What is your BEST music store experience?

[PettyThief]

One of the guitar shops in Ashland

Me: "Do you guys have mandolas?"

Guy: "Yes, we do... check this one out."

Me: "Uhhh, that's $3,000 no way am I ever going to afford that"

Guy: "I didn't say you were going to, but check it out!"


These guys are awesome. GASing hard for one of those Mandolas... maybe one day.

 

[Edika]

A few years ago I was in a small city of Greece doing my army duties. A friend of mine that worked there had the son of one of his colleagues that wanted to buy his first guitar and amp. So he asked me to help him buy a budget first new guitar and amp. We go the store (it is one of the bigger chains in Greece) and ask for guitars at that price point and a simple cheap amp to try on.

After I am done picking out a guitar and amp for the guy the sale person tells me that he has an offer and if we are interested. He said a car came through the main window a few days ago and that the brand new Line 6 live XT effects board had some glass thrown on and scratched. It functioned perfectly but do to the incident and scratched he was selling it half price. The live XT had come out recently and it was like 500 euros new and he was giving it to me for 250. I ask to check it out and play it. It was very lightly scratched in a few places, no dents and functioned perfectly. I could just hear some glass fragments under the pedals. He tells me another guy is interested and would come back tomorrow. So I told him while I went out to withdraw money from the bank he should open it and clean the glass fragments. I would then try it again and if there was no problem I'd buy it. It was fine and of course I bought it. I then proceeded to sell my Boss GT-4 for 250 Euros and upgraded my effects board for free!

 

[elrrek]

Okay, this is going to take a while.

As a youngster I decided I wanted to learn guitar and my parents, being the sensible characters they are laid down the law and said "okay, this Xmas you get an acoustic guitar and it will be playable but not expensive. If you stick at that for a year and actually learn how to play, next year you can have an electric". So, I stick with the acoustic for a year and true to their word the next Xmas is approaching and my Dad takes me guitar shopping on Thursday night.

We hit every guitar store in town and the one guitar that jumps out at me is a single humbucker and Floyd equipped Tokai with a pointy headstock, total Charvel rip-off, the pickup is a Dimarzio and it plays like butter. It's a new shop and the guy is looking to make sales so the price it right, the amp bundled in the deal sucks but that's the way it goes.

We take a break, go for dinner and then hit the last store that we need to check. This place is rammed with guitars but I can't see anything. The manager is a young guy and asks me what's going on and what I a looking for. I tell him I just can't see anything that's interesting as much as another guitar. So he asks me to describe the other guitar, I start off with, "well it's a Tokai, it's white and has a pink" and the guy jumps in and say "Dimarzio pickup, a Floyd, pointy headstock and is basically a Charvel rip-off?". My jaw hits the floor, my Dad suddenly becomes massively more interested in what the Manager is saying and the story continues.

It turns out that the guy with the new shop used to work for the shop we are in right now, he left under a dark cloud and took a bunch of stock with him to open his new store. The manager dude we are talking to right now says that he is actually suing the other guy to get his stock back and the Tokai is listed as one of the items of stock he wants back! My Dad quite calmly tells me to forget about the Tokai it's a no-go area as far as he concerned and my Xmas just got ruined. At this point the Manager turns to my Dad and asks what the budget is, various negotiations are made and discounts for cash payment are arranged and the Manager pulls this white beast of a guitar by some firm called Marina off the wall. It's a bolt on super Start, 24 frets, Select by EMG humbucker and 2 single coils with an active pre-amp AND A Kahler Spyder trem. He knocks 100 GBP off the price of the guitar, throws in a 10 watt practice amp and a gig bag and winks at me saying "Sorry about the Tokai kid".

And it get's better. A year later the guitar is involved in an accident and the headstock breaks off. Insurance claims are put in and everything is cool, I get a pay out and get to keep the broken guitar parts so I head back into town to check out some new guitars. I wander in the store and the Manager guy spots me and say "hello there Tokai guy, what's happening?". I show him the guitar with the smashed neck and he says, go speak to this guy (one of the store sellers), tell him I said the parts are good for 100 pound and he'll help you out with a new axe!".

Sadly, the guitar shop closed down a few years later otherwise, I'D probably be buying gear off them in preference to other places.

 

[MetalMike04]

MetalMike04 - Skip's is AWESOME. Love it there. Great people work there; always happy to let me try stuff out and everything even if I'm just looking.

like i said they dont have the greatest selection but still in the three time ive gone over a span of three years i always force my parents to take me there. (my dad likes it) but their just so friendly, love it. i forget the men i encountered there but the main guy (he's bald) is the best!

