I have a big problem with Guitar Center because, in my experience, they don't respect older players. I started guitar when I was 9 years old in 1961. I started playing in bands in 1966, majored in music in college and taught over 38 years. I say this to show I'm no beginner. A couple years ago I was shopping for another guitar so I went to my local GC. The sales staff saw me walk through the door and totally ignored me until I picked up a guitar then a sales critter rushed up to me like he was afraid I was going to drop it. Then a couple of 20 somethings came in and he rushed up to them and totally ignored me. As I walked out I went up to the manager, took $800.00 in cash out of my pocket and, after I told him how badly I felt I was treated I showed him the cash and said, "I want you to see what's walking out the door." Some people might say I was petty but I don't care.
Thank you for sharing and I'm sorry you had that poor experience. I don't think what you did was petty. Being ignored in a store is incredibly frustrating because it's not hard to provide good customer service it just takes consistency.
no one playing bars and weddings is showing up with their custom shop strats or $3k and up les pauls. they know the audience has no clue that you're butchering mustang sally or sweet home alabama on a sub $1000 guitar. most of the expensive guitars are bought by lawyers and cpa's. i stopped going into my local guitar center YEARS ago, because if you aren't a local gigging musician, they treat you like an asshole. all my gear comes from sweetwater or reverb. i have expensive stuff, and budget stuff too. i work hard and make good money. i won't spend it where some schlub who makes less than me gets to treat me like i'm beneath him.
I run a GC and was part of the first wave of change. Just the fact that the guitars are unlocked and accessible is making a huge difference in the customer experience. There's still a bunch of less expensive guitars. But now you have more options if you want a more expensive instrument. There are ZERO employees that work for me that don't have a strong background guitars and music in general.
My experience at guitar Center is that the employees who u can tell know music are usually the really friendly people there. However there’s always one manager yelling at somebody every time I go in there. Strange right? Last time I went in the coconut Creek store the manager was screaming at some guy. I was in his 50s that he moved the amp that he just set up across the store. He picked it up. Moved it 15 feet over and said to the guy that’s where it belongs, I thought this old man was gonna jump him. I don’t even see people playing the instruments in there anymore. I usually just go in knowing what I need and get out. Thanks for the video, sir.
I like that they’re at least trying to change what wasn’t working. I’ve been to Guitar Centers that were well stocked and serviced and often spent quite a bit of time there and would ultimately leave with something. I’ve also been to ones that weren’t and would leave almost immediately wondering if I’d go back any time soon. It’s important to see and test some “Dream” gear, to excite you and make you want to put in the work to get it one day. If you’re not salivating over some particular piece of gear, then where is the hunger?
I agree with all you said. I have two Fender Strats one Tele and three Squires. I enjoy them all very much. There are more people that play guitars of course cause it's fun , than people that make a living professionally.
it's hard to browse for guitars at my guitar center. you have to spend a lot of time on their not-so-great website and write down what you are interested in and then try to convince a worker to get up on that huge ladder thing for the 10th time since most of the good stuff is out of reach. my local mom&pops have inventory that is more interesting to me like Jet or Yamaha revstar or red label. why does my guitar center have so many Gretsch's? my main problem with guitar center isn't the workers (i've met some great ones), it's what they carry (i wouldn't expect to find many inspired by gibson epiphones, for example) and the fact that most of it is in the rafters. and don't get me started about the moms who leave their kids to play electric ukulele all afternoon while they shop elsewhere. that said i do like the four guitars i have purchased from them so far.
Love all the Sweetwater ads in the story about GC. I have been to a lot of Guitar centers for decades, my main store is the Hollywood store and no matter were you go they act like they hate their customers. Two times I can think of that I was at the Hollywood store with thousands of dollars in my pocket and no one, no one will help me. Fortunately you can walk across the street and go to Sam Ash and actually have good service.
