Guitar Center - CEO Says Time For A Change
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- čas přidán 2. 06. 2024
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Hi Barry. This is Gabe Dalporto, CEO of Guitar Center. Thanks for your video and commentary. We have a ton of work to do to achieve the vision I set out. Things don't change overnight. We're starting with 20 pilot stores, and learning how to do it right. Then we'll be rolling out to the rest of our stores. So please be a little patient but we will get there.
If you get it done I will celebrate. Where are those stores going to be?
Good luck Gabe .. retail is not an easy task these days. There was a comment above from a viewer that struck a chord. Support the local musicians in the areas of each store with events and venue to preform. Maybe a place to make demos to. 🤷♂️ think outside the box .
GC is great to visit, but it often doesn't have what I want. I walk in, enjoy browsing, and then go home and order from Sweetwater. I want fresh Boveda packs. I love mid-priced great quality Indonesian made guitars, which are the best value in the market right now. I have a modest collection of guitars which I love, and for my collection, I bought a Silver Sky SE last year, during their great sale event. GC didn't even have any!! I couldn't play one in the local GC store at all -- which is crazy because the entire SE line except for the DGT was on sale for 4 months! The SS SE I ended up buying at another retailer wasn't a demo -- it hadn't been hanging on a wall for umpteen teenaged boys to bang around before I got there, and it was in perfect condition right out of the box. I love it, and every time I pick it up I think of that experience, not GC.
NB: GC needs imagination. What's being suggested is too old hat, still "in the box." Do some focus groups with a larger variety of people; you might get some very productive unusual suggestions. And get some consumer data and pay attention to it.
GC has some absolutely huge advantages over Sweetwater, etc, but it seems like GC doesn't recognize its own power or how to use it.
Good luck Gabe! I truely hope you succeed and bring GC back to its grand roots! The road won’t be easy, but it looks like one of your competitors is soon to be gone after 100 years.
czcams.com/video/TKxtNBwC9TM/video.htmlsi=ZxULv3pMsbAm4ZFk
The overall health of the musical instrument industry drives sales to a degree. A symbiotic relationship between manufactures, sellers ,and the customers. No cost solution, prompt a survey for your hourly associates to discuss items they would be excited to see, i.e. partnered limited runs, exclusives, and improvements to existing product to provide feedback to manufacturers. All I've seen is cost go up and quality go down, rehashing the same stuff like a bad Hollywood remake. The entire industry needs a shot of adrenaline, but seems to be out of touch with what the consumer wants. Is rock n roll dead? Maybe. Dying, definitely. Beating a dead horse? Turn it into a radioactive supercharged zombie stallion. I'd buy one.
My local Guitar Center has made a complete 180 in the past two months. Two months ago, I went to go buy a ride cymbal that I found in their used listings online. My father-in-law and I went into the drum room and it was a complete disaster. Last week I went in there and it was completely redone. The stock was much better, and they had somebody in there that actually knew what they were talking about. When I asked about the improvements, they said corporate was making a lot of big changes and improving almost everything that they can afford to improve. Overall, the entire store was much nicer than it had been in over a decade.
Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come.
I hope so, too. Guitar Center of the 80s and 90s was awesome and I've missed them ever since the "pivot" away from "serious, gigging musicians" to additional focus on the entry level of the market.
I worked my way to my undergraduate degree as a vocalist and lead guitarist in a Southern California cover band form 1983 to 1987. The decline in demand for live music in bars and at bar mitzvahs and bar association banquets didn't affect me, but it started to impact friends in other bands, and to me, the writing was on the wall.
In '88, I got in to playing in church.
My needs as a live performance musician didn't miraculously change because the venue said "church" outside instead of having a sign saying "cocktails." What was meant to benefit the player I used to be in '87 also benefited me as the player I became in '88. But as Guitar Center focused more and more on the bedroom player and less and less on the public performer kind of player, and continued to move the product mix toward entry level, it was apparent that I didn't exist to them, so they need not exist to me.
I hope they get it back together. A re-incarnation of 1980s Guitar Center would be MARVELOUS and a boon to church musicians like me.
Went to the store in Knoxville yesterday. You can tell things are changing already. They installed a mic locker absolutely full of mics. It was a beautiful thing and what we used to see from them. So let’s keep our fingers crossed
Sweetwater is moonwalking over all the competition with only one physical location. However; it's not just that. It's the wide selection of gear. Want an entry level Focusrite Scarlett - they got it. Want a PRISM audio interface - they got it. Two year warranty included, free 2 day shipping and sales engineers who actually know about gear. I would love to see GC turn it around as competition is only better for us consumers.
Last week, I noticed my local Guitar Center completely revamped their store layout, placing all their premium guitars (fender/gibson) and lineups within arms reach. They've also set up boutique guitar pedals, plugged in and ready play with quarter-inch cables.
I have to hand it to them, it's a much better experience and akin to why people still prefer going to Best Buy instead of shopping online - they want to test out products firsthand before making significant purchases.
