GC in sacramento beware

[jdurso]

so i was on a business trip the past 2 weeks to lovely nothern california and near one of the hotels i stayed at in sacramento there was a GC so i decided hey why not...... went in and noticed they had a pretty good selection for a GC...... some nices VHTs a few soldanos.... ive wanted to try a dc-5 for a while so i asked the guy if i could plug in and when i found a guitar and turned the amp on nothing happened... it was plugged in and everything seemed to be hooked up correctly but nothing came on..... so a little disappointed went over to a VHT Pitbull CL (which BTW is an awesome amp).... the GC guy comes over to me and asked what i thought of the dc-5 and i told him what happened... he said that the amp was on but the light on the front is broke.... well that would have been go to know..... so i went back to the amp plugged in and turned it on ... light didnt work as he stated so i flipped off the standby and sure enough it worked.... so i played for a little bit and started noticing this weird vibrating sound..... so i start looking a little closer and notice a crack in the shell in the back lip..... at this point i hadnt looked at the price.... they wanted almost $800 for this amp thats light was broken and had this huge crack in the shell causing the thing to vibrate like crazy..... so i ask the guy why so much and he said it was a "vintage" amp and that makes it valuable.... i cant believe the crap that continued to spew out of his mouth.... you can pick up a nice dc-5 in grate shape for 500-600 on the bay or even here yet because this amp is "vintage" they want almost 800

so i just blew the guy off and continued looking around.... they had a ROV there with the light totally missing and the standby switch broken off..... plus a huge tear in the tolex on the side off the amp.... they wanted 1100... now i know both are great amps but are these guys serious with their prices? ive seen some pretty beat up amps at GC before but nothing like this for the price they want

 

[zeeman]

Nothing new.. this is what I would consider a typical Guitar Center.

zeeman

 

[SixVeeSix]

Used gear in a GC is usually priced far too high and they will not cut you a deal. May or may not be in good condition either. Of course you will get guys like my friend Richard in there. We spotted a vintage Gibson tube amp and Richard was interested in it. So he found a cord and a guitar (sales people were too busy trying to sell Crates and Epiphones to heavy-metal-rodent-children to notice the old guys with money ) and plugged in. It sounded OK so being Richard, he dimed it! It began sputtering and crackling and making those "my old capacitors HATE you" kinds of noises. Sounded like crap too, old tired speaker. Luckily he shut it off before it burst into flames!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: You don't want an amp like that unless it is CHEAP.

There is a reason to cruise by now and then though. If used inventory sits for a year, they will blow it out. A buddy of mine picked up a very nice Maverick 2-12 for $599, we had sworn to ignore it at the asking price of $1199 but it sat too long. I snagged a shop worn Gibson Melody Maker for $199, sold it on ebay for $350. Not always a bad place, GC.

 

[goneloco]

One thing about Sacramento is were lucky enough to have a mom and pop shop as our mesa dealer. You wont find new mesa gear at our official guitar mart, or is it wal center

 

[Charlie]

Guitar center is a good place to go if you are in a bind for cables, picks, strings etc and maybe some pedals and that sort of thing. I don't think I would ever buy a guitar or an amp from GC though. Their stock is never well taken care of because of the amount of foot traffic that comes through that place.

Anyway - jdurso if you are ever in the area again you should probably make the trip down to SF as there are a bunch of small shops that I can recommend going to. I'm from NJ btw - lived in Hopatcong which is by Dover, Rockaway and Morristown.

 

[enigma]

I ignore all GC prices, and make my own counter offer to which the GC staff looks at me with an indignant look; the same look that I usually give them. I usally get I want 50% of the time. Other times I just do it to bust their chops b/c they all know they are overpriced :lol:

 

[msi]

I've gotten some pretty decent deals at one of the guitar centers here in minneapolis a few times. Got a vintage juno60 for 100 dollars, an engle tube toner for about 150, a combo 5150 for 500, and I'm about to go in and get a 2:90 for 550. Just have to keep your eyes open, and be friendly with the folks who work there.

 

[Tabs]

Had the exact same experience trying an old Mark IV at the Tucson GC. It was totally busted up and I'm almost positive the tubes were bad and they wanted $1200 for it. No one in the store even knew how it worked to be able to try and fix it so I could actually hear it. Stupid clerk is like "We just got these new Marshall Mode 4's in, they sound good!" - walked out at that point lol...

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

^I know exactly which Mark IV you're talking about! It has been at the Tucson GC FOREVER.....I played it, but the tubes were old, all the knobs were crackling...the thing needed work. I got them down to $800, but it really wasn't worth the trouble at that price IMO.

 

[vermillion]

if you buy a high ticket item (> $1000) from GC and they need to special order it, they'll give you a loaner while you're waiting a few months.

For example, you want a roadster head and 4x12 in a custom color. They will let you walk out with a in-stock roadster combo to use.

Buyer beware, the "new" stuff on the floor may have been used for a few months.

 

[NoGlassNoClass]

One thing about Sacramento is were lucky enough to have a mom and pop shop as our mesa dealer. You wont find new mesa gear at our official guitar mart, or is it wal center

+1 I've purchased a head, 2 cabs, and 4 nice guitars at that mom-and-pop and they always treat me right. Wouldnt go anywhere else unless they dont have what I need (which is rare).