What I have not liked about Guitar Center for almost 30 years is not necessarily the lack knowledge of its employees. It's the employees pretending that they know the answer to your question about a piece of gears compatability when they are only trying to get a sale. I missed the days when I could go in there find something I liked then bargain an out the door price and be compensated with some free cables, strings, strap. Those were the core values of guitar center back in the 80s and early 90s. I could also sell a used piece of gear to get a fair price. This is why I spent so much money there back then. I don't shop there anymore. I don't need a pushy salesman coming back every 5 minutes to try to seal the deal. When I am ready to purchase something I will let you know! Guitar Center is like that local restaurant that use to be good bu keeps going downhill after new ownership! I just research on UA-cam comparing gear reviews and make my purchases online unless it is a guitar
If there was reason to shop at mom and pop stores, I recommend you check those in the musical industry. I just stopped by one to pick up some strings and picks and walked out with super slinkys and picks for less than Ten bucks.
I don't know, when i was growing up guitar center was pretty mixed, it had a good balance of low end, mid priced, and high end gear. You had players of all types in the store at the same time. When i was starting out i was the annoying kid in the corner playing smoke on the water on repeat. but i would love to sit and listen to the intermediate and well versed players play. it would inspire me to get better, and try new things. Now i go in and yes, it feels like ALL beginner gear, and nothing that really interests me. Plus the people that used to work in guitar center knew their shit. Nowadays the bulk of the employees really don't have much knowledge. there are usually only one or 2 people in the store that have a good amount of knowledge.
Maybe it depends on the Guitar Center? I sorta have to agree with the article. I only go to guitar center now for accessories that I need quickly such as guitar picks and replacement strings. I buy all my guitars and recording equipment online since the "nicer" stuff is only online. Maybe it also depends on location because my local Guitar Center only has beginner sub $1,000 guitars. I tend to like American made more because of the build quality and the idea that I'm contributing to American factory workers if that makes a difference at all.
When I was a kid in the 90’s GC always had Gibson LPs and real Fenders to choose from. Lately, the GC nearest to me, as far as I can tell, didn’t have guitars 🤷🏻♂️. Nothing north of a few hundred bucks. Now I’m older and I’m doing okay in life. I can afford and do buy, these “premium” guitars. I was very frustrated that I have to drive much further to other stores to find these products. Fortunately, my latest purchase (an R9) was found at a GC closer to the major city I live by. But I’m irritated that I must go there when there’s a perfectly good GC near me. That store just doesn’t carry anything I’m interested in anymore. So I’m all in favor of stocking more expensive stuff. They should have $100 dollar guitars all the way up to ridiculous. It’s called GUITAR CENTER!
Couldn't disagree more with his statements. Their "core customers" are not "serious musicians". As a beginning guitar player, I was happy to have a GC nearby where I could look at guitars in a price range I could afford while having knowledgeable staff help me make a good decision. I didn't know enough about guitars to feel comfortable buying one online, so being able to touch and play many different ones helped me make a good decision while keeping their great service in mind with possible future purchases. By all means... expand the higher quality selection, but don't do it at the cost of people who would like to start playing guitar and are looking for help and reasonable prices to get started.
Good luck finding anyone in the drum department. 99% of the time I go in there, if there is someone in it, I know more than them. Sam Ash is going under, so Guitar Center better step it up.
Very odd PR release As you said, I can’t imagine the sales of premium guitars is significant enough to publicly ‘belittle’ inexpensive guitars and to say they will refocus on premium sales.
I'm not a serious musician - but I can afford nice gear and purchase more expensive guitars if I really like them. I agree with him to some regard - my local GC (which I have no problem with - always been treated good) has nothing bu guitars in the $300 to $700 range on the lower rungs. Some of them are certainly nice - but at this stage of the game I'm not interested in them. I would rather not have to chase down the guy working the floor every time I want to actually try something of interest to me. Plus - get some fun stuff (Suhr, Anderson, etc etc) in there beyond just Fender/Gibson/PRS/Etc. Make me want to come by to see what's there. Frankly I spend all my time looking at their used guitars as those turn over fairly quickly and they always have something interesting for me to try.
