Baxter and Jonathan talk about the funny sales pitches that you hear at guitar shops. 115 NE Broad St, Southern Pines, NC 28387 910-725-0807 Shop@Casinoguitars.com SHOP HOURS : MON - SAT 11AM - 5PM, SUN 12-4PM
I went into this local shop to check out a Dr Z amp that had been listed online for over a month. As I was playing it, they STAGED a call from "someone in North Carolina" that was trying to buy it RIGHT NOW, for full price, and I had 2 minutes to decide if I wanted to buy it. It took me a minute to realize they were playing me, and I definitely haven't been back.
I don't have a stupid sales pitch to share because I'm a middle aged woman and I'm apparently invisible when I go to guitar shops. I can wander around for half and hour and not talk to anyone
Weird. I was just hearing from some friends how it seems if you are a somewhat attractive female who can play even just 10 songs reasonably competently you can gain 100 times more followers on social media than one more old white guy who plays much more expertly. It's just a matter of market saturation and following the money. Humans are funny animals.
Oh yeah, been there, seen that, put the salesprick straight, in a car showroom. My ex. was looking to buy a new car. The salesprick walked up to me and started spewing the BS about the car's performance and how it was faster than 'Car X'. I actually worked in motorsport, at the time, explained why the car we arrived in (mine) was significantly faster, then pointed him in her direction and told him, she was the one buying, she's paying cash, and she's not interested in how fast it isn't.
I haven’t seen another woman in a guitar shop in years. I have to namedrop my $$$ gear just to be taken seriously but I guess it beats aggressive sales. Sometimes I’ve just left
This is one of the few can't-miss go-to channels for guitar stuff on a daily basis. I can't understand why you guys don't have 10x the subs. Sooo many people missing out on the Baxter/Jonathan daily-fun-wagon-train. Keep it up!
I can see this one. A lot of people don’t even know Heritage guitars exist. I can see explaining to someone how they are made in the old Gibson Factory and started by former gibson employees can lead to that assumption. I personally do believe that Heritages do have some of that vintage gibson magic that new Gibsons lack.
@@HannahGuitars that's good to know! I wish they made a double cut style guitar, but maybe one day I'll get that urge to own an LS style guitar and I'll be sure to play a bunch of theirs
A dumb guitar sales pitch actually got me one of my favorite guitars I own lol I was 17 and It was just after I graduated high school and we were in Spokane Washington and I was at GC and I found a black and white Gibson Explorer hanging on the wall and I thought it was the coolest guitar and I loved how it played, plus the images of James Hetfield and Skwisgaar from deathklok kicking ass on explorers really made me love it, so when I graduated my parents said I could either pick a trip to Mexico or a New guitar, of course I wanted a new guitar lol, but when my parents came into GC and seen what I picked my Mom hated it but my dad loved it lol, so my mom was really trying to get me to not buy it or pick something else or really think about it ect (my mind was made up due to the fact I already had a les Paul studio that I worked 2 jobs to buy so I wanted something really different lol) the sales dude at GC pulled my dad aside and told him "hey man that's pretty much the best guitar ever made, man" and when my dad relayed this information my mom finally folded lol, and to this day I still use it as a stage guitar and have no regrets lol
My guitar journey was reignited in part because of an Esteban guitar. I was invited to join a band (for my vocals) by a friend from church. Our vocals were great together. Following our first rehearsal, my friend asked if I ever played guitar. I told him I had played when I was a kid and a little bit as a teen, but nothing more than bedroom stuff. I was in my late 40s at the time. He brought out an Esteban acoustic/electric (a "special" birthday gift from his sister), told me to take it home & practice the chords from the signature song, having written them down, along with an inpromptu CD cut of the song & return the following week ready to play. I told him he was expecting too much. He said he likes our vocals but he doesn't want a vocalist who doesn't play an instrument. The pressure was on. For the whole week I practiced. The high action & heavy gauged strings blistered and bled my fingertips. The following week I played what I could of the song, laying off the parts that were above my rudimentary skills. It was terrible, but my friend said "not bad", keep practicing. Four months later, having rediscovered a lot of joy in playing guitar in that Esteban, we played our first concert at a men's fellowship. I had bought a pre-owned Squier Bullet Strat and also a Crate amp from eBay for that first concert. For the songs I knew well, I would volume up a bit and for those I did not, I volumed down. I played that Esteban for a good year or so until I obtained a Seagull acoustic of my own... Many songs were written by my friend and I on that Esteban. He still has it, having worn a hole just below the pickguard since then. So yes indeed, those Estebans hold a place in my heart. ...as far as guitar sales pitches, y'all pretty much covered them, especially the "its as good as or better than a _ _ _ _ _ _ _" and driving their lie home with "That is why we carry these instead" with the kind of enthusiasm of John Candy trying to sell his Casio watch in "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" lol!!
