I think my only problem is how Guitar Center posts their used gear. You go online and the guitars or gear is like taken with a single picture and they don't put thorough descriptions or take pictures of of any flaws of any used gear their selling.
And it kills the sale for me. If I'm looking for something specific and all I can see is a photo taken with a 2001 Nokia flip phone, I'm not messing with it.
@ exactly! I tried buying a mark Holcomb se out of state to have it shipped to the local guitar center and turned out it had issues with nut and basically was unplayable and I didn’t even know cuz they don’t put descriptions on their stuff.
@@chrisreese2361 The last thing I had shipped to my store THEY damaged unpacking it and I rejected the purchase. They were real flippant about it, too. I have that same guitar. Good taste!
IMO, the days of playing first in-store are done. I just surveyed my collection, and 80% were purchased online. I'm fine with it. My nearest GC is usually dirty, laid out badly, has the same little island of less than a dozen amps for the past 5-7 years. The guitar wall is either never full or packed with Mitchell garbage with a few good guitars that are 20 feet in the air. They NEVER have a single newest item in the store. They will continue to cater to the budget/beginner because their data shows that is who their demographic is. The last four times I visited, the items I specifically wanted were the empty parts of the shelves. I'm done, done, done. PLUS, even GC online will send you a blemished return as new. It's their policy, but, you can call them and specifically request that your item ships from the warehouse and not some rando store's inventory. I think that's garbage and I've had to return expensive "brand new" items that were covered in scratches and sticky human juices. I won't even go inside of a GC anymore. There are too many options to mess with all that.
My big gripe about my local GC, is people testing guitars/amps aren’t required to wear headphones, and rarely told to turn it down. You get a symphony of out of tune, failed bar chords, hurrendous pentatonic solo riffs, mixed with the one old black dude who comes in 7 days a week, and plays jazz on steroids. It’s unbearable to be in there for more than 20 minutes. Can’t hear yourself tuning a guitar and strumming acoustically, to check its resonance. Meanwhile there’s still music playing on the store speakers. It’s always manic sounding.
When I went to guitar street in Japan, every time I went into a different store, there was plenty of staff available to help. And every time I went to play a guitar. The shop staff would inspect the guitar before I played it. And on a few instances adjusted the truss rod right there in front of me. Not even taking it out the back like literally just on the floor. I was amazed to see the staff actually care about their service and their products. They answered every question I had to the absolute best of their ability. 10/10 would recommend and go back again. Wish the rest of the world would adopt this mentality
I've never been to this store (I'm Australian) but everything you listed sounds like the reasons why they're in so much trouble to begin with. There's no retail store in this country comparable to GC - there are some large stores in major cities but nothing on that scale. Maybe they got so big they just assumed they couldn't fail?
I think they just got too comfortable just "getting by". It's no secret that have had plenty of struggles. I think it's time for them to step up and get back on track for success! Let's hope for the best
My local gc is very hit or miss. They generally have a good selection of guitars and amps including some good used finds. My biggest issues are, like you mentioned, set ups. Not only will you find a cool used guitar that has old corroded strings, but a brand new fender that is almost impossible to play. Aside from that, customer service is usually horrible. I’m usually in there helping myself and steering clear of employees
Yep all true. If they want to stay in business it's time to step up and make improvements. There are lots of people such as myself that would prefer to buy from a store. GC just had to create a better in store experience.
I was in my GC yesterday, it was fully stocked with great mid to high level guitars, very busy, and they gave me 20% off a $2500 brand new guitar. I had an overall good experience. Staffing would be the only small issue I saw, but that was also driven by the large number of foot traffic.
Shit, I knew it! I'm surrounded by giraffes!! I will never shop at Guitar Center again. Seriously, you had some valid points. I think Guitar Center is beyond salvage, though.
