I hunted down in GC used a 70's Epiphone hollowbody that was the same model and color of guitar my Dad had in his gigging days for fathers day. The shipment arrived and I got a Fender mustang amp.
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As a former employee, this video made me feel so validated, respect for being so understanding about the associates that are at the mercy of corporate. Clarifying the used commission, you are guaranteed 50% commission on anything you bought in, bumped to 100% if it's bought online with no help from another employee. That said, buy-ins take waaaaay longer than sales, take a while to actually sell, taking pictures sucks, and are a pain in the ass in general. What also sucks is that if there's a bunch of gear you've bought in and you leave the job, you're SOL but corporate still wants you to keep your dud percentage on there so they have to pay less in commission. I told my old coworkers that if they saw my number after I left, take it off, take full commission and say nothing. Descriptions and finally posting the listing is usually a lead or manager job, yet it still is such a process. Also, commission percentage is based on sales in $ per hour too (max of 3%, had to maintain roughly $350 per hour on average to keep that), so any time spent doing something that wasn't selling was time you were losing money on your paycheck. We all tried to still spend plenty of time on each customer despite that, but time sinks like buy-ins were just unnecessary.
not to mention that used gear was always much more susceptible to returns just due to the individual nature of the gear, compared to new sales where if there was something wrong with a new guitar/amp the customer would typically just exchange it and you'd keep the commission
When I worked there eons ago (13? yrs) whenever a use piece is sold that was brought in by a termed employee, the system changes the employee # of who is to get the used credit to XXX999 where the XXX is the store #. Most of my salespeople were smart enough to know that was a dummy # and changed it to their own employee # tho one needs to keep in mind that any change to the employee # field flags the transaction to print out on the daily detail report for the OM and GM to scrutinize, and technically if they wanted to use it as a lame excuse to eventually terminate somebody...
I hope you weren’t one of those workers that would get mad as fuck at customers that would return stuff.. that’s why i have done sweet water for that last 10 years now..
GC might do some whacky stuff, but their return policy is an A++. So I’m not afraid to buy a used guitar, or a new guitar that I can’t find locally to try before buying. 🎸
Same here. I’ve found some very good deals on used guitars and amps on-line. The return policy gives me great peace of mind. Also, I recently bought a used Robert Cray Strat listed as Very Good condition (we all can agree that the pictures on line SUCK!). The condition was just okay but the guitar kicked ass! I took it to my local GC and told them that I didn’t think the condition was as as advertised, they gave me $80 off. Guitar Center, not what they once were but not all bad, either
I got a great deal because of a flaw(?) with GC’s used system. I bought a Fender SuperSonic 22 (which I love) from the Virginia Beach GC used department. I didn’t have enough money for it but I had to have it, so I put it on layaway. When I went to pay it off after a few weeks, the final price surprised me AND the sales crew. Apparently, the used gear automatically gets reduced in price by the computer the longer it sits in the store because they have to keep it moving. Well, that still happened to my amp even though it was held for me on layaway. I don’t know if GC intended that to happen or if they never thought about it or if it was put in the layaway system wrong or something. But the amp sold new for $1050 at that time, and mine was almost brand new and I ended up paying like $575 for it even though it was like $850 when I put it on layaway. Score!
Thanks for the shoutout photo to my GC! Our store takes great care in our used inventory, and we take at least six photos of every used guitar we buy in. Thanks for visiting, Baxter, and thanks for being a rad dude. Hope to see you again the next time you're in town!
Bought my first electric through GC on-line … a used Squier Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster (as is). I cleaned it and did a full setup. Nice guitar (with some blemishes). It’s my favorite guitar now!
I was a gc guitar dept manager in the early 2000’s. The way it worked, then was whoever bought in the Guitar got half of the commission pay out for it. The person who actually sells it gets the other half. It was actually a fairly high percentage of the cost of the piece that we got paid higher than on a new item, but it never really added up to much because Nobody came in there and sold really expensive stuff to us because they would get screwed too bad on it. The standard payout was the customer got 1/3 of the new value of the item. If it was perfect then we sold it for 50% of new if I remember correctly the commission payout on use pieces Was something like 3% of total price. I could never get any of my employees to take the time to look stuff over correctly so I ended up having to do it all myself so that we didn’t get stuck with busted crappy items that sit on the books for years, it was a lot of work for no money basically. I would say overall the store lost money on buying in used instruments. The only reason we even mess with it was to sweeten the pot for Sails. If somebody couldn’t quite afford something we would take in their gear on the trade to make up the difference but you better believe we never gave them enough for it that we couldn’t just throw it in the trash, and still be making a profit on the new item.
I was laughing so hard at your google review story. Where I work we had a review that said "I drove all the way to you and you were closed on sunday. I knew you were closed, but I think you should be open" They also sent a text to our online system saying "I know are closed but could someone come in and help me, I am here" on sunday. People are wild lol.
A few months ago, I ordered what was listed as an Axe Fx 3 in good condition. Turns out it was actually an Axe Fx 3 Mark II turbo version that they should have sold for at least a few hundred more. 🤷♂️
Don’t you love how Baxter will say alright you can click away, like we watch for the actual subject matter anyway. We watch to hear Jonathan and Baxter carry on with each other. lol
I used to love cruising GC and trying out gear. They have gotten so much money from me just because I played it and fell in love. I've only ever bought 1 guitar online and luckily, it worked out well.
When I worked at GC in 2001/02 we used to actively discourage trades and buying used gear. I would tell people to sell it on their own and make twice what we would give them. Taking a piece of used gear in was a loss for the sales guy and the customer.
Not to mention being a pain in the ass for both parties. Back in those days pay was 100% on commission if I remember what my old manager said correctly.
Just a few months ago, I got a perfect condition Gibson 335 at GC for $1800. Couldn't believe the cost, figured it must have had a headstock break, but no, it's in perfect condition, complete with case and case candy. Bought it to flip it, but it became my #1 overnight.
My GC story: they had a dead mint, time capsule quality 1969 Fender Bandmaster Reverb that I was interested in. Noticed the reverb tank was missing when I looked in the back. I asked " what happened to the reverb tank?" Reply: "don't know....when we turned it on, the reverb didn't work" lol.
Online shopping for used gear is a matter of taking your chances. A sloppy seller makes even more variables. Twice I bought guitars from GC that included a hard case and they shipped the guitars without the case. Both times I called them and they happily reshipped the cases. Then I ordered an amp and they shipped it without the foot switch or the AC line cord. They also happily reshipped those parts. Then they shipped a pedal that did not work at all and the switch was broken completely off of it. They paid to have it shipped back and gave a refund. I don't know how they make any money when they have to pay double shipping every time.
I get a kick out of you guys working together and talking together about the things you see that the rest of us all never see because we don't work behind the scenes at a guitar shop!
I love GC picked up a jvm410h excellent condition for $1499 this year! Also the used prices on same item can vary from store to store there’s deals to be had for sure
I snagged up a mis-labeled Fender Player Plus Telecaster that was being sold as a MIM standard. I paid $599 instead of the usual $850-900 the same model was listed for used at other stores. Plus it came with a fender tweed case instead of the gig bag the new ones come with. This was a couple months ago at a GC in Western NC. I'm always keeping my eyes open after that.
Back when I lived in Albuquerque, I got the opportunity to install the flooring for the Breaking Bad set. I did all of Walt's house. My work can be seen in all of season 1 and 2 episodes of season 2. Keep up the great videos
Just purchased a black Yamaha 12 string acoustic from the GC in Phoenix. Awesome price and got it shipped to Tucson in one day. Saved over 200 bucks and only "problem " was scratches I buffed out...
