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My First Ever Visit to a GC


zombywoof

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Having somehow managed to avoid dealing with any of the big box stores my whole life I finally succumbed and dropped in at a Guitar Center. Was not there just to have a look see. I went to specifically check out a mid-1950s Kay K-24 they had in.

 

Impressions Not terribly favorable. The selection of acoustics was pedestrian at best. I swear the strings on the Kay had been there since the 1950s. I needed a tetanus shot to play the thing. When I asked about it their answer was that it was their policy not to re-string "vintage" instruments. Whatever. I did a bit of haggling over the price which took some time as the sales guy had to keep going out to check with the manager.

 

To make a long story short, I walked out with the guitar and afterwards my wife and I had a nice lunch. Will I be going back to GC anytime soon? I would not bet the ranch on it.

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Your impression was "not terribly favorable"... but you bought a guitar anyway. :lol:

 

I went there to eyeball one specific guitar which I had learned was there. I played absolutely nothing else which for me is to say the least highly unusual. I was on a mission!

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The selection of acoustics was pedestrian at best.

 

I'd say as a supplier of pedestrian things, they are pretty good. If you stay in the Martin / D'addario categories, they always have the strings I want for a decent price. For the majority of the population looking for an instrument to get started, or to try their fancy, they suffice.

 

Once you start thinking of anything specific, or upscale - well, not so much. Unless you see something specifically posted... ZW - congrats on the Kay, may it bring you many a happy day!

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agree with what Bill just said. But this is the same with even the mom and pop stores in town. The GCs are not what they were when they first opened. But I guess this is what astronomical debt will do eventually. I don't go often, and when I do, I remember why I don't go often.

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I am really not bad mouthing GC. They are fine for what they are. Just saying even if I have to pay a bit more and have less in terms of numbers to look at, I feel safer and generally enjoy myself more at a Mom & Pop store. In the case of this Kay no attempt was made to evaluate its condition. Granted it is only a Kay and therefore not going to be a big money maker for them but they missed the fact that the guitar had had a kamikaze neck reset and the back had been over sprayed. If you spend enough time with Harmonys and Kays this kind of stuff is not unexpected and in this case the work looks to have been done well done resulting in a perfectly stable and playable guitar. Useful for getting them to knock the price down. Plus I have time to have the guitar checked out by my repair guy to make sure I did not miss anything looming in the near future.

 

I will post some pics of the guitar later on. You guys have got to see this bridge. While Kay is known for coming up with some strange ones this thing has got to take the prize for the most bizarro contraption on the face of the earth - a wrap around with an adjustable saddle. You actually have to remove the saddle to string it up. Lawdy Have Mercy!

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My only comment is that GC's vary considerably depending on location and to some degree the quality of the local salespeople. The same is true for Sam Ash. I have both within 15 minutes of my house. Lately my experience with the local Sam Ash has been very positive. I've been trying to improve my amplified acoustic sound and they spent more than an hour with me trying out different amps, fiddling with the settings to help me dial in what I wanted to hear and I walked out with one. I really couldn't ask for anything more. I also bought my J-165 at the same store a couple of years ago. I came in on an off evening twice and they just let me try out whatever I wanted for as long as I wanted. I couldn't have done that on a Saturday afternoon, but I picked a good time and the salespeople were helpful and not pushy. We have a couple of mom and pop stores around, but most don't carry anything high end at all. Its all beginner packages. I've been to GC's in places that have very little to offer, but I suppose you just can't offer the same stock in a small isolated town as you can for the couple of million people that live on Long Island.

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My only comment is that GC's vary considerably depending on location and to some degree the quality of the local salespeople. The same is true for Sam Ash.

 

Yeah, I figure they are going to vary and this one just was not the pinnacle of GCs. It was just outside of Youngstown, OH and was one of three GCs within an hour of me. Have not been into a Sam Ash since around 2000 which was the last time I was down on 48th Street, NYC. I walked into Mannys and despite seeing some familiar faces working there could not figure what the heck had happened to the place. Nothing like the store I bought my first used electric in. Although I did not know it at the time, what happened is Sam Ash bought them and turned into a subsidiary.

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Yeah, I figure they are going to vary and this one just was not the pinnacle of GCs. It was just outside of Youngstown, OH

 

I wrote a song about there based on the 'great goth heist' article in the Rolling Stone back when. It's still in our set. [smile]

(Just personal trivia, but hadn't heard the place mentioned since).

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As stated, GC stores vary a lot. My local GC, about a mile from me, used to be very good. Over the last couple years it's visibly changed for the worse. The sales people I knew are all gone and they've been replaced by people (usually teenagers) who know very little about what they are selling. However, GC wasn't always like this. I bought some high end guitars from them and lots of other things. Was literally always pleased with the purchase and the way I was treated. They had and I assume still have a great return policy. Used to be able to play a decent selection of Gibsons and Martins there, but now it's almost nothing but Taylors in the "high end" area. Taylors are fine, but far from what I like to play. Anyway, if I buy a guitar over the internet, I may still deal with GC since they're so close----assuming they still have the same return policy.

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Went to the Atlantic City Guitar Center yesterday to get my son in law a new bass and have to say it was a terrific experience all-around. We got there early afternoon and spent around an hour, had the place almost completely to ourselves which was great for us, probably not so good for GC considering it was the middle of their big Labor Day sale. The salesman was really nice, and very knowledgeable. When he didn't know the answer to a few questions, he did some quick research and came back. No pressure, he was happy to take several guitars down from the highest part of the wall with a big ladder. After trying everything, ended up getting a Fender PJ bass, which was on sale and a nice Gator flight case. It's one of the Mexican models, which I questioned, but he really liked it much better than the American P-bass or the others, including a really nice vintage 1977 Mustang that looked almost new (he would have gone for that, but didn't care for the short neck).

 

I wandered around the acoustic room however, and was surprised there wasn't a single Gibson in there. There was a section of the wall that said "Gibson" but contained two Breedlove and one Alvarez. ;) Was surprised just how many acoustics they had in the $100-$200 price range. Also surprised at how many inexpensive Martin models they had, I really haven't followed them recently. The most expensive acoustic that I saw in there cost about $1200. Quite a change from a few years back, but I guess this is what the customer wants? Didn't play any of them. When we were checking out, I told the salesman I was surprised they didn't have any Gibson acoustics and he said there should have been at least one Hummingbird (the GC special model, I guess?). When I said I didn't see it, he told me they must have sold it but there would be more on the way.

 

So we had a great time, and any day that I can walk out of GC with a new guitar and a nice case for under $1000 is alright with me! [thumbup]

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