I saw the same, and was shocked! They had all the quality stuff out for everyone to check out. Was really refreshing
Mine has gotten a lot better as well!
They need to do the same with the Nashviile store! It's pretty horrible on several levels but hey, let's see what they can do!
@@jerrycharles66 I bet they will! This one is in Austin.
That would be awesome :)
Gc should be supporting local upcoming artist and have events with pro musicians and engineers.
Right like Sam ash they have a stage
@@jpilot07 I’ve seen it a certain locations but not every locations.
Sam Ash is closing stores by the dozens, other retailers. In different states, it's almost impossible to survive the insidious business climate, (not to be political, but you can guess which states) so be glad you have a store and this point and try to support. These retailers did not produce this acidic retail environment. Every time you buy online, you make it harder to keep the retailer on the street in business, think about Fry's electronics. So, friends, if GC has a value to you (or Sam Ash, or local mom and pop) go out of your way to support, give them the first chance at your music dollar spent.
I have a Guitar Center less than one mile from me and I have not been in there years because all it has is cheap ass crap and unhappy employees that really do not know their stuff. I have no choice but to go to Sweetwater and buy my stuff and talk to someone I can tell knows their stuff and help guide me to make a choice and not try to sell me a bunch of crap and insurance on my purchase. That whole insurance pressure crap at Guitar Center is lame and a total turn off
You see no flagship equipment Nothing on display and Guitar Center is right in the next neighborhood so I go to " pianos and stuff" Which is 3 neighborhoods away from me yeah Where you can see and feel what something looks like before you buy it
Sorry to hear about your GC being su h a disaster. The here in my hometown in Arvada, Colorado is fricken awesome. I can't say about drums, but in guitars and gear, they are the best, and have gone there now about 25yrs now. They carry every guitar you could possibly want, high end, to the entry level stuff this dude was talking about.
I've had nothing but shit experience in dealing w Sweetwater, they are terribly overpriced, and will fleece you if your not watchful on delivery costs. I will never buy a guitar again that I cannot touch and play before I buy it. The one time I did the guitar, which was used was in horrible condition, and not what was represented. I returned it and eventually got most of the money I spent, but it was a massive headache, and took weeks to resolve.
Hopefully this new CEO gets all the stores turned around.
What have you bought from Sweetwater? Did they make you pretty good deal?
Remember when you had that "knows their stuff" sales person in the local store?
@@rickeguitar9086 NOt anymore at Guitar Center. Sweetwater does a pretty good job when you talk to them
They need to go in and revaluate the stores managers, cause my old store’s managers were Horrible!!!! They didn’t appreciate their employees, especially the 40+ year old ones with countless years of experience. As a repair tech, they wanted me to pull wool over the customers eyes and lie about their repairs to push the up charge/up sale. I didn’t do it and eventually got the boot after a year of winning over customers with my trust and workmanship.
I totally agree with you regarding Guitar Center! It was the musicians amusement park one time. I spent thousands and thousands there from drums to acoustic guitars to electric guitars to bass guitars to congas and percussion to amps to audio, etc. But as you pointed out, the quality of equipment has dramatically dropped over the decades. My last 7 piece drum kit I bought was at Sam Ash and my 9 new cymbals and a club jam drum kit I got from Sweetwater. One thing you failed to point out about Sweetwater was the absolute quality of their sales engineers! GC needs to replace all their wannabes with real musicians and audiophiles, and provide mandatory ongoing training. Sweetwater nailed it there! GC also needs to up their game online and price their products competitively! Can they do it, I want to say yes, but corporate culture takes years if not decades to change. Will they have enough time, sadly I’m not sure.
You said exactly what I'm thinking! I really want to enjoy GC again and it needs to show that it cares about it's customers.
Whenever I go into Guitar Center, it takes me 10 minutes to find what I need and 45 minutes for some bored and disgruntled GC counterboy to ring me up.
Guitar Center is done. I remember when it put all the thriving Mom and Pop stores out of business back in the 90s and 00s. Sweetwater and the remaining Mom and Pops on Reverb have taken its place. I was a faithful GC customer when I lived in LA back in the 80s. I hope you spend more time showing what you are doing with the gear you have rather than turning every video into a Sweetwater spot...
SweetWater is kicking GC’s ass with one location!!!
And has for a long time
You can say that again.
I have a GC about 30 min away . I never go
💯
I hate shopping online. I like to pop up, get what I want and leave. I been trying to get a compressor for years with them. I always go there first but it’s never there. So I go on Facebook shop or a pawnshop. I’m 36 years old
Good job Private Equity Firm: it was a sad day in Sam's Club when I saw an Alesis logo on a cheap consumer-level arranger keyboard. What an inspiration it would be on many levels if Gabe can clean up the mess and turn around Guitar Center!
The more I listen to this post Mr Barry , the more I chuckle .
There aren’t as many people playing instruments these days compared to 1974 ? ? For real ? 😳
There is an exponential amount of new musicians playing today in 2024 , some 50 years later .
