You get one wish from Guitar Center.........

[Dr Stankface]

Originally Posted by Marty Albertson

If I understand the case issue correctly.........we find that most customers want to choose which case they want with the bass or guitar they are buying. Since they all sell for different prices it seems more logical to price the instrument without the case and let the customer choose which one is best. If we priced with a case the price would obviously be higher and then when the customer wanted a different case you would have to back out the cost of the case and work a different costed case into the purchase. More time consuming......we think.

Let me know if there is something I am missing here.

Looks like you hit the nail on the head. It's a very logical way to think about it.

[syciprider]

Hello Mr. Albertson and thank you for the hands on environment that GC provides. It really helped turn me onto Music Man basses that I was able to try them @ GC.

My one wish is for more employee training or orientation so they can provide accurate answers to customers' questions. I cringe at the advise I overhear there at times.

This does not take away from the fact that my overall experience with your sales force is positive.

[Eggman]

Originally Posted by Marty Albertson

thanks T-Bone.....One of our main philosophies is hands on....letting the kids play is what inspires many to play on...I am also in my fifties and it is becoming increasingly difficult to relate to the young but last year BP and I went to a Warped Tour stop and I found the spirit of music alive in this great generation of our kids. The store staff should be monitoring the kids playing "Stairway to Heaven" so as to not blow out the senior set......interestingly enough we have found the 45 and older customer to be a growing segment of our sales. I never go to a concert any more without earplugs !!! Getting old ain't great but we also are not struggling to find a dollar to pay rent either. Next time you go into a store ask to try out some Balls in one of our private rooms...many stores have one just for this purpose.

While I understand this - and actually used a quiet room the other day to listen to the Markbass gear - the overall noise level and competing sounds in the store makes me very anxious and actually makes me want to spend less time in the store.

[Marty Albertson]

We want you to stay amd enjoy.....do you know the manager well enough to ask him to turn down the music a bit when you are there ?

[Marty Albertson]

By the way Ed O is going to correct me on my post about the cases.....I guess there are times it makes sense to price with case and we do...he will be clarifying this for you all....

[RitchieDarling]

The bass room at the Peoria Ave location in Phoenix is fairly well isolated. I had no problem hearing everything very nicely.

The front of it is open to the rest of the store, but there is good soundproofing.

There was one other guy in there. And we didn't disturb each other.

In fact, there was very little noise throughout the store.

I think the more open floorplan has a lot to do with it.

Ritchie

[scottbass71]

Some Guitar Centres in Australia
After visting the states a few times and dropping into a few guitar centres I was so jealous we don't have them.

2

. Staff.....I think it is unrealistic to think that all our sales staff will be as knowledgable about EBMM as many of you.

I tend to agree with Marty, there have been many a time a few of the stores I deal with have called me asking certain things about MM stuff, I guess because we are so passionate about MM stuff and we get the answers and new release details etc straight from the horses mouth ( Poppas Mouths) that we tend to be experts on MM stuff. I can only wonder how much new stuff is released every year that it would be a not possible to know how it all works, colour combinations, limited editions etc.

my 2 cents

[Big Poppa]

Marty

Thanks a million. I want this to run for awhile but it seems that there are a few constants that are coming to light.
The case issue is sometimes the price on the tag is including the case and the salesman sells them the case again.

[Ole Man Blues]

My biggest pet peeve with GC is that when you go there to try out guitars the action on most are really high to the point of non playability. I've noticed it on Fender Strats and some Basses.

Hire a good setup man or train someone to do it would benefit the store and increase sales. IMO.......

I frequent the AllenPark Mi and Canton Mi stores. Other than that I like GC and their people are helpful and will get whatever you ask for.

Ole Man (Bongo) Blues

[midopa]

Originally Posted by Marty Albertson

3. Air conditioning has been a source of much debate around here for years. It is even more hazardous in our acoustic and vintage rooms as these instruments are much more fragile. We have evaluated many solutions and to date have something that works just OK in our acoustic rooms but for the large guitar floors it is next to impossible especially with so many doors always opening. Humidity disappears very quickly when a door in left open. We are looking at a few new technologies that might help but this is a very difficult problem without a resonable solution...YET !!

