For me its when the $4,500 guitar has never been setup at all, intonation is horrible, action is way high, pickups heights haven't been set, and the sales guy say's "if you buy it, we'll set it up for you" how about you set it up, I'll play it and then decide if I want to buy it.
Let me guess, GC. I looked at two GLP Standards. One with HB's and the other with White Soap Bars. The '57 reissue gold tops.. 4500.00. Nah. I am looking at FGN now gold tops and soap bars. I have a '99 GLP Std . It's a nice guitar. My FGN is a nice guitar as well. OPTIONS is my point. His attitude was above my paygrade.
I'm a 68 yr old somewhat intermediate player; I play at home in my soundproof studio with a couple of friends every week or two, most times I play by myself and enjoy it immensely. I'm an ok player, no more, no less. I have 12 very nice guitars that are much better than my skill level deserves, and I'm always in the market for the next one. There is nothing more annoying than being judged by my skill level and being talked down to by the kid working in the store. Playing guitar is my hobby, I do it for fun and to improve my playing; I don't need it to make a living. There are thousands of golfers and guitar players, and just a handful that do it professionally. If you are selling golf equipment or musical instruments and the only customers that you think deserve your respect and attention are the virtuosos, you are going to fail spectacularly, and rightfully so.
"I'm looking for this item I saw on your website?" "Oh, we don't stock that, but we can order it and have it sent to your house." Yeah, well, no kidding. So can I. Way to teach me that there's no point in coming to your store again.
What do you want them to do? Make it themselves! They just proved one of there points, and you have to be a D..k about it! If they don’t carry it, and he still offered to ship it out, and do the work without getting commission, I’m assuming “if they don’t carry it,” you not only had to wait a couple days, or call 2O more stores! Seriously! Even your pic, you look like a smug SOB!
Boomer speaking... In the olden days, there was no internet and you didn't know about it and they couldn't order it... And it would never get delivered to your house. Find something else to cry about. But seeing Led Zeppelin live kinda made up for it!
When I was 17 my father and I went into a guitar shop in Austin TX I had $3000 in my pocket I had saved up to buy a PRS custom 24. I asked the owner of the shop to see the one I liked that was behind the counter and he looked up at me and said "Son let me show you something in your price range" we just turned and left and bought my PRS down the street at another shop.
Oh I had that happen in the one guitar store in our major city. Had my eye on a CS sunburst 54 reissue. They weren’t the nicest place to begin with. Treated their bosses terrible and their bosses treated the workers terrible. And they treated their customers terrible. So first time I go in there I wasn’t treated seriously idk why. I looked young? I try it out. And said I’ll take it but haggled a bit with very little movement. None in fact. It was sitting there 5 years btw. After a few yrs I had gone a different direction so traded it in there. After being told originally oh it’s 5 yrs old that means it’s worth more. You know the wood’s aged. Then they turned the CS certificate around. Ok so I come back and now it’s worth half price. It’s mint and like new. I can understand if I wanted cash but it was a trade so they made more money off me. Many times. As I said only store around. They moved and they were also shady af. And after they got to know me they were busy ignoring and treating people bad and one guy said and we like you. I can only imagine if they didn’t. I moved on from them before they left after they tried to sell me stolen goods and just them being overall aholes. They then said oh now the guy who couldn’t afford this can buy it. So this was around 1999. The guitar had tripled in price.
@@Utubewrk123 For me if it's been sitting there for longer than a year, much less 5 its not longer new. It's been played by who knows how many random people, wear from them, etc.
@@SpencerP96 no it was locked behind glass. I changed my name. Trust me they were difficult to begin with. They didn’t let a lot of people try the expensive stuff out and as I said including me. I was originally given a hard time. It was pristine. Not the first guitar I bought from them. If it’s a lot of $$$ it’s behind glass or high out of reach.
When I was young, my town had two shops. One was the big multi-dealer with everything. New, all the latest greatest. And, owned and staffed by a rude, condescending jerk and his minions. Never welcoming. The other store was run down and had little and mostly off brands, but that man was a joy to be around and was super helpful and encouraging. When I bought my first "real" guitar, a Crestline strat copy, he spent all day setting it up and showing me all around it...and making sure it was the right guitar for me, and threw in 6 lessons. I wanted a real strat, before that, but he got me rolling on my musical journey and turned out to have sold me a very nice instrument at a great price, and the lessons are things I still use to this day. Sadly, he passed not long afterwards...but he set the bar in my mind for what a music store could be, and how retail can operate with some heart and passion. Flynn's Guitar in Mt. Vernon Ohio....a sweet man who deserved more success than he had.