@@csnide6702 Thanks man. Oh make no mistake. The Esteban is everything you would expect from an infomercial guitar, and even less. Made that Squier feel and play like a Custom Shop lol!!!
Back in the early 1990s a friend was looking to buy his first tube amp. Well the salesman sold him a solid state Fender amp, and told him that the large caps in the back of the amp were tubes.
We went to my local shop, and I didn't realize my wife was wearing a Sweetwater shirt. Much shit was talked. Off topic story: my parents were visiting Isreal etc, and they wanted to swim in the Jordan River. Dad looked at mama and realized his wife was in a huge crowd of Jews and Muslims wearing a shirt with a big ass pig on the front. I think it is even funnier than the time she blew out her knee and fell on Henry VIII. Well his grave anyway.
I used a Silverton tube amp my parents bought me in 1961 for years. When it came time for a big boy amp, I jumped into the deep end and bought a new Fender super reverb in 1968. I still have it. It was clearly more than I needed at the time but turned out to be a great choice in the long run. As for a sales pitch, the salesman tried to sell me a Bandmaster amp. My dad said, there's no way I'm going to help you carry one of those around. Smart choice in the end.
My worst sales pitch experience is brought to you by none other than.......Guitar Center! Fender Jag hanging high on the wall. I approach a salesman and politely ask if he could get it down for me. Salesman looks me over and says "No". The end. Just wow.
My favorite sales pitch was when I was at a store working a deal. The deal was not working so the sales person said “I did all this and your not gonna buy anything?” He spent the last half an hour with me and five other customers working it. No worries I said I won’t waste your time again. I didn’t know I had to buy a guitar every time I went in.
I mean, as someone who works in a service industry... It's pretty frustrating when you spend 30+ minutes with a customer, pulling shit down off of walls, handing them different things, giving them the whole rundown of everything you offer, and they just decide not to buy anything at the last minute. Like... I could've been working with a customer who was actually here for business. You wasted his time. Of course he was mildly annoyed with you.
30 minutes of work is not worth $1000 or more for a guitar purchase, sorry. Plus your employer pays you for that 30 minutes regardless so quit complaining that a customer isnt making your boss richer out of obligation.
A few years back I bought a Martin DRS2 acoustic at a lacal guitar store. The sales guy said "Great Ill go downstairs and get the case." 10 full minutes later, he came back with a case. It was too small for the Martin and obviously not a match. A bit 'put out' that he had to go back downstairs again. off he goes. This time the case was right, but there was a large gouge out of one side. When I pointed this out he replied" Does it really matter?" I told him "Well yes...900 quids worth of matter!" Off he thumps huffilly and tried again. No luck this time either, case didnt fit. Obviously, very annoyed, he came up with the line, "What do I have to do to get you to walk out of the store with this guitar!" ( Thats a whole new comments line right there!) I kept calm though and replied "Get me the right case for this guitar.." So off he stomps, comes back up the stairs heavy of breath,with a Shiney new Martin case, It fits, its spotless, He says "Happy? I reply "Ecstatic...!" we have a sale. I leave the shop with may DRS 2 in a case for a D18/D28. Very nice it is too"
When Morely first released their Just Distortion pedal with NO controls. The last thing printed in the manual was, "and if you still don't like this? Get over it! It was only $20.00.".
When i was a kid back in the mid to late 70's, nobody in my area sold Marshall. Every amp I bought for a few years I bought because a sales guy told me it sounded just like a Marshall. At 20, I finally just bought my first Marshall and still use mostly Marshall to this day.
