Everyone HATED Sam Ash! (I was shocked at the comments) 

The problem is, when people have a good experience at a store, they may tell 2 or 3 people. When they have a bad experience, they'll tell 20 to 30 people.

After the bankruptcy announcement I saw a Facebook ad that was obviously a scam. It linked to a site using the name of Sam Ash in the domain and copied the graphics, but was clearly not the real Sam Ash site. If I needed more proof, it was offering Gibson Les Pauls for ~$200. I reported the ad as a scam to Facebook. A few days later they responded to me and said they found nothing wrong with the ad and that it adhered to their policies. I guess it is Facebook's official policy to allow scammers to advertise on their platform.

Here in São Paulo/Brazil we don't have Sam Ash, Guitar Center, Manny's or anything like that. We have a street called Rua Teodoro Sampaio where there are dozens of the best Music Gear Stores of the city, where you can find the same condescending attitude from employees who didn't make it as musicians, pissed off with their own lives, being rude to anyone. It looks like failed musicians tend to end up as Guitar Stores pissed off employees.

we used to call them "Sam's Ass" for good reason

I see a common thread here with customer service that could happen in any specialty store. You can hire people who are great in their own pursuit using the product, have great product or technical knowledge, but you cannot teach people skills if it doesn't first come from the heart. Wouldn't hurt to hire the odd retail generalist people person; don't even have to be a musician, they can learn about the product and defer to someone more knowledgable when needed. Going into a speciality store, many customers already have knowledge & skill.

I was treated poorly at Sam Ash stores in 3 different states. To this day they are only musical instrument stores that have treated me like that. I made it point to never purchase anything from them again.

At SA (Hawthorne, CA) about 5 years ago I took a vintage guitar in to get set-up and, a few days later, was politely informed by the repair guy that the guitar deserved better than he could give and I went and got it back. While I was checking out, the young guy that fetched it told me that it was valuable as if I didn't know it (I'm black) and skeptically asked me where I got it. I took a deep breath and informed him that I've had it since the early 80s (which was probably 10 years before he was born) and I left it at that. Never went back.

Sam Ash's luthier fucked up my Yamaha Revstar, but the company replaced it, no questions asked. While their luthier was brain dead, their local management was great.

The guy who works closing at the Southfield, Michigan Guitar Center helped me. He greeted me, left me alone when I said I was just looking, and then was helpful when I needed a bass tuned and finding a case.

This was back in 2016. I purchased brand new American Strat form the 34th street store in Manhattan. After dropping close to $2K in the store they wouldn't let me use the restroom while they "setup" my new guitar.

I just fell victim to the Sam Ash credit card Scam - it’s so rampant, my credit card company pro actively cancelled the card and sent me a replacement card. That said - one of the last few days the local store was open I did get a killer deal on a Michael Kelly hybrid guitar for like $300 - new the guitar listed for $1,000 - so it was a killer deal, and I love the guitar …. My neighbor works for Sam Ash as a manger for the past 3 decades and is now unemployed, seeing the real impact the bankruptcy has had on real people and their livelihood, gave me a much different perspective. Hey Max - I ran into you and your girlfriend at Knott’s last Year and you were super gracious and nice - you are the real deal man - keep up the great work and good content !!!

I can honestly say that I really liked the Sam Ash that was in my town for a little over 3 decades. I was very lucky to have some real cool people to work with when i was in there as a customer.

Not surprised. I retired a year ago in FL and needed to find a guitar store. There was a Sam Ash 10 min from me. I had never been to one but certainly heard of the me so I went. I thought GC has the worse customer service. Nope Sam Ash out did them. What these guitar stores really don’t get is they are in the customer service business not the guitar business. My guess is there is little to no training on customer service and if there is it’s very ineffective at best. And hence why Sweetwater a company that you can’t even touch a guitar before you buy one is dominating the industry-it’s not the gear of course it’s important- it’s the customer service experience- period. End of story. Every time I email my Sweetwater Rep I get an answer very quickly and it could be the simplest question. Ya see they “EARNED” my business!!!