Guitar shops for young kids, 16-17, are a magical place where you dream of playing on good gear. Of course I didn't have the money but I did have the dream. When I finally had the money in my 20s, I drove past 6 guitar shops and at least 30 extra miles to the shop that treated us well when we were young. The shop that handed my buddies 4 year old daughter a pair of drum sticks and let her have at a drum set. That kid you treat like crap today will remember how they were treated when they are adults with money
When i first moved to the big city, I intentionally moved up the street from 3 guitar shops....spent most saturdays browsing and trying guitars. I was poor, so never asked to try expensive guitars, but none of them said no when i asked to play the cheaper ones. Eventually bought a $700 guitar, but after many, many weekends bugging the staff....
Try being a female guitar player! I have been playing for 10 years and I'm pretty good. However, every time I walk into a guitar store where I haven't shopped before they either want to take me to the beginner guitars or assume I am there to buy something for my boyfriend. The younger the sales people are. the more they talk down to me.
Sharon, if you run into that again, let them put a low end in your hands, hit them with some riffs, and critique the instrument. After that, tell them you're looking for something with (insert adjective here). Show them you know more than they thought and they won't forget you anytime soon.
There’s so many female guitar players today too and it still hasn’t changed their attitude. It depends on the store. There are so many that just treat everyone poorly.
The most annoying thing for me is how few brick and mortar guitar stores remain, and how poor the inventories are in those that do. I really miss the days when I could visit a handful of stores on my day off, and their inventories turned over so frequently you would always be surprised by something new. It was like going on a treasure hunt; really miss that.
I had to leave Sam Ash yrs ago. A kid was not only playing loud but literally couldn’t play. I mean could not play at all but he was the loudest. Annoying af.
I expect people in guitar shops, or any shop, to be watching me like a hawk from a distance but to do it so discretely that I'm not even aware that they exist. I expect them to be observing my body language and breathing rate from afar so that they know the instant my demeanor changes from, "I'm just idly looking here" to "I think I might need some help and assistance now". Then I want them at my side offering advice before that thought has even fully formed in my head. Then I want 20% off.
I have some sympathy for the sales guys job. It's a very fine line between "Can you pay attention an help me find or reach the specific guitar I want?" and "Stop hovering over me and let me shop in peace!".
I don’t think it’s that hard to balance. When they first come in, ask them if you can help find something. After that, whenever you happen to walk by, acknowledge them. One important thing is watching the floor and spotting someone looking for help. They always raise their head above the level of everything around them and scan the room for employees. Just watch for those heads to pop up just like the Wack-a-Mole game.
Last time I was in a guitar store I even said “I want to buy something but what I want I can’t afford” And the salesman nodded in agreement and pointed out an expensive bass
My biggest problem with music shops have always been the "Better Than Thou", smirk faced sales staff. The second I walk into a music shop, my ability as a player drops by 50% especially when they stand over me with that look you both did so well. It's gotten to the point where I rarely play in a shop anymore. I can't wait to come to Casino!!! Peace, Keith in Limbo
Just remember, THEY work at guitar center. YOU are gonna buy a 2500 dollar telecaster. Deep down inside they may be way more insecure than you know. Could be the reason for the look on their face.
I know that sinking feeling. After years of being in bands, one year I decided to take a weekly, steady paying gig hosting an open jam in a resort town bar. I ran that show for 6 years. And like alot of open jams I had loyal locals every week, guys trying to audition for their own weekend gigs at the bar, tourists and actual national shows that were playing the local theatre or band shell or Branson. There were a few nights I had players sitting in with me that made me want to shrink to an inch tall and hide behind my mic stand. I will admit there were a couple of times when the nod came to me to take a solo turn and I pretended to not see it...and I was the guy running the show. So, yeah, at the end of the day we guitarists truly are fish of indeterminate size forever encountering that bigger fish.
Having owned a music shop for 30 years, it became apparent to me that brick and morter guitar shops were starting to be taken for granted the more the internet became the place to buy...if we learn anything from the Covid Pandemic, I hope it is a new appreciation for the sacrifices made to provide a place for people to come and shop...and the "my perspective" on both sides of the counter becomes more of an environment of understanding for both parties.
6:20 Related: nasty strings, esp. on used guitars. Sometimes used/consignment guitars fall through the cracks where neither the seller nor the shop will give the guitar some basic TLC. That's just crazy to me, as a new set of strings and tuning could make-or-break a sale. This is absolutely #1 pet peeve.
I just had the best experience to counter this exact thing. I was about to head for vacation but spotted an 1978 Ibanez Artist in Brown Sunburst with Super 80s from a shop I've only used once. I snag it online with instructions to ship after I get back home. Arrive back from vacation and their chief tech apologizes that this consignment item wasn't checked thoroughly enough until pre-ship and he isn't prepared to sell it to me in the condition it is. I got option to get it refretted to spec or get my money back. Honesty like this will make me a return customer.
