Ahhh...yes...Journeys to Guitar Center.
DaytimeDilemma
Posts: 2,008
You know the drill. The day finally comes and you break a string, and BAM you are outta new sets. Then it hits you "Fuck. Guess I gotta go to Guitar Center." You get in your car and drive on over there. At first you think...cool guitar center...then on your way there you start thinking about it...ugh...Guitar Center. Where everyone and their brother thinks they are a rock star. People of all sorts 12 year olds to 60 year olds looking at guitars hooking them up to amps and playing them as loud as the store manager lets them. So you finally get there and there is it a marshall JCM 800 half stack. No one is playing it at the current time. But then the thought comes back..."dude all you need is strings"...but the temptation is greater. So you decide...what the hell. You grab your weapon of choice(strat, les paul, SG, tele) and hook up with the shitty wires they provide that are strapped to the ground. You turn on the amp and begin to play. Probably most of you guys here the first thing that comes to mind to play is Pearl Jam. You play the riff to Alive or Yellow Ledbetter or something or other. Doing a decent job. Then some 13 year old looking dufus hooks up to the Mesa amp right next top you and begins shredding like a young Zakk Wylde. He might as well have dropped his droors and showed you his massive cock compared to your twig and berrys. Feeling Defeated you unplug and walk to the counter. In my case I just needed strings. I ask for GHS boomers .10s. None in front...goes to the back. I need a bunch of sets cause I really don't wanna come back here. I ask for 10. Th guy says they have a set of 12. Alright I say sounds good. Also I needed a new AC adapter for my Micro Vibe. Throw that in as well. Rings it up. The price? RAPE. $74. 12 sets of strings is $55. I mean I do need strings to I payed that amount. But by god. Just strings. Just pieces of metal. Cost soo much. Ah well. Then you bag up your shit and give the reciept to the guy at the door of the store so he checks you don't steal anything. Yeah, i might have slipped a Les Paul Black Beauty in my bag. Maybe he won't notice. You walk out and pray you don't have to go back for at least 3 months. Guitar Center...where everyone is a Rockstar. Except you. Oh and you suck at guitar. Bah.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
LOL, then you find out the 40th Anniversary sale is all week end long
Hanging at www.TheGuitarHub.com
The only Forum for players by players.......
Playing Les Pauls, Teles, Hubers, Gustavssons, Kolls through a Mad Professor amp with a Bob Burt Cab.
BJF powers my Pedal Board
So I love Guitar Center and it's...guitars..
I kinda like shopping on their website... no pressure, pretty good info, user reviews, and the big anniversary sale...
However, there is something nice about having all that stuff right there in front of you to drool over. And touch. And play.
Still... most music stores I've ever been in have this slightly condesending attitude, from not only the other players in the store, but the staff as well. I know a couple places where I live and I go there exclusively, one because they do the best work within a day's drive, and one because they treat me good and know my name. I'm willing to pay twice the online catalog price to keep these guys in business... good music stores are too few and too far between.
Guitar Center to me is the Wal-Mart of music stores. You might get it for cheaper, but you still pay for it in one way or another.....i.e. lack of service and really annoying clientel. I much prefer going to the local mom and pop operation down the street and plugging in there, where I can actually hear myself play. And, as MIG said, somewhere where the staff actually know my name (before I hand them my credit card, not after like GC).
Where they say, "Hey Phil, how are ya?" as you walk in the door, not "Hey! You're awesome... (looks at card)... Phil(?)! Thanks for shopping Guitar Center! Alright!"
We should be kind... Paco is a recovering GC sodomite.
you've ruined all my positive thoughts on this wonderful store :(
Hey, here's the upside:
You're almost guaranteed to hear someone play "Crazy Train" by Ozzy.
Or have someone tell you a Marshall MG amp is "totally the way to go, dude."
Or hear someone tell you, "I used to have this really faded Strat from like the '60's that my uncle gave me, but I traded it in on this sweet new Dean."
Or see Zoom pedals on the top shelf and the vintage TS-808 collecting dust on the bottom shelf (at "Reduced! $799.95!").
I am a man, I am advanced.....I am the first man to borrow Stone's leather pants!
sounds about right. Try working there. You would understand my "Crazy Train" nervous tick.
At least you saved a bit on the general dollar a string deal.
don't sweat the guitar thing man, there are a lot of very very rich guitar players who "suck" at guitar.
Oh by the way, you guitarists got it easy. 12 sets of strings for $55? that's not that bad. Drum sticks are like 7 bucks a pair. That would be $84 for 12 pairs, and I go through a lot of sticks.
Oh, and does anyone else see the reverse effect on the drum department. In the guitar department everyone can play really well, for the most part. Everyone's shredding or the 48 year old guy is playing every fast blues lick he's learned in the past 30 years. In the drum department, not one person in there can play. I don't get it. Its always a bunch of hacks, younger or older than me(I'm 22) that are much worse than I am and I'm not the world's greatest drummer. It always makes me laugh, and its also really annoying to have all of that banging going on. I would HATE to work there.
I can no longer stand the Danny Carey drum solos in the drum shop or the advice from the 18 year olds working there, (I'm sure there are more than a few that could show me a few things, but I didn't go into the store for a free lesson).