I never shopped Sam Ash but how in God’s name could they be worse than GC? I used to slam a door on my hand just to see if I was not transparent.

The COVID years were guitar boom years to the companies with great website sales. Since everyone was stuck at home, learning guitar became a thing and sales went crazy. Having a cash business was the death knell for Sam Ash.

I will not miss them. Rarely did I ever shop in there store. Never online. Employees were clueless; just like at G.C.

I’ve got stories as a customer AND an employee… Most of them bad. Mismanagement by the family all the way down the chain. Problems decades before Covid.

The unwritten signs in SA & GC are : all sales are final. We have no service dept.

Without saying what I was doing and for who, I dealt with all the large music chains in New England. I had to deal with employees and management 6 days a week. Absolute nightmare from the top down. Majority of employees were okay to me, but treated their customers like garbage. It started at the top. Majority of management were absolute pos. Shoutout to Natick Guitar Center and Steve for being one of the biggest c'ntz I've ever met.

I ordered a Schecter before any store closing was announced. It arrived in a Epiphone box with a warped neck and corroded strings. I refused the guitar on the spot. An uppity employee tried to force a final sale. Eventually I got my refund. Brilliant idea, offer anniversary sales, then announce store closings and change the return policy in the middle of the sale.

I'm glad I got to live through the big box music store era. We had Mars Music in Albany, it was the size of a Macy's. If I can help it though, I'm always going to buy at my local mom and pop, they've been there my entire life. A good music store employee is a player him or herself, and is enthusiastic about playing, not stuck up

I worked at Sam Ash from 2001 until 2006 in their stock department. I met a lot of cool people who worked there and some are still friends of mine but that place was run horribly even back then. The Ash family were so cheap and they treated all the employees like crap. I remember they bought this new POS system and rolled it out right at the Christmas rush and it kept crashing when the lines were long. I still remember the name it was GERS. They probably got it because it cost 5 bucks less than the competition they were looking at.

I agree with the Guitar Center hate. I play bass, and if you go in there for bass gear, they just stick their nose up at you. I had one guy say to me “This is Guitar Center, not Bass Guitar Center”. I haven’t shopped there since.

I commented on your last video, but watching this one made me think I should share my experience with the Sam Ash in Clearwater as well. This was years ago, but one day I walked into the drum room at that crazy building Sam Ash was in there. There was a 70s clear Ludwig Vistalite there. It was in VERY poor condition. It was missing several lugs, mounting hardware, heads were all horrible, bass drum spurs missing, and even had some cracked shells etc... However, I never had a Vistalite and I wanted to see if I could make a deal and put some work into it. I talked to the guy working in the drum room and offered to trade my almost brand new Gretsch Catalina Birch on the condition that he would order the missing hardware for me and give me a set of new heads. He agreed and told me to bring in the Gretsch in a week or so and he should have the parts. I brought in my Gretsch but he said the parts haden't arrived yet, but I could take the Vistalite and he'd take the Gretsch and assured me the parts would be there in about another week. I took his word and left my Gretsch there and took the completely unusable Vistalite home. A week went by and I kept calling, only to be put on hold and never answered. Two weeks went by and the same thing. Nearly a month later I was furious at this point and loaded up the Vistas back into my car and just decided I'd take them back and get my old drums back. I went into the drum room and I could see a look of panic on the guy's face. We got into an argument and I reminded him that he hadn't even given me the heads yet. Then he was like, oh don't worry it's all good, follow me. Then walked me to the back and started sneaking out heads and other drum gear from the store to load them into my car!!?! I was like what are you doing? I am not comfortable with this at all! I just want my old drums back and you can take back these. Then he admitted that he had already sold my Gretsch. I was super angry and told him that I wasn't leaving there without a functioning drumset, and not one he steals out of the back of the store! I ended up having to settle for a used Ludwig Accent worth 1/3rd of the price of my Gretsch. I did manage to get him to give me a full set of new heads with it though, and an actual receipt to prove the transaction was legit. It was completely insane and one of the worst shopping experiences I've ever had. The good news is, I didn't actually hate the Accent. It sounded better than I thought it would, and I ended up playing that kit for a few years.

