Only 88%

[flanagan0718]

I worked at the local competitor chain (Daddy's Junky Music) in NH. There are 3 Guitar Centers within 30 min of my house and still refuse to go there. A while ago (last year) I went to GC to trade in some Cymbal stands and they offered me $10 a piece for my like new $150 Tama Road pro stands. I laughed in the kid's face and told him to get bent. 2 weeks later the manager emailed me and offered me $50 each store credit and i turned it down and told him i would never shop there again. I still have not set foot in there. That place is a joke, It's the K-Mart of Music stores. +1 for the "mom and pops' places!

I understand your position.  I can clarify that I dislike the chain (in general I don't like what large chains have done to local business people), but happen to like the manager and some of the employees of the closest GC to me (Danvers, MA).  They all seem to be local musicians trying to cover expenses with a day job.

My late son got the drum kit of his dreams for his Make-A-Wish - a very high-end DW kit with a ton of Zildjian cymbals and hard storage/transport cases.  I'm not sure I ever discussed Steve on this forum, he died of cancer at the age of 15 - his 10th anniversary is this Friday, the 14th.

About 15 months ago I finally decided to do something with the kit.  At first I couldn't decide whether to donate it to a school or charity, or sell it and donate the cash.  One of my investigative stops was to the drum department of GC to see if they could help me figure out what it was worth.  I was VERY clear that I was leaning towards donating it rather than selling it, but knowing the value would help me decide.  An employee there spent about 2 hours researching every component of the set, found the wholesale & current retail values, and gave me a detailed list with both.  During this process he got the drum department manager and the store manager involved.  Both made it clear that there were no strings attached to the time they put into this, and that they would buy any or all components at the wholesale price they provided.  I was really moved by their help.  They even suggested a charity that might be interested in taking the set.  So clearly I have mixed feelings.

I used to know a bunch of those dudes! Bob (I think he now works in Portsmouth)was the manager of the Daddy's in Peabody on RT 1. I worked with him a few times at the RT 1 store. Not all of the employees are mindless, Most of the ones in Nashua NH are my old Customers from Daddys and Johny Friday is actually my old bassist. But That being said I still have a HUGE issue with the way they handle their customers and used gear.
p.s. sorry to hear about your son. My wife and I are having a baby in May and I don't know what i would do if that happened. You are officially one GREATS in my book. Cheers!

[jkokura]

The Canadian equivalent is Long and McQuade, which on a whole isn't as bad as GC, but isn't the best option. However, too often they're the only option. They have a massive expansion plan on right now, and they've bought out several smaller chains in the last decade and essentially 'replaced' the stores with they're own. They want to be the GC of Canada I guess.

The nice thing is that they've set a standard in pricing. You can pretty much go into any other shop and say, "this is what L&M sell it for," and most places price match.

The best shop I've ever been to in Canada is my local one, Fuzztone. Guys in there are awesome, it's a small time shop, they do enormous business in the area, and their prices are realistic. As much as I like supporting Mom and Pop shops, I hate walking in and seeing guitars listed at MSRP prices. I can only imagine how many Moms and Dads out there have been taken for hundreds or thousands in extra money because they didn't do a little research.

Jacob

[bcalla]

I used to know a bunch of those dudes! Bob (I think he now works in Portsmouth)was the manager of the Daddy's in Peabody on RT 1. I worked with him a few times at the RT 1 store. Not all of the employees are mindless, Most of the ones in Nashua NH are my old Customers from Daddys and Johny Friday is actually my old bassist. But That being said I still have a HUGE issue with the way they handle their customers and used gear.
p.s. sorry to hear about your son. My wife and I are having a baby in May and I don't know what i would do if that happened. You are officially one GREATS in my book. Cheers!

What's your problem with used gear?  I have a friend who shops at the Natick MA store & buys lots of used gear.  They seem to be pretty lenient about returns.  He went through 3-4 amps before he settled on one.  Used them in rehearsal to see how they fit with the band.

BTW, I miss Daddy's.  I loved going to their Peabody store on Rt. 1 south.

[jkokura]

I think he's referring to people who bring them used gear. Most shops won't give the true value of a used instrument. Which makes sense, because they have to/should make a profit on selling used gear.

Jacob

[GermanCdn]

The Canadian equivalent is Long and McQuade, which on a whole isn't as bad as GC, but isn't the best option. However, too often they're the only option. They have a massive expansion plan on right now, and they've bought out several smaller chains in the last decade and essentially 'replaced' the stores with they're own. They want to be the GC of Canada I guess.

The nice thing is that they've set a standard in pricing. You can pretty much go into any other shop and say, "this is what L&M sell it for," and most places price match.

The best shop I've ever been to in Canada is my local one, Fuzztone. Guys in there are awesome, it's a small time shop, they do enormous business in the area, and their prices are realistic. As much as I like supporting Mom and Pop shops, I hate walking in and seeing guitars listed at MSRP prices. I can only imagine how many Moms and Dads out there have been taken for hundreds or thousands in extra money because they didn't do a little research.

Jacob

No hating on L&M allowed, they're like Cheers for me, and I am in fact Norm.  I walk in, they guide me to the crack they know I crave, and smile as I walk out the door, lol.