When i was 12 in 1986...I went to the music store with my father to buy my first electric guitar...Told the salesman that i was a fan of Hendrix and Gilmour and wanted a Fender Stratocaster...He told us the Strat was good for nothing and i would be better off with a Ibanez guitar...I ended up with a Pink Ibanez Proline 1440...which i hate...Couple years later i got my Strat...
I have the magic power of invincibiliy in a guitar shop. I can defeat any salesman. "Sorry, I'm left handed.......... and I already have a Mexican Strat in black"......
Joathan, thank you for bringing up Variax. Mine cured my GAS (for the most part). I do feel like I need a second one eventually as a spare (probably one w/ a trem).
My favorite Guitar Center stupid memory involved a 10 foot guitar cord with a lifetime warranty that had crapped out. When I went to replace it, the cashier said: “Oh, these cords never go bad.” I just looked at him and opted to keep my mouth shut. I’ve never been back to that Guitar Center.
Worst I've heard was at a local GC. Teenager looking at a Les Paul Jr. and the salesman told him "it has single-coil humbucking pickups!" I was in my 20's and kindof a snot so I stepped over and said 'There's no such animal." The look that salesman gave me...
Years ago I went into a guitar center and the sales person let me check out a bass that I was looking at, and it was way out of tune and I didn’t bother to tune it and just started plucking random notes and in a pure “suck up” move he says “aw man that sounds jazzy,can I get you to take this home with you today “😄
At 5:05, about Ovation acoustics... true, they just won't sit on your lap unless you clamp it to your body with your picking arm and pull it toward you with your fretting hand, while also trying to play with at least some amount of sensitivity. My bass player had one he got for recording and because he thought it would be good to "learn" guitar on and it had a pickup. I tried to make music with it but that went nowhere. Who the hell thought this was a good idea? A plywood top epoxied to a big slippery plastic salad bowl.
@@zeusapollo8688 Or put it out back for a dog dish. But it was a gimmick and people bought a lot of 'em. I never had the heart to tell my buddy his guitar sucked.
Monster Guitar Cables tech selling uni-directional cables , superior sound quality over omni directional cables, the copper was wrapped to allow signal to flow faster when you plugged the correct end into the guitar and the other end into your amp.
I heard a guy at a certain shop on Capital Blvd tell a lady she needed to buy a $2000 Martin for her husband (who was apparently a novice) because “it’s a Martin! This will be worth more in a few years than what you pay for it now.” This was in the 2000s so it was way before the used guitar craziness of the past few years.
I dress like a 90s grungy punk usually. Any time I walk into a GC or a guitar store outside my area, people leave me alone because they assume I am broke. Its fantastic actually, I hate being told a sales pitch. I’m also a welding contractor who runs my own custom car shop, I have money, and I pay cash every time. I buy high end because I grew up really poor as a kid and never has a chance to buy nice gear. I LOVE the look on peoples faces at guitar stores when I buy something, they always legitimately look astonished and beyond shocked. I can’t get away with that at my 2 local music stores, I know them all by name😂 but they also let me browse and know I’m kinda have social anxiety, they respect my boundary’s and Let me play/plug into whatever I want because they know, if I feel the vibe or fall in love, I’m a good buyer. Support your local music stores!!!❤❤❤
When I got my first Strat, it was better than I was. It made me play better. That's a fact. I suffered some serious imposter syndrome the first 4 or 5 months I had it and was determined to deserve it.
I had this one pulled on me a few years back at GC: " Let's see how this guitar looks on you " , followed by what color looked best on me and then having different sales people come in and give their opinions. So, I left there ,went next door to Sam Ash and bought the Les Paul that I felt looked best on me LOL, but true
LOL. I've had salesgirls do that to me when buying glasses (spectacles) - trying to get me to spend more. I always replied, 'It doesn't matter how I look. I can't see me from here.' Salesmen try to massage your ego. Saleswomen try to make you think 'you have a shot'.
I was about 24 (in the 80's) and had cash in my pocket to buy a guitar. I had my eye on this sweet ES175 but couldn't get the sales guys attention. I became clear he was avoiding me, so I gave up being nice and interrupted him to ask about the guitar. He looked me dead in the eye and said "I don't believe you are serious about buying a guitar". WTF? So I left and bought the Country Gentleman that I still play today.
Personally,,, and keep in mind I am a fender fan-boy , but after the mad oversaturated RU-vid/internet/everywhere push when the came out I will never ever play an acoustasonic jazzcaster(they did almost the same push for the other models too) . That sales pitch just really got on my nerves.