I bought a Jim Root jazzmaster from the website and it came with a Jim Root Jazzmaster neck that was falling off and the pickups that weren't screwed in. They replaced it but it was a very very sad moment for a 22 year old me.

We never stop talking shit on guitar center either tho and they go bankrupt every other year BUT they keep that used guitar site going and tons of product goes through there which is their saving grace....Sam Ash couldn't be assed for the website

My most recent Sam Ash experience was back in 2011 when I was shopping for a Marshall amp. After seeing a few prices being offered, I called the Sam Ash phone order number (perhaps it was NYC?) and asked the sales guy who answered what his best price was. He quoted a discount of about 15%, and I said I'd have to think about it and would call him back. When I decided to go for it, I called again and asked for that guy by name, but he was busy, so I asked this 2nd guy what his best price would be. He quoted a 30% discount, so I went with him. I got the amp brand new and in great shape in a timely way. I guess my experience is somewhere between an in-person visit and an internet order. My impression was that their sales people were able to independently make deals to achieve their sales for commissions. I was pleasantly surprised with how this particular sales went.

I got one guitar from them over 15 years ago. Bought a small amp from them 3 years ago. I'm not much of a brand new musical equipment buyer. I did not have a bad experience at Sam Ash Columbus,Ohio. It's the times, online buying is King. Most people know what they want and do their homework on a musical product. Also thanks to RU-vid channels like yours it's a complete examination, pros and cons.

My only experience with Sam Ash is through Reverb, and it hasn’t been good. 3 purchases: 1) Squire Bass IV, advertised as mint condition, but was defective. I returned it. 2) Michael Kelly Patriot Decree OP. Sam Ash canceled the order four days later, without informing me. 3) another Michael Kelly Patriot Decree OP, advertised as mint condition, but was far from it. I returned that too. The return process was slow and cumbersome both times, but they did pay for return shipping and issue full refunds. (Beware of Reverb listings that use stock photos for “Mint condition” items.)

Went to Sam Ash a few years back to purchase a really nice Epiphone Les Paul that I'd seen on one of the floor stands. I noticed a small crack in the neck pocket and took the guitar up to the counter to let them know that it should be discounted or taken off of the floor. They sold me a brand new one from the back and stuck the cracked one back on the floor stand, full price, just waiting for the right sucker. Never went back.

Around 4 years ago I went into a Sam Ash looking to buy a Strat. I found one that had a button next to the volume and tone knobs. At the time I didnt know what it was for. Great looking Strat. So as a Sam Ash associate was walking by I asked, "Hey, Im interested in this Strat. What does the button here do?" The associate looked at me and said, "Dont know. Im a Gibson guy." And walked away. So, I took my money somewhere else.

I was surprised when I heard they closed recently because I thought they went out of business decades ago. When our local store went under in the early 2000s, I figured the whole company dumped because I never heard any mention of them online or among local musicians again until a few weeks ago.

I loved Sam Ash! But it was very hard to get a deal from the manager at my local SA.

It's funny that I ran across your video about Sam Ash. I literally just got back from their store here in Vegas. I was taking back a brand new pickguard I purchased last week. I did not realize that all sales were final. The pickguard was still in the plastic Fender bag it came in. The idiot at the counter said, " Didn't you read your bloody receipt? All sales are final. We are going out of business. " I mean, it's only a $40 pickguard, but the service there was always horrible.

