumed I didn't know what I was looking for, but I got a kickass deal nonetheless.

 

Anywho, +1 on GC always being good for a laugh. :D

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I shouldn't point out that when I made my comment, I wasn't referring only to GC or music retail employees, but gas station attendants as well and anyone else to whom we seem to feel "superior". Who knows what circumstances put someone in a situation at any given time?

 

-Duardo

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OK - sorry about the handicapped remarks. I do realise that a lot of very smart young musicians take up temporary employment with music gear retailers. They can fit it in with their gigging work, and take advantage of discounts and rare instrument deals etc.

 

I also acknowledge that some excellent people stay in the business, perhaps in a management capacity, and have a lot to offer.

 

But in general, i am fairly tired of being jerked around by sleepy unprofessional musicians in business. I wish I could deal with a few more wide-awake businessmen in music.

 

My point was actually more directed at the smart arse customers, who go into a music shop - ask esoteric questions about the limited range of stuff they are intersted in, and expect a professional debate with similar minds. Doesn't happen.

 

Pick on somebody your own level, is basically what I was trying to say.

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You guys should consider yourselves lucky. Here in MTL we have the choice of Steve's, Italmelodie and to a certain extent Archambeault.

 

Steve's are a Marshall, Peavey and Fender house. They have all the bread and butter brands and are head and shoulders the best in town (p.s. I worked there for a few months). Ital has G+L, Rivera, and a selection of bread and butter. Archambeault.... has Traynor.

 

Not a store in sight with anything close to boutique. Bad Cat, Cornford, Bogner... etc...

 

I wish I could have an idiot salesman not know all the features of a Hot Cat 30R.

 

Everytime I am in the States....my eyes bulge out of my head when I see gear that I saw in a magazine that month, at the price advertised by the manufacturer. Here, we get it months later... and the distributor uses a exchange factor from the 1990's (x1.4) instead of the current exchange. Then because there is relatively little competition... the retailer makes full margin.

 

End result. the customer has less choice, and pays pretty much double the US retail. In reality, we should only pay 20-25% more.

 

Like I said, consider yourselves lucky that you have the choices that you do.

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We aren't so lucky in New Zealand. Any new gear won't be seen here for 12 months - and hardly any of the boutique or good stuff.

 

Take bass strings for example. I'm interested in vintage bass sounds, and decided to get some Labella Jamerson flats for my P Bass. These are widely known as 'good' strings for a P Bass, and in theory we have a La Bella agent in NZ. In practice - I had to wait 6 months to get them. Then the repair guy broke the top string fitting them. So I guess i'm going to have to wait another 6 months to get that top string. If it happens at all. I'm using Daddario chrome flats in the meantime - about the only ones you can get here. Not happy.

 

I have basically resolved myself to buying strings off the net now - but at US$65 minimum shipping charge, i'm still not happy.

 

I don't try to be hard on these guys. I try to buy normal but good stuff that they advertise themselves as having the agency.

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