GC Employee here! Thank you for being the first one to make a video on GC that doesn't immediately make a joke of the company! In my experience, you're right on it. I can tell you that there's no one thing responsible for it's decline other than the corporate greed that has sucked the life out of music. I got to watch so many great musicians run away from the store because there just was no longer much joy in the job. Inventory started faltering, and the whole place started looking more like a customer service jungle because sales, inventory, and the whole experience never works as intended anymore. And the only thing competing with stores like sweetwater (trying things in store before buying) became the laughing stock of the music industry. 🙁 To make things worse, stores no longer get a ton of labor hours, and wages are terribly stagnant, especially if you move up. So that leaves you with a bunch of whatever employees they can find that are scrambling to help customers and dream of one day cleaning up the store like it once was. In less than a decade, I watched a day at GC go from over half a dozen employees per department ALL with some sort of specialty, to about 4-6 employees in THE WHOLE STORE who can barely care about anything past the incessant metrics the company puts on them... Man, GC used to be the coolest place to be, and when I started (halfway through music school), I genuinely felt like the worst musician in the room. And over the years, the culture in the place started to die down. Those of us who stuck with it only feel the nostalgia, and still love to help people with their music. It's just neat impossible to do so these days. Thank you again! Come say hi if you ever come visit my Guitar Center in Washington. 🤘🏼

GC came in and put about 4 or 5 decent sized guitar stores out of business by giving deep discounts to customers. once all the competition went under, the discounts went away. no sympathy for them.

The flip-slide is what GC did to mom and pop guitar shops all across the country. I used to work for one around 2000 and their ordering volumes and purchasing power would force the big guitar manufacturers to come down on the small shops and demand completely unreasonable/impossible annual target until ultimately they were forced to drop the Fender or Gibson brands. That matters a ton when you're trying to be a successful small business in the instrument business.

I lived and worked in a city with a fairly robust music store community that had a guitar center come into town and aggressively price all the mom and pop music stores out of business over a 3-5 year span. I can't say I'll shed a tear if they go under. I had a teaching room in a store that was faced with a substantial rent increase on the new lease offer and the owner decided it wasn't worth it to make about 60 cents selling strings because he couldn't make money on the entry level gear. Also, guitar center flexed on their Gibson dealer status and mysteriously he couldn't get anything nice without a major increase in the yearly order level. He closed the shop and within 2 years 3 other larger stores also closed. This is dozens of employees, teachers and repair people all impacted. GC breaks local music store communities. I'm alright with them going away.

Angels sang when you walked through the second set of doors when going into GC when I was in my late teens to early 20's. It smelled like amps! Our GC had a stage setup like a concert with full stacks (Mesa Boogie, Ampeg and Marshall JMC 900). Then they had the three back walls from floor to ceiling with Ibanez, Fender, BC Rich and Jackson electric guitars ready for the picking. One band became famous from my town in the late 90's and at least one member of the band was there hanging out. I jammed with the guitar player once for a few minutes. Sadly, I went into GC about 4 years ago and I swear a tumble weed rolled past me when I walked it. It was a depressing and frustrating experience.

I came of age on guitar just before Guitar Center was big and I’m thankful I did because it was such a personal network of mom and pop shops and community and knowledge and relationships. The big chains came along with them all those small stores died and one of my main joys in life with them.

I worked at a Guitar Center about ten years ago and although it was a fun job it became a bummer when the higher ups only cared about us selling "Pro-Coverage" more than the actual instruments.

Fender should just rotate it's new stock through Guitar Center showrooms to get authentic relicing.

The last couple times I went in GC, I got some serious Circuit City flashbacks, and that just has no place in 20-anything, let alone 2023

I worked at Guitar Center 20 years ago, and my big take away from it even back then was that GC is more or less the Wal-Mart of the music gear industry. Since then, I've occasionally gone to a Guitar Center to try out some new gear that I'd then go purchase online someplace else to keep them from getting my money. I'll admit that it was a giant playground and was a lot of fun to hang out in, but in many ways the industry will be better off once it's gone.

