Why... WHY does Guitar Center suck so bad???

[FirstMeasure]

Part 5.

 

 

So' date=' for $1,300 and all that bullsh!t I got this;[/b']

 

 

 

 

I'd say it was worth it. That's a Beaut' !

[callen3615]

Yes it is beautiful. I still dont know if I would have put up with that tho. Everytime i would look at it i would think of that ordeal.

[NeoConMan]

Yes, I do.

6 years later I still get pissed off thinking about it.

 

Great guitar though, I'm glad I got it.

[dillonollid]

I went to guitar center today and asked to purchase some blank staff paper. They don't carry it.

HAHAHAHAHA enough said about that. I don't know if that says something about the state of music or just the suckiness of Guitar Center.

 

I go to the counter to buy a few accessories and speak to a very nice lady. The guy behind me is squealing away on a Jackson. I buy polish and a few cloths from her. I ask if the labella black nylon folk strings are ball end. She replies yes, but I could simply cut off the ends if I want to tie them.

 

Ugh.

 

Perhaps I'm too sensitive. But I don't want to pay money for something I'm going to have to compromise right out of the package.

 

If one more ******baggy kid tells me I have "sweet licks" I'm going to kill myself.

 

btw, a power chord is not even a chord.

 

suck it GC.

[dillonollid]

I do the @$$hole reversal at GC.

 

I went in to the GC down the street here in Arlington, Texas. I was going to buy a Gretsch Duo Jet off the wall. It's a pretty inexpensive. I'm not really in to electrics all that much. Anyway, American Musical.com had it listed on their site for $10 cheaper and no tax or shipping. So, I went in and told them about AMS' price and showed them on the computer. They told me I should fill out a tax free form because I'm a working musician. I told them AMS does not require me to do that. I *****ed until they complied.

 

AMS sucks too, but that's a different story. Guitar Center is the epitome of every thing I hate about music - young kids who want to rock out with as little knowledge of the instrument as possible. In fact, if that is what rock music has become then I hope it dies very soon. I go there because they are close and have cheap-ish strings. However, the second I walk through the door get sour and mean.

 

And GC posts will never get old. They make me so angry I could post daily.

[NeoConMan]

Part 7.

 

I was getting really excited about buying a Gibson double neck.

I don’t know why, my meager playing skills are far below Stairway To Heaven/Hotel California levels.

Still, I always thought it would be cool to have one of the iconic guitars of Rock and Roll in my collection.

Another consideration was the fact that used ones were now fetching prices higher than a brand new one.

 

Okay, no brainer, I’ll get a new one. Another consideration is the lifetime warranty Gibson offers.

With not one, but two necks set into the body I felt a warranty might actually be an important thing to have.

 

I was talking to Mike at Bizarre Guitar (as I often do) and we had a serious discussion about the guitar.

He’s sold a bunch of them over the years, probably as many used ones as new.

 

Finally, he said “You know, you’re probably gonna do the same thing that every other 1275 owner does. You’ll buy the guitar because it’s cool as hell and a collector piece, then you’ll put it away in the case because it’s such a pain in the ***. By the time you get it tuned you’re already tired of having the damned thing hanging around your neck because they’re so cumbersome. You won’t use it unless you actually need it for a gig”

 

As much as I wanted to disagree with him, I knew he was right.

A friend of mine has the less expensive Epiphone version and uses his every weekend in a cover band for Hotel California - that’s it. The guitar is used specifically for one song then returns to its case. Rarely, they did Wanted Dead Or Alive, but the guitar sees no other use.

 

Mike continued with the reality check saying “That’s how we get these double necks in here in pristine condition, they never get played. People buy them and then just put them away. Sooner or later they decide they don’t need it anymore, and they see how much they’ve appreciated in value so they sell.”

 

Well, I ain’t never selling mine if I buy one.

Mike just smiled and said “Okay…”

 

 

From that day forward, I was intent on buying one and I searched the internet for all the info I could find.

I decided it would have to be the same color as the one played by the most famous EDS-1275 owner of all, Jimmy Page.