There are more younger bands , more music stores , the internet to make purchases and learn from . .
That’s a bizarre statement to say the least .
I think we’re done here 😊
Andrew Scheps has done mixes on $99 Sony headphones. One can buy a great Motu interface for $200. A $30-40 Joyo analog amp sim pedal can hold its own. An SM57 is a great mic and often sufficient for even vocals. In other words, "junk" can get the job done.
Thanks for this man!
I remember when I received the GC catalogs and I was so amazed for all the variety and quality or gear you could get here. I hope they can get back to that glorious time.
Thanks Barry! I’ve had decent luck buying use gear from the GC website. Not all of it was tested thoroughly and had to send it back. Unlike Music-Go-Round that pays for return shipping on their use gear, you eat the shipping costs at GC. Gabe, please train the folks who describe and list the products on your company’s website. It appears that some of the items that are listed are named incorrectly. Sometimes the listing photos are of something totally different than the description. Who’s checking their work?
Replay Guitar Center in Tampa is my favorite guitar store. Period.
It should be like a mini NAMM. Their advantage over websites is that you can try it out in person.
Local family owned music store is crushing GC. You can’t treat your customers as poorly as GC does. I used to get a pro discount on everything I bought there and their “Pro,Audio” dept has turned into “Amateur Beat Maker/DJ with an attitude” and shit gear. I don’t appreciate getting treated like dirt by some high school drop out with an infected lip piercing and gross gauges in their ears. I used to go in and listen to studio monitors, play with preamps, hear new pa boxes etc.…now it’s just the cheapest shit, and only 1 or 2 brands. They no longer care about long time pros like me. Only Billy and Suzie’s mom and dad that will buy a cheap guitar amp and sign a contract for their lessons. That’s the GC model. Now guys like me who spend $50k per year or more on gear go to Sweetwater or buy used. I only go to GC as a last resort. And I feel sick in my soul every time I do. There is a GC about 10 mins away from my commercial studio and I only go after kicking and screaming like a 3 Yr old in a grocery store.
So true, walk in there are no hi-end audio interfaces on display, bass guitar section on complete suck mode, and most other sections are short in their options.
I went to a guitar center in Maryland today. Awesome high end stock! Guitars totally revamped. Great manager and super friendly and welcoming. Totally different than my past experiences. Clean, well laid out, just incredible.
I think Sam Ash and Guitar Center should merge. Shut down stores with low foot traffic; and get rid of the lazy, useless, employees. Both stores need to have a better quality/variety of merchandise. More products on display so people can try before we buy an instrument/equipment. That’s the one thing stores have over online…try it out first, take it home and use it the day you bought it!!!
Hopefully GC can finally get it together. I haven't been to mine in many years and it's literally 5 mins away. Seems like most or all of them kept going downhill. Thanks for sharing your thought Barry!! Much ❤ BJ!!
I love the repair guys at my Guitar Center in Riverside, CA. They do a great job and are professional
Do you know how to maintain and set up your own guitar(s)? If you don't then your comment does not carry much weight.
I was at Guitar Center Sherman Oaks, CA today to get a few things. Always love jamming on the keyboards 🎹 💜
Been going to that one for over 25 years and will still always.
A business can't survive on you "jamming". They need you to buy stuff.
@@lepidoptera9337 I said I picked up a few things. I go to buy stuff. On Monday I bought an Arturia MicroFreak from the Northridge CA location which is my second closest one.
I've easily spent 20K in the past 2 years at Guitar Center. Almost all Mogami cables now 😂
I need to renew my business tax exempt code to save a little bit more.
If my GCs don't have anything I want I order online.
It's that simple.
@@lepidoptera9337 I said I picked up a few things. I go to buy stuff. I've easily spent 20K in the past 2 years at Guitar Center. Almost all Mogami cables now 😂
On Monday I bought a new Arturia MicroFreak from my second closest location in Northridge, CA.
I need to renew my business tax exempt code to save more with the amount of spending I do.
When GC doesn't have anything I want I buy online.
It's that simple.
They are showing some improvements in store to layouts and inventory.
Saw a Teenage Engineering K.O. II there which was shocking, in a good way.
@@lepidoptera9337
I said I picked up a few things. I go to buy stuff. I've easily spent 20K in the past 2 years at Guitar Center. Almost all Mogami cables now 😂
On Monday I bought a new Arturia MicroFreak from my second closest location at the Northridge, CA.
I need to renew my business tax exempt code to save more with the amount of spending I do.
When GC doesn't have anything I want I buy online.
It's that simple.
They are showing some improvements in store to layouts and inventory.
Saw a Teenage Engineering K.O. II there which was shocking, in a good way.
@lepidoptera9337 I said I picked up a few things. I go to buy stuff. I've easily spent 20K in the past 2 years at Guitar Center. Almost all Mogami cables now 😂
On Monday I bought a new Arturia MicroFreak from my second closest location at the Northridge, CA.
I need to renew my business tax exempt code to save more with the amount of spending I do.