I dread going to my local GC whenever I have to grab a cable on short notice. They’re also super short staffed and just seem annoyed that customers are there. It’s unfortunate 😅 definitely sticking with Sweetwater and referring others to them. I’ve never had one issue with them in the past decade I’ve been shopping

Here In Nashville that’s my experience. The employees seem bothered by you trying to buy anything. I just stay away from them and order from Sweetwater where I feel valued. Sweetwater has gotten deep into the weeds with me several times when I was looking for something specific.

I was a GC salesperson in the early 2000s and one thing that happened on the service side is that they wouldn't pay out "spiffs" or "bonuses" to individual sales people who met their goals unless the whole department met it's goal. That drove knowledgeable and skilled people away. I immediately transferred to warehouse and then started teaching somewhere else because my manager thought a lesson program was a bad idea... 😅😅😅

Surprised the salespeople at GC don’t put a set of Elixir strings on every halfway decent guitar they hang on the wall. It’s a negligible cost, and would basically keep the guitar feeling new through every test drive. It takes almost no time to do a basic action adjustment on most electrics. I feel like I need a tetanus shot after playing half the stuff they have hanging up. Especially the used ones…

Man I don’t feel too sorry for Guitar Center because I’m an old guy that valued the small family owned music c store that was crushed by the BigBox Music mega-stores like Guitar Center. My favorite music store on the planet was Reliable Music in Charlotte NC. That place was incredible and you could stand right beside a RockStar at the counter. You could go in for a pack of strings and run into Tom Scholz back in the guitar effects Dept. That actually happened to me in the late 80’s. Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Mars destroyed that

The previous handful of times I’ve been at guitar center. I go there. I look at the walls of guitars. I see some I want to play. I stand there for 15-20 minutes waiting for someone to help. Finally find someone, they give you a guitar and then they are gone again for 15-20. Then I leave angry.

I really miss ProSound in Denver. I had a relationship with a single salesperson and bought a great deal of gear from them. Those were the days.

This just happened last week. I finally configured a new pedalboard and 6 of my cables would not work on the new board. I decided to go to Guitar Center. One cable was $22 at GC, Amazon (very similar cable) $29 for 6 of them. I would love to support but at those prices, can't do it. Also, no one wanted to talk to me. Actively avoided me. Maybe in a pinch, but I typically avoid it.

I’ll drive an hour and a half to go to Sweetwater, as opposed to drive 40 minutes to go to GC.

As someone who currently works at GC, when I quit, I’m buying for Sweetwater

My local Guitar center is exactly like this. Only two guys working the whole store, acted like I was bothering them when I asked any questions, almost no inventory for cables and accessories, EVERY guitar locked up so you couldn't try them out without asking, Azure pedals being sold for $85, waiting 10 minutes standing next to the register just to buy strings....yeah they're done. It's too bad but it's only smaller guitar and music shops for me now.

I worked at GC in 2013… everyone there had a masters in music and I had a bachelors. We made $9.50 and hour. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I was able to make up for the pay by buying gear, gear I still use today… purchased at cost. I’ll say this… everyone knew what they were doing. We had massive pressure to sell, especially to get people to sign up to credit cards. Unfortunately, the people who knew the most in my store sold the least, and the salesmen were the ones that received the praise. I didn’t work there long, and never will again however, it created life long relationships with some of the staff that were dope af and made my career 2% better.

Gc employee here. The worst thing is that they messed up my commission scale and make it so you have to work harder for less. That’s how things are on the back end for all GC sales associates. Then the leads work only for hourly pay and get no commission so they end up getting chewed up and spat out when they realize they arent being paid well for all the hours they work opening and closing the store. Lastly, the higher ups can be bullies. I’ve literally had to go to HR to tell the DM that we had a safety issue bc the warehouse manager wasn’t keeping any area of the store or warehouse safe. So much drama at this job but i love music so it’s all i have bc GC bought up all the music stores that stood a chance.

I haven’t been to a guitar center in a really long time. I just bought my recent guitar online from a friendly local shop in Hawaii But I thoroughly enjoyed this video. The opinions, numbers and percentages had me hooked. You were able to keep everything brief while keeping it tasteful. I will definitely checkout more of your content Thank you for sharing

I walked in the other day because I was thinking about buying my first synth. The entire place was gutted. Almost no more pro audio gear, no synths, no microphones, no mixers in the live sound room… it was depressing. Even the acoustic room had gone down hill.

