No more new Jacksons in GC - Part II

[Schoolboy]

I bought and x series soloist in Knoxville gc about a month ago it had some damage to the binding and a sled for a scratch and dent discount they acted like it was a big deal I got 15% plus I got to use a coupon so I saved about a hundred bucks total

[JACKSONFREAK]

The guitar staff here all know what they r doing. But if they have questions about id'ing guitars they ask me. Plus they bring them to me to inspect for potential trades or buys. If I see major issues we don't buy it.
Gil

[RacerX]

The guitar staff here all know what they r doing. But if they have questions about id'ing guitars they ask me.
Gil

This also means that there should be zero mis-identified & signed Jacksons or Charvels in your store, riiiight?

[gerryl98]

Hey RacerX, when's the last time you saw a new Jackson in the GCs in our area? I did an online lookup for a DK2...nothing in store between here and AZ...I could have kept looking but nah! They really fill up the walls with Epi Les Pauls and PRS SEs though!!!

[Rich#6]

the DK2 was made in japan and is gone. Useless they're NOS the only new Jacksons you're going to see are some USAs, the x and JS series.

[Hellbat]

Yup my local dealer is in the same boat. Except they don't stock USAs. So now all they have is 4-5 x series with a beat to crap older model (duncan designed) DK2 that has made the rounds inside the chain and a DK2S. I would kind of like to pull the trigger on the DK2S just to have a sustainer guitar...

[tomanyjacksons]

PRS, Gibsons, Fenders and Epi's covers most of the wall at the one I'm close to. It's refreshing to hear that there are intellegent people (JACKSONFREAK) working for GC somewhere. Ours is full of, well it's hard to put a label on a bunch of kids that are only interested in their wages. A few blocks away there is a nice shop, American pro music, the family that's owned them for years is very knowledgable and great to just visit with. Plus the owner is a Charvel fan. More Jacksons and Charvels on their walls than on GC's.

[cullenszoo]

PRS, Gibsons, Fenders and Epi's covers most of the wall at the one I'm close to. It's refreshing to hear that there are intellegent people (JACKSONFREAK) working for GC somewhere. Ours is full of, well it's hard to put a label on a bunch of kids that are only interested in their wages. A few blocks away there is a nice shop, American pro music, the family that's owned them for years is very knowledgable and great to just visit with. Plus the owner is a Charvel fan. More Jacksons and Charvels on their walls than on GC's.

I was starting to think I had the only defective GC.

[Hamner1]

I was starting to think I had the only defective GC.

No you are not the only one. I was at the Edina GC a couple of weeks ago. and I was looking to test drive & then possibly pickup a GSP1101. I asked the sales person if they carry it. The reponse was no I don't think so, let me look it up. She looked it up & told me no we don't carry it. No joke, I turned around & took 2 steps, noticed what looked like the GSP1101 in a display. It was a Digitech Vocalist rack unit, but above that was a GSP1101. I smiled at my wife, & had to walk around a bit before I came back to check it out, as I would have said something rather insulting (as I get older my patience diminishes ).

As I was walking around, they did not have any significant J/C selection. 1 used DK2, 1 RR3, and a 1 used Transparent SLXMG. I played the SLXMG. Man that thing played sweet. I should have grabbed it, but I was on the hunt for Charvel Star or a Charvel So-Cal (or similar).

I came back to test the GSP1101. Oddly enough it was not plugged into anything & I had to askthe lady for some headphones (I figured that was easier than trying to hook it up to the little practice amp sitting below the display). Even when she brought me the headphones, it did not occur to her that the very item I asked her about, was what I was needing the headphones for.

[cullenszoo]

I don't know what the deal is with the employees. you would think in this job market they would be working a little harder. Competition might have something to do with it. There are very few stores in my area and only GC has the wide variety. There is a great place near GC that does incredible tech work but they don't have a lot of guitars on the wall for sale. Thank god for our local craigslist or I'd never find any interesting guitars.

[PowerTube]

see, in the 90s our guitar center was actually a musicians friend. I loved shopping there. tons of cool different guitars. Now it's a fender fest! Giant wall covered with fenders in about 6 different colors. Gibson, epiphone, and PRS share one wall and the other is Ibanez, ESP/LTD, and BC Rich. I can't blame guitar center for a lack of much exciting stock.

Yep. I live in Knoxville and I was at their grand opening weekend. I also saw Michael Angelo Batio's seminar there. They also had a lot of great gear on hand. They had a stage area and they were going to have local bands perform every Tuesday night and such.

Yeah, right. It became a suck-ass Guitar Center within a year after their big splash opening.

The tech in knoxville leases the space from GC and the staff can't do anything tech wise to an instrument. kinda sucks when he is backed up.

Yeah, Jim is a great guy. I always say hello to him when I'm in there. He's done work for me several times.

[cullenszoo]

If I were King of guitar center I would have a staff like hooters. The sales people would be smokin hot chicks that tell you everything makes you look or sound "hot!" Talk about "up selling" Then I would have a hand full of guitar gurus who keep up on everything there is to know and can work on anything.
I'd be closing in a month cause I sell everything out!
But hey, thats just me

[neptoess]

Gc/musiciansfriend/music123/whoever else is in that huge corporation suck. Few years back, bought a brand new nj classic bich from mf after playing a bich supreme at gc. Guitar had a low fret around frets 12-14. I forget which. It was really low too. Like beat flat with a ball peen hammer low. Mf offered a refund, said a replacement was out of the question as the guitar was 'discontinued', and offered me a Used model in a different color, but said it would cost $150 more. I got my refund and don't even buy strings/picks/straps there now. Smaller stores on eBay have the same prices with faster shipping anyway

[cullenszoo]

Guitar shops are already prone to have snobby employees who act like they are gods gift to musicians. When you add the corporate mentality to that you have a really good reason why these big box music stores keep having money issues.
when you visit a music store you should be treated as a musician, whether your seasoned or just starting out. You should be treated just as well if your buying a $100 instrument as if you were buying a $1,000 one. During bad economic times the businesses that practice superior customer service will thrive due to customer loyalty.

[Hamner1]

Guitar shops are already prone to have snobby employees who act like they are gods gift to musicians. When you add the corporate mentality to that you have a really good reason why these big box music stores keep having money issues.
when you visit a music store you should be treated as a musician, whether your seasoned or just starting out. You should be treated just as well if your buying a $100 instrument as if you were buying a $1,000 one. During bad economic times the businesses that practice superior customer service will thrive due to customer loyalty.

While I agree with your sentiment, in the "real" world it likely rarely plays out that way. Alot of these salesman are paid small bucks & get rewarded by hitting a bonus or paid on commission. To put it in a friends perspective, who used to do home electronics sales, the customer rolling in who wants that $40 DVD player will take up 45 minutes-hour & you get squat for commission. All the while another customer pops in, who wants to do things "right" gets another salesperson. This guy spends 45 minutes-hour and sells a Large LCD or Plasma TV, a high quality DVR &/or Blue ray player, Monster power supply/surge protector, & some high quality cables to connect everything. And here is where the commission is at. True maybe 2-3 years down the road the guy who wanted that $40 DVD player is financially better off and looking for a better system, but these salespeople have to put food on the table this month & wory about 2 or 3 years down the road later.