Thanks for sharing! My favorite thing is to look at their used guitars as well. Some people upgrade their pickups and electronics too when they sell them so you'll get a better version of the original instrument.
There core customer was just musicians,serious or not. I was in the original GC. There problem is that there employees are not knowledgeable in the products. They are not paid well and don’t care. All they are interested in is talking to friends. Next they cannot compete with Sweetwater
Sam Ash is going out of business though. Their stores have been allowed to fall into disrepair. The carpeting is old and crusty, and they have empty sales cases scattered about the stores. This is not because they lost a fair-and-square competition with Guitar Center or any other competitor either, because I've seen some GC stores that are in very tattered condition too. Two years ago, the Guitar Center locations near me started pushing subscription music lessons, and they even built little private lesson cubicles in one of the stores, and they built a whole "learning center" in another store. But no, the sad truth is that "local retail music stores" is an industry in decline. Now Guitar Center maybe sees the writing on the wall. Or maybe not. In any event, GC needs to move the needle SOMEHOW if it wants to survive. Expect to see some big changes, and even some crazy plans. Will it work? It's a long slog, for sure, and at the least, they're going to have to push a pretty big boulder up that mountain.
GC needs to tune, clean, and re-string its guitars MUCH more often. They'll pull down a $3,000 guitar from the top row and it'll be covered in dust and the strings will be tarnished over. Yuk.
Guitar center makes several bad mistakes in my opinion. General manger, Chattanooga store refused a return and I had to contact the area manager or region manager to get the refund. General manager not happy about this and banned me. After contacting the regional again he said she didn't have the authority. He told me he would call next time he was in town and actually go in with me. That was a year ago. Sweetwater has gotten my business ever since.,
@@j.powellnetwork - Sweetwater was recently bought by another company, though. If management cares about the business, it will be fine. But all too often, you end up with bean-counters running the business and it falls apart anyway.
@@robertwilson7813I buy used from gc online and have it shipped to my local gc store...I can try it out and if I don't like it I can return it right there and maybe my local store is one of the cooler ones but they've never given me drama over returns
@@j.powellnetwork - I wouldn't put a guitar on layaway with any retail store. You don't know when that store might close and then where do you go to get your money back? A coffee can buried in the backyard might be a better place to save your money.
I think that he is straight INSULTING the guitar players community. HE thinks that his statements, and getting rid of budget will actually influence the guitar player.... he's pulling political strategy and retail sales strategy 101 on what HE believes are gullible people. I DO like the idea of kids being able to go into a GC and experience guitars that will be something to strive and work for... but left up front???? He's asking for expensive DAMAGE or even theft. Certain price ranges SHOULD require employee supervision, but maybe they could be kinder and more encouraging? I have enjoyed GC, but this guy.... I want to see his business model fail. There are a few brand name nuts out there, but the majority of us know that this is stupid bs hype.
Kids are raised on fast-food, free streaming music, and parents netflix/hulu. Instant everything, and skillz are not needed. They don't want to practice and learn, because being a beginner ain't cool. Skill takes time and work, that lazy herd-followers won't invest. The future sales of products requiring skill doesn't look promising.
I have a big problem with Guitar Center because, in my experience, they don't respect older players. I started guitar when I was 9 years old in 1961. I started playing in bands in 1966, majored in music in college and taught over 38 years. I say this to show I'm no beginner. A couple years ago I was shopping for another guitar so I went to my local GC. The sales staff saw me walk through the door and totally ignored me until I picked up a guitar then a sales critter rushed up to me like he was afraid I was going to drop it. Then a couple of 20 somethings came in and he rushed up to them and totally ignored me. As I walked out I went up to the manager, took $800.00 in cash out of my pocket and, after I told him how badly I felt I was treated I showed him the cash and said, "I want you to see what's walking out the door." Some people might say I was petty but I don't care.