When GC doesn't have anything I want I buy online.
It's that simple.
They are showing some improvements in store to layouts and inventory.
Saw a Teenage Engineering K.O. II there which was shocking, in a good way.
A lot of great, knowledgeable, and helpful people work at Guitar Center. I want to see them all succeed. They will turn it around.
Love your channel
I used to work at GC in Sherman Oaks CA. What a wast of time !!! My worst 4 weeks working at that retail. The training was NONE… nada.. first day they made me work in the storage room just for the sake of it. Loading off the courier track !! It was undignified because I was 50 y/o and hired because of my long experience in studios and clientele.
Then no one train me with the system , the software they use with purchases, etc so i was oblige to share all of my sales. Commission was ridiculous and the promise of “you gonna know people in the industry “ was really lame.
Finally day 30 i quit, I took a number of a pastor that wanted a PA system for the church and follow that contact.
At the end the church paid me $500 for one day of Set Up.
And the church also gave you health insurance, right? And the next day another church paid you another $500, didn't they? And so that's all cool now because you are maintaining the PA system at all 700 churches in your neighborhood. Oh, wait... you aren't.
@@lepidoptera9337 well ..GC=!no health insurance because we all were below the hours required by law. But the good part is YES , not maintaining every week but I started playing Sundays and Thursdays and teaching audio production for that specific church and another smaller.
GC is 💩 job.
Thanks for replying
@@danyavilaoficial OK, then you got what you asked for... but what you asked for is not a real job. A proper job is full hours plus benefits... which you still don't have. I do, by the way, know what the life of a musician looks like. I am the son of one. Sometimes my Mom went hungry so I didn't have to. Thanks for your understanding. (And, yes, I love my Dad, I just don't want to be him.) ;-)
This video resonates with what I've observed in my local Guitar Center. On my last couple visits to get drum heads and guitar strings, I checked pro audio for used mics. I was surprised to see the mic case display full of higher end mics. Lots of the current Neumann and Beyer, Shure and other offerings. They had the Warm Audio selection too. It was a marked difference than even 6 months ago. As a professional musician and studio owner, it's nice to see that stuff but my personal economy doesn't have a $3-6k for a mic or a pair. Their mic stand and other studio hardware selections didn't have a similar range to what was in the mic case.
Leave it up to guitar center to NOT carry a reamp box, headrush pedal board, more than 2 telecasters, amp power soaker or anything to do with the times. They always say the same thing "we can order it for you" well I can do that lol. Hopefully things will change for the better.
They should use their influence to help promote bands that actually play their own instruments.
Also, it would be nice if they would offer PLEKING Service
Nice shoutout to Replay Guitar, I dig that place too, even have a few incredible guitars from there.
Alto music was able to overnight me a pulse 16 mx after realizing they disnt have it in stock. They ran all over the place and made it happen direct from their distributor. Had it the next morning. My first experience with alto was phenomenal.
What are your thoughts on sealed vs ported monitors? Are sealed monitors more forgiving of untreated rooms? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I work for Guitar Center, and especially the Pro Audio section in our store has a lot of lower end, more budget end stuff. I'd love to see a lot more higher end gear, less KRK and more Focal. Less Gemsound, more Shure. Hoping Gabe can help out.
I live in Lakeland, I don't know if you heard this, but Tampa G.C. fired all but two employees including all the managers two weeks ago.
Thanks Barry for being a voice!
Great move! My local GC started unlocking the high end stuff and everything was within reach. Saw multiple purchases and lots of GC credit cards open up for financing.
With places like zzound & Ams having a pay as you play payment plans is making it hard for retail stores
Really hope they get it together 🤞🏼
Barry, I am aligned with you on this. Like the Missouri motto, "Show me" Guitar Center. Words are great because they are also free. Actions cost and that is where, like you a loyal Sweetwater shopper" because I have been burned by the negligence of Guitar Center in the past, will have to see what comes in the form of actions. Cheers Barry!
I was there when guitar center and other big box music retailers shut down the mom and pop and boutique retailers. I fell for it and became a big box retail fan. Since the demise of guitar center, a lot of those shops have come back and are doing well. I am not making the same mistake twice. I only buy high end gear from the folks that work hardest for my business, and those are the ones with families to feed just like me. So no, I don’t care what GC does. I am not going back.
Lol I love replay, nice shout out
I went to buy an sp404 there. Called and someone answered they said they had 2. I drove the 45 mins to get it only to find out they can't find it and had to have it delivered. 2 weeks later it came. I was heated
I hope they can… I feel a bit of sad and uneasy when I walk into our Guitar center. On life support comes to mind. Makes me not want to stay too long.
Sweetwater on the other hand…. We live about 3 hours away. My friend and I make the trip down every few months. It’s such a great and happy place to visit. Check out all the stuff, buy stuff, eat in the company cafe. Meet with our sales rep who’s been there for years and years. Must be a good place to work.
