BIG Changes Coming to Guitar Center, CEO Says They want Pro Musicians Now

I once was standing in guitar canter looking at the xlr cable wall. A super hipster sales fellow approached me to ask if he could help me find anything. Sure I said, “I’m looking for a 7 pin XLR cable for my tube condenser microphone.” He said, “ there is no such thing as a 7 pin XLR cable.” I said, “yes their is”. He said “I’ve never seen a 7 pin XLR cable in the whole time I’ve been working here”. Before he could finish his sentence I reached up, grabbed two 7 pin XLR cables and handed one to him and walked off to the register with the other.

I can only speak to my experience at my local Guitar Center, but the selection of guitars isn't the issue for me. The biggest issue I have at the store I visit is that (it seems) they put zero time into prepping any electric guitar for sale. Whether new or used, they just take it out of the case and throw it on the wall. All of their used guitars have rusty strings or are dirty/dusty, and the new ones are straight out of the box (high action, out of tune, etc.). Basically, every guitar I pick up feels terrible. Maybe it's too expensive to do this, but if they had someone take a few minutes to give a little TLC to every guitar before it hit the wall, I'd be much more inclined to buy from them. As it is, it just ruins the experience for me.

I can tell you why Guitar Center is failing. I am 60 years old, short and bald. I can go into ANY Guitar Center and walk around for 1/2 hour without being approached by a salesperson. I can literally buy ANYTHING in the store but the salespeople ignore me. Their loss. EDIT- Some keyboard warriors are not getting the point so I will clarify. Sales is about RELATIONSHIPS . If you want to sell something to someone you must engage.A good and properly trained salesperson doesn't wait for a client, they approach.

I work at Guitar Center as a tech and I can tell you you the decision making process from the top down does not reflect a well cultivated understanding of the reality of the so called “firm” lmao

The things Guitar Center customers do to those guitars is criminal. 😆🤣

You are correct when saying working pros use cheap or sensible instruments. I have pricey stuff but I gig regularly with mostly sub $1k fenders. Most other people I know do too.

What I don’t like about GC is when you order online because the guitar they actually have in the store locally is jacked up in some way and they send you a jacked up guitar from the wall of a different store. When I order online I want new in the box.

I don't buy from GC unless I go in the store. Never buy online anymore because I don't getnwhat I ordered, or it's been played scratch and dent, not in the original box, things are missing etc. If they want to change how bout just being better at the basics to give customers the confidence they will get what they are paying for.

Appreciate you mentioning “wages” in your discussions, now and previously. People should be able to make a living making guitars. It’s a luxury for us to sit there and play them.

I’m in my 60s . I’m used to being invisible in Guitar Center … sales people don’t approach me … when I approach them … they look surprised that I’m buying something .

I have 5 GCs within an hour from me and been in all of them and several others across the country when traveling for work. They have been friendly and accommodating. I’m glad they are around.

Looking forward to Sharpen My Paddleboard on the second channel 😂

Carvin and peavey never left me stranded

I was a huge Carvin fan in the 80’s . Bought a DC 135 (super strat), a 100w X-100B amp, and a Carvin mixer with huge PA speakers. I still have them all, they sound great, well built. Was a Vai and Holdsworth fan back then . Still am.

I have 2 GC's, 30 minutes away in my area. Neither ever have anything in stock that I'm looking for, the amateur sales people could care less, and the guitar selection on hand is used or cheap China guitars. The amp selection is Nil. I'm the type that needs to try gear out before purchasing it, rather than blindly ordering online. I'm fortunate enough that I can afford, within reason, whatever brand and model gear I want, and I actually drive the 8 hours to Sweetwater whenever I want a guitar or amp, where literally everything is in stock to try out and you're treated like a guest, by actual knowledgeable sales professionals.

@52:13 I would also recommend the Yamaha Revstar series as well. Amazing guitars and underrated

I played a decent size festival wit ha $150 Harley Benton :) stayed in pretty much tune start to finish because I had set it up properly. A professional guitar is one that stays in tune and plays to your personal preference, and this one does. And I do have way more expensive guitars than that. I just didnt want to fly to the show with my fancy guitars, I wanted to fly with a guitar that doesnt hurt if it gets stolen or lost in transition.

Carvin used to make great Pre-amps, we sometimes called it digital distortion. For years now Ive been playing through a "Smarvo" 100w combo (Smarvo is an offshoot of Randall) into a Carvin 4/12 cabinet and I cant imagine having a better tone , It has two dirty channels, but the clean channel is dry and flat and EQ wont help. The only thing that works is to run an external distortion to use on the clean channel

Another thing about roasted woods that is nice just from an environmental standpoint is not having to spray as much because bugs love getting into wood, especially green wood that is being kept in a big open space to dry out, but the bugs do not find the roasted stuff as appealing and they do not come out of the kilns if they go in there with the slabs of maple. Just something I learned from one of the fellas working in the lumber department at Menards last week.

Makes sense that high end guitars are selling online. If I am looking to purchase a Custom Shop Strat or Tele, I trust that I'll be getting a great instrument. If I am in the market for a Player, Epiphone, etc. I want to touch it, check intonation and pick the winner.