Hey guys, I'm the one who created GC: Shitposting! Just wanted to say thank you very much for the shoutouts! I started the group as a complete and utter joke about GC, and it has spawned into this place of humor, a place to reminisce, a place to bid farewell to the company, and among other things, it has become a place to get some kind of therapeutic relief where no place has existed before specifically for Guitar Center. I never expected people to get so much enjoyment out of it, and it's people like you that have helped get my group over the 10k member mark. It would be a much higher number if we didn't implement admin assist to weed out the undesirables, but it's a necessary evil to lessen the burden of member requests and infractions on the admin team. I was happy with 250, so 10k is just amazing to see. Thank you again for shoutouts, and congratulations on reaching the 50k+ sub level!
I find lots of obscure used items on GC. No major issues as I always call the store that has the item and ask further questions. Yep, you can grab some good items.
Don't sleep on GC used section. As a former employee, I can tell you GC hires some dummies that do not know gear and do not price things correctly sometimes. One day when I worked there, I had to put some used pedals out on the floor. Turns out my dumb assistant manager had a JHS modded russian big muff prices at $69.99 (when they go for $250-300ish on used market) since she didn't realize it was a JHS mod. Thank you! One of my favorite things was looking through used gear to find the opposite, overpriced gear cause a dummy bought it in wrong. The camera sucks! We always had a $14 digital camera we used for pics. Our phone pics turned out way better. And who ever buys in the used gear gets half the commission when they sell. Also, GC typically only pays 40-60% of what it's going to sell for. Most independent shops pay closer to 60%, support your local shops. Screw GC, the corporations doesn't care about you. You can sometimes find some great deal though.
I never had a problem with GC until about a year ago. I ordered a new bass amp head through Musician's Friend (who has now merged with GC, if I'm not mistaken). Paid full price for it and when I got it, it was clearly a used model. The label on the box said it had been shipped from my local GC, not MF. It was also shipped, not in the original manufaturer's box but, in a plain brown cardboard box. The amp was wrapped in bubble wrap, the power cord in brown paper and a few accessories came in a plastic bag. When I took it out, I noticed the amp head was full of fingerprints, the knobs were all set to different positions, some of the labels on the amp looked as if someone had tried to remove them and worst of all, there was an obvious scuff mark on the upper left hand corner of the amp face. I know I made the deal with Musician's Friend but, there is no way the people at GC were oblivious in what they were doing. After all, they made the invoice stating it was a "new" item (which it obviously wasn't), along with the "new" price tag. I called GC and got some kid on the phone who assured me that I could take it back to GC for a refund after spending over a half hour explaining the situation to him cause he seemed to not understand wha the problem was. After all that time on the phone with him, he finally said I couldn't take it back to GC and would instead have to call MF for assistance. Called MF, got yet another kid, this one barely knew how to speak English and yet, despite his poor grasp of the language, had no problem insiting that the item I was sent was "new", despite me telling him about the damage to it, how it was covered in fingerprints and of course, that it didn't come in the original packaging. In the end, after almost an hour on the phone, with him going back and forth between me and his "supervisor", they decided to hesitantly give me a full refund. Gee.. how generous.. Never again will I do business with MF. As far as GC goes, I might go in there to buy something small like strings, picks or stuff like that but, I will never make a big purchase with them ever. I'd heard the horror stories from other customers regarding the same issues I had - paying full price for new gear, only to be sent obviously used gear - and having to jump through hoop after hoop to get these people to get a refund but, I never thought it would actually happen to me. Lesson learned. Like I said, never again...
I buy used on GC regularly, have it shipped to my local store and open it there. Convenient and a 45-day warranty. Just bought a J Rockett Dude this week.
I've gotten several great deals at GC used. One in particular was a Danelectro Baritone that had several pricey upgrades done by the previous owner. GC sold it at a huge discount because they considered it "Fair" condition because of the upgrades.
I also bought my dod 250 grey box from 1978 at guitar center. It was mismarked in the system for 60 bucks, when it was probably supposed to be 600. I instantly swooped it up.
I have to give some credit to the staff at the Orange, CT guitar center. I purchased a used ukulele online/phone call. Posting had a lot of good quality pictures. Staff was friendly and shipping was quick. Arrived exactly as described and was a fair price. Very happy with my one experience.
A few weeks ago GC listed a 2006 Schecter C1 Classic, one good body photo, said Great Condition on the listing. Description said Sticky residue on pickups. 599.00. I bought it, and when I opened the case I found a brand-spanking new sixteen-year-old guitar. Had to be original strings. The pickup plastic tape covers had dissolved into sticky bubble goop on the pickups. Someone tried to scrape it off, lightly scratching one pickup, and only the neck pickup was working. Other than that, it was a closet queen, not a scratch on it. A ground wire had come off the switch, only took a few seconds to solder. I cleaned the goop off the pickups with mineral spirits. Now I have a gorgeous brand-new used guitar. My beef with GC these days is they now charge not only for shipping, but tack on an extra handling charge that can really start adding up. The free shipping days were amazing. That said, I still find stuff on Reverb I want, then look on GC and can often find it for less. Baxter I'm glad you caught yourself on the second "boughten" so I don't have to comment on it. Sounded like you were from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
I ordered a very rare 1997 Epiphone El Caballero from GC used and it was a great experience; I'd never seen one for sale anywhere before and I'd been looking for one when I saw them in the catalog. They made so few of them I had to take a chance on it. If you search "Epiphone El Caballero" The GC used photo from the one I bought is still up and my old reverb listing when I subsequently sold it is up. Kinda miss that one.
Merry Christmas, Casino! Hope everyone there has a safe and happy holiday… Thanks for another year of entertaining videos, and I look forward to more in the future. All the best!
I LOVE Gutiar Center used…found some sweet deals and it’s fun checking the pages regularly to see what pops up. Unfortunately with poor descriptions and photos I’ve gotten stuff that arrived with undisclosed breaks, or was not as described but in those cases it’s easy to return it to my local store. Got my USA made vintage 1986 Kramer Baretta (player grade with mods) for $750 and my 1990 Les Paul Studio with ebony board for $1100. Great and selection and deals if you know what to look for.
My Dad bought a Martin acoustic over the phone sometime in the 90s. It was from a pretty famous musician who ended up opening a guitar shop later in life. When he got it in the mail, it had 3 bridge pins replaced with screws and drywall anchors. He actually kept it like that for years.
Ya guitar center used online has terrible photos with nearly zero descriptions. Although with my last purchase I called the selling location and had the sales guy grab the actual guitar, and asked him give me a detailed description of the condition. He reported that it had zero imperfections & only light scuff on pickguard. The guitar arrived in mint condition exactly as described.
I've bought several used guitars from GC. I call the store, ask questions and purchase over the phone. This way the rep gets their commission. And shipping is free!
I am not necessarily a fan of GC, but Had a decent experience selling to GC. Every Indie joint offered me very little for a Gibson Les Paul Studio I bought in the eighties. A heavily used studio Les Paul with edging , custom paint shop stamped, and first edition pafs that had a patent number that was wrong deliberately in an attempt to avoid corporate espionage. GC offered me twice what others offered. Walked out with a new American Pro 2 Tele.