Thank you for sharing and I'm sorry you had that poor experience. I don't think what you did was petty. Being ignored in a store is incredibly frustrating because it's not hard to provide good customer service it just takes consistency.
no one playing bars and weddings is showing up with their custom shop strats or $3k and up les pauls. they know the audience has no clue that you're butchering mustang sally or sweet home alabama on a sub $1000 guitar. most of the expensive guitars are bought by lawyers and cpa's. i stopped going into my local guitar center YEARS ago, because if you aren't a local gigging musician, they treat you like an asshole. all my gear comes from sweetwater or reverb. i have expensive stuff, and budget stuff too. i work hard and make good money. i won't spend it where some schlub who makes less than me gets to treat me like i'm beneath him.
I run a GC and was part of the first wave of change. Just the fact that the guitars are unlocked and accessible is making a huge difference in the customer experience. There's still a bunch of less expensive guitars. But now you have more options if you want a more expensive instrument. There are ZERO employees that work for me that don't have a strong background guitars and music in general.
My experience at guitar Center is that the employees who u can tell know music are usually the really friendly people there. However there’s always one manager yelling at somebody every time I go in there. Strange right? Last time I went in the coconut Creek store the manager was screaming at some guy. I was in his 50s that he moved the amp that he just set up across the store. He picked it up. Moved it 15 feet over and said to the guy that’s where it belongs, I thought this old man was gonna jump him. I don’t even see people playing the instruments in there anymore. I usually just go in knowing what I need and get out. Thanks for the video, sir.
I like that they’re at least trying to change what wasn’t working. I’ve been to Guitar Centers that were well stocked and serviced and often spent quite a bit of time there and would ultimately leave with something. I’ve also been to ones that weren’t and would leave almost immediately wondering if I’d go back any time soon. It’s important to see and test some “Dream” gear, to excite you and make you want to put in the work to get it one day. If you’re not salivating over some particular piece of gear, then where is the hunger?
I agree with all you said. I have two Fender Strats one Tele and three Squires. I enjoy them all very much. There are more people that play guitars of course cause it's fun , than people that make a living professionally.
I stopped going or trading with guitar center years ago. Enjoy Moore Music in Evansville now.
it's hard to browse for guitars at my guitar center. you have to spend a lot of time on their not-so-great website and write down what you are interested in and then try to convince a worker to get up on that huge ladder thing for the 10th time since most of the good stuff is out of reach. my local mom&pops have inventory that is more interesting to me like Jet or Yamaha revstar or red label. why does my guitar center have so many Gretsch's? my main problem with guitar center isn't the workers (i've met some great ones), it's what they carry (i wouldn't expect to find many inspired by gibson epiphones, for example) and the fact that most of it is in the rafters. and don't get me started about the moms who leave their kids to play electric ukulele all afternoon while they shop elsewhere. that said i do like the four guitars i have purchased from them so far.
Hate to be the one to tell you, but an awful LOT lot of those "$300" guitars nowadays are sounding every bit as GOOD as all those "premium" guitars.
They need to listen to their customer because the customer is always right... when it comes to marketing. Store stock should reflect current sales.
Love all the Sweetwater ads in the story about GC. I have been to a lot of Guitar centers for decades, my main store is the Hollywood store and no matter were you go they act like they hate their customers. Two times I can think of that I was at the Hollywood store with thousands of dollars in my pocket and no one, no one will help me. Fortunately you can walk across the street and go to Sam Ash and actually have good service.
It sucks though because Sam Ash is going out of business!!