I find the PRS split is somewhere between a P90 and a Strat single coil sound. It is neither, but is its own unique sound. My first guitar ended up being horrible to play and when I got my first decent guitar my playing definitely improved.
Love the channel! Binging over the last month has intensified my excitement for guitar. Thanks! I was wondering if you guys had thoughts on the Japanese made Aerodyne specials that came out last year.
Casino Guitars - Baxter and Jonathan - I am interested in the comment you made about the minimum quality Fender guitar being an American Professional. A little preamble for your readers benefit. I've asked sales people the main difference between the higher end MIA Fenders and low end like Squiers. their response was mostly upgraded electronics and hardware. I own 2 Squier standard Strats and 3 MIA Strats. I've upgraded the Squiers (MIA electronics and hardware, Seymour Duncans and Wilkenson bridge, bone nut, locking tuners) and they both sound better than my Fenders. I've even taken my Squiers to GC and played them against the best MIA they had in the store. Mine sounded better. The main reason I bought Squiers strats to begin with was the modern "C" neck felt perfect for MY hand. I've played gibsons, jackson, ibanez, epiphone, squier and fenders - different models from each company. It turns out that for me, strats are the only guitar for me. Good bye Gibson Les Paul, SG, etc. My experience after experimenting for several years is the strat is the most comfortable, ergonomic, best sounding most versatile guitar. Leo Fender hit it out of the park. for the benefit of readers, I urge you experiment as I have. Also, are you a tinkerer (upgrade with after market parts) or do you not want to change anything? Also, will you ever sell the guitar? resale value is better on high end. My Squiers will get me nothing $ regardless of upgrades. I'm keeping my Squiers til I die.
You Just torched Mitchell!!!😂🤣🤣😂 Little known fact outside of the GC world: Mitchell guitars are named after the gentlemen who actually started GC, Wayne Mitchell. What a way to crap all over the founder after you finagled ownership of the company from his widow after Wayne’s passing. Injury, meet insult. 🙄🤦♂️
Trying out a Les Paul for my first time the employee I generally go to hands it to me (I forget what exact one). I sit and before the weight is fully on my leg the shop owner comes by and while passing me he points across the room and says "the cheap stuff's over there". I looked at my guy, hung the thing back up and left. I later found out that the 'owner' ran the 'drums and low-end guitar' portion while another dude owned the 'high end guitar and piano' bit of the store and Sir Shouldn'ttalktocustomers was just trying to guide my cash to his wallet. Baaaaad sales pitch.
One finger Ovation player - whooooooo! Jonathan made a great point, develop a relationship with a reputable local shop. My local guys are knowledgeable and have a good reputation. That’s why I keep coming back.
I love the "it'll sound better because of the [insert wood here]" because no, that's not how a closed insulated cavity works, and pickups use magnets. Wood is not magnetic. Been told this so many times when I'm deciding between two different guitars.
The density and porosity of the wood WILL affect the way the strings resonate. Same thing with the hardware. Anything that affects the way the strings vibrate, resonate and respond will have a measurable effect on the way the strings effect the pickups and the electrical circuits' response to them. Even two guitars made of the same wood can sound different based on the individual properties of each piece of wood and the differences between them. So while a mahogany guitar may not necessarily sound better than a basswood guitar, the differences in their vibrational and resonant properties will inherently affect the way that the strings affect the circuit and will end up sounding different from each other even if all other variables are identical.
The opposite- Coolest Lady - “I’m in love with the Taylor Big Baby…should I just get that?” (she’s playing a Cort) GC Sales Guy - “You really shouldn’t impulse buy…and we’re closing in 20.” Why this fired me up? I had teed this sale up for an easy slam dunk. Over the last half hour, her and I had been having fun checking out guitars to suit her voice…and when the Big Baby in Walnut came up, she lit up! That was her dream guitar and within her finances. Just didn’t think she deserved a Taylor yet. I knew if she took that home, she was gonna be up till 5am playing it. Then this jerk off murders the buzz we had going. PS I didn’t work there…we just hit it off
Worst "sales pitch" ever, I asked if I could play a 300Euro guitar and the guy told me only if I paid for it first. After confirming he was serious I left. Told other guitar players around town about this and they knew that the owner of this particular store was known for that. None of them would shop there. Strangest guitar shopping experience I've ever had. Avoid Musica Bilbao when in Spain. There are several great guitar shops in Bilbao to choose from.
