guitar center jacksons?

[åron]

GC is essentially catering to kids, and kids are very fickle. I predict more copies of Guitar Hero III will be sold this Christmas than guitars.

That's not a very bold prediction. I'm sure some of you noticed that GC carries GH III merchandise as well .

[Rich#6]

That's not a very bold prediction. I'm sure some of you noticed that GC carries GH III merchandise as well .

I say that and I could not believe it. They are advertising the game with big posters on the doors. Never say them do that before. WTF GC???

[JACKSONFREAK]

We (GC) carry GHIII because GC is in the game. It's that simple. It does lead us into a new market however. And yes it does happen that when a kid plays guitar querro for a while and gets good. He wants to learn to play a realy guitar. So we get the novice wanna be guitar player. Who then becomes the beginner guitar player. who then becomes the intermeidate player who wants to upgrade from his beginner guitar. To a more professional model guitar. So aside from the GC being in GHIII.
There is a method to the madness for carrying GHIII. The only GHIII merchandise we carry is the songbook aside from the game. So i dont know where that comment came from. An assumption maybe?
As for the Schecter, Ibanez dilemma. and the lack of inventory of those. Ibanez and Schecter are having issues with keeping up with the demand especailly Schecter. Ibanez will pull out of the problem soon. But if Schecter doesnt start up another plant or farm out some of the production to another manufacturer (which actally being discussed currently) They will run th erisk of loosing the market they have. Due to not having any guitars or basses in the stores. And with GC growing like it is, and every store carrying Schecter.
There is that threat. So they are working on something to eliminate that possability. As for GC not carrying alot of J/C 's Well look at all the brands fender owns that GC Carries. We only have a few Gretcsh's, we no longer carry Tacoma, or Guild. he Charvels we did carry were great for a while then people stopped buying them and the inventory sat there to get blown out. We still have a new copperhead we cant sell. Great guitar too. Fender it seems is slowly dwindling down the inventoryof the other brands they own. As far as the big box dealers go. The independants can get what Tacoma, and Guild, But the box "big box" stores. cant. We get an over saturation of the main brand. Fender. We have a butt load of fender and squier. etc..
Alot of it is the manufacturers fult we dont have the inventory we should or used too of any brand. So stop blaiming GC for that. It's not our fault. As for the moron employees. They are every where you go. GC just seems to get the bad rep on that beacuse we are more frequented than say Sam Ash cus we have more stores. So the storys are more abundant. But the average is still the sa,e. Sure my store has had its share of morons. We have one now.And he's about to be fired so. We do weed them out. Thats part of the reason for the high turnover we have. When yo apply at GC you have to take a prsonality profile test first. To see if you have the right frame of mind to what we do. That is great. But that doesnt mean the employee has a clue about guitars. The guy who is being fired. Got into it the other day with one of the sales vets about a custom shop V. saying he new everything about that guitar. And even boasted the fact in front of the customer. Almost to the point of calling the customer a lier. This said employee also goes to our mgr saying that he "knows everything about that guitar" And shouldnt be treated the way he was by the other sales guy. When in fact it wasproven that he didnt know anything about the guitar at all. Aside from it being a flying V. Yes he is an idiot. And he was an idiot when he was a customer. And he will still be an idiot when is promoted to customer again. He's screwed up more than the rest of the store combined. In the last three months. Our mgr finaly had enough.So he's gone. Those who don't get it or cant handle it. Move on. One way or another. So yeah we do get morons. But we also have some of the best people too. The morons just get more attention and get noticed more than the great employee who does know what he/she is doing.
It;s not always GC's fault so stop blaiming GC for everything you disagree with or find fault with. There are deeper underlying isshues that general consumer doesnt have privy too. Just saying.
Gil

[åron]

...... The only GHIII merchandise we carry is the songbook aside from the game. So i dont know where that comment came from. An assumption maybe? .....

It;s not always GC's fault so stop blaiming GC for everything you disagree with or find fault with. There are deeper underlying isshues that general consumer doesnt have privy too. Just saying.
Gil

Thanks for some insider perspective, Gil. Though your wall of text hurts my eyes! I saw more than the songbook at my local store. There were the controller axe covers and a copy of the game running in a sizable display. GC is doing right by cross promoting, from a business standpoint. Such moves have a fallout, though - alienating some of the customer base that made the business.
To me, it is just the icing on the cake made of flourescent lights, non-stop random music and sub-par service.

GC could win me over with one change. I go in for strings and little stuff, hoping to see something guitarwise that I have to have. EACH TIME, I have to wrestle with the associate about prices. I buy the same strings; GC should have a history of the price I've paid, and simply charge that price. I hate doing the song and dance. Crap, the # 1 music retailer spends a disproportionate amount of time on increasing market share and filling huge stores with largely useless inventory, rather than improving customer relations and really getting to know customers and their needs a la our Matt.

