Attempted Guitar Theft At Guitar Center

[Larsongs]

About time!

[jdgm]

In Britain if the police got called the thief would have made a complaint,  the store employee would have been arrested and charged with assault and battery (and possibly even  lose his job) and the thief most likely let off with a warning or given a community service order.  

Not joking.

Edited January 16, 2023 by jdgm

[SteveFord]

I was thinking they could make him the store's Offical Greeter.

He could just lay on the sidewalk and groan.

[Sgt. Pepper]

3 hours ago, jdgm said:

In Britain if the police got called the thief would have made a complaint,  the store employee would have been arrested and charged with assault and battery (and possibly even  lose his job) and the thief most likely let off with a warning or given a community service order.  

Not joking.

I’m moving there.

[duane v]

21 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

GC have been ripping off musicians since its inception.

I've been shopping at GC since I was 16 and they never ripped me off. As matter of fact GC has always treated me quite well in my experiences. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

4 minutes ago, duane v said:

I've been shopping at GC since I was 16 and they never ripped me off. As matter of fact GC has always treated me quite well in my experiences. 

Not the one in San Jose. You think a 16 year old knows anything about guitars. I didn’t and they pounced on me like  mountain lion does to an injured deer. The one I live by now I only go in for strings.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[duane v]

I 

1 minute ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Not the one in San Jose. You think a 16 year old knows anything about guitars. I didn’t and they pounced on me like  mountain lion does to an injured deer. The one I live by now I only go in for strings.

I guess that would depend what kind of 16 year old one is.... I was already playing clubs at 16 and had a good idea what instruments cost and what I would pay..... or what I could afford. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

3 minutes ago, duane v said:

I 

I guess that would depend what kind of 16 year old one is.... I was already playing clubs at 16 and had a good idea what instruments cost and what I would pay..... or what I could afford. 

Not me I was just getting into playing and they saw me coming. I guess it’s like guys buying fake Chibby’s. I guess all you can say in Caveat Emptor.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[duane v]

8 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Not me I was just getting into playing and they saw me coming. I guess it’s like guys buying fake Chibby’s. I guess all you can say in Caveat Emptor.

It's kind of tough if you don't know what to look for. Even with some of the fakes / tributes Gibsons or whatever the hell they are calling them, it can be tough with ones that are built by experienced Luthiers. I purchased a fake and it looked and felt totally real until I took it completely apart. 

[duane v]

On 1/15/2023 at 5:44 AM, DanvillRob said:

I wonder how long the guy laid out on the sidewalk in front of the Albuquerque Guitar Center?

https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/do-not-steal-a-guitar-in-albuquerque/

My wife showed me that video.... Best response ever.

I liked when they tossed his shoe out the door 

[DanvillRob]

28 minutes ago, duane v said:

My wife showed me that video.... Best response ever.

I liked when they tossed his shoe out the door 

Probably the best part....here's your shoe....we're done with you!

[DanvillRob]

51 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Not the one in San Jose. You think a 16 year old knows anything about guitars. I didn’t and they pounced on me like  mountain lion does to an injured deer. The one I live by now I only go in for strings.

I bought my Hummingbird from the San Jose GC.    They advertised it on line...I called them and told them to keep it in the case, and I'd be in on Monday to pick it up.   Don't recall if I gave the a CC # to hold it....probably did....I was serious about buying it.   I was adamant... do NOT let anyone play it!

I bought my DIF from the GC in San Francisco..... was the easiest purchase I ever made..... I called them and they sent it to my house!

I got my J-50 from the GC in Washington State somewhere, (it was a gift from my crew when I retired).....so I'm not exactly sure where it came from.

[Whitefang]

I live a two to five minute drive from two long established music shops.  The nearest GC to me is a 15 minute drive to a shopping center that had(it seems) it's  store placement and roadways around in it designed by a spirograph

                                                                                        

 

No thanks.  I did go there once to see what they were all about.  And I wondered if it was possible to order a model of guitar you were interested in that hasn't been hanging on the wall by it's headstock for God knows how long....

Whitefang

[Notes_Norton]

23 hours ago, DanvillRob said:

I'm not much on TV.... watch RFD-TV some, and Battle Bots...that's about it!   So I've never seen that show.

I watch zero TV. I gigged on cruise ships for 3 years in the late 1980s, when there was no TV on the ship except the constantly repeating movie-of-the-week, some Carnival produced advertisements, and the weather (for some reason the weather went blank when foul weather was ahead).

I got off the ship and hooked the cable up, but found I wasn't watching. I guess I broke the habit cold-turkey on the ship and found I like doing things better. So I disconnected

The last two shows I watched, I had to go to my mother-in-law's house to see. Since Johnny Carson was something I used to watch a lot, I went to her house to see the last Johnny Carson "Tonight" show and the first Jay Leno "Tonight" show. That's all folks.

Instead, I learned to play wind synthesizer, learned to write aftermarket styles for Band-in-a-Box, learned how to build a mail-order business to sell those styles, learned how to convert that business to Internet order, learned how to write web pages, and I learned how to play lead guitar (to a certain extent, I'm no Jeff Beck by a loooooooong) shot. I also sequenced and continue to sequence hundreds of backing tracks for my duo from scratch.

I guess I'd rather live my life by doing things, instead of living my life vicariously by watching actors pretend to do things.

OK, I'm weird.

I had an fx unit for my PA system fail. I went to GC in Port St Lucie FL to get a replacement. They didn't have a direct replacement, so I looked at another. I asked if I could bring it back if I didn't like it, and they said they would charge a 20% replacement fee. I said I won't scratch it, my PA is set up, I'll just try it without marking it, and bring it back the next day. They said 20%.