I just experienced this today at a Guitar Center. I saw, what looked like, a nice Red Epiphone Les Paul. I got up close and it looked like it went through the Korean War. 😂
Best advice I got from a sales person in a guitar shop (after asking his colleague regarding different specifics of an affordable guitar): "Hah? Don't overthink it. If it feels great (and you can afford it), buy it!"
Just be nice and helpful. Be cool. I went to Casino about 4 months ago and loved it. I bought a guitar pedal and talked about movies with Baxter. Then he walked me and my girlfriend down the sidewalk and showed us some great places to eat lunch. Great experience and plan to return again soon. That’s what it’s about right there. I felt like I made a new friend. And I did!
I’m like you Baxter I get unnerved having to play in a store. I like that you have separate places in your store. My idea of a great shop be: separate practice rooms, a decent selection of guitars and amps, sales people who introduced themselves, gave you the lay of the land and told you how things worked in the store and then said “have fun ,let me know if you have any questions or need any help” I hope to visit your shop one day🤞
Big Dude's in KCMO has great people and the guitar tech actually listens to your needs. Lastly, they have a jar of picks by the register with "stolen from Big Dude's" on them. They encourage pick theft. Love it!
A store in Montreal. I was visiting with my wife. We had just gotten married. I was so excited they had actual guitar stores. We went to one and I didn’t buy the guitar. I said to the snob I mean sales guy do you want the pick back? Yes. I said not going to buy a guitar there ever. I had to take 2 trains and a taxi home. 13 hr train ride so I bought it at home. I hope he has his pick.
Blues lawyer here. Massive fan of your channel. I’m lucky to have 2 great guitar shops near me. The folks there are fantastic. But I would love to visit your shop!
Had my first visit to Casino Guitars this past week...loved it, what a great place! Baxter was extremely welcoming and cool. Wish I would have met JR, but he was obviously out shopping for Kias😆. I can't wait to visit again. Thanks Guys!
Its about being custodians of guitars or musical instruments and letting people enjoy. Explain, relate, and find the golden nuggets through the eyes of others. Always love your content keep it up.
Misogyny and ageism. Too many times I've walked into a new to me shop, gone over to look at the guitars and got, "Excuse me, are you looking to get something for your son or your husband? Because it would be best if he came in here and picked it out himself." Or- I go to pick up and electric guitar and get told, "They're not like the acoustics you're probably used to." Dude, I'm not Joan Baez. I'm Joan Jett.
Love the video! Here are some thoughts. I ride motorcycles. When I go to shop and ask to test drive a bike, I have to show them my license, and then sign a form that basically says, "You break it, you bought it." I might makes sense to do this type of thing for your high end guitars. Secondly, to address a bunch of folks playing really loud at the same time, check out Boss' Waza Air headphones. A bit pricey, but maybe worth it if you could get them wholesale. They are killer. And you can have removable ear pad covers. Just my two cents. Keep doing the videos! I look forward to a visit to your shop one of these days. I'm in central Virginia.
Great video guys! I'm going to give a shout out to my local Burlington Long and McQuade (the big Canadian chain for those that don't know). My five year old loved going in there and looking around. At the time I wasn't playing and in fact the experiences I had going there with my kid encouraged me to start. I'd pick him up after school and say what do you want to do - he would pick go to L&M. There was a red Squire Bullet he wanted Santa to get him (Santa did) and from September to December that year we were going at least once a week to check out that guitar and everything else. Never bought a thing, for weeks and weeks. They recognized us. Every time they encouraged him to touch stuff (pre-covid), to try it. The same guitar sales guy would get him a pick and plugged into an amp with the red Squire. I was so nervous, even though my kid's respectful in this way and I was there too intensely supervising it still made me nervous. "That's a $12,000 piano kiddo, why don't we look at this $400 keyboard here..." a sales guy overheard and said, "no, no, let him play if he wants, all good." And then proceeded to make sure my five year old was comfortable at the stool and all was good. Another time we were there a different sales guy got on his hands and knees to get a $3000 synth pad plugged in for my kid to try. He was down there for a couple minutes sorting out power cables in dress pants so my youngster could poke at this professional piece of equipment for 40 seconds before wandering off. I always tried to communicate we were just browsing and wanted to be respectful of their time and effort, but they'd have none of it and always paid us the time. Since then I've spent a few grand there between a handful of guitars, an amp and various other things and will spend more I'm sure.