I screenshotted a photo from my local GCs used site where the poster uploaded the wrong photo from his phone. Luckily he uploaded a photo of his dogs looking out his front door, but it was the main photo for the piece of gear. It stayed up for weeks and NO ONE changed it.
I've bought several items from the GC/Musicians Friend used side and am generally pleased with all of my purchases. The only disappointment was a Fender deluxe reverb silver face reissue I bought had its groove tubes replaced with ones of less quality. And one of them was smashed. I just replaced the tubes with a good set and now I am in bliss with it. You take a chance sometimes. But with online ordering you always take a chance. Amazon is a chance sometimes. I have a guy that calls me from time to time from GC. I guess my own personal sales person. Thanks! He does help out. I guess it helps to have high balance credit cards to get peoples attention.
Baxter and Jonathan, at the end of your video you were talking about Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones being such awesome shows, the best ever, etc. Might I suggest adding Mad Men to that list and if you get Netflix, The Crown. I've been shopping exclusively at GC for 10 years, the same store. They reward loyalty. I instilled that business model in them. When I first started shopping there I taught them, "You don't want satisfied customers. You want LOYAL CUSTOMERS. I you make that by taking good care of your customers, cut them breaks in their favor on boarder line decisions for deals. You want them happy and telling their friends to shop there."
Heaven forbid I stick up for GC, In the ad if you click on the item it puts it in a new window, highlight it, then use the scroll wheel to make it larger. I found that quite by accident!, but you can actually see it that way. I have a friend that hawks it for good deals. It's about 50:50 that he gets what they say it is. But, there is a GC close to him and he just returns it there for a full refund. That's a plus. Your so right about the description, and pricing. I've seen them wanting more for a used item than a new one cost also. It's a crap shoot usually. LOL --gary
I've never bought online from GC but did get the guitar of my dreams there. In 96 I found a like new Amer deluxe plus Strat at like half price of new. Still owned that guitar to this day. Bought 3 guitars online since. What amazes me is that I can just learn to love a guitar I Neverending played til it was delivered. Especially cool was my Les Paul. A 97 ebony w gold trim Studio with ebony fretboard. Don't like too many Gibson necks and love this 1. The other 2 are E/A guitars, 1 is a 12 string for $129 and the other is a 6 string I got for $83. Use them pretty much every day including worship service.
I feel like I may have the best GC used gear experience of all time…like Jonathan - I worked there for a time. More than a decade later - I was browsing the used items on offer at GC. I came across a Two-Rock Classic Reverb at an insanely low price point. Everything I saw on Reverb at the time was $5k plus for a used classic reverbs. This was on sale for less than half that. I bought it, sight unseen, and had it shipped to my local store. The listing was a 2014 50watt classic reverb. (Sooo PBG…ok…still a Two-rock, right?). It got to my shop and I asked my buddy who still works there to send pics of the serial number and the tubes. Serial number was 11. And it had 4 power tubes. And the branding gloriously claimed “K&M Analog Devices”. I was In The store to pick it up and back home within 20 minutes playing my OG 2007, 100watt classic reverb - that I paid less than I paid for my Orange Rockerverb 50 MKIII…What a SCORE!!!
Got great deals on new or used gear at GC when i was buying tons in the 90s. Nothing beats testing gear out in person. Same with buying music at Towers.
I bought one guitar online from GC. An Epiphone LP 50's. When I picked it up at the store, I opened the box and the bottom was smashed during shipping due to insufficient packing. I returned it right then and haven't tried it again. I only buy guitars I can see and play in person now.
I’ve scored a bunch from GC used. Pretty much my whole live rig is from there Boss CE2 mij $139, 2017 AVRI 52 Tele $1099, 2006 SG standard $879, Phase 90 script $40.
Before I bought the Ultra Luxe from you guys... Now named.... "The Lady". I looked at Guitar Centers used market. Short version of story.. I was very uncomfortable pulling the trigger for a Guitar Center used.
I've bought 6 used guitars from GC in store over the last 5 years. Dissatisfied with 2. Both times, GC took care of it super quickly. One of those replacements was a Gibson LP studio. It's the BEST looking and best playing guitar I have. And it was listed for $300 more than the problem guitar. And they had it shipped in at no cost. I've got a really good GC here, maybe I'm lucky.
I've had pretty god luck with buying used Basses on line at GC. About 12 years ago with a Fender Precision American Standard and just a few week ago with a Fender Pro II Precision. Both were spotless and fully functional. Both A+. BUT whenever I do buy something used on line at GC, I ALWAYS ship it to the local GC store just incase it sucks. I don't have to wrap it back up and deal with sending it back. I have bought a few amps used and 2 showed up at the store broken. One time the Ampeg Classic SVT head was smashed into toothpicks :(
I used to go all the time in the early 2000s for DJ gear. It was great to have somewhere to get needles from in a pinch. Now that I'm into guitar I don't even want to go
I’ve gotten two of my favorite pieces of gear used at GC. A HiWatt Custom 20 Combo with Fane speakers and a PRR Custom 22 with Dragon pickups, for far less than I probably should have. It was like they didn’t know what they had. Actually, they thought the PRS was a Custom 24. The pic of the guitar was so bad I told my wife I just wanted to see what one felt like, I wasn’t buying. Turned out the guitar was in flawless condition. I’ve always been treated well at GC, and have nothing but great things to say about them.
There is a big GC by me that I spent many thousands at 20 years ago. Now it’s depressing to go there. We have a privately owned shop like yours about 20 minutes away where all the local musicians go. I am still using my egnater that I bought in 2010 as my gigging amp that I got at GC.
I got my Country Gentlemen used from a GC online. I called the store to get a few details and they said it had been on the shelves for 6 months. When i got it in the mail it had old flat wounds on it (with the bigsby) and was very poorly set up. I they had just changed the string they would have sold it so much faster.
I just got an American Acoustasonic used online from GC. It was listed as in Excellent condition, and arrived with a cracked soundboard, top to bottom. That’s ok, because the crack was colored with Sharpie so it wasn’t so noticeable. Yeah, it was returned.
I got my Andy Wood Signature Suhr online used from GC for $2500 bucks... it was like $1200 lower than retail. The only thing wrong with it was that it smelled like smoke which wasn't noted on the site. I have had it for 2 years now and it no longer smells like smoke. pretty sure i got a good deal.
GC used is both good and bad. You can find some great used deals and sometimes even good trades with your used gear for something used. Most recent thing I got from there used was a mesa boogie lonestar head. Awesome deal on it but when it arrived it was missing a power tube. After closer inspection not only was a power tube missing but the rectifier tube was in one of the power tube sockets. No clue what was going on with it. After setting up the tubes properly it sounds fantastic. Another good source for used is search tempest which searches all the various Craigslist ads instead of just the local ones.
What is the guitar hanging between the two of you that is a butterscotch, slightly offset T style electric with tortoise shell pick guard and three knobs in a line? Thanks!!
One saw a used Core PRS selling on GC for like $2500. Seemed like a good price, until you read the description and they say the neck had been sanded down to the point that the truss rod was starting to show!
I bought a used ME80 from Guitar Center and it worked great and I basically saved $100. It had to be shipped here from Texas and the guy who worked at the local guitar center didn't even know what it was when we opened the box. I was very selective in making my choice and I'd recommend staying with stuff listed as "excellent" condition. Looking at the pictures made me shy away from a lot of the stuff listed as "good", etc. As always, it's buyer beware.