Then when we’re home, we can also have a great experience with them online and on the phone. We joke that when you click purchase and then walk to your front porch, the stuff is already there. Chuck and company have spent decades perfecting this Mecca. Going to be hard to compete with such a force.
Well said 👍
I noticed the last time that I was in GC that the inventory was much better than it was even a couple months ago. I think that is probably because they had sorted out the bankruptcy issues and had more cash. I still miss the days when I worked there where it was a commission based job, and there was more expertise in the store. Its been like wallmart or something where there is very little product knowledge. That is why I mainly shop at Sweetwater.
Bring Mars Music back!!!! Even if it means consolidating some locations!!!! I miss those good 'ol days.....
You can’t totally crap on Guitar Center without really understanding the landscape of the music industry and the art of music. It is unfortunate that we as a society do not appreciate art anymore. It is unfortunately all about revenues and yeah, the revenues have increased again in the music industry, but the music as a whole is horrible and you could see this by the number of streams going down every year for new music and going up for past artist.. It’s only a selective group of current mainstream artist that are getting the majority of the stream and that’s being pushed by these major labels. For Guitar Center to regain its luster it is imperative that they try to recapture the feeling of the art and making music like it was in the late 90s and early 2000s just as much as it is to sell great gear and those are not necessarily synonymous. It is about the artist to make people care about the music again and not this generic AI crap that we are getting. Creativity and the expression of the human experience is key.
Napster and Apple and CZcams have sucked much of the profit out of the music industry and it trickles down to everyone. It’s far harder to make a living as a musician, it’s far harder to become famous, so serious music is disappearing.
@@quantum_faith What are you talking about? It is so far more easier to get known as an independent artist between CZcams and TikTok..... Rich men North of Richmond was #1 last year by Oliver Anthony a complete unknown..... Justin Beiber .. so was Jacob Collier.... (he isn't serious music?).... All of them discovered on CZcams..... Tik Tok is so powerful all the majors try to push their artist on there to promote. So many unknown artist are discovered there the problem is their art is eh on the ones that go viral. There has never been a. better time to be an independent artist to make, distribute and be visible with your music. The problem is the revenue portion is broken. Streaming companies, CZcams and Apple have hamstrung how much they will pay because the RIAA and the Majors negotiated the terms to benefit themselves and not the artists. You can try and tour but because the concerts and venues are so expensive kids rather spend money on a festival where they can spend the same amount of money and see 30 to 40 acts over 3 days. The future is direct to customer and as an artist you should aim to get 300 to 500 fans that really support you, between social media, merch, and small venue clubs if you can grow that to 10-20K world wide you can make more money that ever being a signed artist. The issue is can you make your music and run it like a business because the old model is dead. Web3 and direct to customer is the future.
Around five years ago there was debate about Gibson cancelling their contract with Guitar Center because every year Guitar Center ordered several Gibson guitars but the guitars stayed on display for years because they are expensive, and GC customers want cheap starter gear. Gibson's contract stated GC must sale a certain percentage every year. Every year GC missed the mark, yet GC kept ordering Gibson guitars that sat in the warehouse for years. Rickenbacker has already cancelled their contract with GC for the same reason.
How true!
Been disappointed in the past.
Only use them for emergency.
Thanks brother!
I worked at Guitar Center for around 4 years. 2003-2007. When I worked there it was staffed with guys who really knew their gear/field and we're all incredibly passionate. I'm not saying Guitar Centers staff is bad. It's hard to have competitive pricing as a brick and mortar against an online retailer. Before the internet and CZcams people bought musical instruments differently. You had a guy that you went to and you read magazines. I think increasing the quality of the gear and making a destination is a good idea. Here in Chicago there are a handful of shops that feel like the old days. You can go in and have great conversation. Play with those unoptanium pieces of gear that give you that kid in a candystore feeling. Guitar Center killed the mom and pop shops and now the only way they can survive is to become one.
i'd been a GC customer since 1976, when i think there were only about 4 stores... built relationships with all the sales guys in California... didn't like Sweetwater when they arrived... but GC began to have fast-food-like staff turnover... every month new sales people... reluctantly, i went to SW... and they made me a believer... i've had ONE SW sales rep swap in 25 years!!! i will remember the early GC days fondly, but i don't care if i EVER see them again...
What is on the DAW here? You have a track for each frequency of your voice over?
If I were GC, I would put the door person back up front to greet customers and minimize theft, then I would FULLY stock the acoustic guitar section with quality brands like Tayler, Martin, Gibson, Epiphone, Yamaha etc., Then I would go to the electric guitar wall of shame, I mean wall of fame, and start thinning out the heard replacing cheap poorly made guitars with more iconic brands like Fender, Gibson, Music Man, Schecter , just to name a few. I would also allow customers the ability to negotiate price like they were able to back in the day! Then I would educate my staff regarding how to post an effective used guitar add online, one that will get the item sold sooner rather than later. The ad would have to include CLEAR photos of all sides of the guitar and the description must have as many details as possible such as the guitar's make, model number, year produced, country of manufacturer, type of woods used and any applicable electronics/pre-amp types the guitar has. I would also have a consistent grading system like "poor" "good" "very good" "excellent" and "mint" and have set rules on how to rank the guitar properly and using a one inch arrow or something like that in the photos to point out any applicable flaws to insure the highest level of disclosure is achieved. Last of all, I would find out why the website GCdotcom and MFdotcom take so long to load and I would have that fixed. In my opinion these websites should load at least as fast as their competitor's websites! Please note, I am a guitar player which is why this review has a guitar player's bias!
