Re: Brook Mays Chapter 11


John Shaughnessy wrote:
I don't know about your neck of the woods, But both GC and Sam Ash here are
racing to the bottom.

GC is by far the worst. I know because I work next door to one, so I go
there ofter to kill time between students. They've pretty much stripped out
all but the cheapo lines, and they have very little in accessories. Their
string selection is comical They have like one 5 string set and one 6
string set, both overpriced. No specialty sets of any kind. It's extremely
rare that I find anything I need there.

What's MOST telling about GC is that I RARELY see players in there anymore.
It's all just kids and rednecks.


The reason my Sam Ash is better is becase they hired back only the quality
people when they took over MARS - people who in turn influenced the new
hires. They know what they're doing, and they know me. Their stock is much
more diversified compared to GC

But every time I go in there, more and more real estate is being taken up by
the cheapo lines, as well as their "house" brands. I don't just mean $5,000
guitars either; Try to find a quality 100K pot or a deluxe pickguard in
there sometime. I don't know if they sell any of that "house" stuff either,
because it's always on closeout when I'm there.

Both stores deal in used gear, but not by much. What little you do find is
rather overpriced.

I guess what I'm saying is, the stores here don't serve the PLAYERS anymore.
I don't necssasarily mean full time pros, but part timers, church musicians,
ex-pros turned hobbyist, soundmen, etc.Yeah, they make up a small portion of
your customer base, but they buy a lot of stuff.

The weird thing is, I could go back to Buffalo, which is smaller than
Charlotte, and find like 10 mom-and-pop stores in the metro area that have
better gear, way better staff, and competitive prices to GC. I can think of
MAYBE 2 here, and they're both about an hour out of town.

I don't get why that is. It would just be nice to drive 10-15 to a music
store, walk in, find something that's at least in the ballpark of what I
need for a decent price, and walk out - like I did back home. Even better,
it would be nice if I could stop off at such a mythical, magical place on
the way to my gig for some emergency parts, strings, cords, etc. But no...


--
Lessons, music and more at www.jmsjazz.com

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid,
but most stupid people are conservatives."
- John Stuart Mill



It's a combination of the Wal-Mart effect and the internet. If you
want cheap stuff, go online. If you need it so fast that you have to
go to a brick-and-mortar, then they figure they've got you by the
balls. This is an effective scheme when it's not something that needs
to be tested beforehand.

We have a GC here in San Diego and aside from that, a couple of mom and
pops with no stock and outrageous prices.

Oh, well... whatcha gonna do? Welcome to the modern world. ;)

Kevin P. Miller

"How much for those D'Addarios?"
"$28."
"$28?! You know you can get those online for 16 bucks?"
"Oh." <blank look>
<blank look> "Oh, screw it. Let me have them."
"Will that be cash or credit?"
<sighs>

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Brook Mays Chapter 11
    ... John Shaughnessy wrote: ... string selection is comical They have like one 5 string set and one 6 ... I guess what I'm saying is, the stores here don't serve the PLAYERS anymore. ... maybe the Shaughnessy Music Company could take over the world ... ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: Brook Mays Chapter 11
    ... string selection is comical They have like one 5 string set and one 6 ... What's MOST telling about GC is that I RARELY see players in there anymore. ... I guess what I'm saying is, the stores here don't serve the PLAYERS anymore. ... need for a decent price, and walk out - like I did back home. ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)
  • Re: Brook Mays Chapter 11
    ... there ofter to kill time between students. ... string set, both overpriced. ... I guess what I'm saying is, the stores here don't serve the PLAYERS ...
    (alt.guitar.bass)