Sacto's GC is one of the worst I have seen. Even their new gear (floor models) is in poor condition, used is way overpriced, and the environment put me in mind of being assaulted by used car salesmen who dont know the difference between a Corvette and a Chevette, and probably dont know how to drive either.

 

[KhaosMonster]

Wow i have to agree that sounds pretty similar to every visit i have ever had at the GC here in Columbus....even worse is the SamASS experience, nothing tops this crapper of a store...over priced everything and to boot it seems noone knows what they are talking about in there.
I just keep it real with a local store here in town called Lang music and thankfully they are a mesa dealer.

 

[jdurso]

Guitar center is a good place to go if you are in a bind for cables, picks, strings etc and maybe some pedals and that sort of thing. I don't think I would ever buy a guitar or an amp from GC though. Their stock is never well taken care of because of the amount of foot traffic that comes through that place.

Anyway - jdurso if you are ever in the area again you should probably make the trip down to SF as there are a bunch of small shops that I can recommend going to. I'm from NJ btw - lived in Hopatcong which is by Dover, Rockaway and Morristown.

definitely let me know as I'll be travelling in the SF/Sac area for the next three months (especially in Dec...I'll be out there for the whole month more or less)

 

[jdurso]

my point wasn't so much me having high expectations to go buy an amp at GC..... i was in there because there is nothing else to do in Sac and when your 3000 miles away from your Roadster its a decent alternative.... my point was more in what they were pricing these things at..... i mean these amps were noticiably busted... not just worn out guts, these amps had huge flaws in them that you could see from 5 feet away.... i have to say though i had fun playing that VHT because they definitely have their own flavor and its nice to play a different sounding amp every now and then.

I just think this GC in particular was just so piss poor..... makes me appreciate the GCs in NJ because I've never seen more beat up amps in my life

 

[goneloco]

The Sacramento GC is probaly the worst I've ever been in. The San Francisco one on the other hand is decent. I use GC for what its worth,
which is go in there and play and abuse anything you want. I really have no respect for them at all. I try to deal with smaller shops.

 

[Charlie]

definitely let me know as I'll be travelling in the SF/Sac area for the next three months (especially in Dec...I'll be out there for the whole month more or less)

Check out Rocker Guitars on 1350 Howard Street - they have a lot of cool boutique amps like Fuchs, Fargen, Bad Cat etc.. They have a TON of boutique pedals and a really good guitar selection - Gibson, Gretsch etc. From there you can walk down the street to Real Guitars which is at 15 Lafayette Street. It's REAL easy to miss it doesn't have a sign out front or anything but they have a lot of good used gear - in fact they don't have any new gear at all.

If you are into classical/acoustic guitars you should also check out Guitar Solo at 230 Townsend Street. It's a small shop and they specialize in Classical guitars and have a TON of classical guitar sheet music. Black Market Music is only a few blocks from here at 493 3rd street - they only sell used gear so the stock is always changing. Sometimes he has some really good stuff and sometimes not so much.

Last place I would recommend is Panhandle guitar at 1221 Fell Street. He's got a bunch of new low end guitars but always has a bunch of good vintage pieces hanging up behind the counter.

There is a music store on Haight Street but I wouldn't go out of my way to check it out.

If you are willing to travel a bit you should make the trip down to Gelb music in Redwood City.

There are also a bunch of good places to go to in Santa Cruz and San Rafael.

 

[RR]

What?

Charlie, your not going to mention Polk Street, Broadway area? :lol:

 

[Mountain Fever]

I happen to go to the GC in Sacramento from time-to-time and find it borderline repulsive. Most of the stuff is beat to hell and nothing that I would buy unless I could verify beyond the shadow of a doubt it was new and in the box.

This is sad, because it is one of the larger GC stores footage wise, but it is a mess.

I had to ask the saleperson to get an amp stand out of the back as all three of the ones that were on display were damaged.

The folks at Northridge (our Mesa dealer) while not overly organinzed all the time are very knowledgeable about the product lines which counts for a lot. I have bought both a LSS and Mark IV from them and have been pleased.

Like someone said, GC is where you go for the accessories that some other shops may not have in stock. I can't imagine buying anything important from them.

 

[domct203]

GC is what it is, and you have to know how to 'handle' them. Do not go into one un-informed about the products you are looking for, most of the sales people are kids and do not really know all the ins and outs of the products.

I bought a new Triple and Recto 4X12 in '01, and my Roadster this year from a GC (Manchester, CT) with no complaints. However, I told them that the box was to remain factory sealed until I opened it and tried it IN THE STORE, otherwise I would take my business elsewhere.

It was nice to take advantage of their 30 day return policy. While I waited for my Roadster I took home an ACE, then a LSS, and finally a ROV combo. All floor models of course, a little worn but fully working.

Guitars on the other hand, I will try at GC but buy elsewhere.

Dom

 

[Charlie]

What?

Charlie, your not going to mention Polk Street, Broadway area? :lol:

I figure that if he is into trannys he'll find it on his own. That area is being pushed southeast now though I won't be surprised if it's a nice area in another five years.

:lol: