guitar center locking up !

[RP]

Originally Posted by Daveyo

just came from Guitar center hollywood, they are in the middle of
remodeling, darn, most of the guitars are locked up now
used to be fun to try out guitars but its a bit of overkill i think
Dave

Why not go to the Hollywood Walk of Fame? That's supposed to be fun....

[RP]

Originally Posted by RXMoore

I think maybe what's needed here is a "We Hate Guitar Center" sub-forum so everybody could pour the venom all over them in a more orderly, efficient manner.

Seems to run counter to Rule #1 - Be Nice...

[TBman]

It isn't the Guitar Center that we are really complaining about. Its the decline of good manners and admitting responsibility for our actions. If people treated the guitars at Guitar Center like they would want someone else to treat theirs, then the guitars wouldn't need to be locked up.

Ok, now get off my lawn too!

[JAMKC]

Let’s keep this one civil gang. Thanks!

[RP]

Originally Posted by TBman

It isn't the Guitar Center that we are really complaining about. Its the decline of good manners and admitting responsibility for our actions. If people treated the guitars at Guitar Center like they would want someone else to treat theirs, then the guitars wouldn't need to be locked up.

Ah, the gospel according to Pogo....

[grandstick]

Our local GC has recently started locking up their higher-end Martins, Taylor’s, And Gibsons. These are kept in a separate room from the rest of the acoustics, with the Taylors in another room all by themselves.

There are ALWAYS scratched, cracked, or otherwise damaged high-end acoustics on “Scratch & Dent” sales there - maybe a dozen or so at a time.

Conversely, Sam Ash is right next door. They have all of their acoustics - from their Carlo Robelli line, all the way up to the $4000 Martin/Taylor/Gibsons, in one big room. None of them are locked, and I can not recall ever seeing any of them damaged in any way. [emoji848]

[FLRon]

I am in 100% agreement with locking down the good stuff, even though I don't like the inconveniences associated with getting someone to unlock a guitar.
Why should their bottom line be negatively impacted by careless customers, most of whom won't be buying? If people were respectful of the store's inventory,none of this would have been necessary in the first place.

[RP]

Originally Posted by grandstick

Our local GC has recently started locking up their higher-end Martins, Taylor’s, And Gibsons. These are kept in a separate room from the rest of the acoustics, with the Taylors in another room all by themselves.

There are ALWAYS scratched, cracked, or otherwise damaged high-end acoustics on “Scratch & Dent” sales there - maybe a dozen or so at a time.

Conversely, Sam Ash is right next door. They have all of their acoustics - from their Carlo Robelli line, all the way up to the $4000 Martin/Taylor/Gibsons, in one big room. None of them are locked, and I can not recall ever seeing any of them damaged in any way. [emoji848]

There are app. 45 Sam Ash stores and 269 Guitar Centers. I've got to wonder if this discrepancy might lend itself different merchandising strategies...

[foxo]

Originally Posted by Daveyo

Yeah,I do get what your saying
How about adults over 40 only allowed to
Play the more expensive stuff?
David

How about adults over 40 don’t get to play the expensive guitars as nobody wants to hear the intro to Stairway to Heaven?

[rstaight]

I get why GC is locking things up. It's not just GC, I was in a Sam Ashe while on vacation in August. They had the $1000 plus guitars behind the counter.

I was in a small shop early last summer. I was looking at mandolins and a gentleman, early 30s I guess asked them to take a guitar down built by a local luthier. Tag on it was $3300, and proceeded to beat the daylights out of it.

I had to walk out. Everyone wants to play an instrument that they may never be able to afford but think maybe someday. But at least have some respect until you own it.

[Lorilee]

I own only 3 guitars, none of them more expensive than $1000. I love my guitars, and I am picky about how I take care of them. None of them have a dent, scratch or any damage from me. I probably treat them more gently than I need to, but hey, they are really important to me. I do have a mild case of GAS, and I like to go into guitars stores when we travel to look at and occasionally touch/strum some lovely guitars. I plan for the future, when my playing has advanced to the point that I am deserving of one of these beautiful instruments. Anyway, we are currently snowbirding in Arizona, and I visited a Guitar Center about 40 or so mile from where we are staying. As always, I rushed past everything else to the acoustic room. There were only a few people in there, so I was happy. One of them was a 40ish man with a little girl, maybe 5 or 6 years old. The man was encouraging the little girl to "try" any of the guitars within her reach. She would grab a guitar off the wall, take it over to a stool and climb up there, smacking the guitar against the stool. She's sit there for a few seconds, making random sounds with the guitar. Then she'd climb down, thumping the guitar again, and take it back to the wall, bumping it into the wall and the guitars around it. This happened at least 3 or 4 times. I cringed every time a I heard another guitar thump. And her dad? He said and did nothing. Amazingly, there was an employee seemingly stationed in there. He also said nothing to the adult parent, but as I was talking to him he actually flinched at the sounds of impact. Finally they left, and I could look around a little more intently. I saw scratches, gouges, and other various types of damage on so many of those instruments. Sure, they were the ones on the lowest rows and the least expensive of the lot, but how does that matter? It's the result of disrespectful, entitled, and uncaring behavior. Disgusting. I HATE that GC is locking up their nicest guitars, but I can't fault them for it. Not after what I saw.

[PapaC]

My recent experience at my local GC:

If interested in one of the less expensive “demo” models, they’ll say “I’ll check inventory to see if we’ve got one in a box”. If they don’t, they’ll negotiate due to damage, or order one if that’s what you want.

There is a separate space where they keep the “good stuff” on locked hangers. The female college student assoc that helped me was a guitar player herself and was quite knowledgeable and friendly, but busy. She was more than happy to unlock anything I wished to try, then leave me to enjoy it.

I tried only what was in my price range though. That’s just me. Would I have loved to strum the $5k vintage Hummingbird? Ooooh yeeeah, but I didn’t. I walked out with my Taylor 224ce-K-DLX and it’s flawless. Would it have been if it had not been locked up?

GC fills a need, and I’m thankful for choices. I would love for small boutique businesses to thrive in this country, but they are usually few and far between. So as long as you have the right frame of mind, GC can be somewhat entertaining.

Example: (If you’re still with me), while I and one other gentleman were perusing the guitars in the acoustic room, a guy comes in, grabs a banjo and starts jangling away. We just looked at each other and laughed. He had no intention in the world of buying it. He flew in, played for 5 minutes, then flew out.

[seannx]

After all the posts from members complaining about receiving a new or "mint" guitar with very minor imperfections, dings, or things like scratched pick guards, is it such a surprise that GC is locking up their more expensive guitars? Most of the other local stores I go to have signs posted saying to get a salesperson's help before trying a guitar in their acoustic room. There's not that much profit in the music industry to begin with, and expecting a shop to allow free access to their inventory on display, and risk cosmetic damage, however slight, makes staying in business that much harder.
I'm fine with GC or any store restricting access. Asking for help doesn't take that much time, and is good for all in the long run. To me, asking permission to play a guitar is part of being a good, respectful customer. If someone gets a rude or inconsiderate response, that's a separate issue, but I've never had that happen in a GC.

[island texan]

I'm not much of a tire-kicker but I've certainly been guilty of coming home with to a roll of the spouse's eyes when I sheepishly tote in a new guitar case. So yes, I get the urge to pull down a guitar that catches my attention, even if I'm not specifically in the store to buy that day. My local mom/pop shop has all his guitars out in the open. He does prohibit test-drives on acoustics with a pick. Good for him. Plus everywhere you might sit to play is directly in his line of vision. Not so at GC.

Frankly my stomach churns on the occasions I've gone into a Guitar Center window shopping and had to watch improper respect for an instrument. Modesty aside, it is rare for me to see a customer in that humidified room in the back who knows much about what goes into a finer instrument. I have had to leave the room when there's some bozo in there whacking away like he's on stage. Now, here's the clever thing I've seen at my local GC: They've figured out that most of those who move from the room with the $200 guitars to the room with the upscale guitars invariably grab Martins. (Sometime Taylors - no Gibsons are out to grab) So what have they done? They've filled the room with the HPL low-end Martins and maybe some Academy line or 100's Taylors. I assure you, most of those customers don't even know the difference. All they know is the headstock. I don't know much about the business of retail, but I'm certain GC's business model builds in a dollar figure for discounting damaged goods. You can discount a lot of those X1-DE's before you reach the pain of discounting a D-18!

[tippy5]

I can't remember the last time a new Martin, Taylor or Gibson excited me at GC. I have went through my research, personal specs and procurement phase already. Most times I play a new GC guitar, usually with dirty old strings, out of setup, back of the neck smudge grunge.... I just put it back up on the hooks.

Spoiled and more knowledgeable now I rarely get into it.

I do like playing the cheaper guitars though. I also like playing the used/consignment guitars.