Guitar Center's Memorial Day Sale - any good deals?

[Inazone]

My band's drummer just started working at the local Guitar Center a few weeks ago and told me to stop by for the Memorial Day sale, assuring me that there was going to be a lot of stuff for stupid cheap. Usually I'm pretty reluctant about their sales due to the the very liberal definition of "list price" that GC uses. However, I've uncovered a few great deals over the years and decided to go again this year.

I've established that there isn't much in the guitar department that interests me anymore. There were some good prices on Jackson imports, but the only thing that caught my eye was a `90s Rhoads Pro...marked at an absurd $799. Saw a black SLSMG for $599, which seems good but not amazing. For anyone with kids interested in taking up guitar, there were some great bargains, but that's not helping me with my GAS. Nothing in their amp inventory warranted a second look.

All was not lost, however. I grabbed an Audix i5 instrument mic (Andy Sneap's guitar mic of choice) for $86 and a pair of M-Audio BX5a active monitors for $199, with 15 months of zero-interest financing. The temptation to pick up other recording equipment was great, but I stuck with only what I needed. If my DK2M wasn't arriving tomorrow, I might have tried to haggle with them on the Rhoads Pro.

[donvandam]

Got my wah pedal for $60 so I'm happy

[semagic]

18.5ft road hawg cables for 4.99.

[shredhed]

My son and I scored a couple Epi LPs. I wouldn't buy one through Mus Friend cause there can be a lot of cosmetic imperfections on Korean and Chinese imports , You wouldn't know it till you got it delivered.

But being able to inspect them in the store I was able to find 2 that were nearly flawless - of the 2 chinese ones there was one that was perfect (big surprise). I had to get a Korean one for myself. Same model but $100 more.

[chrisolson]

I didn't see much, but one thing that did stand out were a trio of Flextone 2's for $174 - that was a pretty good deal IMHO.

I had bought two teles earlier in the week though, so I wasn't looking to part with much.

Inazone - I assume you went to GC Edina? I went to Roseville.

[Thor Von Clemson]

To chime in with the other MN JCFr's.. I was buying a guitar from my friend who works at the roseville GC and they were getting ready for the sale. Of course none of the really cool stuff that you want is on sale... seems like it is mostly stuff they are trying to get rid of. Sure they may knock off a few hundred dollars from a LP, Marshall or something like that, but I never seem to find any deals on stuff that I want/need... Plus the LP, Marshall, or something like that are still pretty expensive. It seems you almost have to be looking to buy one or have some extra cash laying around to find any sort of deal out of it. If they start knocking down the prices of UV777's I may start to care lol.

I agree with Inazone; they have some good deals on low/midrange stuff.


Doesnt guitar center have a sale every weekend? Does anyone have any insight as to why the memorial day (or any other major holiday besides xmas) sale is different?

[Gio]

so what kind of shit do they have the deals on?

[Inearthed]

Doesnt guitar center have a sale every weekend? Does anyone have any insight as to why the memorial day (or any other major holiday besides xmas) sale is different?

They have two sales a year where they pretty much are trying to just dump stock. Get rid of the old models, get rid of used gear, yadda yadda.

[DSS3]

I grabbed an Audix i5 instrument mic (Andy Sneap's guitar mic of choice)

Sorry to be a nit picker, but he still hasn't recorded any albums with the i5 - the 57 is still his defacto standard, with which he's done all his recent records .

[Inazone]

Sorry to be a nit picker, but he still hasn't recorded any albums with the i5 - the 57 is still his defacto standard, with which he's done all his recent records .

On his "official" forum, he always talks about running the SM57 and i5 together. I'm going strictly based on that.

No more gear for me for awhile. Between the Rocktron MultiValve a few weeks back, the monitors and mic on Memorial Day, and a DK2M today, I'm tapped out!

[DSS3]

Definitely - I'm DSS3 over there . I need to pick up an i5 after I get my interface all worked out and see what all the fuss is about!

[Joe_Steeler]

To be honest I have never walked into any of the big box retailers (Sam Ass, Guitar Center or the late MARS) and found those "sales" to be any good. It is all a gimmick to get you in the door.
I am sure they try to dump some stock every once in a while, but you better be connected with someone in the know to scoop it out. The normal jackwad coming off the street will not get to see the good stuff.