10 years ago, I bought a lawsuit era Ibanez 335 (such a great guitar) for $200 ... hanging on the wall at GC... do they actually know their gear? I walked out, smiling, and shaking my head in amazement.
Ive been seeing a lot of used postings that are almost as much or equal to used items lately I also recall seeing a Danelectro reverse delay pedal selling more used than new! So if you buy used be sure to check out new before you check out!
I live in a small town in north Florida. Go into the shop here and it's don't touch anything and those in that room don't look at them for more than 30 seconds a time. Don't even think about going into the back room where all the super good guitars are displayed. Then they complain about going broke? Had to just rely on Sweetwater and Amazon. Got 1 good playing guitar from Amazon. Sent 2 others back that were POS's. Got several from sweet water. I see other shops and think how would it be going into a place where they don't mind you being there. Have to at least make it up your way.
It's crazy how on GC, they don't have to state the exact condition/issue with the product and all they need is a single photo, doesn't matter the quality. I've bought so many things that were labeled "good condition" that came in scratched up with small dings with a non working pickup or switch
Howdy Boys. I was watching your video and was agreeing with all of it. Such lousy postings on the used guitars. HOWEVER, just the other day ( 2 days ago) I had been running down the usual online suspects listings eying jazz masters but also had eyes for an older Tele. I happened upon a (you guessed it) terrible listing for a White Telecaster at GC that just grabbed me. The next day the listing went away. The picture was still there but the info/ price page poof & gone. I went down there anyway and it was on the wall so I brought it home.Tis a 1998 American Standard telecaster made in 1999, that's right about when Fender opened the Corona, Ca. Factory, mine has the Corona California Neck plate ( that's good for increased mojo-tone I believe!) I was just playing it before I replayed this video...................... Just so that it is clear. The nature of human consciousness is madness. The End. ,:-)~
I got a Fender FSR '65 Princeton Reverb last month from GC that was marked at $199 and listed as the solid state Princeton 65. I was hoping they didn't just upload the wrong pics on the website, but knew it was worth the risk since I could return it when it arrived. When the box arrived, I was very, very happy with GC's incompetence. It felt like payback after ordering multiple guitars over the years that showed up in horrible, broken, unplayable shape (even after calling to get info) that wasted hours of my time taking back to return.
Staying with the western theme: less knowledgeable associates buying used gear is the Good/Bad/Ugly. Good when they don't know what they have (in your favor), Bad when they don't know what they have (not in your favor), and everything is ugly when you use a lofi picture (or no picture). You can't have the crazy steals and deals of the Wild West without all of the other crap.
Tom, do you mean how, or why? Kidding. Admittedly buying online is a crapshoot but as you say, used GC lowers the risk somewhat. I've bought four used Epis in good or great condition and saved a lot of money, no probs on three, a little minor setup and TLC needed on the other but a couple hours invested and it's great now. I don't just click to buy, I find out where it is, call them and talk to someone who knows about the guitar. If you then get it sent to your local store you can open it there in front of an employee and reject it on the spot if it's not playable or what was advertised. It's worked well for me. Maybe my luck won't be so good next time but I'll take a chance based on my experience so far. "YMMV"
@@markpell8979 yeah meaning no description, one or maybe two bad photos probably drive 75% of buyers away because of the "extra" work needed to get more information. Ive done OK and I met a guy who buys and sells used guitars and most of his inventory came from GC. Happy Hollidays!
The guys at GC Moosic, PA are awesome (my local GC). Every description that I have ever read about any used guitar is “ this comes with a case” or there’s no description. It’s GC corporate not the employees as far as I know.
I shop and purchase used GC quite frequently, it amazes me how they will have 4 great pics of a $75-120 guitar but 1 grainy pic of a 800 and up guitar. LOL
The local GC store keeps the lights so low it looks closed. So dark it’s like a Netflix movie. No sign of life outside or inside. Zombie employees and all the good guitars are 30 feet in the air. Last visit the drum guy gave my son one stick to try out a drum set. He said the other stick was already loaned out! OMG we left and went to our hometown music store and spent there. Ohhh I was mad.
I used to enjoy going to guitar center back in the day when they first started but they have gone to total shit these days! I just recently found a couple guitars on line that they where selling so I took the change and bought them and they came from 3 different guitar center's and let me just say that there packing skills are very lacking and I mean that they sucked so bad I could not even believe they shipped out my guitars like that. As they all barely had and wrapping or padding on them and one of them was put in such a small box that the head stock was actually poking through the box it was shipped in!! You could tell that these people just don"t give a shit about your gear when they ship it! all the guitars where just slopping around in the box and the boxes were smashed to shit when they arrive on top of everything else. Between the poor packing and the damage to the boxes I was very surprised that any of the guitars survived at all!! I made a video about it on my channel if you want to check it out it is called WTF part 2 guitar center sucks!!
I actually was going to buy a pedal from GC online once and then found out it was at my local store. This pedal was priced $100 over the new price. So I went to my local store to find out why and try to inform them. I got there and they brought out the manager and he proceeded to go onto Reverb to price check. Yes, the website that has spawn a show about their "ridiculous" listings. After he goes on Reverb he just looks up and say :Yup, thats what they go for". I walked out and bought it new from somewhere else.
I got a dumb good deal on a seagull artist because two of the tuners were broken. Because of that they had to list the guitar as the worst condition because it wasn’t functioning. I have also been able to buy some good Epiphone Casino’s on there over the years.
I've found a few great deals on used gear there. It seems there is no standard on pricing. I regularly look at their used section online and sometimes find a guitar priced $100-$150 less than the others in the same listed condition.
Local guitar center in Birmingham Alabama has a used pedal there they have listed for $25 more than what it is new from the manufacture, it’s not a “out of stock “ it’s in stock with the pedal builder, pointed this out to guitar center employee a couple of months ago because I would actually like to have one, he just kinda laughed and blew me off, it’s still for sale there, still 25 dollars more than what you can buy them for new..go figure
I hunted down in GC used a 70's Epiphone hollowbody that was the same model and color of guitar my Dad had in his gigging days for fathers day. The shipment arrived and I got a Fender mustang amp.
I would love to get into the nft market but it's expensive with the gas price alone, something could cost $18 but the gas could be over $400
1 week I've spent 1 eth on gas
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@@mattmanson1077 How do i get in touch with him?
Directly on wats'apk
As a former employee, this video made me feel so validated, respect for being so understanding about the associates that are at the mercy of corporate. Clarifying the used commission, you are guaranteed 50% commission on anything you bought in, bumped to 100% if it's bought online with no help from another employee. That said, buy-ins take waaaaay longer than sales, take a while to actually sell, taking pictures sucks, and are a pain in the ass in general. What also sucks is that if there's a bunch of gear you've bought in and you leave the job, you're SOL but corporate still wants you to keep your dud percentage on there so they have to pay less in commission. I told my old coworkers that if they saw my number after I left, take it off, take full commission and say nothing. Descriptions and finally posting the listing is usually a lead or manager job, yet it still is such a process. Also, commission percentage is based on sales in $ per hour too (max of 3%, had to maintain roughly $350 per hour on average to keep that), so any time spent doing something that wasn't selling was time you were losing money on your paycheck. We all tried to still spend plenty of time on each customer despite that, but time sinks like buy-ins were just unnecessary.