I've generally had positive experiences with their employees, at least at my old GC from a few years ago. The issue I always had was the customers in that store and the condition the guitars were in. I remember deciding I was going to buy myself a high-end acoustic but every time I picked one up, the strings were not just dead but disgustingly dirty, to the point I would just put the guitar back. Another time I waited over an hour for a group of 10 people to finish "jamming" in the acoustic room and then leave without buying anything. Some of that I would say is on the staffing/cost cuts they've had over the last few years, but also some of it is just their customer base at certain locations, where I've repeatedly seen people hanging out for hours without actually shopping. Not saying you have to buy something every time you go to a store, but there's a problem with your business model when paying customers are walking away because of people just hanging out for hours and a lot of your product is used to the point that people don't want to buy it (or even touch it in some instances). It's not an easy problem to fix, but I hope they figure it out because I think if we lose GC, it's not like the mom & pops are coming back; we'll just have fewer local options.

GC corporate is literally the worst

I practically lived at GC in LA in the 80s. When I moved back to CLE, they followed me. Things went south after the Bain Capital deal.

It is a bummer that music stores are not as magical as they used to be. Right out of high school i went to work for Goodman music in L.A. We allowed people to play the instruments and gave them real insight on what they were buying. Eventually we got run out of business by Guitar Center... Go figure. We couldn't compete with their volume pricing and eventually were overwelled by all their locations. Its the circle of life with them failing the way they did. As for me in hindsight I glad it happen. I went onto to have a career in music as engineer and producer/writer. Had we not lost Goodman music I probably would have been a manager someday there... dam that would have sad compared to the life I ended up with. Now that I think about it, best thing that could happen to those employees is to move on. Music stores are not real careers!

As a lefty guitar player, online instrument sellers like sweetwater and zZounds are the way to go. GC, for me, is really just for guitar strings and accessories. Yeah, back in the day, GC was fun.

This is thankfully happening with most big box stores. I have no idea how office depot/max stay open... Aside from that print counter they're ghost towns.

You are right on the mark my friend. I made a point of visiting all the Southern California Guitar Centers last year to see for myself what kind of experience I would have when it came to customer service. My objective was to see if despite GC becoming a corporate shell of itself, will the employees still give their all in helping me find what I'm looking for and will it be at a reasonable price to the point that my experience would be repeat business with them. NOPE. My take away was this quote, "Its all about the deal", usually followed by a smirk. Its NOT all about the deal. Its ALL about the relationship... with the customer. Give them a good experience and the customer will come back. Pretty simple. I hope things change for GC as a company soon. But I would not be surprised if they closed doors and left a few token stores open for nostalgia sake. Thanks for this video man.

We're fortunate here in Pensacola. We have a fantastic local shop here (Blues Angel Music). But I remember the GC golden era. The staff was not only helpful, but they were also knowledgeable and willing to share their expertise without obligation.

Shit it all sucks man, always has. First we had small music stores that did repairs and gave lessons, as well as sold guitars, and some sold brass and wind instruments as well. Those all got taken out by Mars, Musician's Friend and Guitar Center. Sort of like small grocers did by WalMart, HyVee, and wholesalers like Costco and Sam's... I do have a Guitar Center that is sort of close. To be honest that is the only music store that I am aware of within 10 miles of my house, and I live in a suburb of KCMO. The service that I get when I get there is almost laughable if it weren't so truly tragic! I only go there when I know they have something in stock that I can't wait for or don't want to wait for. They have nobody working there that I see from one visit to the next. So how has this affected my shopping experience? There is no reason to go hang out at this place. Nobody there sees and remembers me, nor do I them. There is no interaction of finding a salesman that you can trust. They have turned it into a huge Overstock Outlet Store where nobody knows anything about the products they are selling and there's nobody there that you can trust. It's SAD...in KC we really have only 1 music store that isn't a Guitar Center, and if you are in Kansas City go see the guys at "Big Dudes Music City". They still care about customer interaction and developing long term relationships with customers. Otherwise, just buy online and trust the reviews if you dare!!!