You hit the nail on the head there buddy. I’ve been going to that L&M location for over 15 years and I find the had the best people working there. It can to the point that when I’d come in the front door they would greet me by name! Wow, I thought- either I’ll here a little to often or they takes real interest in their customers. Probably both. Ian’s a great guy, Brian and Troy and really good guys to deal with too. No pressure at all - I’ve spend thousands at this location - I’ve been to other L&M stores -they’re all pretty good. But I must say -I prefer their old stores better - these new big box clone stores seem more impersonal. Guess that’s the way things are going.
You go in and say "Hey I'd really like to look at something like a Custom Shop Strat" and they don't have it so they go "Oh well here's a PRS with humbuckers and a purple flame top..." My wife used to do sales and she said the key to being a salesman is selling people what THEY want and not what YOU want them to have.
I literally had this happen to me at the shop i complained about earlier. Needed a Jr or special with P90s- took me straight to a 2015 blueburst modern standard,,,,,,,,,,,,
I bought a brand new ES 175 from a shop in 2004.. Before I left the shop, the punters insisted that I plug into a huge stack and show them what it could do... They all formed a semi circle, I rocked out for 10 mins & got a big round of applause!! You cannot replicate that experience buying on the internet 🇬🇧🏴
I have been to your shop a couple of times and you guys are cool to deal with. Its a real laid back shop and when it's time to buy you will be the first place to look.. Anytime I can reminisce about the old days playing clubs in NYC with another escapee is time well spent.
I'll never forget seeing an interaction at my least favorite shop in Toronto. a 14 year old kid pulled and American tele off the wall. that sales guy came over to lecture the kid about the cost of it. The sales guy let the kid play it...but he wouldn't let him plug it in. anyway, the kid was an incredible player. obviously jazz trained Hopefully that place has gotten better, but I haven't been there in 15 years
I was in Nashville a couple of weeks ago. I was in a guitar shop (I won’t name them because maybe it was a bad day.) I was speaking to an associate about some of the cool guitars and asked to play one of the $4500 335s and was told “we don’t let people play those” … okay. I’ve played for forty years but whatevs. We left and went to Gruhn Guitars where I played a $42,000 1942 Telecaster. So that ended up being a pretty good day. But, I’ll never forget that older gentleman who was trying to be cool and kept me from trying a moderately priced ES-335. Also, the next guitar I purchase in Nashville won’t be from that place. Love the videos… all the best! Here’s a hint:Humble Meat
Great story and a common thing strangely...and more often than not it is for sub $2000 guitars as well. Folks at shops can be strange about that stuff and it always struck me as odd. I think you should be able to play everything in there. That's the point of the actual shop to me...otherwise, close up and go online only. Thanks a ton for the story!
First off I’m glad to hear that your issue wasn’t with Carter Vintage although they are only human and sometimes have a bad day, but they are still my absolute favorite shop. Second, I’ve been to the shop you mentioned several times and I find it hard to believe that anyone actually talked to you unless you spoke to them first. I’m also not very fond of Gruhn’s because of a bad experience I had there, but I’m willing to give them a chance again.
I started bringing my local guitar shop salesmen a Pizza or donuts every now and again. I just wanted them to know that they were a valued part of our musical community. That helped immensely when it came time to deal on gear. A little bribery goes a long way! LOL!
I think CME is an absolutely amazing shop. I have purchased from them both in person and online. Their customer service is excellent as is their selection. I think the two things that really set them apart is the fact they have mastered the integration of brick and mortar with online shopping, and the fact that they literally span the whole spectrum from entry level guitars to high end Custom Shop/boutique along with recent used guitars all the way up to the most desirable vintage guitars. Most stores just aren’t capable of covering so much ground much less doing it well.
RIP mandolin bros. on Staten Island- an unreal collection of beautiful instruments, staffed by totally cool people that would let you play anything. It was also in a converted house with lots of rooms, so you didn’t feel like everyone in the place heard you if you shit the bed on whatever you’re playing ;)
Now you’re talking. First time I went there I arrived, they gave me coffee, showed me around the (well you know what it was like) astonishing Aladdin’s cave of high end stringed, fretted instruments, and just left me to it, pulling tens of thousands worth of guitars off the wall, playing them and putting them back all by myself. They must have been discreetly keeping and eyes but they never bothered me. Apart from two hours when later they asked if I’d like another coffee. Two hours after that founder Stan Jay appeared at my side, said he’d been listening to me play and wanted to show me a few guitars he thought might suit my style, and an hour after that I’d bought my Martin, feeling like I’d just trodden in Joni Mitchell’s hallowed footsteps (she wrote Song For Sharon on the Staten Island ferry coming back from Mandolin Brothers with her new mandolin that Stan had just sold her). Lovely man. RIP Stan Jay
I’m the guy who visits a guitar shop often. I go in and dream. I’ll buy strings now and then. And, when I’m ready to buy something I can’t live without , if the shop has a cool vibe after several visits, I’ll buy it there. They earn my business by letting me be me
Thanks for this video. I've been struggling with terrible service at my local shop. To the point I'm basically committed to Guitar Center permanently. In short my issue is when good stores hire excrementary people. "Recently", a great and legendary local store hired a terrible person who sold me a defective $400 delay pedal. This "person" knows I'm disabled AND indigent yet still decides to rip me off. The experience was altogether bad enough that I won't trust the shop or the manufacture now. Seriously though, I chose that pedal over food.