Thanks for that. It is informative
not to mention that used gear was always much more susceptible to returns just due to the individual nature of the gear, compared to new sales where if there was something wrong with a new guitar/amp the customer would typically just exchange it and you'd keep the commission
When I worked there eons ago (13? yrs) whenever a use piece is sold that was brought in by a termed employee, the system changes the employee # of who is to get the used credit to XXX999 where the XXX is the store #. Most of my salespeople were smart enough to know that was a dummy # and changed it to their own employee # tho one needs to keep in mind that any change to the employee # field flags the transaction to print out on the daily detail report for the OM and GM to scrutinize, and technically if they wanted to use it as a lame excuse to eventually terminate somebody...
Damn I gotta make $550 SPH to get my 3%
I hope you weren’t one of those workers that would get mad as fuck at customers that would return stuff.. that’s why i have done sweet water for that last 10 years now..
GC might do some whacky stuff, but their return policy is an A++. So I’m not afraid to buy a used guitar, or a new guitar that I can’t find locally to try before buying. 🎸
Same here. I’ve found some very good deals on used guitars and amps on-line. The return policy gives me great peace of mind. Also, I recently bought a used Robert Cray Strat listed as Very Good condition (we all can agree that the pictures on line SUCK!). The condition was just okay but the guitar kicked ass! I took it to my local GC and told them that I didn’t think the condition was as as advertised, they gave me $80 off. Guitar Center, not what they once were but not all bad, either
If you return everything, they'll eventually blacklist you. So, make sure to keep some stuff.
@@GetOffMyLawnRecords Very true! I do keep most stuff.
I got a great deal because of a flaw(?) with GC’s used system. I bought a Fender SuperSonic 22 (which I love) from the Virginia Beach GC used department. I didn’t have enough money for it but I had to have it, so I put it on layaway. When I went to pay it off after a few weeks, the final price surprised me AND the sales crew. Apparently, the used gear automatically gets reduced in price by the computer the longer it sits in the store because they have to keep it moving. Well, that still happened to my amp even though it was held for me on layaway. I don’t know if GC intended that to happen or if they never thought about it or if it was put in the layaway system wrong or something. But the amp sold new for $1050 at that time, and mine was almost brand new and I ended up paying like $575 for it even though it was like $850 when I put it on layaway. Score!
Thanks for the shoutout photo to my GC! Our store takes great care in our used inventory, and we take at least six photos of every used guitar we buy in. Thanks for visiting, Baxter, and thanks for being a rad dude. Hope to see you again the next time you're in town!
Bought my first electric through GC on-line … a used Squier Classic Vibe 60s Stratocaster (as is). I cleaned it and did a full setup. Nice guitar (with some blemishes). It’s my favorite guitar now!
I was a gc guitar dept manager in the early 2000’s. The way it worked, then was whoever bought in the Guitar got half of the commission pay out for it. The person who actually sells it gets the other half. It was actually a fairly high percentage of the cost of the piece that we got paid higher than on a new item, but it never really added up to much because Nobody came in there and sold really expensive stuff to us because they would get screwed too bad on it. The standard payout was the customer got 1/3 of the new value of the item. If it was perfect then we sold it for 50% of new if I remember correctly the commission payout on use pieces Was something like 3% of total price. I could never get any of my employees to take the time to look stuff over correctly so I ended up having to do it all myself so that we didn’t get stuck with busted crappy items that sit on the books for years, it was a lot of work for no money basically. I would say overall the store lost money on buying in used instruments. The only reason we even mess with it was to sweeten the pot for Sails. If somebody couldn’t quite afford something we would take in their gear on the trade to make up the difference but you better believe we never gave them enough for it that we couldn’t just throw it in the trash, and still be making a profit on the new item.
I was laughing so hard at your google review story. Where I work we had a review that said "I drove all the way to you and you were closed on sunday. I knew you were closed, but I think you should be open" They also sent a text to our online system saying "I know are closed but could someone come in and help me, I am here" on sunday. People are wild lol.
A few months ago, I ordered what was listed as an Axe Fx 3 in good condition. Turns out it was actually an Axe Fx 3 Mark II turbo version that they should have sold for at least a few hundred more. 🤷♂️
Don’t you love how Baxter will say alright you can click away, like we watch for the actual subject matter anyway. We watch to hear Jonathan and Baxter carry on with each other. lol
I used to love cruising GC and trying out gear.
They have gotten so much money from me just because I played it and fell in love. I've only ever bought 1 guitar online and luckily, it worked out well.
You hit 50K, congrats and Happy Holidays! Jonathan and Baxter!
When I worked at GC in 2001/02 we used to actively discourage trades and buying used gear. I would tell people to sell it on their own and make twice what we would give them. Taking a piece of used gear in was a loss for the sales guy and the customer.
Not to mention being a pain in the ass for both parties. Back in those days pay was 100% on commission if I remember what my old manager said correctly.
Just a few months ago, I got a perfect condition Gibson 335 at GC for $1800. Couldn't believe the cost, figured it must have had a headstock break, but no, it's in perfect condition, complete with case and case candy. Bought it to flip it, but it became my #1 overnight.
My GC story: they had a dead mint, time capsule quality 1969 Fender Bandmaster Reverb that I was interested in. Noticed the reverb tank was missing when I looked in the back. I asked " what happened to the reverb tank?" Reply: "don't know....when we turned it on, the reverb didn't work" lol.
Classic GC experience
Online shopping for used gear is a matter of taking your chances. A sloppy seller makes even more variables. Twice I bought guitars from GC that included a hard case and they shipped the guitars without the case. Both times I called them and they happily reshipped the cases. Then I ordered an amp and they shipped it without the foot switch or the AC line cord. They also happily reshipped those parts. Then they shipped a pedal that did not work at all and the switch was broken completely off of it. They paid to have it shipped back and gave a refund. I don't know how they make any money when they have to pay double shipping every time.
I get a kick out of you guys working together and talking together about the things you see that the rest of us all never see because we don't work behind the scenes at a guitar shop!
3 stars, I couldn't work the door handle. 😅🤣🤣🤣
Merry Christmas, Dudes! 🎄
I love GC picked up a jvm410h excellent condition for $1499 this year! Also the used prices on same item can vary from store to store there’s deals to be had for sure
that’s been my experience, the midwest guitar centers seem to be the best
I snagged up a mis-labeled Fender Player Plus Telecaster that was being sold as a MIM standard. I paid $599 instead of the usual $850-900 the same model was listed for used at other stores. Plus it came with a fender tweed case instead of the gig bag the new ones come with. This was a couple months ago at a GC in Western NC. I'm always keeping my eyes open after that.
same, but mine was a 52 Reissue with the COA and case candy
Lol
Back when I lived in Albuquerque, I got the opportunity to install the flooring for the Breaking Bad set. I did all of Walt's house. My work can be seen in all of season 1 and 2 episodes of season 2. Keep up the great videos
Just purchased a black Yamaha 12 string acoustic from the GC in Phoenix. Awesome price and got it shipped to Tucson in one day. Saved over 200 bucks and only "problem " was scratches I buffed out...
Hey guys, I'm the one who created GC: Shitposting!
Just wanted to say thank you very much for the shoutouts! I started the group as a complete and utter joke about GC, and it has spawned into this place of humor, a place to reminisce, a place to bid farewell to the company, and among other things, it has become a place to get some kind of therapeutic relief where no place has existed before specifically for Guitar Center. I never expected people to get so much enjoyment out of it, and it's people like you that have helped get my group over the 10k member mark. It would be a much higher number if we didn't implement admin assist to weed out the undesirables, but it's a necessary evil to lessen the burden of member requests and infractions on the admin team. I was happy with 250, so 10k is just amazing to see.