Mars Music was my favorite spot when I was a young teenager. My parents would drive me an hour North to Indianapolis, and I would spend hours in there. They eventually sponsored me just before they went under. Guitar Center used to be great too, but it seems like it's been a lifetime ago since then.

Hopefully, there is resurgence of mom and pops guitar stores. Hell, they always have cool unique gear anyway.

YUUUP. Have a Guitar Center less than a mile from my house and I've been there approximately zero times since i've lived here.

Happens all the time, everywhere. I trusted my 5.10 climbing shoes with my LIFE, I adored pro competitors like Shauna Coxsey that wore them and when the model I had worn (and rebought every six months) for YEARS came to the end of its lifecycle, I spent 50% more on them to import them from NORWAY. Then Adidas took over, placed their logo next to the 5.10 logo, stopped production in California, shifted everything to China and dropped 13% in net worth after kicking out Kanye West for being a racist… and now I'm faithful to Unparallel, the climbing shoe company founded by the previous employees of 5.10. Tough luck.

Guitar Center needs to be a franchise. Yes, I'm Boomer but for the time Guitar Center was really really cool! I loved going to the Hollywood Store, which was wow! Now it's lifeless. My local GC is ok but you can tell it's lifeless.

I'm a financial guy by training & work experience. Your take/perspective here was spot on.

Many comments here state how the GC volume pricing with Fender and Gibson put the local music store under. GC still moves a good deal of Gibson and Fender products, if GC goes belly up, both fender and Gibson will lose a conduit to the market. You have to remember that Gibson, Fender & GC are owned by Private Equity firms. The PE firms involved in this triad need one another. GC may be around a little longer than one believes.

Honestly, besides stepping into the Hollywood GC about 10 years ago, the last time I physically went into a GC here in Dallas was probably 2005/6ish? That location closed in early 2006 in North Dallas. Thankfully, Charley's Guitar Shop somehow has made it all these years and we've added some really nice shops in DFW like Guitar Sanctuary and Tone Shop over the past decade that service working musicians (giant difference between general consumer which is they route GC went) which is nice. I've also found several shops online across the US that have been great to work with and chat with on the phone for advice or solution.

This is retail across the board. Here in Australia anyway. I prefer to spend money at shops where it might cost me a little more, but I get great service from the guys that work there. But one of my favourite recording gear stores has slowed down so much since Covid, basically the only thing keeping them open is installations of audio equipment to Churches, Schools and office spaces.

I’m new to your channel and have been enjoying the show! Man, I hear ya. I went to the closest one to me DFW area, TX, to get a few emergency repair parts for my drums before a gig; that’s where I really need these stores, for instant availability. I found what I needed and then had fun listening to some new cymbal sounds. I found a couple in the used rack that I was ready to buy. I waited 30 minutes to get someone to help me… I just wanted to know how much they wanted for a used cymbal. It had some patina and stick marks but was in good condition. They quoted me the brand new factory mint price. I said no, sir, this is a used item. After another 30 minutes no one could give me a price, and I had to leave disappointed. No quote at all! New price or nothin. I got my whole studio setup from a houston guitar center in 2000. It was like my musical fantasy land. But I digress. I’ve had a much better experience the last several years with Sam Ash stores. Better service and huge used market!

Just talk to " Greg " at Guitar Center is a forever Nashville classic.

I worked a 1 specific GC for years. I held 5 different positions at that store then after I left I went to work for a pro A/V rep firm that GC carried a lot of the brands the Rep Firm I worked for repesented. I have my own thoughts on GC but even the outside perspectives from the brands they carry don't think too highly of them either.

Definitely understand this. The running “joke” in Richmond, Va was I’ll try it at Guitar Center then walk next door to buy at Sam Ash. But as a primarily woodwind instrumentalist, Sam Ash had a better selection for me then Guitar Center.

As a beginner GC has the nicest staff. They let me plug in my own homemade guitar to check how it works. I did buy my Martin dread jr from them. I do wish they’d ship a Firebird to my city to see it because I’d probably buy it but I’d HAVE to buy it first … they have an amazing inventory and the vintage room is really cool.

