Just had the chance to play a 1963 Fender Jazzmaster...

rigneyclan

They had one at Guitar Center when I went yesterday to exchange my Big Muff for a Phase 90. Price tag?....$34,000!!!! It was the nicest guitar I've ever played to date.

I don't know why it's so expensive though...There's a '63 Jazzmaster that's in better shape than the one I tried for only $6,000 on Ebay right now....

seanw1010

because guitar center does everything to annoy the costumer, like allowing terrible 16yr. old shredders to use the biggest marshalls at full blast with the crappiest guitars for hours. i am only 14, but i like to play the blues at reasonable levels when trying out guitars so i dont disturb anyone else. at first the employees are like"great, more distortion to add to the noise", but usually after i ask for a 335 or 336, they leave me alone(yesterday actually, i was at the guitar center in i think allentown, and the guy told me i was the first person under 20 to ask to play a 335!)

ianvomsaal

they are trying to RIP PEOPLE OFF!!!
A 1963 Jazzmaster should never sell for that much - even in perfect closet condition.
The value all Depending on the color - what color was it (24k gold plated)????
They should sell between $4700 (for a sunburst) and $11,800 (for surf green/foam green) in EXCELLENT CONDITION.
So basically anything over $12,000 for any color '63 is way too much.
I have a pristine '65 jazzmaster in foam green that's worth $8,400 - I wonder what they'd charge for it???
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

rigneyclan

seanw1010 wrote:

because guitar center does everything to annoy the costumer, like allowing terrible 16yr. old shredders to use the biggest marshalls at full blast with the crappiest guitars for hours. i am only 14, but i like to play the blues at reasonable levels when trying out guitars so i dont disturb anyone else. at first the employees are like"great, more distortion to add to the noise", but usually after i ask for a 335 or 336, they leave me alone(yesterday actually, i was at the guitar center in i think allentown, and the guy told me i was the first person under 20 to ask to play a 335!)

Yeah, I'm only 17, but since I go there a lot they know how I treat the guitars I guess they must really trust me to let me play such an expensive instrument.

ianvomsaal wrote:

they are trying to RIP PEOPLE OFF!!!
A 1963 Jazzmaster should never sell for that much - even in perfect closet condition.
The value all Depending on the color - what color was it (24k gold plated)????
They should sell between $4700 (for a sunburst) and $11,800 (for surf green/foam green) in EXCELLENT CONDITION.
So basically anything over $12,000 for any color '63 is way too much.
I have a pristine '65 jazzmaster in foam green that's worth $8,400 - I wonder what they'd charge for it???
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

It has sunburst paint job...I'll have to ask the GC guys the next time I go down there why it's so overpriced.

armanHammer

It's kind of ironic, at the Houston GC I get a lot of respect, BECAUSE I ask to try expensive stuff. The better employees can tell when a dude knows tone...

ianvomsaal

rigneyclan wrote:

Yeah, I'm only 17, but since I go there a lot they know how I treat the guitars I guess they must really trust me to let me play such an expensive instrument.
It has sunburst paint job...I'll have to ask the GC guys the next time I go down there why it's so overpriced.

Well, the NEW 2007 V.G. Price Guide says a '63 Sunburst Jazzmaster should sell between $4,700 and $5,000.
Now that's in EXCELLENT CONDITION!!!
The values presented in the OFFICIAL VINTAGE GUITAR PRICE GUIDE are for ALL-Original Excellent-Condition instruments.
The V.G. definition of Excellent Condition:
Allows for some wear, but the instrument should be well-maintained with no significant blemishes, wear, repairs, or damage.
All-Original means the instrument has the parts and finish it had when it left the factory.
Remember that replacement parts and refinishes should greatly affect the value, bringing it down significantly.

Yes - please ask them why they want sooo much for it - it's incredibly overpriced (especially for a Jazzmaster).
Even a 1963 Sunburst Stratocaster ONLY goes for $19,000 - $28,000 . . .
So what the hell are they doing - they're $29,000 overpriced!!!
I worked at GC 111 from 2003-2005 (#2 store on the west coast), so I know they're nuts.
Unless someone at GC paid way way way too much for it, you should be able to talk them down about $30,000
Cheers . . .

