Attempted Guitar Theft At Guitar Center

[Sgt. Pepper]

17 minutes ago, ksdaddy said:

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.

I worked in Boston one winter several years back when it snowed a ton. I went to one in Braintree, Mass.

[Notes_Norton]

11 hours ago, RBSinTo said:

Notes_Norton,

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

<...snip...>

My apologies, I misunderstood your post.

 

Notes ♫

[Notes_Norton]

I guess I'm just old-fashioned, and miss the Mom & Pop stores where I got great service.

Example #1

After forming our duo, I had a PA system left over from a larger band I was in. It sounded fine at the higher volumes I used to play at, but when turned down for a smaller venue, it was muddy.

I went to my local M&P store, explained the problem, and the owner loaned me a BBE Sonic Maximizer. He told me to try it out over the weekend, and if it didn't work, bring it back unscratched. He didn't ask for a deposit, credit card, or restocking fee.

It worked, The first set was a dinner set at about 75db and a regular customer said, "What did you do? You sound great today!".

I went back Monday with the money.

Example #2

I was using a Sure SM58 on my sax. I was recording my alto on an old reel-to-real 4 channel Teac tape deck, and it sounded more like a clarinet.

Same store. The owner went into the recording studio in the back, came out with a Sennheiser 421MD and said try this on the job and on tape. Again, no deposit, no credit card, no restocking fee.

We were doing an open-air bar in a yacht basin that Sunday, and a musician friend came along. She said my sax (I was playing the tenor) sounded much fuller and clearer than it did with the Shure. She said she heard the difference as soon as she pulled up in the parking lot.

And it sounded like an alto sax on tape.

I went back to the store, he said he would order a new one, and just keep this until it arrived. That took about two weeks. When it got here, I didn't talk price, just paid what he asked.

A month or so later, a SamAsh catalog arrived in the mail with that mic in it. If I bought it from SamAsh, counting shipping fees, I would have paid a little more at SamAsh than my M&P store charged me.

 

Example #3,

I had the owner's phone number in my pocket, with a promise that if anything fails on the gig, I could call him, and he would go to the store and deliver whatever I needed to complete the gig.

 

I could go on with more, but it'd be redundant.

From my M&P store, I got the benefit of the owner's experience in solving similar problems for others, the owner's trust in me, "try before you buy", no restocking fee, and a good price.

I know I paid 50¢ more per set of strings, but in the long run, I saved a lot of money and got great advice and service.

The owner still gigs around here, but his music store is long gone, as the people went to the big box stores to save 50¢ on a set of strings or whatever.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[gearbasher]

I miss my Mom and Pop store. I've had similar experiences as @Notes_Norton above. I once walked in and they were opening a box containing  honeyburst Les Paul Classic Premium Plus. This guitar's top was gorgeous. I told them that my brother would love it and I'll send him in. And, if he didn't buy it, I would. They handed the guitar to me, told me to take it home and bring back the money if either of us decides to buy it. I ended up buying it.  When any new Gibsons came in, they would call me and I would get to unpack them. I bought too many guitars doing that.

[Sgt. Pepper]

22 minutes ago, gearbasher said:

I miss my Mom and Pop store. I've had similar experiences as @Notes_Norton above. I once walked in and they were opening a box containing  honeyburst Les Paul Classic Premium Plus. This guitar's top was gorgeous. I told them that my brother would love it and I'll send him in. And, if he didn't buy it, I would. They handed the guitar to me, told me to take it home and bring back the money if either of us decides to buy it. I ended up buying it.  When any new Gibsons came in, they would call me and I would get to unpack them. I bought too many guitars doing that.

When I lived in Newport News I went to one in Gloucester, VA all the time. I bought my D-28, both D-18's, D-41 and traded my BB King for a 000-28 there. I also got my SG Special there, and a 2x12 Fender Deville. I bought my first D-15 in a mom and pop store in Williamsburg, VA. Both are still around, at least as of the last time I went to NN for T-giving.

Edited January 18, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Notes_Norton]

I bought saxophones at M&P stores until they weren't around anymore.