IDK where all these negatives are coming from - I had a Sam Ash rep that called me regularly and helped me return things that didn't fit. The nearest store is where I bought my first drum cymbal and online they always had better deals than anyone else 15-20% off anything. Don't get the hate

I bought 2 guitars a bunch of pedals and other gear plus countless patch cables etc from the Sam Ash in San Diego. Always had a great experience with the employees and am going to miss it. It sucks that another physical music shop is going extinct. I personally have never had a good experience at Guitar Center in San Diego. It always feels like your request is someone else's responsibility, on one trip I picked up a random Jackson, plugged it in, gave the Floyd a wiggle, all the strings came out. I pick up another one, go to plug it in, the whole input jack falls out. Brand new gear is just not set up or even properly checked for quality issues. You can never get any help and it takes 2.7 business days to do anything in there.

I'd like to ask you a question that's a little off topic like everybody that's a beginner I'm learning the scales pentatonic how do you gain speed of course I know there's repetition so on and so forth but I thought you might have some tips on that and on your right hand when you're gaining that speed or the strings hit on all down notes or they alternate picking might be a good subject for another post I'm asking you because I've been watching you for a long time and you're so detailed and everything that you talked about I appreciate any information and probably everyone else would too thank you Blackhawk

OT, my Max Guitar arrived and it is amazing. Only downside, I had to enroll at the community college, in Floyd Rose 101. Barely made it in, class was almost full.

I have the opposite experience with costumer service at Sam Ash and Guitar Center as the Going to miss Sam Ash E-Mail. Whenever I go into one or the other I always make a purchase, I have spent thousands of dollars at Sam Ash and many times not even an hello from the sales person that made the commission, in the beginning of June in Springfield N.J. I went to buy a Casio key board and I couldn't try the floor model because they didn't have a power source for it, instead they just said sorry about that and I left and went across the Ave, to Guitar Center played a Casio 400 and bought it at the same price as Sam Ash's closing the store sale, the Guitar Center employee's are always friendly there, the sale person even carried it out to my car for me gave me his card and told me to just call him if I have any questions. All the employees are friendly there at Guitar Springfield.

There is nothing better than your calm voice in looking at situations. Always cool.

I really loved our local store and will miss the heck out of them being there. I made a weekly trip there to check out new and especially used inventory. I have bought quite e few used guitars over the years and get absolute steals.

I grew up buying from and hanging out at the Sam Ash store in Hempstead, NY in the 60's and my friends and I made most of our musical equipment purchases from them. I have moved around the country quite a bit over the years and have shopped regularly at a few Sam Ash stores. Since I moved to FL in the mid-90's I had the pleasure of shopping at the Clearwater store quite often (after they bought out Thoroughbred Music). Apparently, lots of people have had bad experiences at many of the Sam Ash stores, but I have to say that I don't remember ever having a bad experience or being treated badly. Since I became very familiar with the Clearwater store and a few of their sales people, I will say that I was always treated nicely and a couple of times the sales people went out of their way to accommodate my needs. I for one am sorry to see Sam Ash go!

Travelling to Miami, on 2021 during covid,, went to the Dolphin mall to purchase a guitar at Samash, the store was closed, every other store was open, but when I was outside the store a guy came really fast, from inside, apologizing and saying that the store was getting a renovation (people were really working on it) and to relaunch in a few days, that was my personal experience with them.

The one experience that I can remember was like being in a “boutique “ snobby retail store with mostly high end gear

I have to chip in here. I shopped for many years at Sam Ash on Lee Road in Florida and I have to say that the service/help I received was always a great experience. I always got a discount for any marks or dings on the guitar and every time I asked if they could throw me a freebie I either got a strap or a lead thrown in without any question. I've worked in retail for over 47 years (clearly, I didn't make it as a pro musician Lol!) but many of those years I was a manager and I have to tell you folks, it all comes down to the people that you hire.