It's refreshing to hear these comments,I went to guitar a few times and there always seems to be a jerk either ignoring you or else making lame comments
My fav local shop is like “ Cheers” everybody knows my name, well not the new guys. The thing I can’t stand is people talking down on another shop, brand, player etc. I don’t drink, play golf, work on my car; music is my oasis and the last thing I mean the very last thing I want is some negative vibe about other music people
Same here. Negative vibes are not cool. Every player has their own style, sound, etc. Every season veteran started not knowing a single riff. No point in comparing your story to someone elses. I love going to shops that are totally different. At the end of the day every shop sells gear and that's what matters. They just carry what the local community wants. Love trying out new gear I would have never ordered online. Sometimes I find unique stuff that I add to my setup and becomes such a key part of my tone.
@@Armedjoy91 so Im like boomer old and played top 40 '80s music in the mid 80s and Ive been going to this same music store that long so almost 40 years. In that first 'band' out of like 35 songs we did I liked maybe 3 and hated probably 20-25, not my kind of music at all. i loved being in a band that much and playing although I did have one big thing I cant stand...people who dont practice. I've worked really hard over the years to not be negative but musical tastes are so fickle. Its ironic because that same set list now 35 years later would KILL at most bars in this area, boomers love their top 40. Most musicians are usually my kind of people and I was mentored at a young age 13 to be around a bar band and help them set up and tear down and even jam sometimes during sound check and they were all very positive and encouraging and I still try to live up to my bass playing brother in spirit Danny who invested so much time in an angry young kid
retail is brutal. if you like a shop,if you like the people, if you enjoy going there...........F'N BUY SOMETHING!!!!!! dont be a cheap SOB . even if you can get it a little cheaper on line. this world would be a better place if people honored : DO UNTO OTHERS.......
My wife and I visited Casino a few weeks ago and were welcomed and treated as a fellow lover of guitars. I had contacted them ahead of our trip and they helped me out. I quickly determine that the initial model I was interested in wasn’t exactly the right model…but they suggested I try “this other model “(same manufacturer) then I had them order what I really wanted. Great experience! Very Friendly! Great selection!! Other shop pet peeve = sales dudes that act all “hey dude” “hey man” “ ya cool man” and talk too much…hovering and just basically annoying.
Casino is the BEST Guitar Shop and also the BEST business of any kind that I have ever been too. You guys have never made me feel awkward even when I was being weird or shy! Thanks guys. You are awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Most annoying thing about guitar shops must be all we guitar players coming in to sit down and play random riffs and solo licks for half an hour at a time pretending ot be "trying out" different guitars without any intention of ever buying anything hoping to impress all the other guitar players or maybe even the people working at the shop instead of finding an actual band and striving for actually accomplishing something with our musical lives. :)
The guitar shops or any local shops are the ones where you are treated like a friend the minute you walk in the door. The people build a relationship with you and the shop becomes not only a place to spend your money but the place to be.
Great shops are about the people and any person can have a bad day. However more than one visit to the same shop where getting assistance is like panning for gold and that’s the last visit for me. Skill can be taught, attitude cannot. I’m extremely fortunate to have an amazing shop in my town and the owner does not pay commission so the sales team aren’t hammering crap for spiff or trying to steal each other’s deals. I can smell that when I walk into a shop and am unlikely to stick around. Best always guys. I look for your videos every day.
And the rationalization that playing righty adds to the strength of learning because your left hand frets. If that was the case, why don't righty's play lefty?
A few years ago, Chicago Music Exchange was that perfect guitar shop you dream about. I’m not exaggerating. Gorgeous vintage guitars and gear. The annoying loud Guitar Center shredder types were holed up in semi soundproof rooms, so they weren’t so in your face. They changed quite a bit lately. They’re still amazing, just not as amazing as they were for over a decade.