GC does not understand how to hire qualified sales staff. Most employees have limited product knowledge and no experience in music. The training modules are ridicules. They are brand focused instead of teaching about how the product is used. GC requires their vendors to teach and train their employees and there will always be a bias with that approach. I call it the copy and paste syndrome. It is very important for manufactures to provide training, but that should not be the end all. I trained GC stores on a national level for 12 years (I did not work for GC, I worked for a manufacture), and the new employee turn-over rate was 21 days. I found that most new employees only worked their because they thought it would help them become a rockstar. I'm not joking, I have thousands of stories from my training days. The company needs to figure out that just because someone bought a guitar, that does not make them the best candidate for employment. It's a sales job that requires knowledge of the music industry. I still find most Southern California GC locations staff are very ignorant regarding product knowledge, and how it applies to the customer's needs. Not all, there are some who know their way around a mixing board or what wood is used on the front of an acoustic guitar, but the majority are clueless.
We will see if it does happen.
Love Sweetwater they are the best!!!!!
Agree 100%. I think GC has missed a really great opportunity to foster musicians who have money to spend by not being open to on-site demos, clubs and meetups who might be able to entice interest in their stock (if they carried quality gear). As someone who is part of a large electronic music community, we're always trying to find places to meet and showcase what we do in a low-key environment. Sam Ash made some progress with their stages, but with many Sam Ash stores getting closed, that option is not going to be around for long. Also, some customer service training for staff would go a long way to making GC more enjoyable. I'm either met with totally clueless people, or people who think they know everything. Neither extreme is attractive.
I live a stone's throw away from the former live music Capitol of the word, Austin. It has been two decades since anyone called Austin that. I think it really depends on the area. There are almost no music equipment stores in the area. My area only has GC and it seems they are barely making it even as the only physical locations around. The independent operations are all gone. People aren't into music or guitars like in the past. If GC revamped their store, people would not notice or care. I would love to see them make it. My son has some great memories of the place.
Some GC Sales people, online or in store, have been real helpful with good service. On the other hand, GC is a mess at the company level, and does crap like nonstop send you USED items when you purchased NEW. It's almost comical at this point: all the plugins will be registered on an interface by someone else, obvious dirt and handling all over microphones, etc etc.
Encouraged, and want them to succeed. However the easy task of identifying the obvious problems needs to be matched with corrective actions that might not be so simple to implement. I think if they can retain and build key staff that is one step I. That direction. Fortunately I have had a pretty good relationship with my nearest store through the good times and bad times. We also need fundamental change that supports a healthy middle class so that there is cash flow in general but that’s another discussion altogether.
It was my Candy Store, loved going there, place was always packed in the 90's, As a drummer they always had sets to play and compare,,,,I'm a lefty so I had to get manager to approve me to set it up for a lefty....it is No Longer my Candy Store......
Fortunately for me I've had good experiences with my local guitar center, I agree about the huge selection of entry level gear that is less than steller but they also have what I need and have done their best to help me even when they are swamped. Is there room for improvement? Yes, but I still give my kudos to the boise store!
👍🤠it's me again, but you have the right idea to ask the public/customers on their views of what I s needed, and just like when in that movie " Falling Down," 🤔"Mr.Michael Douglas told the "Whammy Burger Manager" if he had ever heard of the expression" The Customer is always right" but you have to see the movie clip inorder to see what I am talking about. But Guitar Center is still good, good products and good prices, cool gear for the struggling musicians out there, it's just feeling unwelcome could be your bigger problem because musicians love to show off and brag in a most humble about what they know l,how much they know and they wanna test your knowledge at times. But I get it sometimes people get tired 😴 f the same b.s. but sometimes you have to fake that smile to make them feel cool 😎 and welcomed.
The Grunge movement in the '90s did wonders for srores like Guitar Center. After Nirvana you had a whole lot of people who decided to learn to play and started their own bands. Where I grew up and lived most of my life, the Pacific Northwest, it seemded everyone I knew was in a band. Even then Guitar Center had some decent gear but some was garbage. I like being able to try out a guitar or a amp before I buy it. Now most Guitar Centers are gone. Sweetwater and Reverb dominate the market. Jopefully the new GC CEO will bring in quakity gear, hire knowledgable people, and allow space to try out the gear. I know there will probably still be a sign that says, "No Stairway to Heaven" in the area to try out guitars and amps. But that is for the benefit of all of us.