Youre right about the used section. Ive bought two of my snares from my local GC. But there's two Music Go Round stores in my area. Ive had those type of experiences at GC. I actually know someone that works at one.

I can say that our local Guitar Center in Flint, Mi. Is amazing! Tons of helpful employees and I’ve never been felt to “buy now” and the knowledge of most employees is incredible. They do lack a good drum dept (all electric drums and 0 acoustic).

I can’t really feel bad for a company that made small town shops close. Sweetwater has had better customer experience despite not having a mortar store up until recently. I can’t remember the last time GC had anything more than run of the mill squiers and sales people who hated their jobs.

GC helped to put many mom and pop stores out of business, and now the internet and lack of new instrument sales is killing them.

Just be your best to those you can help. If you happen to be at a GC and know the employee is trending downward, provide subtle uplift with positives that could elevate the moment, if not the day. Most of the time YT will censor my in depth explanations, so no time to waste. It comes down to us, as a collective. We fall back on our upbringing, the basics, the golden rule. Do unto others.

I worked at GC in Sherman Oaks. My coworker in Pro Audio Richard opened up for Jimi Hendrix! Guitar Center can be saved by digital twinning all products for the Metaverse. A small army of 3d artists wait like lions in the reeds, but only 1 of every 3 people think in 3D.

The 2 most prized possessions in my bass guitar collection I bought from Guitar Center since moving to Texas in 2010. I bought a Modulus Quantum 5, and A Music Man Bongo 6HS. But the difference between the people in Colorado Springs, and Dallas and Arlington TX is night and day.

Back in the early 80's you should have seen for sale section in local papers. That's how we bought our instruments then. My first bass was a 70' P bass sold with a 100w Traynor amp with a 4x10 cabinet for 75$.

Have to admit if I’m buying a ‘new’ guitar I don’t want one that’s been twanged by who knows how many people that’s just the way I am, hell when I unbox a new guitar I find myself giving it the smell test!

I was in the top 5% of buyers in the early 2000s. The manager was a total DH. His name was Eric. The Towson store was one big click. They hated shredders and treated you like garbage. I always played at a super low volume, and not for long. I bough a MM JP6 earlier that week.They had a JCM 2000 head with a 1960A cab used. I had all but 7$. Thats not a miss type. I was seven bucks short and they wouldn't sell it to me. I asked the sales person to ask the manager. He came back and said go home and get 7$. I have never walked in a GC since, or bought from any companies they owned on line..

5:50 - It's possible for this to happen in certain scenarios. One of which is for a business that sells products, they could be selling more than they produced for that year. For example, when you make a product a lot of things go into it including material and labor costs. You're selling less this year but still selling more than products you produced for the year - it's possible if you sold stock from prior years this year.

I've spent a lot of money there! Including just last week. Sometimes you just don't want to wait for delivery

I've been to Guitar Centers more in the past 3 months than I had in the past 15 years: First to buy a guitar, then to buy a music book. For the guitar, I went to the Guitar Center that the Internet said had it available, only to get there and it was nowhere to be found. The staff was helpful, they tried, but they were clueless! I had a hunch that the system was wrong so I went to another Guitar Center 30 miles away (ironically, that's the one closest to me) and there's where the guitar I wanted was! The book was last week, and I went there just because I wanted to get it right then and there on that day, instead of waiting 3 days for shipping. The book was the last one and was damaged, and they wouldn't give me a discount because "it was just the cover". Both stores had a 'worn out' feel to them; they reminded me of old pool halls where everything is a bit grimy and beaten-up. The staff was great, friendly and willing to try and help, but not very knowledgeable on the inner workings of the store, and they actually asked if I wanted to buy extended warranty... on a book... with a scratched-up cover!