LOL Just for the record, librarians these days do want you to bother them. We love library users, and nationwide we've never been busier! Love you guys!! 😉
There are many guitar players that are not "guitar people". I know people who are very good guitar musicians and know very little about the instrument and dont care to. They simply want to play the instrument. These people typically dont consider pick scratches, buckle rash, dings, etc. so I can understand some guitar shops being sensitive about people simply grabbing whatever they want to demo with low chance of sale. Some small shops have little margin in their stock and can't afford allot of B-stock resulting from demos. It is funny that most guitar turn offs we all experience seem to not exist with the very same shops at guitar shows....at shows its typically a very good experience and everyone demos and handles everything and those same stores act totally different. I miss the lack of shows due to covid but they are coming back.
When I was a newbie I had a sales clerk treat me very poorly at Steve's music in Toronto. He was condescending and sarcastic with me. I went to Long and Mcquade's and met sales associate Gregory Hayes, who treated me so well that I only did business with him for the first 15 years I played the instrument. He saw me through my first decent amp, my first few tube amps, and several guitars including the one that has been my #1 for 24 years now. Not to mention pedals, accessories, microphones, the first gigging pedalboard, and numerous other things. I brought my friends and band mates to him, I'm sure I put his kids through college. I was heartbroken when he moved on to an American based company. Props to Greg, wherever you are now, and that unnamed rep at Steve's cost them a hell of a lot of business.
A vintage Martin hanging near the store counter, I asked if I could play it. “Sure”. I’m a finger picker, I’m careful, belt buckle covered, I care. But when I stopped playing, thinking to hang it back up the store owner said, “Let me hang it” & he took it from my lap, wiped it clean & carefully hung it. As the conversation went on I discovered it was a very rare collectible. No damage, no problem, the vendor assumed the risk for a sale he knew wouldn’t be made that day. Beyond cool & I got to experience an expensive, fine & rare guitar. That’s a shop I’d go back to when I have money in my pocket.
Have you guys heard of Mandolin Brothers in NYC - staten island? Joan Baez, Paul McCartney, John Entwistle, Chris Christopherson,... and more shopped there. I remember being asked to leave so George Harrison could shop privately. He bought a vintage mandolin. He was in town for experimental cancer treatment and passed in a staten island hospital. R.I.P.
A lot of what you covered also fell into the how to be a great guitar shop customer thing. I had to learn a lot of that, and based on some of the comments there are a lot of folks out there who need to learn or be reminded. Things like wear a t shirt that you can drape over the belt buckle no matter how big a belt buckle you wear, bring your own picks and headstock tuner, and if you’re not serious about buying something surrender the sonic space to those who are. Anyway a how to be a good customer presented from your perspective would be helpful (unless you’ve done it already).
Agree completely, I first met Dom back in the Music Station days, and bought a few guitars at that spot. I am glad to see that they are doing well and you always get a good vibe going in. I too, obviously, live in Anderson and it's kinda cool that there are other guys in town giving the representation
In my earliest days as a musician, we had neighborhood music stores. Chicago's north side - Ridge Music, Devon Music, Senn Music School, Guitar Emporium and others. Owners were awesome, players, loved having young kids come in and ask questions. Spent some serious bucks in some of them. Later was Flattes and Sharpe, Guitar Werks in Evanston, and others. The first time I walked into a Guitar Center I thought it would be really cool, and I was there because one of the guys in the band worked there and said we should come in. The manager was freaking out that I was "some kid playing a $1400 guitar". Yeah, jerk - we're here to spend a couple grand, we need new amps and some PA speakers. Worst experience, and the few times I've been back were awful. Would only go because it was close and I needed some strings or whatever.
You guys nailed it on the first example. The pretentiousness of the salespeople at most of the shops around me is a complete turn off. I’ll stick with Sweetwater online.
Ever since GC came to Louisville a decade ago, quite a few music shops closed especially ones on the east side of the county. My favorite one to visit was Wilson Music, they mainly carried Fender, Ibanez and Dean, but could order anything. The staff was knowledgeable, friendly and very helpful. I was sad to see them go. Now about the only shops are all closer to downtown like Guitar Emporium, the Doo Wop Shop and Mom's Music, and in areas I don't like driving to, because the traffic is horrible and parking is almost non-existent. The other choice is Music-Go-Round, but it is a good 40 minute drive just to check out used instruments. It would be nice to have a good guitar shop in the eastern parts of Louisville/Jefferson County where parking is decent and traffic isn't crazy. I'll go to GC every now and then to check out their inventory, to try out a bass (I'm a bass player primarily) or a guitar I saw on their website, or check out the used guitars and basses. The guys at GC aren't bad, and I like the selection, but the personal touch is missing.