Yeah it really is a shame that they're going out of business :/
What I have not liked about Guitar Center for almost 30 years is not necessarily the lack knowledge of its employees. It's the employees pretending that they know the answer to your question about a piece of gears compatability when they are only trying to get a sale. I missed the days when I could go in there find something I liked then bargain an out the door price and be compensated with some free cables, strings, strap. Those were the core values of guitar center back in the 80s and early 90s. I could also sell a used piece of gear to get a fair price. This is why I spent so much money there back then. I don't shop there anymore. I don't need a pushy salesman coming back every 5 minutes to try to seal the deal. When I am ready to purchase something I will let you know! Guitar Center is like that local restaurant that use to be good bu keeps going downhill after new ownership! I just research on UA-cam comparing gear reviews and make my purchases online unless it is a guitar
Great Points! Thanks for sharing.
If there was reason to shop at mom and pop stores, I recommend you check those in the musical industry. I just stopped by one to pick up some strings and picks and walked out with super slinkys and picks for less than Ten bucks.
I don't know, when i was growing up guitar center was pretty mixed, it had a good balance of low end, mid priced, and high end gear. You had players of all types in the store at the same time. When i was starting out i was the annoying kid in the corner playing smoke on the water on repeat. but i would love to sit and listen to the intermediate and well versed players play. it would inspire me to get better, and try new things. Now i go in and yes, it feels like ALL beginner gear, and nothing that really interests me. Plus the people that used to work in guitar center knew their shit. Nowadays the bulk of the employees really don't have much knowledge. there are usually only one or 2 people in the store that have a good amount of knowledge.
Maybe it depends on the Guitar Center? I sorta have to agree with the article. I only go to guitar center now for accessories that I need quickly such as guitar picks and replacement strings. I buy all my guitars and recording equipment online since the "nicer" stuff is only online. Maybe it also depends on location because my local Guitar Center only has beginner sub $1,000 guitars. I tend to like American made more because of the build quality and the idea that I'm contributing to American factory workers if that makes a difference at all.
When I was a kid in the 90’s GC always had Gibson LPs and real Fenders to choose from. Lately, the GC nearest to me, as far as I can tell, didn’t have guitars 🤷🏻♂️. Nothing north of a few hundred bucks. Now I’m older and I’m doing okay in life. I can afford and do buy, these “premium” guitars. I was very frustrated that I have to drive much further to other stores to find these products. Fortunately, my latest purchase (an R9) was found at a GC closer to the major city I live by. But I’m irritated that I must go there when there’s a perfectly good GC near me. That store just doesn’t carry anything I’m interested in anymore. So I’m all in favor of stocking more expensive stuff. They should have $100 dollar guitars all the way up to ridiculous. It’s called GUITAR CENTER!
Couldn't disagree more with his statements.
Their "core customers" are not "serious musicians".
As a beginning guitar player, I was happy to have a GC nearby where I could look at guitars in a price range I could afford while having knowledgeable staff help me make a good decision.
I didn't know enough about guitars to feel comfortable buying one online, so being able to touch and play many different ones helped me make a good decision while keeping their great service in mind with possible future purchases.
By all means... expand the higher quality selection, but don't do it at the cost of people who would like to start playing guitar and are looking for help and reasonable prices to get started.
Good luck finding anyone in the drum department. 99% of the time I go in there, if there is someone in it, I know more than them.
Sam Ash is going under, so Guitar Center better step it up.
Exactly, if it feel great it's a great guitar. To me if the wood is right I am good, I can change pickups and electronics easily.
Very odd PR release
As you said, I can’t imagine the sales of premium guitars is significant enough to publicly ‘belittle’ inexpensive guitars and to say they will refocus on premium sales.
I'm not a serious musician - but I can afford nice gear and purchase more expensive guitars if I really like them. I agree with him to some regard - my local GC (which I have no problem with - always been treated good) has nothing bu guitars in the $300 to $700 range on the lower rungs. Some of them are certainly nice - but at this stage of the game I'm not interested in them. I would rather not have to chase down the guy working the floor every time I want to actually try something of interest to me. Plus - get some fun stuff (Suhr, Anderson, etc etc) in there beyond just Fender/Gibson/PRS/Etc. Make me want to come by to see what's there. Frankly I spend all my time looking at their used guitars as those turn over fairly quickly and they always have something interesting for me to try.