Hahaha you'd have to be a giraffe 🦒 to see some of the guitars way up on the high racks anyways lol 😆 Yeah man, I hope they can keep working on some improvements but after what happened to Sam Ash idk 🤷♂️
I too struggle when looking at online product photos. If I am looking for a salvaged condition giraffe, I expect to see that in full detail not a guitar or fridge!!! This happens constantly but I hope things can change in 2025.
all your propositions are about making the service more premium. Would clients be positive about paying more for that at guitar center? im not that sure.
Would always be nice to be better right? Some of the things mentioned though for example organization of departments ie order pickup, or having very basic playable setups on instruments, these are not unreasonable requests. Wouldn't think the customer should get penalized for simple standards.
Most of the issues you are talking about are driven by their commission employee model. For example if a tech is setting up a guitar so someone else can sell it does the tech get paid when it sells? Are they techs paid when they do it? Does that cut into sales commission? Secondly if you are just buying strings, or pics or some other cheaper gear, it is against the employees interest to to give up a potential commission on a sale to customer that might walk through the door next to help you. The same goes for the pickup order, as whoever does that has the same problem. Lastly, the employee who is tasked with taking photos often will lose a potential commission if its bought online. Lastly firing bad employees makes things worse because it takes so long to hire to through corporate. These are all whats called perverse incentives. With guitar centers massive debt load, I don't think they afford to hire enough full time, quality, salary employees to get out of this. Also I don't think they can afford not to fix their user experience issues. That is why in business we call this a death (or debt) spiral.
Guitar Center's products and services need to become top-notch to stay competitive. They need to refocus their inventory on new mid-level (~$500) guitars and increase their used gear supply. Used gear sales offer higher margins and need to become a greater percentage of their sales to stay in business. Customers are better off purchasing a higher quality used $300 guitar than a new $200 guitar with razor blades for fret ends. Their store cleanliness and service needs to be standardized. Every new/used guitar on the rack should be clean and set up to be playable. Offer customers tuning stations (5 Snarks on a security wire) so customers can tune the guitars while testing. Include a full basic setup on all guitar sales when you also buy $50+ in accessories. It incentivizes accessory sales and customers feel like they are getting a deal on a personalized service. Techs can further enhance the experience by using the customer's preferred action height and chatting with the customer while recommending additional gear like amps, gig bags, tuners, etc. Guess we'll see what they have in store for 2025.
GC, much like other B&M stores, cannot compete with companies like Sweetwater and Amazon who have much lower overhead with a better product selection. Personally what I'd like to see is the return of independent, locally owned music stores.
The GC in Fargo, ND was great at first, but the quality on some of the new gear is bullshit for full price. Nicks and dings everywhere, paint chipping, loose output jacks. I went back to my local shop as well as zzounds.
Entry level guitars are better online, beginners rarely know what feels right . We do need stores to play then buy quality instruments. If you buy a Gibson online, you are probably not going to end up with the one that fits you.
I can totally live with an entry level guitar.... if it's setup decently. If they could just get all instruments to a playable condition it'd would help sell more in store.
How about set up the guitar before it goes on the wall? Should just accept that as cost of doing business. Then less likely for customers to complain about guitars being unplayable.
I think my only problem is how Guitar Center posts their used gear. You go online and the guitars or gear is like taken with a single picture and they don't put thorough descriptions or take pictures of of any flaws of any used gear their selling.
@@chrisreese2361 yup valid point 👉
And it kills the sale for me. If I'm looking for something specific and all I can see is a photo taken with a 2001 Nokia flip phone, I'm not messing with it.
@ exactly! I tried buying a mark Holcomb se out of state to have it shipped to the local guitar center and turned out it had issues with nut and basically was unplayable and I didn’t even know cuz they don’t put descriptions on their stuff.
@chrisreese2361 this! Without clear photos it's a total dice roll 🫤 hope they can improve this.
@@chrisreese2361 The last thing I had shipped to my store THEY damaged unpacking it and I rejected the purchase. They were real flippant about it, too. I have that same guitar. Good taste!