I live about 30 miles south of London so a casino guitars'visit is a no - go at moment..! I used to visit Chandler Guitars in London.... They were the best guitar shop I've ever known... Great staff..... Try anything... Don't be afraid to ask for help..... Spent hundreds of hours there often chatting about music not just gear... Best repair department.... Sadly closed about 5 years ago..... Miss it so much! My son visited it first at about 2 years old and bought ALL his guitar equipment from them. Al Neil Paula Andy Andrew Brinsley Jesse Charlie Doug were all first class.... wonderful times!! Oh and always got opinions about stuff not just 'fluff and spin'. Paula who owned the shop said that customers had to fall in love with guitars in order to buy them.... How true!
I lived in London in the early nineties and would visit Denmark Street frequently. There was one shop where when you walked down stairs there was a neon light that changed colors as you walked downstairs. Blew my mind as a kid. There was also a great shop nearby in Soho. Oh I miss those times.
Yes! Great shop - and a great name. As a rank amateur I was totally (almost) comfortable. Bought my second G&L that day. I'll be back someday and they aren't close.
I got a Guitar Center story. There’s one main Guitar Center in Chicago. It used to be near Wrigley Field, it moved about a mile south. There was this one manager that worked there for over a decade. He had this slick guy ponytail, and was a total used car salesman type. Slimy and pressure people to get the sale. I was in there and saw a sweet Red Gibson ES-335. I was playing it and the slick manager guy while in the middle of a conversation, walks up to me, doesn’t say a word or pause the conversation, takes the guitar out of my hands, put it back on the rack, and walked away. Never even looked me in the eye. I was way to blown away to be angry about it just yet. Just shocked. Now, I admit, I look young for my age, but at the time this happened I had been playing guitar for over ten years. I didn’t even get the chance to plug the guitar in. The message was clear, you are not worthy of this guitar. He treated me like a little kid about to get melted chocolate all over the guitar with my filthy hands. Whenever I tell this story, once I start describing this prick, everyone knows who I’m talking about right away. Everyone agrees, that guy sucked.
Managed a guitar store for 10 years, worst parts of the job: customers name dropping, customers’ lame claims to fame, hearing your life story, customers forcing me to listen to them play, when customers try to play sales people against each other. That is the worst, when customers try to work the sales people against each other to haggle for a deal.
My girlfriend wanted a guitar. We went to GC and she sat on a stool while I brought her guitars to try out. She wanted something smaller and lighter. I started with Epiphone LPs. They were all too heavy. I brought her every Fender/Squier on the rack. Nothing felt good. I saw this Mitchell LP copy. I handed it to her and she lit up like a Christmas Tree. It was a slightly smaller body. It weighed a lot les that a LP. She said this is it. She loves that guitar and I have to admit it sounds pretty good through her Fender Blues Junior. I changed out the input Jack. The stock Jack is terrible. It had locking tuners, beautiful flame top, and pretty good sounding humbuckers. It may be that 1 in a million Mitchell guitars but she is happy and that makes me happy.
Demonstration booths. If you get past the initial interest points and want to try something out at volume, a private space where you are not self-conscious of everyone except you and the attending shop assistant is essential. So many shops think its okay to just have this in the main body of the shop, usually with piles of gear everywhere and people wandering past. Your focus goes onto what they’re hearing you play, rather than concentrating on checking out the guitar. Making it clear to customers what can really help them is also really appreciated by those of us who are likely to spend significant money and come back again and again: encourage them to bring their own amp or guitar in to try and partner with what you’re looking at. Have a loading bay! Customers also need to take a lead here and form relationships with their local store. Don’t treat the staff with indifference or condescension. I sometimes ask an assistant what piece of gear in the shop is most exciting them at the moment so I (and they) can get a bead on whether we have common ground. Now they know which assistant best relates to what I am after, and I’m comfortable going back and asking questions.
We have a really nice guitar shop in our town and the sales people used to act like they are doing you a big favour whenever you walked in. I hated going there so started shopping at GC and Sam Ash
My favorite GC loud amp story. I went into GC Nashville on a Saturday afternoon and there were several doing the loud chugga chugga thing. I play relatively clean so I picked up a Tele I was interested in and plugged it into a Twin. Played some Don Rich and Roy Nichols licks. Then some Cropper and old Soul stuff. After a couple of minutes, I noticed all the chugga chuggers had quit. Then one of the salesman came up to me and said “Man.. Thanks for playing that stuff and giving us a break.”
W48th St was the Mecca of guitar shops back in the day. Manny’s, Sam Ash, Alex’s, Rudy’s and then there was a used shop ‘We buy and sell’ that had what looked like junk hanging all through the store, but it would be a gold mine today. Going in and out of those stores you met every type of salesman personality. But if someone turned you off, you went next door and they knew that, so sometimes that corrected the attitudes.
