A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

This one, I literally laughed aloud. "Good condition"
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Rolan ... 8075182.gc

The other day I was in GC killing time while my wife was at the mall. There was a Gretsch 2622 semi hollow hanging on a hook. The tag was like that on a used guitar and the guitar looked grimy. The arrow position indicator sticker was missing from the volume knob, the frets were nasty tarnished, the strings were corroded, etc., seriously it looked like it had been played out for about a year without a cleaning. It was the P90 model so I had to hear it. I had never heard the stock Gretsch P90's before so I plugged it in. Not bad and I am figuring it is a good deal being used and in the condition it was in. So I spin the tag around and it was priced at $689.00. I thought that was a little high so I quickly looked it up. They sell new for $399.99. I asked the sales tool what was the deal with the Gretsch being used and priced so much higher than they are new. He seemed quite perplexed. He took the guitar and looked it up in the computer. Meanwhile I pull up the Sweetwater page where they are $399.99 new. He announces that I can have it for $427 out the door. I show him the page, he punches a few more keys and tells me I can have it for $389 and that it is new but a demo model. Every guitar hanging on a hook is a demo but none were in this shape. GC just isn't what it used to be.

I think GC is getting desperate. I heard they got ahold of Sweetwater's playbook and adopted their most hated play.... Bugging their customers by phone.

I don't even think Sweetwater does that anymore.

And yeah, every guitar in Guitar Center is a demo... You're lucky he knocked ten bucks off. I've never been able to get them to budge a nickel, even on a damaged guitar.

I like Sweetwater and will always buy from them first on most things.

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2023 2:16 pm This one, I literally laughed aloud. "Good condition"
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Rolan ... 8075182.gc
image.png

Classic, lol. I thank the incompetence of GC employees on a daily basis...my guitar racks would be largely empty of all these absolutely insane steals if it weren't for that

tonebender wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2023 9:39 am I like Sweetwater and will always buy from them first on most things.

Oh yeah, me too... Sweetwater was/is always my first call when I want to buy new. I had the same Sweetwater rep (or, uh... "sales engineer") for years, and he almost always gave me a good deal whenever I asked for a discount... And I always ask. I'm not shy about it. The only times he couldn't give me a discount (actually, I think that was only one time), was when the product was brand new on the market, and they just got it in. Like when the Katana Air came out. But it was about more than just the discounts. It felt like VIP service... unhurried, and personal. Like your business actually matters to them. I genuinely liked my rep (Joel) too. He took the time to make conversation and chit-chat, while ordering from other online retailers felt more like placing an order at a fast-food restaurant. I always got the feeling that they were in a hurry to take a smoke break, or something. But the only thing I didn't like about the Sweetwater buying experience were the numerous follow-up calls in the middle of the day while I'm at work, to find out how I liked the thing I bought, or to let me know about some sale, or new product that I'm not interested in. Joel eventually got hip and stopped calling me after a while (I always let the calls go to voice mail), and when he left, my new rep only ever communicated with me via email. I don't know if that's because Sweetwater abandoned the practice of calling their customers, or if there was a "do not call" note attached to my file.

I live in an area with several GCs a short drive away. Three of them have some major scarcity of certain categories. I went into one to get a Fender Rumble 800 that I knew in advance was there. I got it, but would have loved to a/b it against some competition. Sadly they had like 7 total bass amps in the store, and nothing that was in the ballpark of my needs.

However, a quick trip to the flagship store in the big city this week was different. The place was stocked up and had a very nice variety of higher end guitars.

I laugh all day at the jabs on the Facebook group that poops on GC. On the other hand, it seems the kind of entity that really could turn it around with another bankruptcy and a new ownership group that understands what is important to musician clientele.

I mean, there is so much obvious low-hanging fruit:
Consolidate stores if stock can’t stabilize; create some individual rooms for players to really hear the gear; hire people to do basic setup work so the guitars on the wall are gig-ready; etc.

Mossman wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2023 2:26 am I think GC is getting desperate. I heard they got ahold of Sweetwater's playbook and adopted their most hated play.... Bugging their customers by phone.

I don't even think Sweetwater does that anymore.

Unfortunately they do. Yesterday I ordered a *cheap* talkback mic, no big deal online, didn't look for any discount. Today I got 3 emails, 1 text, and 1 voicemail from Sweetwater because of that one order. It's just so over the top unnecessary!

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Mon May 08, 2023 3:59 pm
Unfortunately they do. Yesterday I ordered a *cheap* talkback mic, no big deal online, didn't look for any discount. Today I got 3 emails, 1 text, and 1 voicemail from Sweetwater because of that one order. It's just so over the top unnecessary!

Wow... that's worse than before. You would think common sense would dictate that pestering your customers only results in pushing them away. But I'm sure they'll tell you that "market research" shows that it results in more sales.

Mr. Leyvatone wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2023 8:06 pm I live in an area with several GCs a short drive away. Three of them have some major scarcity of certain categories. I went into one to get a Fender Rumble 800 that I knew in advance was there. I got it, but would have loved to a/b it against some competition. Sadly they had like 7 total bass amps in the store, and nothing that was in the ballpark of my needs.

In my experience, shopping for a bass amp at any store has always been a hit-or-miss proposition. Bassists are a much smaller market than guitarists, so the selection of amps is usually pretty small, and scattershot. Kinda gives you a feeling of what it must be like to be left-handed. I think there's only been one time in my entire bass playing career that I walked out of a music store with an amp that I actually intended to buy. Just look at the size of the bass room at any given GC, compared to how much real estate is dedicated to guitars. I think the acoustic room is bigger, and less of that space is cluttered up with amps.