IMO, the days of playing first in-store are done. I just surveyed my collection, and 80% were purchased online. I'm fine with it. My nearest GC is usually dirty, laid out badly, has the same little island of less than a dozen amps for the past 5-7 years. The guitar wall is either never full or packed with Mitchell garbage with a few good guitars that are 20 feet in the air. They NEVER have a single newest item in the store. They will continue to cater to the budget/beginner because their data shows that is who their demographic is. The last four times I visited, the items I specifically wanted were the empty parts of the shelves. I'm done, done, done. PLUS, even GC online will send you a blemished return as new. It's their policy, but, you can call them and specifically request that your item ships from the warehouse and not some rando store's inventory. I think that's garbage and I've had to return expensive "brand new" items that were covered in scratches and sticky human juices. I won't even go inside of a GC anymore. There are too many options to mess with all that.
My big gripe about my local GC, is people testing guitars/amps aren’t required to wear headphones, and rarely told to turn it down. You get a symphony of out of tune, failed bar chords, hurrendous pentatonic solo riffs, mixed with the one old black dude who comes in 7 days a week, and plays jazz on steroids. It’s unbearable to be in there for more than 20 minutes. Can’t hear yourself tuning a guitar and strumming acoustically, to check its resonance. Meanwhile there’s still music playing on the store speakers. It’s always manic sounding.
Totally valid points 👉 I agree!
When I went to guitar street in Japan, every time I went into a different store, there was plenty of staff available to help. And every time I went to play a guitar. The shop staff would inspect the guitar before I played it. And on a few instances adjusted the truss rod right there in front of me. Not even taking it out the back like literally just on the floor. I was amazed to see the staff actually care about their service and their products. They answered every question I had to the absolute best of their ability. 10/10 would recommend and go back again. Wish the rest of the world would adopt this mentality
@flixon3795 wow! That's a whole new level of service!
I've never been to this store (I'm Australian) but everything you listed sounds like the reasons why they're in so much trouble to begin with. There's no retail store in this country comparable to GC - there are some large stores in major cities but nothing on that scale. Maybe they got so big they just assumed they couldn't fail?
I think they just got too comfortable just "getting by". It's no secret that have had plenty of struggles. I think it's time for them to step up and get back on track for success! Let's hope for the best
My local gc is very hit or miss. They generally have a good selection of guitars and amps including some good used finds. My biggest issues are, like you mentioned, set ups. Not only will you find a cool used guitar that has old corroded strings, but a brand new fender that is almost impossible to play. Aside from that, customer service is usually horrible. I’m usually in there helping myself and steering clear of employees
Yep all true. If they want to stay in business it's time to step up and make improvements. There are lots of people such as myself that would prefer to buy from a store. GC just had to create a better in store experience.
I was in my GC yesterday, it was fully stocked with great mid to high level guitars, very busy, and they gave me 20% off a $2500 brand new guitar. I had an overall good experience. Staffing would be the only small issue I saw, but that was also driven by the large number of foot traffic.
Sounds like that location had it together! That's great to hear.
Shit, I knew it! I'm surrounded by giraffes!!
I will never shop at Guitar Center again.
Seriously, you had some valid points. I think Guitar Center is beyond salvage, though.
Hahaha you'd have to be a giraffe 🦒 to see some of the guitars way up on the high racks anyways lol 😆
Yeah man, I hope they can keep working on some improvements but after what happened to Sam Ash idk 🤷♂️
I too struggle when looking at online product photos. If I am looking for a salvaged condition giraffe, I expect to see that in full detail not a guitar or fridge!!! This happens constantly but I hope things can change in 2025.
all your propositions are about making the service more premium. Would clients be positive about paying more for that at guitar center? im not that sure.
Would always be nice to be better right? Some of the things mentioned though for example organization of departments ie order pickup, or having very basic playable setups on instruments, these are not unreasonable requests. Wouldn't think the customer should get penalized for simple standards.