I have no problem financing things through Sweetwater, because they always have promos to pay it off with no interest. But you're right, I definitely don't want to be making monthly payments on a whole pile of guitars.
Honestly, I'm curious about the Mitchell hate. I own an LP Mitchell with coil tap p'ups and I absolutely love that thing. I put it through the ringer constantly and it gets the job done every time. I mean, like what you like, but I have had a great experience with mine and I own Jacksons and Fenders as well.
The Swiss army knife section was a funny part. I'm harkened back to an excellent player and friend who bought a Seymour Duncan "Convertible" amp. It really was a Swiss army amp and the different plug in modules really did sound very much like a Marshall, Boogie, Fender, etc (this was way before "amp modeling").....Problem was it only worked on half of our gigs. He carried a Fender (Super reverb 10"?) amp as a backup. Great sounding amp though :). As primarily an audio guy, I'm a huge fan of tube amps over solid state (the one glaring drawback is to get some output stage overdrive tones, the stage volume can become untenable). OTOH If a great pedal/modeling setup can get you 95% of your desired tone and the rest of the band/audience doesn't have to suffer a stupid high stage volume, it's a good tradeoff. Cheers
I loooove financing. I find that between the 3 major chains, if I keep the total around $100 a month, it's effortless to pay off, and it also keeps my buying under control. If I'm at $100, I don't buy anything else until something's paid off. It's perfect.
When I started playing, the near retirement, owner of a local shop told me "You should have 13 gauge strings on your guitar. They sound WAY better!" 2 weeks later I go back to the same store to have my truss rod adjusted and he tells me "These strings are way to heavy for this guitar. That's why you're having issues with it."
@@TELE6220 My bad. Yes too heavy since I didn't have a clue about guitars. He sold me the 13-56 strings that I used the only guitar I had at the time in E standard but I didn't know about adjusting the truss rod. Then he said the strings were "Too heavy" at the time I didn't know that SRV played in E standard with 13s as strings. I was REALLY new at guitar.
You are absolutely correct tone is in the gear you buy but music is in the fingers. A great musician with a crappy guitar can make you cry. A weekend musician, golf laying oral surgeon playing a 20,000$ handmade guitar can make you cry in pain.
My favourite is the one about Heritage Guitars being made in the same factory Gibsons used to be made in, by the same people. Oh yeah? 40 years after Gibson moved out, there are still people who were there 40 years ago? Very unlikely. There definitely aren't any who were there in the 50s, 60s & 70s. Add to that, that the company (Heritage) has been sold twice since then.
Combining two topics, I'm surprised the guy didn't say, "You're missing a finger? Jerry Garcia was missing a finger too. He played ...." FWIW, I have an Esteban electric.
Heard an ex coworker say that Cort guitars were made in California cause he didn’t know the actual answer off the top of his head, every other employee jumped in to correct him, he also told someone the finger rest on a bass was an extra pickup
Gotta say I sold my Fenders and got a Music Man St Vincent Goldie and it is unbelievable how much more playable it is. You are 100% correct on PRS splits , but actually I think they sound shrill and awful. Lastly, I’m chopping off my right middle finger so I can play more like Jerry.
The one guy that truly tried to pitch me something, I wish I had listened to. At the time I wasn't a big Strat/Tele guy so I was having none of it. It wasn't Fender he was pushing but early 90's G&L USA. I'm still not much of a S type guy, but I wish I had picked up the T style now.
Loved your missing finger story (sorry for the misled owner). I wonder what Django Reinhardt Played? For sure NOT an Ovation. FWIW I think Ovation guitars are mostly pretty good sounding guitars. I've put many, many Ovations through a console (Roy Clark, Glenn Campbell and thousands of others can't be wrong ;)) Although they sounded great, they weren't the only reason for the great performance :). Thanks for the chuckle.
I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard a sales pitch; I usually already have my money out and ready to leave the store with my new gear almost as soon as I’ve walked in One time I was trying out pedals and the sales guy handed me an Eric Johnson strat plugged into the AC15 with the blue celestion. I told him that’s not fair because any pedal would sound good! I’ve been jonesing for that rig for almost 20 years!