Cherry red with chrome hardware it is.

 

Next, how do I locate one since I don’t want to special order one from Gibson? Mike recommended ordering but I didn’t want to wait. I saw a few used ones on Ebay that triggered a certain lust inside me but they sold for insanely high prices.

Disappointed, I returned to Guitar Center to see if my luck would improve.

 

I was talking to an Assistant Manager at GC (I think everybody there is an AM) who said he had one in a store in Las Vegas. He volunteered to call up there, but I told him not to bother. I wanted the straight scoop from the store that actually had the guitar in their hands, hoping to avoid the Guild Blues 90/case fiasco. I called the Las Vegas Guitar Center and as it turns out, they didn’t have a 1275. Haven’t had one in forever. They don’t have any on order.

 

Guitar Center customer service at its finest!

They never fail…..

 

I’m placed on hold several times, speak to several different people, the consensus is that I was given bad information.

Wait… GC just opened a new store in Summerlin, a Las Vegas suburb out west. Maybe THEY might have one. It’s worth a try. I get the Summerlin number and then call that store, a guy named Andy answers the phone. Turns out they do indeed have a Custom Shop EDS-1275.

Finally, I get a break.

 

I ask the guy if it’s in perfect, pristine, unmolested, squeaky-clean condition because I’ll accept nothing less.

Andy assures me that it is.

I tell Andy that I’m willing to drive 300 miles from Phoenix to Las Vegas in order to purchase the guitar, and the last time I trusted Guitar Center with such a task it went horribly wrong.

 

Andy asked which store that was, so I told him it was the Tempe, Arizona store.

 

Andy replied “Yeah, I think I remember that. It was a Guild…?”

 

Wait a minute. I asked him what his name was and he replied Andy. Andy Besecke.

What a small world.

 

Jeez.

 

I asked him how he wound up in Las Vegas, he said they opened a new store - good management opportunity for him.

I told him I was happy for him, and very pleased they were promoting the good guys.

 

Well, I figured this was the PERFECT opportunity for Guitar Center to redeem themselves in my eyes so I asked Andy what the price would be.

Still a hair over $3,000. Trying to decide if it was worth an extra $500 to get one in my hands in a few days or wait a painful 6-8 months for Mike to order one at Bizarre…

 

Andy then told me “Let me take a look at this guitar for you. I haven’t really looked it over THAT close lately and I wanna be sure it’s worth your trip up here.”

 

Sounds fair enough, I gave him my phone number and told him I was in no hurry – just look when you get a chance.

 

In just a few hours I get a call from Andy.

“Hey, I just wanted to let you know that you don’t want this 1275.”

 

Really? Why not?

 

“It has problems, it’s gonna have to go back to Gibson. I want to let you know, save you a trip up here”

 

I explained that I was gonna make it a Las Vegas weekend anyway, the trip was no big deal.

 

“No, you don’t want this one. I can order you one but it’ll take several months. I’m really sorry I can’t help you.”

 

To Be Continued...

[Pink_Floyd]

Wow Neoconman,

 

You must have real bad luck dude.... Mind you big respect for always standing your ground. In the UK we never complain enough and subsequently companies etc get away with treating people like muck. If you ever travel to Germany then you will witness real service and complaining.

 

We are pretty lucky in the UK not to have GC I think, most shops are independent and chains consist of maybe only 3 shops max. Now get to work on the latest installment, at you own pace mind you, please don't kick my ***

[NeoConMan]

Part 8.

 

Guitar Center Redemption – Is It Possible?

 

I seem to remember Andy said something about a truss rod on the EDS-1275.

That’s the kiss of death for a set-neck guitar anyway, let alone two necks.

 

I thanked Andy for being candid and forthcoming with the information I needed to make a good buying decision, and let him know I certainly appreciated his help. He was gracious, and seemed a little embarrassed by the fact his guitar was defective.

We ended the phone call and then it occurred to me…

 

That guitar was in good enough shape to sell to anybody who would take it.

There’s no telling how long it has been on display in the store, or what was wrong with it.

