Guitar Center

[brannon67]

How many of you buy your Gibson acoustics from Guitar Center, or have bought an acoustic or electric or anything from Guitar Center for that matter? I love how they say they take 10 percent off, then drop the price on the tag, then add back the cost of the GIBSON HSC and the tax on it, and the price jumps back up again. I called Gibson, and asked them if their guitars came standard with HS cases. They said yes, but they also said that they gave dealers the options of selling the cases seperate, as does Guitar Center, which I think is an under handed thing to do, but thats just my opinion. I almost got an AJ for $1800 and by the time they added tax, the HSC and other crap, it was back up where the original price was. That made me mad. Anyone else see a problem with their business pratice, or is it just me?

[slimt]

I buy from 3 in the U.S all independantly owned, Daves, Elderey, and one in Montana..... No franchises stores.. and 1 place only in canada.. which is L&M and them only..

[brannon67]

I buy from 3 in the U.S all independantly owned, Daves, Elderey, and one in Montana..... No franchises stores.. and 1 place only in canada.. which is L&M and them only..

Good for you man, I salute you for that. GC is to big for their britches.

[brannon67]

And I was sad because Gibson lets them get away with it. Thats dissapointing to me.

[slimt]

Yup... most weasels will do that... its dirty, and for the most part.. a slap in the face to the customer..

 

thats why I mentioned where I buy from..

[Jerry K]

That's really slimy. However, if you had had 18 Benjamins on you and counted them out on the counter they probably would have hemmed and hawed and sold you the guitar for 18. A friend of mine is very good at this and used to tell me: smile, flash the cash around. Pull out your wallet, "Let me see what I have on me here." Proceed to count the bills where they can see it... sixteen, seventeen, eighteen... Watch them. If they have trouble looking away from the money you can probably do the deal. If they demur you pick up the money and start walking away slowly. Okay! you say, still smiling. On your face is an amused look of: if you won't someone else will. This is what I would do at a place like Guitar Center. At one of the better dealers, like Music Villa, you just talk to the owner in a civilized fashion and work something out, don't have to pull out cash.

[GuitarLight]

That's a disgusting practice by both GC, and from Gibson. I'd walk out.

[brannon67]

It just dissapoints me that Gibson, the company/guitars that we know and love, lets them and some others practice this underhanded deceit to the customers. Thats disheartening to me.

[Kaiser Bill]

I won't buy anything from GC or MF. I don't trust them at all.

[tpbiii]

I don't buy much for them, but I just had a bad experience. It was their after Christmas clearance sale. I went in and saw that they had a Boze L1 system with a sign that said about 10% off. OK, we had been thinking of buying one, so we tried. First they said the sign was a mistake -- and we had to pay retail. They said the reason was because they had an agreement with Boze that except when the Bose factory said so, they had to sell at retail. So as much as they would like to, they could not sell at the price on the unit.

 

30 seconds later, the manager told me they always discounted -- right after he told me he was required to sell at retail. What a fraud.

 

Apparently Boze does require all their dealers to sell only at retail except when they have factory authorized sales. That way they guarantee that they can match any advertised price because Boze makes their dealers operate in lock step. I actually thought that was illegal -- but I guess it is only reprehensible.

 

But I found one on-line for less -- with no taxes and free shipping. I guess there are some holes in their net.

 

GC and Boze are now on the naughty list.

 

Actually, I probably would have paid retail.

 

-Tom

[GotTheSilver]

I've bought a few guitars at GC over the years, and my experiences have been very different. In January 2009, I bought an Advanced Jumbo that was on clearance for $1600. I had a $50 off coupon, so that brought it down to $1550. When they range me up, the receipt showed a separate price for the guitar and the case, but the two prices totaled $1550, so they sold me the guitar and case for what they had advertised.

 

A couple years ago, I saw another store that had the Fender 1952 Telecaster on clearance for a great price. I went into my local GC, played one and liked it, so I mentioned the other store's price. They pulled it up on the internet to verify, then met the competitor's price less 10% of the difference, just as they advertise they do. No questions asked, no BS.

 

Yes, I have had some less than great experiences at GC, but on the whole my experiences have been positive.

[zombywoof]

I have never walked into a Guitar Center or ordered even a set of strings from them. But I figure as long as they keep ordering mass quantities of guitars from Gibson they will continue to have a relationship.

[brannon67]

I have never walked into a Guitar Center or ordered even a set of strings from them. But I figure as long as they keep ordering mass quantities of guitars from Gibson they will continue to have a relationship.

True and its sad they get away with it. Needless to say, I did not get the AJ I wanted. I wasnt going to play that game with them. Oh well....The search continues for an AJ.