- Ian C.T. vom Saal

ianvomsaal

armanHammer wrote:

It's kind of ironic, at the Houston GC I get a lot of respect, BECAUSE I ask to try expensive stuff. The better employees can tell when a dude knows tone...

Most good employees know what makes them the most $$$ (that's their job).
And most GC charlatan's don't care about tone - it's all about what makes them the most $$$.
This is coming from a former GC charlatan.
Don't let them fool you - GC employee's have a quota (they have store meetings about this).
Usually expensive stuff makes more GP (pronounced jip) which stands for "gross profit."
It's all about the GP - they'll sell whatever makes the most $$$, and they're hoping to sell you something expensive.

Pearl Jam and toast

Lets rob and implode a GC ian

ianvomsaal

Pearl Jam and toast wrote:

Lets rob and implode a GC ian

I'd love to – that would literally be a blast
Here's a strange story:
I got a fraction of a settlement from a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Guitar Center (a GC Los Angeles employee filed it).
The lawsuit was something about failure to give due breaks, and failure to pay for actual hrs worked (typical GC things).
(Guitar Center was notorious for making employees work through breaks, and most of the time they screwed us on $$$ they owed us).
Anyhow, early last year 2006 I got a letter from some of GC's lawyers notifying me about the lawsuit, and asking if I wanted to participate.
Supposedly there were a few hundred employees and former employees participating in this lawsuit, so I marked the form and sent it in.
But I figured nothing would come of it - I mean hey they're GC, they have flesh eating lawyers, and they screw people for a living.
Then I basically forgot all about it (I'd been screwed over so many times GC - I couldn't even believe they told me about the lawsuit).
About 6 months later (out of the blue) I received a $600 settlement check in the mail - I was like wow, he won the lawsuit - kick ass!

Okay, here's what sucks - yeah yeah they took out taxes (STANDARD - I expected that - death and taxes),
But for some reason come tax time I received another tax form, which I hit me for even more taxes on the same settlement.
So Guitar Center screwed me again - I ended up paying what amounted to double taxes on $600 (so I only really got about $350).
GC Sucks :(

Pacomc79

ianvomsaal wrote:

I'd love to – that would literally be a blast
Here's a strange story:
I got a fraction of a settlement from a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Guitar Center (a GC Los Angeles employee filed it).
The lawsuit was something about failure to give due breaks, and failure to pay for actual hrs worked (typical GC things).
(Guitar Center was notorious for making employees work through breaks, and most of the time they screwed us on $$$ they owed us).
Anyhow, early last year 2006 I got a letter from some of GC's lawyers notifying me about the lawsuit, and asking if I wanted to participate.
Supposedly there were a few hundred employees and former employees participating in this lawsuit, so I marked the form and sent it in.
But I figured nothing would come of it - I mean hey they're GC, they have flesh eating lawyers, and they screw people for a living.
Then I basically forgot all about it (I'd been screwed over so many times GC - I couldn't even believe they told me about the lawsuit).
About 6 months later (out of the blue) I received a $600 settlement check in the mail - I was like wow, he won the lawsuit - kick ass!

Okay, here's what sucks - yeah yeah they took out taxes (STANDARD - I expected that - death and taxes),
But for some reason come tax time I received another tax form, which I hit me for even more taxes on the same settlement.
So Guitar Center screwed me again - I ended up paying what amounted to double taxes on $600 (so I only really got about $350).
GC Sucks :(

oh I know all about that shit, you can't make commissions your first and last months worked, and the 6 day 50+ hour work week + inventory BS and you end up making less than minimum wage.

commissions are taxed at a much higher rate too, because you know....we make more right................

I enjoy GC because it's the most laid back music store environment (at least mine in Atlanta is) but a lot of their policies are absolutely idiotic.

Luckily we had a great guitar tech with a vaccum, any time the kids came in and wanked longer than 5 minutes...the vaccum was turned on... like magic, they stopped trying to compete and 3 minutes later the wanker was on to drums.

seanw1010

Pacomc79 wrote:

Luckily we had a great guitar tech with a vaccum, any time the kids came in and wanked longer than 5 minutes...the vaccum was turned on... like magic, they stopped trying to compete and 3 minutes later the wanker was on to drums.

haha!