I started going to GC, in 1995, when I lived in San Francisco. One of my friends worked there, and it was fun to go look at and play gear, which I couldn’t afford, but you could still get a deal. I remember taking my roommate there, because he was looking to buy an American made Fender bass. With the help of my buddy who worked there, my roommate got a Fender JP-90, with Fender HSC, for $200! Fast forward to 2009, while living in San Diego, I purchased several guitars, amps and cabs, pedals, strings, etc, from the La Mesa GC. I was always able to get a great deal, and eventually had “a guy” there, who, once per month, would give me 20% off of anything I wanted, then call the bank that backed the GC credit card, to have them still give me the interest-free payments (their policy would not allow discounted items to take advantage of their interest-free financing). That GC always did me right. The had a metric shit-ton of new and used guitars, amps and cabs. Fast forward to 2017, when I moved back to Detroit. I went to my local GC, in Southfield, MI, to look for a new or used Fender P-Bass or Jazz Bass. I was shocked at how little inventory they had on the walls. I think they had one P-Bass, and no Jazz Basses, so I had no way of trying out different models, to see which suited me best. This happened several times with other guitars I was looking to demo and purchase. None of the employees seemed very interested in selling me anything either. Then I had my wife buy for a new HSC for my 1991 Gibson SG, as my Christmas present. When I opened my present on Christmas Day, it was not in a box, and when I opened the case itself; you could see that it had had a guitar in it for an extended period of time, and the foam padding had begun to harden. The following day, I took it back to GC, and tore them a new asshole - as my wife said that the guy who sold her the case, reassured her that the case was indeed brand new, but had the original box misplaced. Of course that sales associate was not there that day, but the manager ordered me a new case, at a discount, and had it shipped directly to my house for free. I then ordered an Epiphone Casino, since they had none in the store for me to demo, and had it shipped to the store. When it arrived, I went to the store and opened the box, to make sure the guitar was not a dud. Well, it was a dud (not GC’s fault). Had they had one in the store for me to demo before ordering, it would have saved me a lot of time and gas money. I think they’re cutting costs by limiting the in-store inventory, which is how a customer used to able to get the best deals; three of the guitars which I’ve purchased from GC were “wall-hangers”, which I got the usual dents and dings discount. By not having as much in-store inventory, that allows GC to cut back on having to discount guitars, and having old inventory literally hanging around for years. I could go on for days about my GC horror stories. But that’s for another day. I’ll put it to you this way: if GC folds, I wouldn’t shed a year.

I’m the guy that went to GC to try in-store and I had an advisor I would call for deals. I saved 20-30% on new guitars just by making that phone call. Bought an awesome used Classic Series Strat from them last year as well which had to come across the country. Hate to see them struggling like this but also hate to see what they’ve done to small guitar stores in my hometown. I won’t waste my time going up there just to buy some accessories when the rainforest site has everything I want and can have it in 2-3 days. I’m one of those guys who used to frequent the place so much.

I bought a guitar from them a few months ago and I made sure the guitar I was looking at came in the box and wrapped.

I give credit to the sales staff at Whitehall Pa. Always pleasant and knowledgeable. I was shocked to see how bare some of the shelves were the other day though.

Guitar Center can go ahead and contact me if they’d like to get rid of some of their inventory

I gotta shout out my favorite employee John from the Santa Clara GC he helped me so much in getting my first electric and even built a great relationship with him to where he was willing to offer his discounts because of how much I was active in the store despite not being an employee

This resonates with me. Just the mention of guitar center invokes memories of teenagers playing the opening riff to "Come as you are" or "Enter Sandman" on loop. Its a bummer to hear about, but you presented it beautifully.

I didn't know Guitar Center were in trouble, but that would definitely explain why the one around me looks like its struggling. On the plus side, the staff were pretty knowledgeable-- I got a good recommendation for a compressor pedal. The inventory isn't as good. For some visits, the shelves were pretty bare. There also isn't a ton of variety for basses-- last time I was in, I counted four Squier Jazz basses with a sunburst finish. I'm a bit hesitant to buy online. Music can get really expensive, so being able to try out an instrument in person is important to me.

Man it’s been a long time since I’ve had a really cool experience at guitar center, these days I frequent for strings and polish but that’s really about it. I’m always hoping to find something exciting and inspiring but I just don’t find that anymore. And I’ll be real and say that maybe I’m too much a part of the niche market of extended range instruments and high gain amps but I’m also a mixing engineer and so I have needs for outboard gear and other accessories involved in the process. But with all that said I can not find anything that I’m really looking for and that sucks, if I could actually get my hands on a piece of gear and try it on in person I would be so much more into giving my money to them but that’s just not the case. My local guitar center here is awesome as far as the workforce goes, but the selection has been sparse for a long time now when it comes to my needs, but hey if you need some cheap mass produced music product then they’ve probably got it, and strings for the most part. But all in all, I wish Guitar Center could be what we all need it to be.