[brannon67]

That's really slimy. However, if you had had 18 Benjamins on you and counted them out on the counter they probably would have hemmed and hawed and sold you the guitar for 18. A friend of mine is very good at this and used to tell me: smile, flash the cash around. Pull out your wallet, "Let me see what I have on me here." Proceed to count the bills where they can see it... sixteen, seventeen, eighteen... Watch them. If they have trouble looking away from the money you can probably do the deal. If they demur you pick up the money and start walking away slowly. Okay! you say, still smiling. On your face is an amused look of: if you won't someone else will. This is what I would do at a place like Guitar Center. At one of the better dealers, like Music Villa, you just talk to the owner in a civilized fashion and work something out, don't have to pull out cash.

True, cash talks most of the time, but they always talk around it all, and do some crazy, funny math with the numbers. I guess they think we are all stupid and gullable or something. Im no math major, or whatever, but I know funny math when I see it, and thats what they do.

[modoc_333]

Pretty shady. If everyone quit putting up with this, then there would be less of it. The REALLY sad part? Apparently it works, or they wouldn't do it. :(

 

 

 

 

 

-Keith

[bobouz]

I've had many good dealings with both MF and GC.

 

From MF, I've bought a number of level 2 used instruments which have been virtually mint, including what for me was a recent holy grail purchase: a 2012 natural finish J-185 for $1688. The guitar is flawless & has an amazing tone. Back in 2010, I picked up an ES-330L for $1699, with the same stellar results. Chris Swope, who oversees the "private reserve" instruments, used to work for Gibson. He's a good guy, knows his stuff, and posts on the Les Paul Forum with some incredibly helpful information.

 

From GC, I picked up my holy grail electric in 2012, a natural finish ES-330 VOS, after having the chance to A-B three of them at the same time. This particular one stood head & shoulders above the other two in tone & playability - and mint to boot by virtue of being on a locked hanger in the platinum room. The deal? $500 right off the top when trading in another guitar, plus a generous allowance on the trade-in, which made the out-of-pocket cost very reasonable. This is just one of many positive deals I've done with these guys, going back to 2001 when Gibson decided to go big-box & went back to bed with GC.

 

And cases? I've always received the original case or gig bag with every Gibson purchased at GC, with no up-charge.

 

It is clear that there can be significant differences from one GC to another, as I believe they have regions or districts that are overseen with a fair degree of autonomy. But the group of three GCs in the metro area closest to me (Portland, Or) have all been consistently easy to work with. And one of the store managers in particular, is a great guy whom I've dealt with since 2007.

 

In my experience, if you do your homework before walking in the door (or picking up the phone), MF & GC are as easy to work with as anyone, and the return policy is completely straightforward.

[MorrisrownSal]

I have a Guitar Center near me, in Springfield NJ. I go in when I am bored. The sales folks are nice enough, but the selection is always weak. For example regarding Gibson, a week ago they had 1 J35 with old strings, a scratch and dent AJ, a clearance Songwriter. They all sounded flat and disappointing - old strings too. I couldn't even get them tuned right. Martin? Not much better. They had an EC 000-28 that had been there forever, a few made in Mexico models, a few PA series lower end, and maybe a D16.

 

I go when I am bored, and when I leave I feel like I wasted my time. Every time it seems. Why do I go back? Not sure.

 

My guitar purchases over the past five years have been from Maurys, MFG, Wildwood, Mandolin Brothers, and Russo's. They have all been magnificent - with my favorite experiences being at Mandolin and Russo's. The prices were always compatible or better than GC too.

 

Writing this has been cathartic. I hereby will no longer go to Guitar Center! Why? In tough times especially the other guys need to be rewarded.

[zombywoof]

To me though a music shoppe is more than a place to buy strings. A good one, I mean a real good one is the kind that turns into a picking parlor Saturday afternoon and where the owner knows you and your tastes and lets you play everything and anything. Lawdy, the owner of my favorite shop lets me take anything used he has in home for a long weekend. Then again, he also knows this is the only way he is going to get me to buy anything.

[Frances50]

I usually buy my guitars from Sweetwater and I've been very happy. But in November, I wanted a Doves In Flight (DIF) to round out my collection. Sweetwater didn't have any but Guitar Center in Atlanta had one. I called the Atlanta shop and the rep was misleading, I must say. He quoted me a decent price but then included the price of the case and sales tax on the invoice (which I didn't find out until I got the invoice with the guitar). So, ultimately the price was just a little off Gibson's list price. Not sure what Sweetwater would have done for me in this case as it appears the DIF is not in plentiful supply at any of Gibson's Five Star dealers. Our local music store here in Columbia, South Carolina, basically told me the guitar was too expensive to carry in their store. So, although I love this guitar, it's near perfect in every way, I wouldn't buy from Guitar Center again. We're supposed to get one in Columbia this summer and I will probably go there to look but then, it would be back to Sweetwater to order. And the guitar wasn't double boxed for shipment like Sweetwater typically does with their guitars. That concerned me a little as well.