I've bought quite a few pieces from Sam Ash in Richmond, VA over the years, and had pretty good service. A Zoom 505 when I was in high school, three Fender instruments I've since let go of, a Moog Matriarch when they just came out and I traded my Moog Voyager rackmount towards it, and a Gibson 2010s J-35 that's my only acoustic. Now I'm closer to DC, and Chuck Levin's blows away any Guitar Center, it's too bad that I'm in Northern Virginia so it's a real hike.

In any big box store management focuses on credit cards and extended warranties. When you buy stuff online there is no pressure to buy add ons.

I had the best experience at their Time Square flagship store. It is a great family memory with my daughter playing bass in that store. I also just scored a Marshall vertical 212 cab at lower than advertised price during this closeout sale by calling and asking. My memories of the store are positive. 🎸

Sweetwater has become my new favorite. Being a west coaster we had GC and Musicians Friend (same co) and it was like that guys manbun experience. Now they only stock "this is your first guitar" inventory in the stores, they'll fail too

Great, simple discussion. Thanks - speaks to many’s experiences.

We didn’t have Sam Ash stores here in Maryland, but anytime I would visit my friend who lives in Clearwater, FL, we would go to the Sam Ash down there, which was literally five minutes around the corner from his house. Of course I had only been there a small handful of times, but from my own personal experience, the staff there were always great.

We never had a Sam Ash in Phoenix Arizona is just only GC and some independent guitar retailers.

My local store (New Haven, CT) had some attentive and knowledgeable staff throughout the years. I will miss them.

I don't think I ever bought more than a couple of cables and strings there, but I think it sucks when any competition closes.

I had mixed experiences at SA in Canoga Park. There was a time I returned an amp that was defective and I caught them putting it back on the floor. Their warranties for guitars that came with set ups was useless since their tech was terrible and screwed up my Rickenbacker 4003. But I did make some friends with the manager at the time and got first dibs on my Taylor before it was put out on the floor. I am not sorry their closing. But I don’t like buying guitars online without playing them so music stores are still needed.

Really good video can really connect the dots Just goes to show that community and communication is key to survival Thank You for this video 🍷

The thing about any store or company or doctor or Enterprise or restaurant what have you is that you're going to see good reviews and bad reviews. That's just normal. You could have a perfectly good experience at a store and give them a good review and two days later someone else will give them a terrible review. Maybe you got the good sales staff and they got the worst. And then it creates a stigma. So you have to kind of look past people's comments inform your own opinion in conjunction with what other people say. The truth lies somewhere between.

That’s why I shop at these little mom and pop’s music stores every new town we play at I’ll try to find one, you’ll be surprised on what you might find.

I used to go to the Sam Ash in Coconut Creek in South Florida and never had a problem. It's to bad they had to close and the people need to find new jobs. Thanks for the video Maxx hope you and the family are doing well. ☮️❤️🎸

Looking forward to the next video where you read through the comments from THIS video! And then just keep it going 😆

Bought a guitar from them online a week before they closed, so I don't know ifI can return it or not. It doesn't matter it's a Taylor and I love it. It was a weird purchase because I was looking at another guitar and this one popped up out of nowhere on there website with a good price and a 15% discount. I thought it was odd at the time and now I wonder if they knew way before the closing happened.

Last guitar I bought from Sam Ash (new) was sold to me as is about 2 years ago, and looked to be halfway through a setup when I purchased it (loose screws, action was all over the place, strings were tuned but intonation was non-existent). I brought it back for a setup and maybe a fret level and was told it would be at least 3-7 days before it would be finished. I brought it home and set it up myself and haven't been back since.

First off ..you have a great speaking voice. Perfect for radio. Second, Been playing and buying guitars, amps, ukes etc..for 50 years. This experience is NOT limited to Sam Ash. There’s a local shop in Petaluma, California I stopped going to. They let you touch nothing. Big signs "Do not Touch". Many stores understaffed, and arrogant sales people. I tried to buy local - but no more.

The wife and I have been going to the Las Vegas store for many years now...never a problem...ever.We always had a great experience there,sorry to see it go.