I went to the Pearl City store on Oahu for a bass amp. Only had 7 amps in store, with 2 in my budget. I approached the first employee in the door telling him I'm bringing in my bass guitar to check out an amp. He didn't understand what I told him and asked me what time my lesson appointment was. It was hard to make him understand what I was doing. Then when I got to the amps, only one worked, the other display model's on/ off switch was broken. When I asked the attendant if he would bring out another amp from the store room, he said the floor model is all they had. I left the store due to such a bad experience.

I agree the store inspire us as musicians

I completely stopped going about 5 years ago when the experience was so negative I just never want to go back. They want to rush you in and out.

The girl working in the guitar area in my local gc said she doesn’t play guitar so does not know much about guitar. Wtf ?

They definitely are, they even cut sales commissions recently

Never bought a guitar from GC. I once asked about getting a particular mic which they sold on the website but would take weeks or a month to have one shipped to the store for me to buy.. i even was willing to pay for it upfront.. so I eventually just would go to GC for like picks, strings, cables.. but no instruments. Once i found Sweetwater.. i only buy equipment from them or a few boutique shops near me.

I went to a guitar center this past weekend, staff were inattentive at best. Had to ask for a $1500 guitar to be brought from up top 3 times before they gave it to me, I picked up a bass that was set up so badly it buzzed out below the 5th fret and when looking at pedals the staff didn’t want to get them out the cabinet Honestly, if the customer service improved. The store performance may also improve At this point, good riddance. Thomann is cheaper and the service is better despite having to pay shipping from Europe

I dont mind if that means local shops can replace them.

As someone who grew up and learned guitar during the shred renissance of the mid 2000s, i felt this video hard. I just bought ab mim fender jazz, but for my bigger future purchases i prefer the smaller boutique shops that have the staff. I hope i dont sound entitled but i feel spendinf 1.5k to 2k on an instrument or gear deserves staff that will reslly pay attention to you and work with you, sweet water does this with reps, small shops do this as well. Very well articulated video

The closest GC is about 2 hours away, better off ordering online🤷‍♂️ Sweetwater for the win!!🥰

Well, all the people at my Little Rock Guitar Center are the bomb! They have been incredible over the past umpteen years and I love going there. I've probably spent over $20k there in the last 10 years. I hope it never goes away.

I have a guitar center around 5 miles where I work and yes they dont always have everything but they seem to care and ask tons of questions when I walk in. It could have just been your GC but I agree its sad looking at this wonderful shop going downhill. Ill only get something from them if I need it now. If I can wait a couple of days then im going to get it off of Sweetwater or B&H. Guitar center I feel like is more used to try out gear and that’s about it and that’s sad to me

See, I live close to Casleton and there's a GC, literally on the other side of the mall from Sam Ash and literally across the street from a Music Go Round store. I frequent all 3 glancing at the used gear and one thing I have noticed outside of this is that they are incredibly understaffed as well which definitely makes all of this even more amplified. I know it's not the store staff, because those guys/gals are always awesome and you can tell they are over worked and under paid. For me, due to location, it's convenience for me and I have the ability to price shop the 2 store for new gear. I'm going to be completely honest here though, considering Sweetwater is only just over an hr drive away.....I would likely go up there for something new. Now before I get hated on for not shopping at GC, I have a deep seeded love for SE Electronics mics and GC doesn't carry them but SW does 🤷‍♂️ I do take my son into GC often though and even had him in there for drum lessons. Currently saving pennies to get him an electric drum set so he can use headphones to practice with lol

Consider buying a guitar from a local luthier. They are often just as good or better than name brands, they are made in the U.S.A., and you will be supporting a small biz.

I think part of the conversation too is how Guitar Center reduced or probably even took away any commision for employees. The company can make more money if they don't have to share that commision with the salesperson that made the sale happen. Our local shop changed owners and they've expanded into other areas and I heard that one of the first things they did was cut commission down to nothing.