Actually, truthfully, L&M are a lot better than Guitar Center in my experience.  Generally the guys are far more knowledgeable, though I do refuse to shop at one of the ones here in town (fortunately, it's the lousiest one) because one employee felt the need to ream me out after I helped a guy out that he clearly was not.  Of course, I then proceeded to call his boss by name over, had them pull up my account, and told him if he valued my continued business, he'd turf the prick.  He did, but hired him back a couple of months later, so I don't shop there, but I digress.

One thing I dislike about GC is their propensity to put used gear on the floor before it's cleared the sell after date (for serial number checks to make sure they're not stolen).  The one I frequent in Spokane regularly has gear that I would in fact buy (I only buy used) were it available, but don't tease me by putting it out then tell me I can't take it home.

As far as pricing on used gear, you will always lose money trading in/selling gear to a big chain store.  L&M gives you 70% of what they will sell it for, which is reasonable, but completely arbitrary when it comes to sellling point.  Point in case, I picked up a mint 2012 American Standard Strat used for $700, which means they gave the guy who sold it $490 for it, after selling it to him less than a year earlier for $1100.  There was one right beside it on the wall, same year, same fretboard, same finish, same condition, selling for $950, so some other dude got $200 more for the same guitar.  Completely arbitrary.

[chromesphere]

Im just replacing the words "guitar center" with "billy hydes" and it all makes sense

Well, we don't have to worry about that any more, eh?

They've reopened

[chromesphere]

My late son got the drum kit of his dreams for his Make-A-Wish - a very high-end DW kit with a ton of Zildjian cymbals and hard storage/transport cases.  I'm not sure I ever discussed Steve on this forum, he died of cancer at the age of 15 - his 10th anniversary is this Friday, the 14th.

Gee's Bob...sorry to pull this one part of your post out, it just pulled at my heart strings.  As a father my heart goes out to you mate.  Condolences...

[GrindCustoms]

Vive le Québec!

We don't have any chain music store here.... well not that i know, only independants.

In most place you just need to tell them that you can have it on the internet for a X price, show them the link and they'll match.

[GermanCdn]

Vive le Québec!

We don't have any chain music store here.... well not that i know, only independants.

In most place you just need to tell them that you can have it on the internet for a X price, show them the link and they'll match.

You've got Steve's Music, which qualifies as a chain as they have outlets in Quebec and Ontario, though I suspect they are next on the L&M buyout plan.  There are a couple of nice boutique stores in Montreal, though for the life of me I can't remember their names.

[gtr2]

My late son got the drum kit of his dreams for his Make-A-Wish - a very high-end DW kit with a ton of Zildjian cymbals and hard storage/transport cases.  I'm not sure I ever discussed Steve on this forum, he died of cancer at the age of 15 - his 10th anniversary is this Friday, the 14th.

Gee's Bob...sorry to pull this one part of your post out, it just pulled at my heart strings.  As a father my heart goes out to you mate.  Condolences...

THIS^

[bcalla]

Gee's Bob...sorry to pull this one part of your post out, it just pulled at my heart strings.  As a father my heart goes out to you mate.  Condolences...

Paul, I appreciate your comment, and Flanagan's, and the PMs I received.  I hesitated to mention Steve, experience tells me that it can be a conversation stopper...

That being said, 10 years out Barb and I miss him every day.  But we are lucky - we had a daughter to keep on track, and we were the beneficiaries of excellent psychological care as a family.  So we found positive things to focus on and positive ways to keep Steve's memory alive.  We have to work every day to keep on track, but being a parent never ends anyway, under any circumstances.

[GrindCustoms]

Vive le Québec!

We don't have any chain music store here.... well not that i know, only independants.

In most place you just need to tell them that you can have it on the internet for a X price, show them the link and they'll match.

You've got Steve's Music, which qualifies as a chain as they have outlets in Quebec and Ontario, though I suspect they are next on the L&M buyout plan.  There are a couple of nice boutique stores in Montreal, though for the life of me I can't remember their names.

True, Steve's has stores in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa iirc.

In MTL the coolest pedal store is MoogAudio... can't really go wrong with a name like that.

I agree that there's couple owners that have couple stores, up to 5 at max... but i would'nt call that a chain... just an expansion. For me chain is really like LongMcQuade having a store in every city that have more than 100 000 citizens.

[pickdropper]

My late son got the drum kit of his dreams for his Make-A-Wish - a very high-end DW kit with a ton of Zildjian cymbals and hard storage/transport cases.  I'm not sure I ever discussed Steve on this forum, he died of cancer at the age of 15 - his 10th anniversary is this Friday, the 14th.

Gee's Bob...sorry to pull this one part of your post out, it just pulled at my heart strings.  As a father my heart goes out to you mate.  Condolences...

THIS^

Yeah.  It's hard to apply the appropriate words for that kind of loss.  As a father, I can't imagine it. 

[chromesphere]

Gee's Bob...sorry to pull this one part of your post out, it just pulled at my heart strings.  As a father my heart goes out to you mate.  Condolences...

Paul, I appreciate your comment, and Flanagan's, and the PMs I received.  I hesitated to mention Steve, experience tells me that it can be a conversation stopper...

That being said, 10 years out Barb and I miss him every day.  But we are lucky - we had a daughter to keep on track, and we were the beneficiaries of excellent psychological care as a family.  So we found positive things to focus on and positive ways to keep Steve's memory alive.  We have to work every day to keep on track, but being a parent never ends anyway, under any circumstances.

No parent should lose their child...its just something I think you don't 'get' until you have a child of your own...wishing you the best mate.

[wgc]

+1