Buying a sax is trickier than a guitar, because no two are alike. Same brand, same model, close serial number, different horn. One will have better intonation than the other.

Unlike a guitar, there is no adjustment, each note must be played in tune by adjusting your lip pressure on the reed, while you are playing. So a horn with better intonation is a plus. When I bought my Selmer Mark VI, I tried 3 and picked the best one. That was at Ace Music in Miami.

Guitar Centers and other stores don't carry saxes anymore. A good sax can cost a few thousand dollars, and if it doesn't sell right away, it's just money tied up in stock for the store.

So now I buy them via the Internet, and take the intonation I get.

There are a lot of great things about the Internet, but it has its cons as well.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Sgt. Pepper]

14 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said:

There are a lot of great things about the Internet, but it has its cons as well.

Like videos of a cat riding a round vacuum cleaner. Is this a great world or what?

Plus I can buy a guitar at 3:34am in my underwear with a glass of scotch in my hands. Once again, is this a great world or what? You can insert Saxophone instead of guitar if you need to .

Edited January 19, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper

[Whitefang]

1 hour ago, Notes_Norton said:

There are a lot of great things about the Internet, but it has its cons as well.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Cons?  You mean like shooting your personal banking information out into cyberspace where the possibility of  some scumbag getting ahold of it is greater?

Or where returning something that arrived defective or the wrong size or whatever is way more of a hassle than getting your lazy *** into your car and driving the ten minutes to get an exchange or refund?   Of course, that's only if the item was a gift, because you're probably gifted with sense enough to do your best to buy yourself the right size of clothing, and if possible, check out something for defects before taking it to the check out.  Right?

Whitefang

[lilkalee]

By the way, my aunt suffered from kleptomania.and this is a terrible disease because she can not calm down until she steals something and we decided that she needed therapy and this helped after a few months. and now she regularly takes an anxiety test  https://us.calmerry.com/therapy-for-anxiety , it saves her from relapses

Edited February 28, 2023 by lilkalee

[DanvillRob]

2 hours ago, lilkalee said:

"... and now she regularly takes an anxiety test  https://us.calmerry.com/therapy-for-anxiety , it saves her from relapses"

You mean she literally "takes" the test?    How funny is that!

[Murph]

12 minutes ago, DanvillRob said:

You mean she literally "takes" the test?    How funny is that!

Good one.

[RBSinTo]

27 minutes ago, DanvillRob said:

You mean she literally "takes" the test?    How funny is that!

 Making fun of someone who suffers from a disease isn't the least bit funny. 

RBSinTo

[Dub-T-123]

Even if it’s a spam bot?

[DanvillRob]

10 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:

 Making fun of someone who suffers from a disease isn't the least bit funny. 

RBSinTo

That's a big problem in the world these days....Humor is vilified & Snowflakes get butt-hurt over almost anything...but.... since I don't take this forum seriously, I don't really give a flying fig what anyone thinks.

[DanvillRob]

27 minutes ago, Dub-T-123 said:

Even if it’s a spam bot?

Dub... some folk CHOOSE to get offended by many things....I feel that's THEIR problem, not ours.

[Dub-T-123]

Anyway there may have been a missed opportunity to be more woke. Instead of worrying about the spam bot’s nonexistent aunt, we could complain that the spam bot’s sole purpose is to profit off people who suffer from mental disorders (anxiety is not a disease)

[DanvillRob]

17 minutes ago, Dub-T-123 said:

Anyway there may have been a missed opportunity to be more woke. Instead of worrying about the spam bot’s nonexistent aunt, we could complain that the spam bot’s sole purpose is to profit off people who suffer from mental disorders (anxiety is not a disease)

Yes...of course you're right....and anyway the 'joke' was in the way the bot wrote the line, not the nonexistent aunt's kleptomania.....but a joke should never have to be explained.

[Murph]

Cool.

I was afraid midget jokes might be next.

[DanvillRob]

11 minutes ago, Murph said:

Cool.

I was afraid midget jokes might be next.

Ben, I know the 'politically correct' terminology is now "little people", but when my son was a toddler, he called the "Pigeons"....and since we knew people who fit that description, it was sometimes 'uncomfortable'!