Like there aren't enough reasons to bash GC...

[hippietim]

...and normally I don't bash them - I just accept them for what they are.

But recently I took a friend around to get a starter guitar for his son. The easy/obvious choice was a MIM Strat. Holy crap these things were terrible! I grabbed 10 different ones at the Durham, NC store and the necks all had way too much relief, rusted strings, and the frets were sticking out on both sides significantly. I made a comment to the salesman and he chuckled "yeah, it's pretty bad - I cut myself on one the other day". WTF? How about doing something about it?

We ended up picking out a decent Squier instead. It didn't sound as good as the MIM Strat but it was $200 cheaper and wasn't going to need a new neck or fretwork anytime soon. Yowza.

A couple days later my buddy mentioned he'd like to get a guitar for himself as well. So we went to the Raleigh store. Same deal. Except for one Strat. The guys I usually deal with weren't working that day so I got the "regular" treatment. He pulled the standard "the gig bag is extra" nonsense and then proceeded to tell me that he couldn't do as much off of that particular guitar because it was the only "good one" of the recent batch they got. I also tried a Music Man Petrucci with the piezo bridge and one of the piezos was out and I mentioned this to him and he chuckled "oh yeah, the G-string has been out on that for weeks, Music Man uses cheap bridges on those". What a joke.

So I called up Darren Riley (www.darrenriley.com) who is right up the road and runs a fantastic parts and repair shop and occasionally has guitars for sale. He had a Jimmy Vaughan signature Strat for the same price that GC wanted for the warped and rusty Slicecasters. That Jimmy Vaughan Strat was absolutely kick ass. GREAT neck and even though it's a MIM model from a few years ago it has the Tex-Mex pickups and the USA v-trem. Oh, and Darren included the gigbag

[Robert Burns]

Great story Tim! Maybe in 3 weeks, that GMW will be a great one too?
LOL ( looks like Wed for the delivery..) I have had the same experience
at the Phx/Scottsdale GC too! Either they are selling 5 year old "So called
new" axes, or these are leaving the factory in terrible NON set up conditions! Look at Schecter, even their bottom of the line stuff is finished well, and they are solid players.

[hippietim]

I don't believe for a minute that Fender let those guitars out of the factory in that condition. Clearly those guitars have been sitting in some non climate controlled GC warehouse in the middle of the desert.

[VitaminG]

a couple of my local stores (not GC - don't have them over here) have bunches of Mexi Fenders and I've never seen anything like those issues. I've actually had my eye on a particular Deluxe Players Strat for a while, so I've been comparing it to some of the other MIMs. So either the stores here are refusing to receive delivery of the shitty ones & doing their own QC of sorts, or GC over there is letting their MIM Fenders go to hell. I couldn't believe the MIM guitars we're seeing over here would be any different from the ones you guys get.

Another reason I'm glad we don't have the "supermarket" type music stores over here

[slash-ed]

But we don't quite get the supermarket prices either... Oh well. There are always places you can find stuff if you know where to look, I guess. I've got a MIJ Strat w/Vintage Noiseless on the way for my first Strat! Probably get sold in a week though, the single coil sound is great but wouldn't get that much use for my application.

[Jack The Riffer]

Darren is awesome to deal with!!!

[Rich#6]

I thought those were the necks that were made in the USA shop becuase they couldn't get the hang of it in Mexico. Maybe with the new american Standard they had to switch production back to Mexico.

[JetFixxxer]

I can honestly say I've never had issue with GC.. knock on wood.

[petedz]

Used to be that GC stocked some nice used pieces. A few years back, something changed practically overnight and I stopped finding them. (Maybe when they started popping stuff on eBay?) Now I'll stop there for strings and picks...if I'm desperate.

[Rich#6]

Ebay killed the used gutiar market in stores.

[Spivonious]

I remember when I was looking to downgrade from my Road King. I called up GC and the guy looked in his computer and told me they'd give me $1500 and the Vox Valvetronix that I wanted. I load the amp up, drive over to the store (about 45 minutes away), bring it in and have the guy who I spoke to on the phone check it over. He went and talked with his manager and came back with an offer of $1200 and no amp. Not wanting to waste the trip, I countered with $1200 and the amp. He goes back to the manager and comes back after 20 minutes with "sorry he won't go any higher." I say "thanks for nothing" and walk out.

I go home and list it on eBay with a starting bid of $1200. Auction ends with the amp going for $2100. I then go to Sam Ash to buy the Vox.

[markD]

i am not a fan of GC. all the guitars look used and play used but they aren't used!!!

too bad about the fenders. i think fender has really good QC, so i agree with the statement that GC must stock those things in the worst warehouse on the face of the earth...

[shreddermon]

My local guitar center is uber-lame. They've got a few high-end Gibbys and PRSs. (Very few.) Some mid-level Fenders. And otherwise, their stock consistently sucks.

And the guys working the floor seem more like used-car salesman than fellow musicians. Every time I've talked to one, it's clear that they're just trying to tell me whatever they think I want to hear. And they're usually wrong about that.

If I had to guess, that location has another year or two left before closing, tops. Which, in and of itself, wouldn't necessarily be sad. But, since they've already managed to kill off several local shops in the time they've been open, it would probably be a semi-devastating hit to the area that would take quite some time to recover from.

[hippietim]

My local guitar center is uber-lame. They've got a few high-end Gibbys and PRSs. (Very few.) Some mid-level Fenders. And otherwise, their stock consistently sucks.

And the guys working the floor seem more like used-car salesman than fellow musicians. Every time I've talked to one, it's clear that they're just trying to tell me whatever they think I want to hear. And they're usually wrong about that.

If I had to guess, that location has another year or two left before closing, tops. Which, in and of itself, wouldn't necessarily be sad. But, since they've already managed to kill off several local shops in the time they've been open, it would probably be a semi-devastating hit to the area that would take quite some time to recover from.

I seriously doubt the stores are closing anytime soon. In fact, the Durham store has only been open like a year or so to begin with.

If they did shutdown it's doubtful that the hit would be too bad. There is a Sam Ash. Of course the Sam Ash in Raleigh makes the Guitar Center seem like the pinnacle of music store excellence. Our Sam Ash is without a doubt one of the worst music stores I've ever been in. I would love to see them shutdown.

Also, we are fortunate to have two of the better high end/boutique stores in the country: Indoor Storm sells Suhr, Anderson, Fender, Two Rock, VHT, Egnater, etc. and Fat Sound Guitars sells Bogner, Dr. Z, PRS, Grosh, Collings, Taylor, etc.

There are also a handful of other dealers around that would fill the void.

[shreddermon]

I don't mean they'd close because of the rumors about GC, Tim. I mean they'd close because they don't seem to be moving much product. Always seems like they've got the same exact stuff hanging on the walls. Doesn't seem to be a very profitable location.

No other "national" dealers up here. And the other (local) dealers in my area pretty much only handle mid to low-end stuff now. Mexi-Fenders, Epis, LTDs etc. There's a smattering of Gibbys and PRSs, but they seem to only have one or two in stock, just to show they carry the line. i.e., The "we can always order you one" form of brand support.

It's a sad comparison to the when I grew up in the 80s. There were several bigger (local) dealers who stocked many custom Charvels & Jacksons, high end Fenders and Gibbys, lots of PRSs, many Kramers, etc in their heyday. The times have changed. And not for the better.