[fullmetalguitar]

There is something seriously wrong when you can't find a single PC1 at any L.A. area Guitar Center. But there are plenty of $199 Fenders and Ibanez pieces of crap.

[Axewielder]

Yeah I know that things were better "back in the day"...but seriously, back when all the mom-and-pop music stores were around, I always could waltz in and find what I needed. The GC is just out of control with having to "special order" everything. Why not combine their website with Musician's Friend's (it's the same company anyway), and let me special order online and have the goods delivered to the GC with NO shipping charges. Dang I just creamed myself thinking about that.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Musicuans friend and Gc are NOT the same company. Musicains friend is a seperate dealer from GC. Albeit the largest internet dealer. GC simply owns them. Saying we are the same company is like saying call pepsi and some taco bell or fritos. Pepsico at one time owned and may still own some of the Taco Bells. But they do still own Frito Lay. So saying we are the same company is comletely wrong. And a typical response. If we were the same company there would be no need to have the GC website for sales. would there. Sure market saturation is one perspective. But it just owuldnt make sense.
Gil

[Axewielder]

I would in fact say those are all the same company, Pepsico. Different brands, and different business units perhaps, but the same company.

[åron]

Interesting, I thought the reason they have different online entities under the corporate umbrella was to give the illusion of a more competitive marketplace. Every time I come across a new online vendor with substantial presence and inventory, I assume it's another head of one of the megacorp Hydra first, until I can prove otherwise.

[fullmetalguitar]

Not the same company? I beg to differ. Here is the same exact Jackson PC1 for sale on both websites. Same price, same exact photo, old headstock, same finish. It's been listed on both sites for quite some time. And it's the ONLY PC1 either of them has for sale. I would bet that the Guitar Center and Musicians Friend warehouse is one and the same.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Jackson-PC-1-Phil-Collen-USA-Electric-Guitar-511634-i1147166.gc

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Jackson-PC1-Phil-Collen-USA-Electric-Guitar?sku=511634

[Axewielder]

Not the same company? I beg to differ. Here is the same exact Jackson PC1 for sale on both websites. Same price, same exact photo, old headstock, same finish. It's been listed on both sites for quite some time. And it's the ONLY PC1 either of them has for sale. I would bet that the Guitar Center and Musicians Friend warehouse is one and the same.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Jackson-PC-1-Phil-Collen-USA-Electric-Guitar-511634-i1147166.gc

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...tar?sku=511634

Damn right. If Bain Capital Partners ever gets their heads out of their asses and shows some leadership, they will find a way to leverage the strengths of both of those subsidiaries and elevate their web presence. In the meantime, helloooooooooo eBay!!!

[JACKSONFREAK]

Again still not the same comany. Argue with semantics all you want. They are not the same company. We have differant management. Differant payroll.
Some differant policies. doferant employee benefits. And differant inventory. Yes we carry alot of the saem things but GC does not carry Rogue, ESP or Washburn. MF does not carry some of the same brands that GC does. So therefore we are not the saem company. Thats like saying Fender and JAckson are the same company. When we all know that Jackson are made in a differant building by differant people. Jackson is owned by Fender. Makes the J/C name sakes and doesnot make Fenders. And Fender does not make J/C's Hoshino is technicaly not the same company as Ibanez. Its the parent company encompassing many brands. MF and GC are not the same company.

[åron]

... Argue with semantics all you want. ...

You, first. No one can dispute that they are incorporated separately and incorporated under the same umbrella. That's just the way it is.

The word "company" is non specific legally. So, yes you're both right and both wrong in a sense.

Law.com defines company as

n. any formal business entity for profit, which may be a corporation, a partnership, association or individual proprietorship. Often people think the term "company" means the business is incorporated, but that is not true. In fact, a corporation usually must use some term in its name such as "corporation," "incorporated," "corp." or "inc." to show it is a corporation.

Someone may be a little out of their depth here. I won't point any fingers

[Axewielder]

Best Buy figured out how to integrate their web site with their brick and mortar locations effectively. So did Pizza Hut. GC....quit the defensive posturing and start to employ some new thinking here. Throw us 80's metal dudes a bone, we are overdue for one.

[Jackson/Charvelfan]

I have read this thread and there are many points but as far as customer service in my own experance on the GC used sight I would have to say GC sucks!!!
I have surfed the sight several times and have found guitars I was interested in but every time I sent an email inquiry no response and the guitars were still listed after so I do not understand why GC has the sight in the first place.
I have spent quite a few dollars at GC stores over the years. I must say at this point I am tired of the GC sales staff on line and in the stores and I will visit the stores very sparingly in the future. As for as on line probably not. The staff knows very little about what they are selling and the price changes more than a used car dealer when you have any interest in what they are selling new or used. I have experienced this in SO CAL and in NO VA so it must be the way some of the salesmen are trained. Please note I am not saying all of the salesmen at GC are this way but I can only speak of my experience.