I always research extensively before I buy, except for the amp I needed for my Gretsch 2420t. The pickups are so low in power that I could only have the volumes at 100%, or it wouldn't work. So, I went straight to GC to get something that would work. All I knew was I didn't want to spend a fortune, and I didn't want tubes because I'm bound to drop it. He pointed me towards two that were definitely sensitive enough to work with low output pickups and weren't too much more than a practice amp. Being Gretsch is produced by Fender, I went with the Mustang LT25. The great part about that is that it's programmable and very loud. Maybe too loud for my small living room, but perfect for if or when I play publicly.
when i was still new to electric guitar i was at the local GC and i had a legitimate question... "so whats the difference between the rosewood and the maple fretboards?". yeah, the answer i got was not exactly what you're thinking. the sales guy says to me "well the maple is going to be more mellow sounding, and the rosewood is generally going to be faster". i have actually heard that line from more than one sales person at that establishment.
Bro, I agree with the celebrity endorsed guitars for the most part....however, A celebrity guitar that is AMAZING is for real the EOB Stratocaster. If you wanna sound like radiohead.....you want that guitar. A strat with a humbucker in bridge and a sustainer in neck pickup......you can do some amazing ambient music and synthy music, it really does do something different. And it really does kinda give you every tone you'd ever want with the mini 59 in the neck and the single in middle and a sustainer. But it does sound like a fender with the sustainer off, cuz it is a fender like you said, not a gibson. the mini 59 can only go so far.
I absolutely CANNOT repeat some of the sales pitches we used to say at GC in the late 1990's pre-vulture capital corporate, when there was less than 40 stores chain wide. We sometimes would have an employee contest on a Saturday. A contest of who could come up with the absolute worst and most ridiculous sales pitches. About 99% of these sales pitches were beyond politically incorrect. You could never say the things we said then, today. We had a ton of fun and the customers loved it, and laughed with us. For the alumnus. "Nice boots. Are those snakeskin?".
I just financed a Magnatone Varsity Reverb off Sweetwater. 48 months but I put $800 down and plan on paying it off within 6 months. I didn't want to dip into my savings account so this made sense
I had an Ovation Preacher electric and the neck was thick. I'm guessing it was the same neck they put on their acoustics. Not a good choice if you're missing a finger. GC just wanted to onload that Ovation.
My favorite is "This finish allows the guitar to BREATHE!" Sorry, I personally prefer a thin finish, but the wood in your guitar quit breathing when the tree was cut down. I don't think I can hear the difference between a guitar with a thin Nitro finish or a super thick, it will survive a nuclear winter, Polyurethane finish. But I also can't hear what my wife is saying about me most of the time, so I could be totally wrong on this one.
Tone is in the fingers. I bet Jeff Beck could make a Cheap Squier through a line 6 spider sound great. To a great extent great music performances come from your fingers, the gear gets you across the rest of the way. I'm buying pedals to expand my sonic paintbrush. I wont play any better but the sounds may excite me and get me to try something new. At the least I may keep myself entertained with a looper.
6:13 LOL We were at GC Saturday (where I finally got to play an American Vintage II stratocaster!) and my chick was in the acoustic room with this big black shiny guitar in her lap and she goes "This is a really pretty guitar. It's probably crap isn't it...." I looked at the peg head... Esteban. 😂😂😂
I don't regret it, but I did go for that "it's more fender than a fender" as a teen, and while I absolutely love my G&L it is definitely not a Fender, even if it is shaped like a telecaster. And my MusicMan bass is not just a next level P-Bass. I understand how the buy in for being a Fender dealer can be since around a third of the floor space at my local guitar shop is Fender acoustics that are not moving, and since they've gone Fender they aren't carrying a plethora of different string brands anymore, just Fender and some DR.
New shenanigans by Fender? Let’s hope it’s some sort of new Road Worn series. I like my guitars relicd and nitro but the American Vintage ll’s are $3000+ CAD. Ouch.
The GTX is not confusing. Read the manual. It tells you what every button does. Then just use the Fender Tone app to modify the settings/effects. Get the GTX 100 or the 50 with the foot switch. The 100 includes the foot switch.