I used to really love Guitar Centers back in the 80's and 90's, but I started to notice as they got bigger and had more stores, I was often having negative experience with sales people. They often did not want to haggle on price, and often only offered to match the price I got elsewhere, rather than earn a sale by beating the price. They seem to really markup a lot of their used inventory. I do most of my shopping now at Sweetwater because they have good deals, great customer service, and my orders have always arrived in excellent condition.

I still love GC..they are having problems, bought a TAYLOR and a new Les Paul Standard..I made an offer , and they made it happen, the local places around H-Town would not at all discount. I hope they get their problems solved.

Went to the Guitar Center in Ft. Collins, CO last December. The selection was meh and the atmosphere was like that of a funeral. I helped a young fella pick out a nice little used PRS SE. The staff were nowhere to be seen and oblivious to him even being there. All I could think was “what happened to this place”… 😞

My most recent experience at Guitar Center was with a guy that wouldn’t even get up from his chair when I asked if the bass I just saw hanging was the last one and if it come with a box, he told me he had no idea and told me to bring it to him, instead of walking with me to see it and I don’t know, make a pitch sale at least so he could make a little money on commission? I’ve only bought 3 guitars there and none has come with a box or tools. That I expect from small companies, not a “giant” like GC.

we just got a guitar center in my home town. They really are selling beat up old used instruments for new prices.

So true! I used to love going myself, now the selection is lacking and service is horrible.

I supposed technically the last bass I bought, I bought a Guitar Center. I found the deal on the local classifieds and met in the GC parking lot to complete the purchase. 10/10 would do again.

I went to GC looking for a cheap gig guitar $200-$300 range just something I wouldn't be heartbroken over if it grew legs and walked away or was damaged. The salesman pointed me in the used guitar section which was full of junk and overpriced. I went to a small family owned music store and they put a bran new JS-Series Jackson in my hand and told me they would sell it for $175 new and I thought they were joking. I picked up the guitar, new Boss Katana amps, and other gear including a focusrite scarlett 2i2 and mics / cables that same day.

I've never bought a guitar from them, but their repair shop is pretty good. They put some Seymour Duncans in my Ibanez Gio and it sounds sick.

Guitar center was on the verge of filling Bankruptcy During the pandemic, and did a speedy about face, after they were able to get a reorganization deal done, that added new equity and debt capital in 2020. This company has been around a looooong time, and has been a major influence in my life. Especially my teen years. Guitar provided me with a direction to choose. Guitar center was like Disney World to me, but with instruments, and more instruments. My hope is that it's around for a very long time. It's the only gear store that I deal with. The only knock I have on them right now is that, they are making me wait till after October, to get my "Music Man Bongo 4". The Damn thing is on backorder. "All Of Them" lol

Guitar Center: where you ask for a new guitar, and they will push the display unit on you and try to charge you as new.

I live in Chicago so my GC is one of the better ones. Staff is generally knowledgable and definitely try to help you out even if it takes a long time. They are just incredibly understaffed. They had NOBODY in the drum department for months, and to get something that wasn't immediately accessible, I had to go to another department and ask. And who knows how bad their warehouse was. I wanted a specific set of bongos once and it took a manager 15 minutes to find it in the back. The wait for checkout is usually twice as long as it should be. Instrument upkeep is definitely another thing. If the instrument doesn't play well from the wall, on the one hand, you think to yourself "yeah, if I get this thing set up, it'll probably be fine", but on the other hand, you can't know that for sure UNTIL you actually commit the time/money to getting it set up.

Yeah It's a shame. :-( I miss what it used to be for sure. Went the other day for the first time in 2 or 3 years and geesh! Depressing.

Yeah as a kid i would go in GC and play all the keyboards and hang out with the employees. I made a ton of music connections back then. Best experience ever. Now i dont trust any of my purchases from GC unless i go in the store and demand an unopened box. Many times ive ordered equipment online and its been touched already, they try that in store too so be careful and make sure youre getting new merchandise. We pay too much money to get returns or floor models listed as NEW.

I just bought a guitar there about two weeks ago. Got a good deal. Got a Les Paul for 175. I have been playing it at church/