Back in the Thoroughbred Music (now Sam Ass in the Tampa Bay area) days, I scored a Jackson SL1 for $950, but I knew the sales guys and pointed me in the right direction.

[charvelguy]

Time for a 'little' rant here..please excuse the length.

Usually the only time I shop GC is Memorial Day and Labor day. It used to be (pre 2000) the end of the year sale was also another good time to pickup gear liquidation as they did they same thing...hand you an inventory list as you walked in, invite only etc..you used to actually have to show them the postcard otherwise the bouncer guy at the door would be reluctant to let you in...dpends on who you are and if they recognize you.

I have gotten some great deals over the years... a roland ready gk2a loaded MIM strat for 200.00 NIB. A Brawley threat with floyd for 99.00. Many cases and accesories for really decent prices. Dimarzio and MM bodies prepainted for 40.00 etc..

Alot of the stuff is overpriced, but sometimes you can score an occasional great deal on something you may actually want.

I spent at least a grand there over the course of the year last year...I didn't get any mail notice this year, (so much for preferred) but I showed up hoping to score a Mesa of sorts rather cheaply. Hopefully a power amp or a stiletto.

Yes, Guitar Center does run sales all the time now and they seemed to have
'smoothed out' the curve of when they blowout/liquidate stock as well as how much off they give in price reduction.
It seems to go in ebb and flow, some years they have great stuff at really great prices, others nothing..depends on what you're interested in tho.

I bought a few things this year as I'm trying to build up a basic recording setup/studio..you have to wary, because everything is off LIST PRICE.. not tagged or listed price and you can get taken on some very bogus shit if you are not completely saavy on what the current price market is.

I saw one guy one year pay over 40.00 a pickup for the Korean duncan designed blade single coils because they were listed as 'custom designed for guitar center seymour duncans' .. you can get these 'performer series' on eBay for 10.00 easy 'if' you really want to try one. That guy bought three out of the 4 and GC knew they had a turd packed in a pretty wrapper when they listed it as a custom designed pickup...but hey, they sell EMG selects for over 50.00 a pop nowadays.

Last year they had some great deals on Mesa power amps..I just did not have the cash left over to buy a 90/90 or 100/100 for 499.00. They were demos, but a couple were like new.

They also had a decent deal on a Roland VG88 NIB for 375.00 within the last year.

This year they had a couple MIJ Fender stratocaster 12 strings w/ matching headstocks..one was 399.00 which was a decent price.

I bought a guitar port w/ software and some recording cables but I think I may just take all the my stuff back. I see the guitar port 2.5 is going alot cheaper than when I last priced them out.

The thing that pissed me off is that at checkout time the guy rounded off the totals to make it an even check amount, when I looked at my receipt it looked like I was being overcharged for everything....and alot of the cables I bought were at prices alot higher than I thought they would be...the bin was marked 60% off..so I thought tagged prices..nope..the prices on the tag were not relevant so I had no reference point. I even asked for a price quote on one that was unmarked and I got charged 3x over what I was quoted...so.. I called and they said when prices are adjusted manually it skews all the prices on the receipt across the board.. well how convenient, you can't actually tell how much you are getting anything for, let alone whether you're being screwed or given a good deal..I consider that very shady business practice.

I went back and did the totals.. and they had overcharged me by rounding it off..if they make a few bucks extra on every person that buys something this way, hey that counts up in the tills at the end of the day...a little extra for the sales ppl probably. I'm not into giving gratuity w/o being aware of it.

From now on, anytime I go to GC, I bring a charge card and a camera, they can deal with the credit card company on the disputes and stop wasting my time with such crap.

[Joe_Steeler]

I wish they all stop sending me meaning less postcards advertising THE sale event of the year with DEEP discounts that amount to shit over overpriced shit.
If they save money by stoping all sales mailing flyers, maybe just maybe give better everyday pricing and better in store discounts, instead of running a heavier than hell overhead.

[charvelguy]

I did bump into Chris Olson there this year tho..he almost got me to buy a flextone2, but no.. if I'm buying a Line 6 product in an amp it'll be a Vetta I'll consider. Good seeing ya again tho Chris