[cunningham26]

As much as it is a massive corporation, the interactions we have as everyday customers comes down to the staff and management of the particular store you're in. I was in one on Monday where they were shifting around their top shelf used section, so I had easy access to a '54 es295 and a 66 jazzmaster, both of which I played on without anyone even coming up to me. After about 30 minutes with the jazzmaster the guitar sales manager came up to me, asked how I liked it, told me it just came in, and said "just keep playing it man, have a blast, it's an awesome guitar" and walked away. In my experience when you have a happy staff, the interactions are great, and they're not trying to be sqles sharks looking for chum between the amp stacks. They'll still do the spiel about warranties when ringing you up, but I've had much worse experiences at Radioshack, Verizon, and Best Buy than i've ever had at GC.

 

I've also gotten some amazing deals on their used/vintage stuff. Their bread is buttered by new equipment sales, so their used/vintage stuff is usually an afterthought, and the prices are absolutely reasonable, and as someone else said when dealing with cash on the glass, anything is negotiable.

[j45nick]

As much as it is a massive corporation, the interactions we have as everyday customers comes down to the staff and management of the particular store you're in. I was in one on Monday where they were shifting around their top shelf used section, so I had easy access to a '54 es295 and a 66 jazzmaster, both of which I played on without anyone even coming up to me. After about 30 minutes with the jazzmaster the guitar sales manager came up to me, asked how I liked it, told me it just came in, and said "just keep playing it man, have a blast, it's an awesome guitar" and walked away. In my experience when you have a happy staff, the interactions are great, and they're not trying to be sqles sharks looking for chum between the amp stacks. They'll still do the spiel about warranties when ringing you up, but I've had much worse experiences at Radioshack, Verizon, and Best Buy than i've ever had at GC.

 

I've also gotten some amazing deals on their used/vintage stuff. Their bread is buttered by new equipment sales, so their used/vintage stuff is usually an afterthought, and the prices are absolutely reasonable, and as someone else said when dealing with cash on the glass, anything is negotiable.

 

 

My experience has been similar. It really is luck of the draw. I've been in a number of GC's across the US. When I'm traveling on business, I will sometimes go in just to sneak a bit of a guitar fix.

 

I have also mentioned here before that they sometimes have very good deals on used guitars, even vintage models.

 

As long as you've already done your homework, I see no harm in buying there, particularly if it's the only store you have access to.

[DanvillRob]

I've said this before.... all my dealing with GC have been positive.... I bought my DIF, sight-unseen from the GC in San Francisco. The price and the condition were EXACTLY as what was described to me.

 

I asked the manager there that if I didn't like it once I got it, could I simply take to back to my local GC, (in Pleasant Hill), and he said yes....or course, that wasn't necessary. The extra to ship it to my house

was $5, (I would have paid three times that amount in gas to drive to SF.

 

I also bought my 'Bird from the GC in San Jose. Saw it on their website, called them and asked them to not display it, just keep it in the case. I went there in person to pick it up, and it was

in their warehouse, and was virtually perfect, (still is!).

 

In both cases, (play on words), the OHSC was included in the price. For the 'Bird, the price I agreed to pay had the cost of the case deducted then added back in, so I paid for the case, but didn't really.

 

I've bought other stuff from GC, always great to work with.

 

I wouldn't buy anything that's hanging on their walls, they just seem to be too abused for me.

[zombywoof]

I've also gotten some amazing deals on their used/vintage stuff. Their bread is buttered by new equipment sales, so their used/vintage stuff is usually an afterthought, and the prices are absolutely reasonable, and as someone else said when dealing with cash on the glass, anything is negotiable.

 

It really varies usually depending on where GC comes by the guitars. They do tend to buy from other dealers at the big guitar shows. A friend of mine claims GC is actually his best customer when it comes to vintage stuff.

[LPguitarman]

I go to GC to play around. But I play around tastefully with the utmost respect for the instrument. Last week I went in to test run a Gibson Acoustic, then turned around and bought a higher end Gibson Acoustic from Sweetwater for less money overall.

Reasons:

Almost all Guitar Center guitars are at least partially used because every young guitar stud goes there to shred and show off. The guitar I looked at had micro scratches all over the body and pickguard, and the guitar manager was trying to sell it to me as new. Then I could see in his eyes and tone of voice that he was not pleased that I just used him and the guitar to test it out.

Ordered a better Gibson from Sweetwater because I know it is brand new and NO SALES TAX. Plus they do a 55 point inspection, set-up and white glove cleaning before they ship the guitar.

[brannon67]

Yeah, I went in the GC the other day to kill some time,(I don't want to buy from then ever again) and saw all these guitars with dings and cracks in them. I asked the sales guy what is going on with all these guitars being messed up. He told me kids, and careless A-Holes not being careful. Its crazy.