 

[pero]

Last year I drove my van to service. I had some spare time so I went to the nearby music store because I saw on their website they had a 6505 in stock.

I enter the store, and the guy behind the counter greets me and asks me how can he help me. I ask him if they have the 6505 and he says yes, and then he calls his colleague which is the guitar salesman.
This guy comes,we go to the room where they keep the guitar stuff, and he tells he`s sorry but currently they don`t have the 6505 in stock, but they have the 6505+ and the 6534 and I can try them if I want. He tells me to choose any guitar of the wall while he plugs the amps.
I pick a random guitar, he plugs everything in and lets me play. I go call him when I finished playing, he unplugs the heads and starts connecting the 3120 to the cabinet and tells me it`s a cool amp and I should also try it.
So I play a little with the 3120. After I finished he again asks me if I want to try anything else. I said no, just to tell me what is the price of the 6505+.
We go to the counter, he prints me a couple of offers (for every head separately) with a nice discount for cash payment included and tells me just to think about it without any obligations of buying.
I take the offers and tell him I`m very interested in the 6505+ and I`m gonna call them because I don`t have that amount of cash with me.

Two days later I return to the store with cash, I get additional 5% off the offer he printed me two days ago and walk out of the store with a new 6505+ (which I originally wanted to buy used because it was cheaper)

That is the right customer approach that sells stuff

 

[The Beard]

Anyone else notice that almost every time someone posts a "worst experiences" thread, someone else starts a "best experiences" thread?

My best experience was that a dude that was the manager at a local guitar shop around where I live was really into the local music scene, so he would give members of local bands the "local band discount." I was happily one of those people who recieve that discount
Also, he would always let people have stuff like string winders, picks, etc. for free.

He ended up having to close the store down though because they were losing money (presumably because of all the discounts, low prices, and freebies he would give to people )

But while the shop was still going, it was easily my favorite guitar shop. And every single employee that was hired there was fucking AWESOME. They were all easily some of the nicest people you would ever meet.

 

[cwhitey2]

Most ppl have GC horror story's. But over the years I have made some real good friends there.

I usually only buy stuff from certain individuals just because im loyal....and they are my friends. Anyways, I needed a cab and some pedals. I saw the guy I always buy stuff from outside just lighting up a cig when I pulled in.

I got out of my car, looked at him and yelled im buying shit today. He didnt even hesitate....he just threw his cig out...that he just lit and proceeded to save a shit ton o money. I bought 2 ts9s, 2 deci's and a basson 4x12.....for $650....all with warrentys


Lets just say I felt like I robbed the place


Sadly my hookup no longer work in 'sales'....he runs the repair section....which is even more win....cause I get freeee setups anytime. Double

 

[Nonservium]

The folks at my closest GC are, in general, awesome. I haven't had a negative experience in there.

 

[Konfyouzd]

Every good music experience involves me leaving with a piece of gear more or less. Beyond that nothing all that spectacular goes on.

There was this one period of time, though when I would go to my local music shop and just shred it up on all their guitar when I get bored playing with my own at home. Well one of the cashiers seemed blown away by the fact that I could sweep and went in the back to get one of the instructors who apparently didn't have a student at the moment.

When he came out, he seemed fairly impressed with what I could do and wanted to jam a little bit. He was MUCH better than me. At any rate, I would go in there pretty frequently from there on out (it also helped that I currently had a guitar on special order with them and was going in periodically to put down more $$$ and/or check the status). Every time I showed up he wanted to jam again and he would end up teaching me how to do stuff for free.

I guess that would have to be the best out of all my experiences. I've never really had a terrible experience, just annoying ones.

 

[USMarine75]

I bought a condition 1 return/used JEM from MF for $1200. I thought it had to be a mistake because the retail was $2599 at the time. When I got it the action was completely messed up and it looked like the previous owner had decided to overadjust the truss rod to compensate, causing the neck to be all fucked up. I brought it to GC and they said the neck was warped and there was no way to fix it. When I called MF they said it didn't have the factory warranty, so Ibanez wouldn't fix it. I brought it by my authorized Ibanez repair shop and they fixed it for free anyways.

Oh and I had so much $$ leftover that I bought a condition 1 Engl Fireball 100 for another $1200 (Apparently it was bad because it had a bad tube lol?). A JEM and FB100 for $2400, which was still less than the cost of a new JEM !!! I still had left over cash so I put in some Lace pickups, too.

 

[Konfyouzd]

^ DAMN

 

[cwhitey2]

The folks at my closest GC are, in general, awesome. I haven't had a negative experience in there.

Well by negative I mean pushy salesmen.

If im going to buy anything....its not cause some 'guy' said I should. Its because I want/need it.

