A good Guitar Center experience...

[The Rossness]

Guitar center gets crapped on a lot. Sometimes it deserves it, but sometimes its crapped on just because. I wanted to post a good experience I just had. I stopped in as it was down the road from another music shop where I was demoing a GJ2 Glendora (Jackson San Dimas). I stopped there on a whim and saw they were having a big sale (as they tend to do) but most of the stuff was really marked down, like below what you can find on Ebay. To my surprise, a friend of mine was working there. He and his coworkers couldn't have been nicer to me. I was able to demo a few guitars in their amp room, we chatted about gear and they seemed knowledgable about their stuff (and what they din't know, I filled them in on). I ended up coming home with an off-white, EVH Wolfgang special that I got brand new for WAY under what they normally MAP for, with a case. It plays very well and the fit and finish on it is nice- I've played some of the EVH Wolfgang specials that were in desperate need of fret-jobs, but this one was spot on. They had a few in stock and all of them were being blown out to make room for the new EVH striped series of guitars. I picked the best one of the bunch All in all, I was impressed and had a good experience at this GC.

If you live in the area, and want to check it out, its the Guitar Center in Orange CT. They had some cool Dean special editions and Gibsons marked WAY down as well. If you go, ask for Keenan, he knows his stuff and he's a nice guy.I just wanted to post a good experience I had.

Peace~

[walshula]

Did they have any USA Jacksons for sale???

[The Rossness]

Not guitar center, but the other dealer sold GJ2 guitars, and technically its a USA jackson.

[straycat]

I love the GC in my area great guys and give some great deals if you lean on them a little.
They always have cool vintage gear too at bargain prices.

[DonP]

To my surprise, a friend of mine was working there.

I'd say your experience might be better than a person who doesn't have friends that work there.

Just saying.

[84sups]

I had a really good experience when I got my Pro-mods in April at the GC in Arlington. The guy I bought them from wanted the Dead calm aqua I was buying. I know why he wanted it it's a monster of a player.

[Predator1]

How was the GJ2?

[leftykingv2]

I'd say your experience might be better than a person who doesn't have friends that work there.

Just saying.

+1

[Tetsuo]

The good guitar centers are rather enjoyable. The bad ones are miserable.

[The Rossness]

How was the GJ2?

I played the Glendora model, which is essentially a San Dimas. It had a pickgaurd, maple neck/ fingerboard and a basswood body. The body didn't sound like basswood. It seemed brighter than mast basswood guitars I've played. The pickups were wound by GJ2 and seemed really low output. I'm not sure what their higher output PU's sound like, but there's felt weak. The neck felt good, but the fretboard edges weren't rolled like charvel does it nowdays. Overall it was a nice guitar, but it wasn't better than the recent pro mods out of the USA and Japan. The quality seemed spot on. I'd like to play their neck-thru model.

[roodyrocker]

I have to say most of my experiences with Guitar Center have been good. I think the key is to not rely on their sales staff for technical info regarding the gear your're interested in. Some of their staff are knowledgeable but not all and the turn over rate is so high that you just don't know. When I go in there its usually for something specific that I already know about and just need them to order it/check availability, or to check out whats in a particular store in their used gear sections. I've found some pretty good deals on used Jacksons, amps, etc...

[msaint65]

I'd say your experience might be better than a person who doesn't have friends that work there.

Just saying.

+1, but the other strategy is to weed out the dickheads and find someone who will be your "friend" at your local store. There always seems to be somebody who might share an interest in 80's guitars for instance that is bored to death and looking for someone with the same interest to shoot the shit with. Been lucky enough at my current local GC to get calls on a cool pieces before they hit the floor - from a "friend" who's at least smart enough to know how to make a commission .

[leftykingv2]

There isn't a good guitar center in PGH. A good guitar center experience here means you left with your anus intact which is why I don't patronize them.

[Tetsuo]

I have to say most of my experiences with Guitar Center have been good. I think the key is to not rely on their sales staff for technical info regarding the gear your're interested in. Some of their staff are knowledgeable but not all and the turn over rate is so high that you just don't know. When I go in there its usually for something specific that I already know about and just need them to order it/check availability, or to check out whats in a particular store in their used gear sections. I've found some pretty good deals on used Jacksons, amps, etc...

The GC in Chicago is a pretty good shop. Not as good as Hollywood (went there once so I am guessing) but pretty good. The others are basically enhanced student shops with better buying power. Trying to cater to what they have to I guess. I travel a lot and a good GC is nice. A bad one? Well if you frequent it enough you might find a killer deal.

[pianoguyy]

My local GC is the K Mart of guitar stores. Its not even Wal Mart. I have seen some that were a guitar center (center of guitars). To top it off, it has a girl manager and the head guitar guy is a traditional country guy, not even modern machine produced country.
I go in and pick up a V with a skull paint job that is set up to play with a slide and wired for a clean tone.

In its current condition, I could never buy a guitar there.