The problem with these stores is customer service. My local GC wouldn’t unlock the locking tuners on a guitar I really wanted to buy but it was so out of tune the fine tuners wouldn’t do it. They said the “didn’t have time”, and they wouldn’t let me do it. This is a store I’ve spent thousands of dollars in.

I live about an hour and a half away from the Sam Ash store in Cincinnati, and always wanted to visit it. Never got to go. Maybe i didn't miss out on much.

Most of my experiences at the store were good ones, employees were mostly friendly and would help me out if I needed it, and they always had strings and picks I was looking for. My one big gripe was just how bad their inventory got even before COVID, I used to have tons of brands to choose from, but they just started stocking less and less to the point where my only options were Michael Kelly or Squier, maybe once in a blue moon I'd see an Ibanez or Jackson come in, same problem with the amps, there were maybe like 3 amp models to look through on a good day. Very sad to see what they became before going out of business, this is the same location that would invite musicians like George Lynch and Mike Portnoy to sign autographs and give workshops there. They had an open mic night and metal guitar players meetup every week, it was loads of fun to attend these events while also having plenty of gear to choose from, that's the version of Sam Ash I'm truly going to miss...

I liked Sam Ash, at Forrest Hills, NY. It was really cool their customer service. Whenever I would go to the store or call, if they didn't have the guitar and/or equipment I wanted they check other stores and took down my phone number and they would ALWAYS call me back. Going to miss them. I was hoping someone would bail them out. Thank you for posting this.

In the 80s, no one could beat Sam Ash for pricing. Music Emporium was ok, but Sam Ash was better.

I bought my first amp at the white plains NY location but the 48th street location would profile you as soon as you walked in. I was there to buy a guitar and the guy asked me if I was buying or just looking cause he didn’t have time for games. I looked at him, showed him my wad of cash and said now you can suck mine and walked out. I was so happy Guitar Center had opened up a store in queens. It was 2 hours away from my home but well worth the trip. I spent 3gs on gear!

I had a fairly decent experience at sam ash. I was asking about getting a fret polish and the guy working told me not to do it in their store because the tech would takes months and probably just do it wrong. It was weird to hear but I appreciated the (brutal) honesty.

I was a Sam Ash customer since 1978 when I took up the guitar. My first real amp, 1966 Super Reverb, Gibson Hummingbird, Strat Plus, 1960 Custom Shop Strat, Shell Pink Strat, etc, etc ALL purchased from Ash. In the day, they had the best managers and staff. Met Jeff Beck at 48th St. Location. They always worked with me concerning cost and support. Fast forward to post 2000. Their customer service dropped dramatically, and they never seemed to grasp the new reality of their market. Post Covid was the final nail in their coffin. StilI, I will miss them.

10 years ago cincinnati store looked like a close out sale. recent online experience they sold me an ibanez with a twisted neck and tried hard to keep me from returning it. sleezy

My last purchase was a Martin D-18 from Sam Ash in 2022. It was an online purchase, was a great experience and of course the guitar is amazing. I’m in Richmond VA where Sam Ash and GC pretty much share a parking lot. I always preferred the atmosphere of SA over GC.

I dealt with Sam Ash and had great experience in the Chicago land area. Bought 3 high end guitars got great deals and great service.

Before I ordered my guitar and case I took numbers down of stores that had this guitar in stock that the sales person had provided me on the phone. I called a couple stores to check the condition of the guitar before I ordered. I called the sales person back and gave him the store number I wanted the guitar from. Checked my account page the next day to see if it shipped, and the order was canceled. The phone sales person could not explain why. He said maybe the guitar was out of stock? an hour on the phone I got the order replaced from the same store so we shall see if get my guitar or if my order gets canceled.

I'm no experienced musician and my Sam Ash here was my main store for 24 years. Yeah, the sales people were uneducated but since they were right around the block, when I ran my basement studio for the public, I was happy they were there.