 

[Konfyouzd]

Well by negative I mean pushy salesmen.

If im going to buy anything....its not cause some 'guy' said I should. Its because I want/need it.

That's the ONLY problem I ever have with GC is that if I play anything and appear to have a passing familiarity with it, they immediately try to pump my head up as if I don't know my own skill level and then try to get me to buy the most expensive axe/amp on the wall. Then again, the guitar I ask to play is usually one of the more expensive ones on the wall. I might be bringing that on myself.

 

[ShredWizard]

I got an eric johnson sunburst strat that was "used" (but literally brand new, hang tags, factory strings, plastic, case candy unopened) for 1300 flat (new ones retail for 1900+tax) at long and mcquade. I asked them if I could trade my old yngwie strat for it, they looked in their computer and said they could only give me 700 for it but then they looked at my purchase history and said yeah sure so basically I straight traded my old guitar for a brand new one that was worth alot more

 

[cwhitey2]

That's the ONLY problem I ever have with GC is that if I play anything and appear to have a passing familiarity with it, they immediately try to pump my head up as if I don't know my own skill level and then try to get me to buy the most expensive axe/amp on the wall. Then again, the guitar I ask to play is usually one of the more expensive ones on the wall. I might be bringing that on myself.

Hahaha I used to play this $1500 les paul evertime I was in there....then they finally realized after about a year that I only wanted to play it...not buy it.

So they dont ley me plsy it anymore

 

[All_¥our_Bass]

The folks at my closest GC are, in general, awesome. I haven't had a negative experience in there.

This. Nice dudes that aren't pushy at all.

 

[thetobarmethod]

At a Jacksons Music outlet, that is filled with assholes i decided to pay a visit to one day. Well they had a ibanez scetion since some dude there was a dealer. i<3 ibanez so i proceeded to play around withtheir stuff, a guy i had never seen work there before came up to me and asked me "how is it playing?" and i said great(it was a new rg1570) he asked me, "u lok like u can play, show me something" so he sat down, plugged up with me, and we proceeded to jam for a good 25 minutes well after that, he said, "you know, most people come in here for elctronics and simple things like cables, take that thing home, and tell me what u think of it after 2 weeks or so." i thought bullshit....well i took it home, played for 2 weeks brought it back, dude gave me 1/2 off, and i turned him down cuz i thought i would be robbing the place. true story

It was strange considering im only 16, and had never went to the place more than 1 in my life. and how could he just give me 1/2 off on the thing?..........whatever

 

[Rayaus]

I can't really choose one time in particular, but since I've been dealing with the same tech for a while, every single time is a positive experience. Once he was in a huge rush and the other guy told me he wasn't taking orders, but then he got off the phone saying I was a special customer. He then said I always bring him some cool stuff so he couldn't refuse to serve me. (I always bring in BKPs which he doesn't sell there and he loves trying out what I bring him) There's even one time where I hadn't been there for about 2 years, and he remembered my name! (I know by working in customer service that you see so many people, I would've never remembered a customer from 2 years ago)

Anyways, not really a store experience, but he's the reason I still go to this music store at all, with the kind of deals you can get on used gear. It's also somewhat hard to find a tech that you really trust and he's always making me good prices on his high quality work.

 

[spawnofthesith]

All the times I've gone to Wildwood Guitars here in Louisville, CO have been a really good experience. There's a guy that works there, Lance (he posts on a few other guitar forums, maybe he does here too?) and he's handled all my transactions there. Just a really knowledgeable and friendly guy, and doesn't live up to any negative salesmen cliches.

 

[peagull]

Years ago I wanted a 5150, which meant trawling ebay or buying a 6505. So I head up to Leeds and go to a few music stores. End up in the one I buy it from, he says to me that they have a real push on Mesa's and they have a single rec just come in 2nd hand. I tell him that it's all about the chugs atm, so he laughs and I go about choosing a guitar to use, and start retuning to Open C.

He starts asking what axe I'd be using with it, which at the time was a Tremonti SE with emgs. Picks up a 2nd hand american PRS Singlecut, and tells me to play on a Dual Rec for 20 mins to keep his boss happy and he'll come back with a surprise.

So not passing on an opportunity to try them both side by side full balls, I noodle for 20 mins and he comes back with this PRS and he's changed the pups to EMG's for me and done a quick setup in Open C, just for me to stop using some epi les paul with emgs.

So of course I noodle about for another hour using this PRS which I still regret not buying. And walk out with the 6505 (which I'd already decided I was buying before I even went in the store) for £200 less than the tag price.

Plus he even said my playing was good, He was lying. I was terrible! ha ha ha