Local GC caught on fire yesterday.

[brad1]

Last night the 11pm news was on TV. I'm doing something at the time, not watching the screen, when my girlfriend says, "hey isn't that the guitar place you go to all the time?" I look up and see on the screen the image of the Guitar Center front door open with firemen going in and out.

My first thought was, "how terrible."

But my next thought was, "Fire Damage Liquidation Sale!"

 

Guitar Center Suffers Damage In Fire

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ? A popular Sacramento music store was hit hard by fire Saturday morning, and much of their equipment for sale was destroyed by water.

 

The three-alarm blaze at the Guitar Center on Arden Way in Sacramento brought out 42 firefighters, and the with the help of the store's sprinkler system, the fire was quickly extinguished.

 

"We made access and we found the fire in one of those acoustic, try-your-guitar-out rooms," said Christian Pebble from Sac Metro Fire.

 

The sprinklers actually did their job a little too well -- crews couldn't turn off the sprinklers because there was a nearby water main break, and water soaked a lot of the equipment for sale in the store.

 

Nobody was injured in the blaze, and store management says they will reopen by Monday.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

 

As the brief article states, much will be water-damaged equipment. It's kind of ironic that the sprinkler system designed to save them from fire damage, actually caused more damage than the fire; which I'm sure is often the case. But in this case, they couldn't get the sprinklers off, and that turned out to be their biggest problem. But of course, water damage is preferred to ashes!

So......Anybody ever gone to buy fire-damaged equipment? What should I look for, be aware of, or stay away from?

How would this affect guitars, amps, or anything else they have?

Anybody have a nearby Guitar Center catch on fire before?

 

[vomer]

"Anybody have a nearby Guitar Center catch on fire before?"

 

No, but I'll bet that gives plenty of people an idea...

 

Seriously though, wet guitars dry OK if dried slowly, don't know about amps. Have to ask someone who knows. Water + voltage = scary.

[BlueLesPaul2006]

Seriously though' date=' wet guitars dry OK if dried slowly, don't know about amps. Have to ask someone who knows. Water + voltage = scary.[/quote']

 

Solid State amps are water proof but the tub amps are not. you will have to replace the tubes to get that sweet tone. hahahaha

 

oh yeah and wet guitars are great for playing that beach wet music. ](*,)/

[JefferySmith]

I expect a spate of guitars to show up on ebay that smell strangely of smoke.

[Mattt0192]

I heard about a guy who lives in gadsden alabama. He sells gibsons and fenders out of his house for cheaper than epiphones... only if you show that you love music though... anyways apparently about 6 years ago or so his house caught fire and burned everything he had. He went around kicking guitarcases and he found his 1960s sunburst lp. it was still intact and the heat from the flames had modified the color and it is said to be the most beautiful guitar anyone's ever seen.

[brad1]

I expect a spate of guitars to show up on ebay that smell strangely of smoke.

 

<----Maybe that would go well with the tobacco sunburst here.

[JefferySmith]

I heard about a guy who lives in gadsden alabama. He sells gibsons and fenders out of his house for cheaper than epiphones... only if you show that you love music though... anyways apparently about 6 years ago or so his house caught fire and burned everything he had. He went around kicking guitarcases and he found his 1960s sunburst lp. it was still intact and the heat from the flames had modified the color and it is said to be the most beautiful guitar anyone's ever seen.

 

Kind of a flame maple look?

[JefferySmith]

 

<----Maybe that would go well with the tobacco sunburst here.

 

The look AND smell of tobacco sunburst.

[ef_in_fla]

I hope it was only drums and keyboards that caught fire!

[IntelligentAl]

I can't imagine buying a water damaged amp would be a particularly good idea... Anyway, I hope nothing good was too badly damaged!

[snookelputz]

As long as it was powered down, getting it wet shouldn't matter to electronics - so long as every tiny bit of water and debris is removed and everything dry before powering up again. Compressed air works a treat. The water will play hell with the fabric and cab. I know a guy who is probably the best I've ever seen at tolex repair and replacement, but I'm sure GC isn't going to cut prices far enough to make that practical. Hmmm. I have a couple boxes that might need a new amp section installed. There's always room in a 2X12 to mount an amp - especially if you don't mind rear panel controls. Even easier to make a head out of one. Good excuse for GC to extend their T-day, Xmas sales, though. Too bad that's about 110 miles away.

 

Oh, once they get the "look and smell" right, they'll try to program it into the robot tuner or onboard effects unit.

[rpach10115]

GOOD!

 

I hope all of them burn down.

 

They are crooks. They charged me sales tax on a gift card! I didn't notice it until after I got home when I looked at the receipt. They gaved me such a hard time when I went back. I actually had to talk to the store manager before they realized that you can't charge sales tax on a gift card. It was a $ 500.00 gift card. They tried to charge me $ 42.00 in sales tax.

[Dave]

I'd have to save way too much to buy an instrument from a real fire sale! Speakers would suffer cone damage and mineral residue from the water in the voice coils if the water sprayed into the back of an open cabinet. There will be warpage in hollow body guitars and acoustics.

 

It would be a scary way to buy a guitar. Electronics could be salvaged as long as they were dried out properly, but 40% off wouldn't be nearly enough to make me jump. A Marshall JCM head for $200 might be something I'd buy. I have the electronics training and background to repair it.