If it was damaged, nobody in the store thought enough about it to make repairs or return it to Gibson.

The typical Guitar Center operating practice is to sell any broken up piece of sh!t to anybody who will buy it.

If the customer is dumb enough to fall for it, Guitar Center is smart enough to take their money.

 

It’s a shame that a high end guitar like that could have been sold to me with damage or structural issues.

At any other guitar Center, with any other manager, it would have been up to me to spot the problem before I spent my hard-earned cash. Caveat Emptor, indeed.

 

Then I had a second, more profound thought;

Did he just tell me that so he didn’t have a colossal *** hole in his store?

Was he so worried that the deal would somehow go sour?

Did he fear he would see NeoConMan versus Guitar Center, Round Two on his sales floor?

 

Maybe the sale just wasn’t worth the risk to him.

 

Ya know what?

I think either way, it’s a good thing.

A good manager took control of a situation and kept his thumb on it, avoiding undue complications in his business.

He was smart enough to see a huge pot hole in the road ahead and deftly steered his store and staff around it.

 

Andy, if you’re reading this, you’re a stand up guy and I hope you go far.

I really mean it.

 

 

 

So I call Mike at Bizarre Guitar and ask him to order a Gibson EDS-1275 double neck for me.

The price was $2,475 and the wait time was said to be 6-8 months.

I already had a Paul Reed Smith on order with them, and I wondered which would show up first.

(PRS lost this one – big time…)

 

Since it was coming from the Custom Shop, I asked Mike if I could make a few changes.

Put 57 Classic pickups in place of the 490’s and have Gibson install Grover Rotomatic and mini-Rotomatic tuners.

My thinking was that it would truly be a one-off custom piece, and need no modifications that would hurt the value.

Gibson called back and said the price of the guitar would double.

 

No sh!t.

 

To make ANY changes – from the Custom Shop mind you – requires substantial financial commitment from the buyer.

Um… no thanks.

 

Fast forward 6 months, the 1275 arrives and it’s flawless.

I was MORE than happy with it as Mike unpacked it and handed it over.

I was too giddy to play it, I just sort of picked and strummed for a minute and then went back to examining it.

Amazing how good of a job Gibson did in matching the pieces of the body, I couldn’t find a seam or joint line anywhere.

Then I realized there isn’t one – it’s a single piece of mahogany!

 

I had no idea they did such a thing, Mike didn’t either.

Nice bonus, eh?

Wonder what it would have cost if I ordered it that way from the “Custom” Shop…

 

I handed it back to Mike and told him to play it, tell me what he thinks in his professional opinion.

He started running thru The Song Remains The Same by Led Zep and the guitar was perfectly in tune out of the box.

Both necks even!

He plugged it into the tuner, and it was a half step flat.

That’s how Gibson ships their guitars, and it held its tune thru shipping.

Mike tuned it up, wiped it down and stuck it in the case.

I couldn’t get home fast enough!

 

To all the fine artisans at Gibson, I salute you!

[callen3615]

Yay! :D

 

 

I feel a bad part comming.

[NeoConMan]

I feel a bad part coming.

Why' date=' are you going to Guitar Center?

:-)

 

 

No bad part coming.

That's the happy ending.

 

And what an incredible guitar it is....

Don't fool yourself for a minute thinking the Epiphone is 'just as good.'

There's no comparison.

 

I know three people who have the Epi, and several who have (or used to have) the Gibson.

I could run down the list of differences, but many are the same as any other comparison in the Gibson/Epi line.

 

One advantage Epi has, the controls are not used for both necks. One volume, one tone for each neck means you can preset each one and flip back and forth with the settings intact. Quiet 12, then ripping on the six.

 

The Gibson has the same control scheme as an SG with four knobs, but when you transition from one neck to the other those same settings go with you. Playing Hotel California on it is tough on the Gibson.

When leaving the twelve string part to do the lead solo, you have to switch the neck selector, crank the pickup volume, then get your hands in place [i']that fast[/i].

 

The Epi scores a point here for versatility.

[callen3615]

I have an epi and a gibson, Gibson is better. I dont disagree.