I put an old, inferior FX unit in, and I ordered one from Sweetwater, which was not only cheaper, but they offered a money-back guarantee if I didn't like it. But the salesman offered something even better and a bit cheaper, a TC300.

I used to get gear from my local Mom & Pop store, but GC put them out of business.

If I can't find it locally, Sweetwater is my go-to store.

 

Insights and insights by Notes ♫

[Karloff]

4 hours ago, duane v said:

I've been shopping at GC since I was 16 and they never ripped me off. As matter of fact GC has always treated me quite well in my experiences. 

I've always had a decent experience at their stores as well ... 

[Karloff]

4 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Not the one in San Jose. You think a 16 year old knows anything about guitars. I didn’t and they pounced on me like  mountain lion does to an injured deer. The one I live by now I only go in for strings.

is that the Va. Beach GC ?

[Sgt. Pepper]

12 minutes ago, Karloff said:

is that the Va. Beach GC ?

I have been to that one, but I live in SC now. So N. Myrtle now. Its small and sucks.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[RBSinTo]

The Guitar Center I visited was I the Miami area a few miles from Aventura where we stayed. I don't recall the address, as our host drove .

No one bothered, followed or shadowed me while I was in the store, and as I recall not a single word was passed between any of the staff and me for the forty-five minutes I was there.

This included me wandering through the store to get to, and enter the humidified acoustic guitar rooms where I gravitated to the Martin/Gibson/Taylor area,  and played an almost $4,000.00 Martin that was not locked down, or when I browsed the shelves of sheet music and books. 

Inv short, I have no complaints about my first visit to this music chain.

RBSinTo

[Sgt. Pepper]

2 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

The Guitar Center I visited was I the Miami area a few miles from Aventura where we stayed. I don't recall the address, as our host drove .

No one bothered, followed or shadowed me while I was in the store, and as I recall not a single word was passed between any of the staff and me for the forty-five minutes I was there.

This included me wandering through the store to get to, and enter the humidified acoustic guitar rooms where I gravitated to the Martin/Gibson/Taylor area,  and played an almost $4,000.00 Martin that was not locked down, or when I browsed the shelves of sheet music and books. 

Inv short, I have no complaints about my first visit to this music chain.

RBSinTo

Was the binding on the Martin?

[RBSinTo]

Chief,

Of course not!

It was cleverly held in place with bits of binding-coloured duct tape. 

You know, Martin-style.

RBSinTo

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

16 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

Chief,

Of course not!

It was cleverly held in place with bits of binding-coloured duct tape. 

You know, Martin-style.

RBSinTo

 

That's a Martin.

[Notes_Norton]

9 hours ago, RBSinTo said:

The Guitar Center I visited was I the Miami area a few miles from Aventura where we stayed. I don't recall the address, as our host drove .

<...snip...>

The one in Port Saint Lucie Florida isn't much better.

Miami used to have a great music store, Ace Music. In the late 1970s. They had guitars, saxophones, keyboards, and it was a place where a lot of musicians used to hang out, drink coffee, and talk shop. You could get gig leads from other musicians there. They had string and wind instrument repairs, and they would loan you an instrument when yours was in the shop. It was like Manny's of Miami in a way.

The owners were getting old, Mars Music bought them out, ruined it, went out of business, and Guitar Center came in and though slightly better than Mars, they are still lame.

There used to be a SamAsh Music on the Palmetto Expressway in Miami but I moved north to Ft. Pierce to get away from the crowds, so I don't go down there for a music store anymore.

 

Notes ♫

[RBSinTo]

13 hours ago, Notes_Norton said:

The one in Port Saint Lucie Florida isn't much better.

Miami used to have a great music store, Ace Music. In the late 1970s. They had guitars, saxophones, keyboards, and it was a place where a lot of musicians used to hang out, drink coffee, and talk shop. You could get gig leads from other musicians there. They had string and wind instrument repairs, and they would loan you an instrument when yours was in the shop. It was like Manny's of Miami in a way.

The owners were getting old, Mars Music bought them out, ruined it, went out of business, and Guitar Center came in and though slightly better than Mars, they are still lame.

There used to be a SamAsh Music on the Palmetto Expressway in Miami but I moved north to Ft. Pierce to get away from the crowds, so I don't go down there for a music store anymore.

 

Notes ♫

Notes_Norton,

Your reply seems to imply that I gave the store a bad review, which I did not.

There was nothing " lame" about the Guitar Center I visited, and if I lived in the Miami area, and needed an instrument or accessories, there is no reason ehy I wouldn't patronize them.

RBSinTo

Edited January 18, 2023 by RBSinTo

[fortyearspickn]

I've always been treated well at GC.    I think one way of looking at them is -  what would the Retail Guitar Market be like if they didn't exist?   It became popular to trash 'big box stores' back when Walmart started putting Mom & Pops out of business.   And, it was popular here to trash Gibson for their marketing strategy  of requiring authorized dealers to stock a minimum number of guitars - which Mom and Pops could not afford, thereby shutting them out.     Sam Ash isn't a whole lot different than GC - smaller I guess -  but is generally off the radar when it comes to discussions like this.    Our city is lucky  - we have a GC, a  SA and a good sized, 2 location Mom&Pop.   But if you live in a small town -  you can expect less.  Might not even have a Walmart.    I'm guessing some GCs have good managers, and some don't.   

[ksdaddy]

I've never been in a GC. I don't even know where the nearest one is. Maybe Portland. But that's like... North Massachusetts or something.

Their online listings for used/vintage stuff is horrible. Not even up to a newborn ebayer level.

I did interact with one dealer in TX about a pre-CBS Jaguar. Nice guy. He was rigid on the price but after a couple weeks he emailed me and dropped $500 or so. I didn't buy it, holding out for 25.5 scale.