I hope you don’t mind me creating a video talking about the same thing I use to be and employee at Sam Ash, Medley Music and Guitar Center, so I also have some ideas on what can make Guitar Center go back to its roots.
Have fun
I’ve never seen a 500 series module inside of a Guitar Center.
. .. ... Barry. Maybe you know. Is GearFest 2024 happening at Sweetwater this year?
I just went in there and walked around. Bought some strings. Doesn’t seem much different. Wanted a patchbay. No patchbays.
🤔my name is Jacob,and I like Guitar Center. I don't shop like I used to because I can't afford it anymore, but Guitar Center is still nice and affordable. Good quality 🎸 guitars and amps at an affordable price. And they have expensive stuff on the shelf as well. But here in America, their are more poor-struggling musicians than rich musicians that have money to buy expensive gear or whatever, I don't think that's the problem with Guitar Center, but in my opinion, you might wanna tweak around with your employees/personnel. Because you have customers full of pride going into guitar center to spend their hard earned money, but if that customer doesn't feel loved or appreciated because the employee didn't really make them feel welcome, then he or she is going to your mom/pop's local music store to give them money instead of giving it to Guitar Center, all because the guitar center employees did not help that "Rock Star" feel welcome. I think that is really the problem. So customers will leave you because you did not make them feel welcome. "If you get what I mean" April 29,2024a.d.🤔🧐🤠
Amazon, sweetwater + people doing live CZcams reviews to properly showcase gear, that’s destroying all need for a guitar center middleman. I believe boys in charge need to accept the fact that no perfect 15% - 25% off crap is gonna put them back on top. They need to take the risk and completely change their business structure like Netflix did, and find their new place in this evolving marketplace.
For starters, getting highly strategic with events, maybe converting building into jam session centers where each instrument section can live jam with the other, or a whole lot more social media influence, and brand new customer service endeavors, all of that could help.
We need a unique reason to enter your store again. The reason was there before the internet obsession, but now that it’s not, it just needs to be recreated.
Please do a video on Gefell microphones which I love and is still owned by the Neumann family not Sennheiser
Must cater to all, don't be selective, people have to start somewhere, big market for anyone starting out.....
Hey Barry ...not critical, honest about the situation is what you are ...Power to Gabe may he use it wisely.
If GC revisits there original business model, they should improve 💜💜💜
We want to go into Guitar Center and be able to See and Touch Mid and High level Equipment. Guitar Center should start Selling All of Behringer mid too high level Equipment, and Harrison and Neve Equipment and Consoles. That way Guitar Center can satisfy everyone's Financial level. And then put all of the Equipment that has to connect to a computer in 1 small room. And use the rest of the store for Hardware. Because we really need great Music Equipment/Gear.. Good luck Gab.. Great video and information..
Last time I bought a guitar at any store was at M.A.R.S Music lol.
I was in there today the quality has fell down tremendously.
Problem with GC, is management and the CEO don’t understand music, musicians and the market. They only understand sales. GC was something 2 decades ago, but it has become a dump to sale old used gear. I just came back from one today. Can’t even get D’Addario bass strings. All basses hanging on the walls are Squiers and the poor kid attending doesn’t know what’s going. All of this, is a result of poor decisions and poor management. Idk that GC can make a comeback. The online stores are the new tesla dealers, you kind of have to trust them with what you want and trust that they know what they’re talking about.
IMO It hasn't helped GC that in the past I'd go in to buy something that they didn't have in stock and instead of saying that they'd be happy to order it for me they said "you can go to Musicians friend and get it for less" I like having a brick and mortar store and don't mind paying a "little" more to be able to shop in. You are right, Sweetwater has always been great but I still like to "kick the tires" so to speak and support a local business> I hope they get it right.
Guitar Center won't disappear but the store count will shrink. I also suspect that sooner or later the Musicians Friend thing will get folded into GC, since both sell online, the GC brand is stronger than the MF brand, and the redundancy wouldn't seem to make sense long term. I actually think the troubles and demise of the clothing store chain The Gap provides a useful comparative to GC because both flourished and reached their peaks in the 1990s on the strength of the Baby Boom generation (those born 1946-1964) hitting their 30s and 40s. Guitars and denim were (and still are) iconic symbols of cool for that age cohort. For others, not so much.
I used to love GC back in the day, but now I only go when I need a cable. There’s never anything decent in stock, or staff to help out.
Sweetwater won me over a long time ado. Guitar center who’s that?
Guitar Center, Sam Ash, and most music stores whenever I returned something there was always a warehouse fee, a penalty, and a lot of attitude. When I buy products online returns are no questions asked complete refund, so while I'm as nostalgic as the next guy for these old music stores, I still say good riddance.
The GCs here in Florida; Winter Park, Boca Raton, Delray are for the most part full of cheap junk. IMHO
Yep! Orlando is the best and it Sucks!