Thanks for sharing! My favorite thing is to look at their used guitars as well. Some people upgrade their pickups and electronics too when they sell them so you'll get a better version of the original instrument.
There core customer was just musicians,serious or not. I was in the original GC. There problem is that there employees are not knowledgeable in the products. They are not paid well and don’t care. All they are interested in is talking to friends. Next they cannot compete with Sweetwater
Nobody with any sort of knowledge would get a job at Guitar Center
Sam Ash is going out of business though. Their stores have been allowed to fall into disrepair. The carpeting is old and crusty, and they have empty sales cases scattered about the stores. This is not because they lost a fair-and-square competition with Guitar Center or any other competitor either, because I've seen some GC stores that are in very tattered condition too. Two years ago, the Guitar Center locations near me started pushing subscription music lessons, and they even built little private lesson cubicles in one of the stores, and they built a whole "learning center" in another store.
But no, the sad truth is that "local retail music stores" is an industry in decline. Now Guitar Center maybe sees the writing on the wall. Or maybe not. In any event, GC needs to move the needle SOMEHOW if it wants to survive. Expect to see some big changes, and even some crazy plans. Will it work? It's a long slog, for sure, and at the least, they're going to have to push a pretty big boulder up that mountain.
GC needs to tune, clean, and re-string its guitars MUCH more often. They'll pull down a $3,000 guitar from the top row and it'll be covered in dust and the strings will be tarnished over. Yuk.
You are absolutely right. I went to a platinum store and all the most expensive guitars had the worst strings on them lol
Seems like it will be ok for Gibson, Fender and PRS, but not Epiphone, Squier and SE. That's one way to p1ss off 3 companies
Guitar center makes several bad mistakes in my opinion. General manger, Chattanooga store refused a return and I had to contact the area manager or region manager to get the refund. General manager not happy about this and banned me. After contacting the regional again he said she didn't have the authority. He told me he would call next time he was in town and actually go in with me. That was a year ago. Sweetwater has gotten my business ever since.,
Sorry you add that terrible experience. Yes sweetwater has excellent service! Everyone I speak to on the phone is great.
@@j.powellnetwork - Sweetwater was recently bought by another company, though. If management cares about the business, it will be fine. But all too often, you end up with bean-counters running the business and it falls apart anyway.
The best thing Guitar Center has going for it is its 45 day return policy!😎🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
I miss the days when you could put guitars on layaway lol
I swap out alot of pedals with that
@@robertwilson7813I buy used from gc online and have it shipped to my local gc store...I can try it out and if I don't like it I can return it right there and maybe my local store is one of the cooler ones but they've never given me drama over returns
@@j.powellnetwork - I wouldn't put a guitar on layaway with any retail store. You don't know when that store might close and then where do you go to get your money back? A coffee can buried in the backyard might be a better place to save your money.
They have always sucked. Higher end guitars won’t save them. Their service stinks because they hire ‘ never be’ rock stars.
I think that he is straight INSULTING the guitar players community. HE thinks that his statements, and getting rid of budget will actually influence the guitar player.... he's pulling political strategy and retail sales strategy 101 on what HE believes are gullible people.
I DO like the idea of kids being able to go into a GC and experience guitars that will be something to strive and work for... but left up front???? He's asking for expensive DAMAGE or even theft. Certain price ranges SHOULD require employee supervision, but maybe they could be kinder and more encouraging?
I have enjoyed GC, but this guy.... I want to see his business model fail. There are a few brand name nuts out there, but the majority of us know that this is stupid bs hype.
I definitely agree with everything you said 🎸
Kids are raised on fast-food, free streaming music, and parents netflix/hulu. Instant everything, and skillz are not needed. They don't want to practice and learn, because being a beginner ain't cool. Skill takes time and work, that lazy herd-followers won't invest. The future sales of products requiring skill doesn't look promising.
Apparently you haven’t seen the latest generation of guitar players.