Man....I visited one Sam Ash in my life - in Las Vegas. I was blown away, BUT.....I live in Iowa and we are now stuck with one Guitar Center. That and the Internet totally destroyed every private music store here.

Tried Sam Ash once, never even thought about going back, haven't been in a GC in 15 years. I'm lucky enough to have some excellent high end shops near enough. The Tone Shop in Addison TX has been great.

I just recently purchased a jazz bass from Sam ash out here in queens ny, and it was a nightmare, when I went to pick up my bass they had it sealed in the box and I just happen to open it in the store and the bass was split in half litterally. They sent me to another store to get a replacement and that one not only was the truss rod maxed out but the hex head on the truss rod was stripped finally they shipped me one and the neck was bowed, I ordered in off of sweet water here in a couple days and perfect no issues what so ever. The customer service with Sam ash wasn’t the worst but for the issues I had to deal with i never went back there clearly something lacking in quality control

I believe it also depended on the area the store was in

I bought so many things at the Sam Ash in Forest HIlls Queens NY over the years. I swore them off when I had called asking if they are able to order parts for a Premier snare drum. Told to come in to the store with the drum to check it out. OK. When you're told that you figure they can get it. Pack up my drum, hop on the subway get there. Spend 15 minutes checking in the drum. Get to the drum depot. Same guy I spoke to is there. I tell him I need a lug casing for a Premier snare drum. He is looking at the drum, with the Premier badge in his face. He asked if it's a Premier drum, we don't deal with Premier. Wasted two plus hours of my life. Never set foot in there again. This was 2003.

I grew up right next to the Forest Hills, NY Sam Ash. I bought my first instrument there, an Alto Sax. I also bought my first guitar there, an Ibanez Artcore semi-hollow, along with a Vox Pathfinder 15R combo. I fully agree with all the negative sentiment. I've had the tech/cashier complain I was taking too long to tune my guitar. Most of the time I've gone in there, I was treated like I was wasting somebody's time. There are good branches out there, but that one was horrible.

I am about to buy a liquidated warehouse stock Godin guitar at a fantastic price. Rather nervous about condition it will arrive in.

Never had any problems at the Sam Ash stores I have shopped at in different parts of the country. Not doubting the complaints either. But have had some terrible encounters with those at Guitar Center. But GC stores with great customer service also had proper store management.

back in the 90s they were a decent company and I preferred them to Guitar center, but after 2010 service really went down, may be because pressure of new companies and on line retail growing stronger.

I used to do a lot of business with Sam Ash in Columbus, Ohio. They had a great staff and I got a J-45 & a Les Paul from them plus a lot more. I met Sammy at Summer NAMM and he was a great guy and rememered my name during the show and always said something when we passed by.

I worked in a music store back in the 80s and then went into motorcycles for 28 years. I opened a music store 3 years ago. It's been an experience, to say the least. I worked in a motorcycle shop as a GM and went on to work with one of the manufacturers. The problem with the big box stores in all industries is the corporate structure and how they have a disconnect from the customer. Some companies are better than others but once they go public it's only a matter of time before things start to get bad. But honestly between the amount of products and the internet running a business is not an easy thing to do. Companies push and push the employees, underpay them, and don't train them. This is why the consumer gets a bad experience at these stores. It's the same thing on my end as a store owner, some of the manufacturers have great gear but are a complete pain to deal with. I just took on a very big brand and 6 months in they are really close to being dropped. I don't have time to babysit my rep and keep watching everything they do to make sure they do what they are supposed to. Personally, I think the days of the big box music stores are over other than the really big markets. Small privately owned shops will come back. I get shopping online is easy and convenient but geez, there is a whole big world out there. Sitting in a house looking online day in and day out is just depressing. Get out and support these small shops.

I have only been to two Sam Ash stores, both were a good experience. The Indianapolis store treated me well every time and were fair on trade ins. I bought both guitars and amps from that store. I will miss them.