Was just in one of my local GC's, we have 5 here in the Phoenix area and as Barry said I was ready to leave as soon as I walked in. They don't even carry hi-end cables in the stores any longer, and God forbid if you need a piece of gear right away (forget about it!!!) I am also a DJ, if I am in need of a new stylus I am S.O.L. make sure you keep back-up needles my fellow vinyl purists!!! online orders only. I recall being able to walk into a GC and being able to buy at least 90% of your studio (HI-END) in store. I can go on for days however I will stop here!
I was on business in Phoenix and walked in to the Avondale GC and was in there 15 mins and had to leave. Metal music blaring so loud I couldn't even hear the amp over the house music. Just as you said mostly entry level stuff. I miss the days of the WOW factor!
Does anyone do a mail order guitar rental service yet? You know, rent and Ibanez for a monthly fee and then 9 months later when your sick of it trade it for something else available
It is too late. They can no longer afford to implement a plan to improve the stores. It would cost far too much.
Barry, I have to disagree with you about Guitar Center, at least the store ive been going to for about 22 years now in Arvada, Colorado. Ive lost count of how many guitars, basses, amps/cabs and all sorts of the supporting stuff, cables, picks, pedals, etc.. I dont buy the "entry level stuff" you talk about, ive bought at least a dozen or more Les Pauls, some Fender Strats, Vox amps, Marshall amps and cabs etc...
They have had people come and go over the years, as any retail store would, specifically one like Guitar Center. I dont know if these stores are all company stores or if they are franchised. Honestly ive never looked in to it.
What i can say is this store is by far the best, in everything ive needed in sales, theyve always carried an unbelievable amount guitars in all styles, shapes and sizes, and they are licensed dealers of virtually all the major guitar and amp manufacturers that im aware of.
Theyve always met anyones price, and go even below it, and i have made some killer deals on guitars and amps.
Ill use just my last purchase 4 weeks ago. I bought one of these Epiphone Hummingbird Acoustic Inspired by Gibson. These guitars were being built by just one Luthier start to finish in the Indonesian Gibson custom shop. I dont know about the sister Co. Gibson acoustics but the Epiphone has since moved operations to, big surprise, China. So these guitars built in Indonesia are getting very scarce, as there are many differences in the guitars from the Indonesian shop, than those now from China. Ive watched all the reviews on the guitar which have all been amazing, even garnering better playing and tone than its sister Co. Gibson, Taylor, Martin, etc...
As i said the guitars built in Indonesia getting harder and harder to find. Well my Guitar Center got just 1. I simply lucked out just during my occasional checks around since i decided to buy one, and they had one that had just came off their truck that afternoon and hadnt even been unpacked yet.
I got to the store, and after looking at my account, and seeing my history sold me the guitar with taxes etc.. out the door for just under 800.00. They could easily get 1000.00 and some change easily, you just cant find these.
Fast forward 5 weeks and i bring the guitar in after getting ready to lower the action on the string height, as i like it to be as low as possible without any fret buzz, when i noticed the Bridge/saddle looked off. It was coming up off the guitar. Come to find out this has been a known problem with this guitar, and other Gibson acoustics, because they are gluing the bridges down on top of the finish on the guitar not preping the surface to unsure a good adhesion. Long story short they took it in, fixed the problem, set the action as i like, and put a great set of strings to boot. Ive heard some pretty bad stories about Guitar Center, but in certainly hasnt been my experience, at all.
There are some gems still remaining, that said, you can tell by reading through the comments that those gems are few and far between.
I’m the same way, 20, 25 years ago, I loved GC and did tons of business with them. Now when you go into what used to be one of their major stores, it is so empty and the isles are so wide, you could run cattle through there if you wanted. it’s not just absence of the level of gear that I normally purchase, it’s the lack of knowledge by many staff members, who simply don’t know they are stupid. I hope they can turn around the gear portion, but I’m not sure where you find smart people anymore. don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about ignorance of gear, if you are ignorant you can learn about gear, I’m talking about the type who will approach from a standpoint of great wisdom and knowledge, but they really don’t know what they are talking about. Example, I had some 20-year-old kid salesman arguing with me that Martin D-18s were made from Rosewood, not mahogany.
Just bought a 412 cab from gc they used an old crushed up 18 Inch powered sub box they dug out of the dumpster pepperoni stains and all and it showed up completely crushed in they blamed UPS cause they used a compromised box and 4 pieces of bubble wrap. I was not pleased
Having an affordable selection is wise, of course like old music shops, you might have the new shiny sections, but you need shit for the common folk, too.
That's all cool, "pros", but how many of you are actually buying a $7k base from guitar center? Yes, you might be LOOKING, but you don't have the money to BUY. It's the Mom and Dad who want their kids to learn an instrument who are buying that $300 guitar plus accessories plus a few lessons. They are keeping that place alive, not you.
The problem with GC is bad policies and bad management on all levels. They simply care more about profit than customer service.
The main problem with guitar center is that the sales people do not care. No one has ever tried to really help. The sales staff knows next to nothing about the products and wait for people to come to them to make a purchase.
If guitar Center had all the products from NAMM oh, it would get all the people back