Mr. Leyvatone wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2023 8:06 pm I mean, there is so much obvious low-hanging fruit:
Consolidate stores if stock can’t stabilize; create some individual rooms for players to really hear the gear; hire people to do basic setup work so the guitars on the wall are gig-ready; etc.

Those are all good ideas, and I've said some of those things myself, but not all of them are really economically feasible from a business standpoint. Just tuning all the guitars in a big box store (or even a medium-sized store) would be a never-ending process. Like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. Once they've finished they'd have to start all over again. You would have to pay a couple (if not more) full-time employees just to keep up with it all, and that would be their only job. Never mind setting them up as well... At bigger stores with high ceilings, they have a micro-climate in there. Guitars higher up the wall are subjected to different levels of humidity and temperature than the guitars hung at mid, or eye-level. Keeping them all optimally set up at all times is a logistical problem that I wouldn't want to have. It would take a team of techs, and some Guitar Centers don't even have one.

You ever wonder why all the used gear at GC always looks so shabby (or downright scummy)? I had a friend who worked as a tech at GC, and he told me they don't even allow their employees to brush the dust off the items they take in, because it would cost too much. Sure, it only takes a few minutes to dust a single piece of gear, but across all their stores, for God knows how many items, on a daily basis, it turns into a lot of hours... Hours that they could be making sales instead.

Having individual rooms to try out gear would be awesome, but they would have to significantly increase the size of their stores, and incur loads of construction costs. Not very likely to happen... Not even possible in some locations.

Sorry to throw water on your ideas, but I'm afraid they'll have to remain in the realm of our dreams.

Consolidating their stores is eminently possible though. And probably inevitable.

There was time when I thought about opening a local music store because I had more stuff than most local stores. Instead I sold the bulk of it to a young man who was doing just that, opening a local music store. I had to wholesale a ton of stuff so he could make money but it was nice to move so much at once. He wanted more but once I got it down to a manageable level I decided I would try to get a few more pennies on the dollar and I had some things worth way more than I paid.

tonebender wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 11:35 am There was time when I thought about opening a local music store because I had more stuff than most local stores. Instead I sold the bulk of it to a young man who was doing just that, opening a local music store. I had to wholesale a ton of stuff so he could make money but it was nice to move so much at once. He wanted more but once I got it down to a manageable level I decided I would try to get a few more pennies on the dollar and I had some things worth way more than I paid.

Wow... you stocked a guitar store with your personal collection? That's epic! How many guitars did you have?

I've found that there used gear pricing is all over the place for a long time. Great deals can still be found but not as easily as it used to be the last thing I bought from them was an SX strat for $89 while it's not unusual to find them priced at $250 or more. I did my typical rebuild to it trem pups tunners nut and electronics as well as the pickguard and it's a great guitar now.

As purchased
As it is now

redman wrote: ↑Fri May 12, 2023 11:46 am I've found that there used gear pricing is all over the place for a long time. Great deals can still be found but not as easily as it used to be the last thing I bought from them was an SX strat for $89 while it's not unusual to find them priced at $250 or more. I did my typical rebuild to it trem pups tunners nut and electronics as well as the pickguard and it's a great guitar now.

As purchased
qrXhqib[1].jpg

As it is now
cyesotX[1].jpg

Glad you replaced that hideous pickguard. The previous owner of that guitar must have been colorblind.

That Shi* Splattered pickguard and the match trem cavity cover are available free I'll even pay the shipping. Maybe even throw in a set of strings or something.

GC upped their "sales followup". After buying a used Peerless Songbird from GC, I got a text and voicemail and an email from (Gear Advisor) Cody at GC. He says it's a great guitar and wants to talk about it. But the guitar came from Atlanta, and Cody works in Indianapolis. So he might know the model but has never seen this guitar, and he told me how great it as a means to engage a conversation.

I decided to test these waters, and replied by email. I started by agreeing it was a fantastically made guitar. Then I detailed the problems it arrived with - gunked up, broken E string, non-functioning pickup selector, etc.

That was a couple days ago. I guess GC hasn't figured out what their next step is when they actually get an answer. I pretty much know what my Sweetwater rep would have replied to my response, but GC is not there yet.

Mossman wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 10:18 pm

tonebender wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 11:35 am There was time when I thought about opening a local music store because I had more stuff than most local stores. Instead I sold the bulk of it to a young man who was doing just that, opening a local music store. I had to wholesale a ton of stuff so he could make money but it was nice to move so much at once. He wanted more but once I got it down to a manageable level I decided I would try to get a few more pennies on the dollar and I had some things worth way more than I paid.

Wow... you stocked a guitar store with your personal collection? That's epic! How many guitars did you have?

I think at my peak I had north of 50 guitars and in the neighborhood of 25 tube amps. Hundreds of pedals and every size PA from room to outdoor festival. All the PA from back then is gone and I have picked up enough of the modern offerings to do a small gig. I do not even own any subs. I try to focus more on quality than quantity these days. I am still an analog man though when it comes to a mixer. My band mate supplies the board these days . All the PA I supply is a powered monitor speaker.

I have bought several sight unseen used guitars from GC and have always asked the sales tool to give me an honest condition once over, I have been disappointed every time. I have what I need for what I do now and really just don't buy anything but picks and strings for the most part now. I would look at Sweetwater first however should ever find one I cant live without again.

This pic alone will make me want to add to cart!

Mossman wrote: ↑Sun May 07, 2023 2:26 am I think GC is getting desperate. I heard they got ahold of Sweetwater's playbook and adopted their most hated play.... Bugging their customers by phone.

I don't even think Sweetwater does that anymore.

And yeah, every guitar in Guitar Center is a demo... You're lucky he knocked ten bucks off. I've never been able to get them to budge a nickel, even on a damaged guitar.

I still get an occasional call from Sweetwater, which typically goes straight to voicemail. Nice people though.