I had a good experience there buying a classical guitar for my son. They put the guitar a side for me , it was a good price and they gave me a little more of a discount when I got there. When I was looking for an sg or epiphone sg I went there and tried all the guitars they had no one bothered me I just pulled guitars down picked a amp and tried them out. Its a drag all these stores in N.J. are closing, I don't know how everyone buys guitars on line. Every guitar I bought I use to go to multiple guitar stores and tried out the guitars until I found the one I wanted. Every guitar was a little different And when I found the one I liked I knew it right a way. How do you do that with online guitars ?

It where I got my fully updated Nux mg30 for $53 that was a return

I am sorry to hear the Sam Ash closed, but, to be honest, I was only in a Sam Ash (Vegas) once and the staff were all about one other customer and 99% ignored me. When I entered the store, I told them, "It was my first time in the store and looking to see what you had." Once that was out, I wasn't there in their eyes. My experience is similar to what you mentioned in the video. If they failed in business, it was their own doing.

I loved Sam Ash. They were a nice alternative to Guitar Center, and them being across the street it expanded the available inventory on Sunset Blvd. Whenever I went to Guitar Center (I live right behind it on Hollywood Blvd) I would also go across the street to see what Sam Ash had. It made the trip so much more interesting and fun. And Sam Ash always had an amazing inventory of guitars, from the Tailor room, to the Martin D-45's sitting on the wall on the other side. Guitar Center never had the variety of relics, and Gibson Explorers that Sam Ash had. And the upstairs at Sam Ash, they had the raddest keyboards, as well as things you don't usually find, like flute and saxophone microphones. I bought my Taylor from Sam Ash, as well as my wireless mic/headphones set. I absolutely miss it. I drive by it almost every day. Seeing it all closed up almost brings a tear to my eye.

I went to the Sam Ash in Dallas and let them know my GF collects the old Dan Electro pedals (the ones like a brick). Guy behind the counter got me a great price on 2 of them and let me know about some guitar tech equipment he'd been trying out. I never bought anything beyond that from them, but the store seemed well staffed and had a full inventory. Most of the guitar centers in the area at the time had barren walls.

Customer service in music stores is always an issue anywhere. I think that the only company that is overcoming that in someway is sweetwater, with great customer service and great stock.

Ive been playing for 30 years and i wish i had of taken maintenance more seriously from the start. Or at least had someone say to me to do my own maintenance.

I can only share my experience: I never bought anything from one of Sam Ash's brick and mortar stores. A few weeks after they became an online-only retailer, I bought a new guitar through them. It arrived in pristine condition, well set up, and ready to play. The follow-up has been great. I then bought a used guitar thru Reverb that ultimately was handled thru Sam Ash. One phone call with a 20‐something doofus was amusing (but at 60, any interaction with anyone under 40 typically amuses me) - same "canceled order" issue. But ultimately, the guitar arrived just fine. So, no complaints.

Guitar Center, as a company, combined with a lot of stores over a broad portfolio they started building like crazy around 2000 by acquiring everything from franchise operations (Musician's Friend - last one is oddly enough really close to the last Blockbuster) to more than one major online retailer of orchestral instruments. They were sold right before they went public and are managed by a ... uh ... management company and the chapter 11 they went through in 2020 is already done (they resolved it in a single month after filing for it lol) due to infuse of cash and debtors cancelling debt. If they tank now, I will be pretty surprised.

I did business with Sam Ash in Clearwater Florida for over 20 years. During all that time I had a good relationship with the company and many of their great employees. I am sorry to see them go.

I've never shopped at Sam Ash so I don't know how they are, but a few months back I saw they were selling the discontinued Viceroy Brown Alex Lifeson piezo model for 1,300 in new condition which confused me. Maybe they meant used-like new or something. Strange. I would love for Epiphone to bring it back but it's pretty unlikely. If they did, they would charge twice as much as the original one was, probably around 1,500 or something ridiculous.