Ah, I see. I haven't thought about the difficulties you've mentioned with big rooms. Very informative! I hope some new ideas or technology will come out to help solve this issue. Thanks again for spending time to address our concerns and ideas (you too BP!)!

[bubbao]

In past years GC was often slammed over the option we offered the customer of buying a guitar with or without the case. Many pro-players, because they already owned lots of cases and bags, liked this option and paid less. On the other hand it led people to think we didn't give them a case even though they were'nt charged for one. News groups were full of people saying we screwed them. Confusing yes, but in the 80's and 90's it was all about being able to advertise a lower price than the competition.

Enter the new millinium and today Guitar Center prices all guitars and basses WITH cases.

I hope this clears up the GC case issue.

BTW You still can refuse to buy the case if you choose to. But who in their right mind would buy that Stingray, Sterling or Bongo without a case?

Ed O

[fingbeagles]

This is a nice thread , what I would like is the same as others a few more choices, turn the music down, and have a few more iso rooms, I am not a great player and prefer to try equipment out in an isolated enviroment and locally not enough rooms for that, it is so hard to get a feel for an instrument when you have 40 other people jamming at high volumes playing every different style, also the case thing is easy, if it comes with a case from the guitar maker and is a floor display put the original case in the shipping box mark the case and store with a stocking tag, this way no damage, and if the customer wants a different case then thats a seperate transaction. P.S. How bout a few more Mesa products in stock
Thanks for listening, I have been a GC customer for the few years I have been playing and will always go there for strings, cables etc.

[oddjob]

I love my local GC and usually have a good experience (notice "usually") - I realize the whole bit with staffing (huge turn over) and inventory (why order for stock what might not sell)... consistent pricing is my wish. I realize that a profit has to be made (and I am all for that) but I was pricing out a MarkBass 10" cube and spoke with 3 different salesmen and got... 3 different prices. The whole discount by "who ya know" is tiresome. Consistency would be nice, regardless of who I am or who I deal with in store.

As a side wish, I wish the Cincy store could get cleaned up a bit. I love the layout of the Dallas store we all went to. The seperate high end bass and vintage rooms really made a difference in my "bass buying mood." Cincy has just a little cubby with all the gear crammed in.

The kiosk idea is kind of cool - rather than manufacturer sites - it could even/also contain access to national GC inventory so we know what we could get our hands on fast.

[Eggman]

Originally Posted by Marty Albertson

We want you to stay amd enjoy.....do you know the manager well enough to ask him to turn down the music a bit when you are there ?

Not really..............but I will ask next time I am in (ordering Markbass gear!)

[ktmrider]

I would ask for a five-string Sterling. Cherryburst, maple fret board, matching headstock, dual humbuckers and a white pearloid pick guard.

Hopefully the Genie looks likes Barbara Eden... I would need a genie to get that...

I have had mostly good experiences with the the two GC's I use. Rancho Cucamonga, and San Bernardino. I have purchased alot of stuff over the last couple of years and one thing that helps is loyalty to a particular sales person. If that person knows you will come back to them they will jump through hoops to get you what you want.

As far as the noise in the stores. I really do think GC should adopt some sort of policy regarding the noise issues in the stores. I know that they want to create an "atmosphere" but the loud music combined with hacks wailing on guitars makes it dufficult to have a conversation. I would also like to see them (managers)walk over and tell someone to turn down when they are wailing away on a half-stack. Most of the time it's some goof who can't afford to buy a set of strings and they are wailing away making it so you can't think straight.

The lack of noise is one of the reasons I use the Rancho Cucamonga store. The staff there is cool too. Shayler is the man.

One other issue is that a lot of the bass gear is not hooked up. The Ampeg & G&K displays are usually completely screwed up and yo can rarely try more than two of the heads and cabinets in them. I have found that around 50% of the rigs I plug in to aren't hooked up. None of the Peavey rigs that were in the SB store were hooked up.

Not to sound like a big complainer. I use GC for a lot of different stuff. Mainly Pro Audio for my church and myself and a lot of Bass gear. I have always been treated well. I will continue to go their for my music gear.