I got my college graduation gift from Manny's!!!----made a deal with my parents that if I graduated with Honors I picked the gift if not, they did----they never dreamed I would make it lol so they agreed and I won!! I ordered a guitar from Manny's and the day it came in was by FAR the most exciting day of my life at the time---got the call from them that after 6 months, it was in, drove down there on a saturday morning from Westchester County can remember crossing the over the bridge and down the west side highway eight o'clock in the morning BLASTING live Zeppelin, carrying the most cash I ever had on me at the time, lol, but I walked out of Manny's with a breathtakingly GORGEOUS Gibson EDS-1275 Red Doubleneck a la Jimmy Page---still have it, could never part with it---it is a truly spectacular musical instrument imho.
I used to have a cool small music shop near me that carried very little stuff and mostly cheap guitars and basses, the only exceptions being acoustic guitars. The people there were super nice. Once I bought one of those floor drum thingies and the shop dude gave me a free lesson on how to play those since i never played on one of those things
The SamAsh back home had two main characters: 1. The grouchy old guy with long white hair who is annoyed that you walked into the store. Washed up POS a-hole making minimum wage, pissed off that he never got his dream & now has to help you pick out a MIM strat and not even offer you a gig bag for the guitar that used to be $400 and is now $800+, that guy sucks. 2) the younger dude with a clean haircut, tattoo sleeve, friendly smile, total stranger who is somehow now your oldest friend. He understands his current lot in life and genuinely just wants to talk shop and find out what you’re into. I trust that guy, that guy rules. He’ll offer a gig bag. A padded one. Shoot, maybe even a hard shell case.
The owner..Nate at Willies Guitar exceeded my expectations!! I sold a 70's Martin there. Fair price. Plus great stories. He got back Joe Walsh his '59 burst Les Paul
my local guitar shop, Guitar Czar in Murrary Utah, is amazing! I remember once I walked in to buy strings and just mentioned how I was thinking about a strat style guitar sometime in the future when i saved some money, and without asking the guy at the counter was like "here try these" and handed me three expensive american strats and just let me have at it even though I said I wasn't buying that day. They are awesome! very personable and great at what they do and their repairs are top notch
I went to Guitar Center the other day to check out a Gretsch BT because I thought they looked pretty cool. So they had a used one on the shelf and it literally only had 5 strings and the 5 it did have seemed to have been on there since the late 1850's. I will say though that I've got multiple high end guitars and that thing is way more "budget friendly" but still felt like a really good guitar.
@@CasinoGuitars Man I'm a huge Scrooge McDuck fan and love the old Carl Barks comics from the 50's that the Ducktales show was loosely based on. I get that about my screenname all the time. LOL!
I think all these reasons are the catalyst for the online sales boom. My learning progress was so much slower than it need to be because I bought poorly setup guitars and had no idea what I was doing. I now have a shop that does PLEK setups on everything and it is magical. Also when giving a beginner who can’t really play well, a choice of several guitars, the sales person should play each of them to show there tonal differences at the very least.
“You should be driving a Kia, from Orr Kia, from Orr Kia” in the style of la bamba, is our local Kia dealers commercial, I think it’s kind of a community inside joke because almost every other ad on the radio is that ad lol
I suck at guitar but have a pretty good knowledge of history, styles and brands. More of a collector than a player. I hate when they watch me try to play. They think that because I can talk the talk I can walk the walk but I can't and it's a little embarrassing.
Reminds me of the shop in Anchorage Alaska. Every guitar had a “do not touch“ sign on it, and the dude eyeballed me the entire time, while answering my questions with single syllables.
I moved to Florida and went to the only guitar shop in town. After visiting 3 times I told the owner he was my friend. I give all of my business that I can.
Man, we used to have so many cool guitar shops in Jacksonville. When I was a kid my dad used to take me all over town just hanging out at guitar stores. No GC. All indie shops with cool stuff. And then sometimes we'd visit his buddies at a recording studio. Most of that died in the mid to late 90s.
The worst side for me is over pushy sales men. You go in looking for a good deal and they push some Tom Murphy Custom Shop Les Paul priced at over 10,000$. I am not THE Steve Morse I just play his signature model guitar but have spent over 150,000$ in guitars over the years and I don't like pushy sales personal who suck up to you and if you play something OK they treat you like a star. I have shops call me up and say "There is a special instrument you have to play....come to our private salon and we'll lend it to you for the weekend to let you two become acquainted.." BTW I am not rich but have put about one third into my instruments for the last 30 years.