Thank you again for shoutouts, and congratulations on reaching the 50k+ sub level!
I find lots of obscure used items on GC. No major issues as I always call the store that has the item and ask further questions. Yep, you can grab some good items.
Don't sleep on GC used section. As a former employee, I can tell you GC hires some dummies that do not know gear and do not price things correctly sometimes. One day when I worked there, I had to put some used pedals out on the floor. Turns out my dumb assistant manager had a JHS modded russian big muff prices at $69.99 (when they go for $250-300ish on used market) since she didn't realize it was a JHS mod. Thank you! One of my favorite things was looking through used gear to find the opposite, overpriced gear cause a dummy bought it in wrong.
The camera sucks! We always had a $14 digital camera we used for pics. Our phone pics turned out way better.
And who ever buys in the used gear gets half the commission when they sell.
Also, GC typically only pays 40-60% of what it's going to sell for. Most independent shops pay closer to 60%, support your local shops. Screw GC, the corporations doesn't care about you. You can sometimes find some great deal though.
I never had a problem with GC until about a year ago. I ordered a new bass amp head through Musician's Friend (who has now merged with GC, if I'm not mistaken). Paid full price for it and when I got it, it was clearly a used model. The label on the box said it had been shipped from my local GC, not MF. It was also shipped, not in the original manufaturer's box but, in a plain brown cardboard box.
The amp was wrapped in bubble wrap, the power cord in brown paper and a few accessories came in a plastic bag. When I took it out, I noticed the amp head was full of fingerprints, the knobs were all set to different positions, some of the labels on the amp looked as if someone had tried to remove them and worst of all, there was an obvious scuff mark on the upper left hand corner of the amp face.
I know I made the deal with Musician's Friend but, there is no way the people at GC were oblivious in what they were doing. After all, they made the invoice stating it was a "new" item (which it obviously wasn't), along with the "new" price tag. I called GC and got some kid on the phone who assured me that I could take it back to GC for a refund after spending over a half hour explaining the situation to him cause he seemed to not understand wha the problem was.
After all that time on the phone with him, he finally said I couldn't take it back to GC and would instead have to call MF for assistance. Called MF, got yet another kid, this one barely knew how to speak English and yet, despite his poor grasp of the language, had no problem insiting that the item I was sent was "new", despite me telling him about the damage to it, how it was covered in fingerprints and of course, that it didn't come in the original packaging.
In the end, after almost an hour on the phone, with him going back and forth between me and his "supervisor", they decided to hesitantly give me a full refund. Gee.. how generous.. Never again will I do business with MF. As far as GC goes, I might go in there to buy something small like strings, picks or stuff like that but, I will never make a big purchase with them ever.
I'd heard the horror stories from other customers regarding the same issues I had - paying full price for new gear, only to be sent obviously used gear - and having to jump through hoop after hoop to get these people to get a refund but, I never thought it would actually happen to me. Lesson learned. Like I said, never again...
I buy used on GC regularly, have it shipped to my local store and open it there. Convenient and a 45-day warranty. Just bought a J Rockett Dude this week.
I've gotten several great deals at GC used. One in particular was a Danelectro Baritone that had several pricey upgrades done by the previous owner. GC sold it at a huge discount because they considered it "Fair" condition because of the upgrades.
I love GC. Bought from them for 35 years. I’ve made killer deals in there and never been disappointed. I do my research…and go buy what I want.
I also bought my dod 250 grey box from 1978 at guitar center. It was mismarked in the system for 60 bucks, when it was probably supposed to be 600. I instantly swooped it up.
Baxter! That picture was at my local GC here in the Detroit-area. Love those guys at that store!
I have to give some credit to the staff at the Orange, CT guitar center. I purchased a used ukulele online/phone call. Posting had a lot of good quality pictures. Staff was friendly and shipping was quick. Arrived exactly as described and was a fair price. Very happy with my one experience.
Orange is my main store, the best one in CT. Most of the staff really know what they are doing there. Bill is great, I buy all my guitars from him.
I bought my korg ms20 on guitar center used. It was packed really well and everything worked! I also got a great deal
A few weeks ago GC listed a 2006 Schecter C1 Classic, one good body photo, said Great Condition on the listing. Description said Sticky residue on pickups. 599.00. I bought it, and when I opened the case I found a brand-spanking new sixteen-year-old guitar. Had to be original strings. The pickup plastic tape covers had dissolved into sticky bubble goop on the pickups. Someone tried to scrape it off, lightly scratching one pickup, and only the neck pickup was working. Other than that, it was a closet queen, not a scratch on it.
A ground wire had come off the switch, only took a few seconds to solder. I cleaned the goop off the pickups with mineral spirits. Now I have a gorgeous brand-new used guitar.
My beef with GC these days is they now charge not only for shipping, but tack on an extra handling charge that can really start adding up. The free shipping days were amazing. That said, I still find stuff on Reverb I want, then look on GC and can often find it for less.
Baxter I'm glad you caught yourself on the second "boughten" so I don't have to comment on it. Sounded like you were from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
I ordered a very rare 1997 Epiphone El Caballero from GC used and it was a great experience; I'd never seen one for sale anywhere before and I'd been looking for one when I saw them in the catalog. They made so few of them I had to take a chance on it. If you search "Epiphone El Caballero" The GC used photo from the one I bought is still up and my old reverb listing when I subsequently sold it is up. Kinda miss that one.
I just bought a Ric 4003 online, listed for $1600. They had it tagged as a 4003S. It gets delivered tomorrow so we'll see if I did alright.
Merry Christmas, Casino!
Hope everyone there has a safe and happy holiday… Thanks for another year of entertaining videos, and I look forward to more in the future. All the best!
I LOVE Gutiar Center used…found some sweet deals and it’s fun checking the pages regularly to see what pops up. Unfortunately with poor descriptions and photos I’ve gotten stuff that arrived with undisclosed breaks, or was not as described but in those cases it’s easy to return it to my local store. Got my USA made vintage 1986 Kramer Baretta (player grade with mods) for $750 and my 1990 Les Paul Studio with ebony board for $1100. Great and selection and deals if you know what to look for.
This was a phenomenal video! I can’t wait to meet y’all
WOOOO. 50,000 subscribers!!! Someone's gettin a Silver Sky for Christmas!!!!
My Dad bought a Martin acoustic over the phone sometime in the 90s. It was from a pretty famous musician who ended up opening a guitar shop later in life. When he got it in the mail, it had 3 bridge pins replaced with screws and drywall anchors. He actually kept it like that for years.
Ya guitar center used online has terrible photos with nearly zero descriptions. Although with my last purchase I called the selling location and had the sales guy grab the actual guitar, and asked him give me a detailed description of the condition. He reported that it had zero imperfections & only light scuff on pickguard. The guitar arrived in mint condition exactly as described.
Bough an gibson sg faded for 500 dollars a few years back. Just a set up.good deal. 🎸👍
I've bought several used guitars from GC. I call the store, ask questions and purchase over the phone. This way the rep gets their commission. And shipping is free!
I am not necessarily a fan of GC, but Had a decent experience selling to GC. Every Indie joint offered me very little for a Gibson Les Paul Studio I bought in the eighties. A heavily used studio Les Paul with edging , custom paint shop stamped, and first edition pafs that had a patent number that was wrong deliberately in an attempt to avoid corporate espionage. GC offered me twice what others offered. Walked out with a new American Pro 2 Tele.