Most of the issues you are talking about are driven by their commission employee model. For example if a tech is setting up a guitar so someone else can sell it does the tech get paid when it sells? Are they techs paid when they do it? Does that cut into sales commission? Secondly if you are just buying strings, or pics or some other cheaper gear, it is against the employees interest to to give up a potential commission on a sale to customer that might walk through the door next to help you. The same goes for the pickup order, as whoever does that has the same problem. Lastly, the employee who is tasked with taking photos often will lose a potential commission if its bought online. Lastly firing bad employees makes things worse because it takes so long to hire to through corporate. These are all whats called perverse incentives. With guitar centers massive debt load, I don't think they afford to hire enough full time, quality, salary employees to get out of this. Also I don't think they can afford not to fix their user experience issues. That is why in business we call this a death (or debt) spiral.
Their website really sucks it’s so blah . But good news I’m in New Jersey and the stores are pretty busy !
Guitar Center's products and services need to become top-notch to stay competitive. They need to refocus their inventory on new mid-level (~$500) guitars and increase their used gear supply. Used gear sales offer higher margins and need to become a greater percentage of their sales to stay in business. Customers are better off purchasing a higher quality used $300 guitar than a new $200 guitar with razor blades for fret ends.
Their store cleanliness and service needs to be standardized. Every new/used guitar on the rack should be clean and set up to be playable. Offer customers tuning stations (5 Snarks on a security wire) so customers can tune the guitars while testing.
Include a full basic setup on all guitar sales when you also buy $50+ in accessories. It incentivizes accessory sales and customers feel like they are getting a deal on a personalized service. Techs can further enhance the experience by using the customer's preferred action height and chatting with the customer while recommending additional gear like amps, gig bags, tuners, etc.
Guess we'll see what they have in store for 2025.
Very good point 👉 I like those suggestions! Definitely hope to see things get better in 2025
@TopShelfGear Thanks for calling out their online used gear pics. Why does every pic look like it was taken with a flip phone circa 2005?
@dougversion2.0 haha exactly! Like some old Nokia or something lol
@@TopShelfGear Holy cow. I just used "2001 Nokia flip phone" in my comment. I SWEAR I didn't see these comments first! LOL. Looks like it's agreed.
@@Eric_01 hahaha 😆
GC, much like other B&M stores, cannot compete with companies like Sweetwater and Amazon who have much lower overhead with a better product selection. Personally what I'd like to see is the return of independent, locally owned music stores.
Yup, often the case. I love a nice independent music store. There are a few in my state really cool spots.
They have been a little better lately at least the Gibson aren’t 40 feet in the air so you need binoculars to see them 🎉🎉🎉🎉😂😂😂❤❤❤❤
😂😂😂
The GC in Fargo, ND was great at first, but the quality on some of the new gear is bullshit for full price. Nicks and dings everywhere, paint chipping, loose output jacks. I went back to my local shop as well as zzounds.
Yeah charging full price for scratch and dent is ridiculous
sweetwater needs to buy guitar center and run it under the name guitar center. imo
Maybe could happen as some point? Saks 5th Avenue just acquired Neiman Marcus. Stuff like that does happen.
Less classy guitars and more metal guitars. That’s the market. Every guitar center should have every Jim Root sig at all times.
@@SilkandScrooge 😆 I'd be all for more metal guitars in stock 🤘
Entry level guitars are better online, beginners rarely know what feels right . We do need stores to play then buy quality instruments. If you buy a Gibson online, you are probably not going to end up with the one that fits you.
I can totally live with an entry level guitar.... if it's setup decently. If they could just get all instruments to a playable condition it'd would help sell more in store.
But if we set it up, they wont buy our set up!?!?!?😅😊😮
How about set up the guitar before it goes on the wall? Should just accept that as cost of doing business. Then less likely for customers to complain about guitars being unplayable.
@TopShelfGear Yes of course , The Suits don't understand that the think about the loss add on sales .
Are you a GC investor? Why do you care if they survive or not?
No just a guitar hobbyist hoping to see the continuation of retail existence.