2006-08-21
I really try to support as many small, local businesses as I can. I always went to local guitar shops and even after Guitar Center started I still bought the same amount of things from the same businesses. Well, they have pretty much put every guitar shop out of business, including the only repair shop that I have ever used so now I don't know where to get repairs done. I have bought things at Guitar Center, but these are generally things that I would have ordered from somewhere online anyway. I do pay attention to where I vote with my dollars.
Now to the point. The selection there sucks! I mean it's one thing to be an 800 pound gorilla but at least be usable. They have the following guitars: Strat, Tele, Les Paul, SG, Ibanez Artcore and Funky Shechter. An entire wall full of all the same guitars. Just endless montony. Their pro audio department is a complete joke. One guy literally said, "I've never actually used an SM57." Really? How does that happen. Like them or not, they are everywhere! This pro audio guy has never used one. That's the person I want to spend thousands of dollars with. You would think there would be at least minimal training or a policy of in your downtime, experiment with the stuff you are trying to sell.
"We can order it for you." That's a phrase that people often complain about regarding smaller businesses. The little guy can't keep a 250,000 square foot warehouse. I don't expect that. It makes it hard to make choices sometimes as you can't try things but most people work with you on returns. When a store this size is saying that about everything I am at all interested in it's pretty sad. They ran everyone else out and they aren't any better in terms of inventory.
On a lot of message boards I hear people say things like, "You can check them out at Guitar Center. Then order it from ________." After seeing a bunch of posts like that I was actually a little excited thinking that I might be able to test out some new stuff. Nope. And no I don't want to sign up for your contest.
Now to the point. The selection there sucks! I mean it's one thing to be an 800 pound gorilla but at least be usable. They have the following guitars: Strat, Tele, Les Paul, SG, Ibanez Artcore and Funky Shechter. An entire wall full of all the same guitars. Just endless montony. Their pro audio department is a complete joke. One guy literally said, "I've never actually used an SM57." Really? How does that happen. Like them or not, they are everywhere! This pro audio guy has never used one. That's the person I want to spend thousands of dollars with. You would think there would be at least minimal training or a policy of in your downtime, experiment with the stuff you are trying to sell.
"We can order it for you." That's a phrase that people often complain about regarding smaller businesses. The little guy can't keep a 250,000 square foot warehouse. I don't expect that. It makes it hard to make choices sometimes as you can't try things but most people work with you on returns. When a store this size is saying that about everything I am at all interested in it's pretty sad. They ran everyone else out and they aren't any better in terms of inventory.
On a lot of message boards I hear people say things like, "You can check them out at Guitar Center. Then order it from ________." After seeing a bunch of posts like that I was actually a little excited thinking that I might be able to test out some new stuff. Nope. And no I don't want to sign up for your contest.
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