I screenshotted a photo from my local GCs used site where the poster uploaded the wrong photo from his phone. Luckily he uploaded a photo of his dogs looking out his front door, but it was the main photo for the piece of gear. It stayed up for weeks and NO ONE changed it.
Pretty sure GC employees haven't been commission based for like 5 years now. Unless they've changed it back.
I've bought several items from the GC/Musicians Friend used side and am generally pleased with all of my purchases. The only disappointment was a Fender deluxe reverb silver face reissue I bought had its groove tubes replaced with ones of less quality. And one of them was smashed. I just replaced the tubes with a good set and now I am in bliss with it. You take a chance sometimes. But with online ordering you always take a chance. Amazon is a chance sometimes. I have a guy that calls me from time to time from GC. I guess my own personal sales person. Thanks! He does help out. I guess it helps to have high balance credit cards to get peoples attention.
Love the channel! Im broke as a joke but i will come visit your store one day!
Baxter and Jonathan, at the end of your video you were talking about Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones being such awesome shows, the best ever, etc. Might I suggest adding Mad Men to that list and if you get Netflix, The Crown. I've been shopping exclusively at GC for 10 years, the same store. They reward loyalty. I instilled that business model in them. When I first started shopping there I taught them, "You don't want satisfied customers. You want LOYAL CUSTOMERS. I you make that by taking good care of your customers, cut them breaks in their favor on boarder line decisions for deals. You want them happy and telling their friends to shop there."
Heaven forbid I stick up for GC, In the ad if you click on the item it puts it in a new window, highlight it, then use the scroll wheel to make it larger. I found that quite by accident!, but you can actually see it that way. I have a friend that hawks it for good deals. It's about 50:50 that he gets what they say it is. But, there is a GC close to him and he just returns it there for a full refund. That's a plus. Your so right about the description, and pricing. I've seen them wanting more for a used item than a new one cost also. It's a crap shoot usually. LOL --gary
I've never bought online from GC but did get the guitar of my dreams there. In 96 I found a like new Amer deluxe plus Strat at like half price of new. Still owned that guitar to this day. Bought 3 guitars online since. What amazes me is that I can just learn to love a guitar I Neverending played til it was delivered. Especially cool was my Les Paul. A 97 ebony w gold trim Studio with ebony fretboard. Don't like too many Gibson necks and love this 1. The other 2 are E/A guitars, 1 is a 12 string for $129 and the other is a 6 string I got for $83. Use them pretty much every day including worship service.
I feel like I may have the best GC used gear experience of all time…like Jonathan - I worked there for a time. More than a decade later - I was browsing the used items on offer at GC. I came across a Two-Rock Classic Reverb at an insanely low price point. Everything I saw on Reverb at the time was $5k plus for a used classic reverbs. This was on sale for less than half that. I bought it, sight unseen, and had it shipped to my local store. The listing was a 2014 50watt classic reverb. (Sooo PBG…ok…still a Two-rock, right?). It got to my shop and I asked my buddy who still works there to send pics of the serial number and the tubes. Serial number was 11. And it had 4 power tubes. And the branding gloriously claimed “K&M Analog Devices”. I was In The store to pick it up and back home within 20 minutes playing my OG 2007, 100watt classic reverb - that I paid less than I paid for my Orange Rockerverb 50 MKIII…What a SCORE!!!
Got great deals on new or used gear at GC when i was buying tons in the 90s. Nothing beats testing gear out in person. Same with buying music at Towers.
I bought one guitar online from GC. An Epiphone LP 50's. When I picked it up at the store, I opened the box and the bottom was smashed during shipping due to insufficient packing. I returned it right then and haven't tried it again. I only buy guitars I can see and play in person now.
I’ve scored a bunch from GC used. Pretty much my whole live rig is from there
Boss CE2 mij $139, 2017 AVRI 52 Tele $1099, 2006 SG standard $879, Phase 90 script $40.
Before I bought the Ultra Luxe from you guys... Now named.... "The Lady". I looked at Guitar Centers used market. Short version of story.. I was very uncomfortable pulling the trigger for a Guitar Center used.
I've bought 6 used guitars from GC in store over the last 5 years. Dissatisfied with 2. Both times, GC took care of it super quickly. One of those replacements was a Gibson LP studio. It's the BEST looking and best playing guitar I have. And it was listed for $300 more than the problem guitar. And they had it shipped in at no cost. I've got a really good GC here, maybe I'm lucky.
I bought an old K&M Two Rock for $1200 at GC used. No pictures, just took a shot on it and was shocked when it got delivered.
I've had pretty god luck with buying used Basses on line at GC. About 12 years ago with a Fender Precision American Standard and just a few week ago with a Fender Pro II Precision. Both were spotless and fully functional. Both A+. BUT whenever I do buy something used on line at GC, I ALWAYS ship it to the local GC store just incase it sucks. I don't have to wrap it back up and deal with sending it back. I have bought a few amps used and 2 showed up at the store broken. One time the Ampeg Classic SVT head was smashed into toothpicks :(
I used to go all the time in the early 2000s for DJ gear. It was great to have somewhere to get needles from in a pinch. Now that I'm into guitar I don't even want to go
you get one photo (taken by some group other than GC) and a video that fender/gibson/etc sends out to advertise the features of the model.
It's amazing GC makes any money at all with nothing but bad practices.
I’ve gotten two of my favorite pieces of gear used at GC. A HiWatt Custom 20 Combo with Fane speakers and a PRR Custom 22 with Dragon pickups, for far less than I probably should have. It was like they didn’t know what they had. Actually, they thought the PRS was a Custom 24. The pic of the guitar was so bad I told my wife I just wanted to see what one felt like, I wasn’t buying. Turned out the guitar was in flawless condition. I’ve always been treated well at GC, and have nothing but great things to say about them.
There is a big GC by me that I spent many thousands at 20 years ago. Now it’s depressing to go there. We have a privately owned shop like yours about 20 minutes away where all the local musicians go. I am still using my egnater that I bought in 2010 as my gigging amp that I got at GC.
In my town Visalia,Ca. They have an S2 priced for $2499.
I got my Country Gentlemen used from a GC online. I called the store to get a few details and they said it had been on the shelves for 6 months. When i got it in the mail it had old flat wounds on it (with the bigsby) and was very poorly set up. I they had just changed the string they would have sold it so much faster.
I just got an American Acoustasonic used online from GC. It was listed as in Excellent condition, and arrived with a cracked soundboard, top to bottom. That’s ok, because the crack was colored with Sharpie so it wasn’t so noticeable. Yeah, it was returned.
I got my Andy Wood Signature Suhr online used from GC for $2500 bucks... it was like $1200 lower than retail. The only thing wrong with it was that it smelled like smoke which wasn't noted on the site. I have had it for 2 years now and it no longer smells like smoke. pretty sure i got a good deal.
GC used is both good and bad. You can find some great used deals and sometimes even good trades with your used gear for something used. Most recent thing I got from there used was a mesa boogie lonestar head. Awesome deal on it but when it arrived it was missing a power tube. After closer inspection not only was a power tube missing but the rectifier tube was in one of the power tube sockets. No clue what was going on with it. After setting up the tubes properly it sounds fantastic.
Another good source for used is search tempest which searches all the various Craigslist ads instead of just the local ones.
What is the guitar hanging between the two of you that is a butterscotch, slightly offset T style electric with tortoise shell pick guard and three knobs in a line? Thanks!!
You guys look nice and 'toasty' today ;) stay warm in this cold weather!
I bought 2 things on GC website that took over a week to get shipped. And this was not over the holidays.
One saw a used Core PRS selling on GC for like $2500. Seemed like a good price, until you read the description and they say the neck had been sanded down to the point that the truss rod was starting to show!
My local GC still has a guitar on sale with the wrong picture. It’s been up for like a year.
In terms of lack of photos I’m wondering how many are missing on the casino guitars web site :)
I bought a used ME80 from Guitar Center and it worked great and I basically saved $100. It had to be shipped here from Texas and the guy who worked at the local guitar center didn't even know what it was when we opened the box. I was very selective in making my choice and I'd recommend staying with stuff listed as "excellent" condition. Looking at the pictures made me shy away from a lot of the stuff listed as "good", etc. As always, it's buyer beware.
10 years ago, I bought a lawsuit era Ibanez 335 (such a great guitar) for $200 ... hanging on the wall at GC... do they actually know their gear? I walked out, smiling, and shaking my head in amazement.
Ive been seeing a lot of used postings that are almost as much or equal to used items lately
I also recall seeing a Danelectro reverse delay pedal selling more used than new!
So if you buy used be sure to check out new before you check out!
currently building an ac15 type circuit cuz i got the vox bug recently too. Loving the channel and yall two together specially. Good stuff👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
I live in a small town in north Florida. Go into the shop here and it's don't touch anything and those in that room don't look at them for more than 30 seconds a time. Don't even think about going into the back room where all the super good guitars are displayed. Then they complain about going broke? Had to just rely on Sweetwater and Amazon. Got 1 good playing guitar from Amazon. Sent 2 others back that were POS's. Got several from sweet water. I see other shops and think how would it be going into a place where they don't mind you being there. Have to at least make it up your way.
It's crazy how on GC, they don't have to state the exact condition/issue with the product and all they need is a single photo, doesn't matter the quality. I've bought so many things that were labeled "good condition" that came in scratched up with small dings with a non working pickup or switch
6:47 bought a fender special edition deluxe ash telecaster... got a baja.
i mean, it worked out for me. 😆
Howdy Boys. I was watching your video and was agreeing with all of it. Such lousy postings on the used guitars. HOWEVER, just the other day ( 2 days ago) I had been running down the usual online suspects listings eying jazz masters but also had eyes for an older Tele. I happened upon a (you guessed it) terrible listing for a White Telecaster at GC that just grabbed me. The next day the listing went away. The picture was still there but the info/ price page poof & gone. I went down there anyway and it was on the wall so I brought it home.Tis a 1998 American Standard telecaster made in 1999, that's right about when Fender opened the Corona, Ca. Factory, mine has the Corona California Neck plate ( that's good for increased mojo-tone I believe!) I was just playing it before I replayed this video...................... Just so that it is clear. The nature of human consciousness is madness. The End. ,:-)~
I got a Fender FSR '65 Princeton Reverb last month from GC that was marked at $199 and listed as the solid state Princeton 65. I was hoping they didn't just upload the wrong pics on the website, but knew it was worth the risk since I could return it when it arrived. When the box arrived, I was very, very happy with GC's incompetence. It felt like payback after ordering multiple guitars over the years that showed up in horrible, broken, unplayable shape (even after calling to get info) that wasted hours of my time taking back to return.
Staying with the western theme: less knowledgeable associates buying used gear is the Good/Bad/Ugly. Good when they don't know what they have (in your favor), Bad when they don't know what they have (not in your favor), and everything is ugly when you use a lofi picture (or no picture). You can't have the crazy steals and deals of the Wild West without all of the other crap.
Congrats on hitting 50k , there are some great deals on occasion at used GC but I don't know how anyone could buy something online
Tom, do you mean how, or why? Kidding. Admittedly buying online is a crapshoot but as you say, used GC lowers the risk somewhat. I've bought four used Epis in good or great condition and saved a lot of money, no probs on three, a little minor setup and TLC needed on the other but a couple hours invested and it's great now. I don't just click to buy, I find out where it is, call them and talk to someone who knows about the guitar. If you then get it sent to your local store you can open it there in front of an employee and reject it on the spot if it's not playable or what was advertised. It's worked well for me. Maybe my luck won't be so good next time but I'll take a chance based on my experience so far. "YMMV"
@@markpell8979 yeah meaning no description, one or maybe two bad photos probably drive 75% of buyers away because of the "extra" work needed to get more information. Ive done OK and I met a guy who buys and sells used guitars and most of his inventory came from GC. Happy Hollidays!
The guys at GC Moosic, PA are awesome (my local GC). Every description that I have ever read about any used guitar is “ this comes with a case” or there’s no description. It’s GC corporate not the employees as far as I know.
I agree I love that store ! Harrisburg is a different story now .
I shop and purchase used GC quite frequently, it amazes me how they will have 4 great pics of a $75-120 guitar but 1 grainy pic of a 800 and up guitar. LOL
The local GC store keeps the lights so low it looks closed. So dark it’s like a Netflix movie. No sign of life outside or inside. Zombie employees and all the good guitars are 30 feet in the air. Last visit the drum guy gave my son one stick to try out a drum set. He said the other stick was already loaned out! OMG we left and went to our hometown music store and spent there. Ohhh I was mad.
I used to enjoy going to guitar center back in the day when they first started but they have gone to total shit these days! I just recently found a couple guitars on line that they where selling so I took the change and bought them and they came from 3 different guitar center's and let me just say that there packing skills are very lacking and I mean that they sucked so bad I could not even believe they shipped out my guitars like that.
As they all barely had and wrapping or padding on them and one of them was put in such a small box that the head stock was actually poking through the box it was shipped in!! You could tell that these people just don"t give a shit about your gear when they ship it! all the guitars where just slopping around in the box and the boxes were smashed to shit when they arrive on top of everything else. Between the poor packing and the damage to the boxes I was very surprised that any of the guitars survived at all!!
I made a video about it on my channel if you want to check it out it is called WTF part 2 guitar center sucks!!
I actually was going to buy a pedal from GC online once and then found out it was at my local store. This pedal was priced $100 over the new price. So I went to my local store to find out why and try to inform them. I got there and they brought out the manager and he proceeded to go onto Reverb to price check. Yes, the website that has spawn a show about their "ridiculous" listings. After he goes on Reverb he just looks up and say :Yup, thats what they go for". I walked out and bought it new from somewhere else.
I got a dumb good deal on a seagull artist because two of the tuners were broken. Because of that they had to list the guitar as the worst condition because it wasn’t functioning. I have also been able to buy some good Epiphone Casino’s on there over the years.
Hell yeah Gundam. Man I really wanna visit y'all's store now
as a former employee from 2005-2017 this video is so real.
Funny, I think I had the same issue w/your front door. But as a crotchety old fart I just kept pushing until I got in.
I've found a few great deals on used gear there. It seems there is no standard on pricing. I regularly look at their used section online and sometimes find a guitar priced $100-$150 less than the others in the same listed condition.
Local guitar center in Birmingham Alabama has a used pedal there they have listed for $25 more than what it is new from the manufacture, it’s not a “out of stock “ it’s in stock with the pedal builder, pointed this out to guitar center employee a couple of months ago because I would actually like to have one, he just kinda laughed and blew me off, it’s still for sale there, still 25 dollars more than what you can buy them for new..go figure