ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 14,958 
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Post by ericn on Nov 22, 2020 11:46:32 GMT -6
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Post by donr on Nov 22, 2020 11:51:34 GMT -6
Covid likely pushed it over the cliff. Who's buying gigging tools/supplies at the moment? I've got a club PA for sale, anybody NEED one right now? /sarc
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Post by tasteliketape on Nov 22, 2020 12:19:22 GMT -6
Before covid every time l tried to buy something in the local store I had to ask employees to take my money , sometimes that didn’t even work .
So if that’s how they run there operation just sayin
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Post by kevinnyc on Nov 22, 2020 13:22:25 GMT -6
Curiously, Fender is having a fantastic year.
Is anyone surprised though? It’s the vulture capital way...
Find something good, suck the life out of it, leverage the shit out of it, extract massive management fees then part out the carcass...
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Post by mike on Nov 22, 2020 14:38:21 GMT -6
If you look at the prices on Reverb on music gear, it generally hasn't softened at all and even risen in some cases during the pandemic depending on product. Which shows with most families having at least one hobbiest musician, that the market for music gear is still there and still large in general,
While I would guess Guitar Center had more than one issue, it's hard not to imagine the pandemic's effect on foot traffic didn't take a toll on them. But I assume the stakeholders of GC will re-organize and re-structure it to a new form at some point
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Post by donr on Nov 22, 2020 15:54:16 GMT -6
My GC shopping is almost exclusively something I need right now. A patch cord, some strings I don't have stock on, guitar strap, guitar wall hangers. I have bought guitars and amps from them, and a microphone and music software. But most guitars have been from small dealers and the last amp I bought was from Amazon. Besides their bad business practice, GC was probably bound to fail, even as they are generally the only retail game in any non-music biz area for a decent selection. If they go under, I'll miss them for that, like I miss Radio Shack.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2020 16:50:58 GMT -6
They stopped selling good stuff and half of what was on the floor was broken. The best stuff at most guitar centers recently were guitar picks, Shures, UAD Apollos, occasionally a playable Asian guitar, Yamaha HS8, Sennheiser HD 280, and Mogami Quad cables for live use. Their own house brand cables sucked.
Bezos should make an Amazon Basics guitar strap.
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Post by donr on Nov 22, 2020 16:58:53 GMT -6
Bezos should buy Guitar Center, if he wants to do something good for humanity. : )
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Post by Guitar on Nov 22, 2020 17:24:13 GMT -6
I've got good memories with Guitar Center. Most recently got my Martin D-28 there off the wall, with 20% off from a generous worker. I don't like them or hate them much more than any music shop. Also still do some business with Musician's Friend which they are closely related to.
Have gotten some real gems from the GC Used area over the years, and sold a lot to them as well for fast cash. I will miss them if they go.
Guess my future will be with the smaller shops and maybe even more online shopping. It will be good for the smaller shops in town not to have the GC competition I would guess. You just have to wade through those weird small town small shop egos, I like the anonymity at GC. And contrary to the popular idea, I have more often than not had good luck with their staff.
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grantb
Junior Member
Posts: 97
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Post by grantb on Nov 22, 2020 18:17:12 GMT -6
Curiously, Fender is having a fantastic year. Is anyone surprised though? It’s the vulture capital way... Find something good, suck the life out of it, leverage the shit out of it, extract massive management fees then part out the carcass... This is the story here. It doesn't have anything to do with the industry, stores, employees, customers, demand, products, covid, etc. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2020 22:53:36 GMT -6
I've got good memories with Guitar Center. Most recently got my Martin D-28 there off the wall, with 20% off from a generous worker. I don't like them or hate them much more than any music shop. Also still do some business with Musician's Friend which they are closely related to. Have gotten some real gems from the GC Used area over the years, and sold a lot to them as well for fast cash. I will miss them if they go. Guess my future will be with the smaller shops and maybe even more online shopping. It will be good for the smaller shops in town not to have the GC competition I would guess. You just have to wade through those weird small town small shop egos, I like the anonymity at GC. And contrary to the popular idea, I have more often than not had good luck with their staff. They got fucked by Bain Capital like KB Toys and Toys R US. They were your typical predatory chain retailer before that but did carry much better stuff than they do now. So you could walk in to a big Guitar Center and hear some really good gear. Not everything was broken. Toys R Us creditors sued Bain earlier this year. Hopefully they get stuck with the bill. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2020 23:00:50 GMT -6
Curiously, Fender is having a fantastic year. Is anyone surprised though? It’s the vulture capital way... Find something good, suck the life out of it, leverage the shit out of it, extract massive management fees then part out the carcass... It's a major bubble fueled low interest rates. Yet it hurts the economy long term. No wonder there are Bernie Sanders supporters putting up guillotines outside Bezos' mansion |
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Post by drumsound on Nov 22, 2020 23:15:08 GMT -6
Before covid every time l tried to buy something in the local store I had to ask employees to take my money , sometimes that didn’t even work . So if that’s how they run there operation just sayin I had that exact experience about 6 weeks ago. There's a GC a town over that is also where the Costco is. So I decided to stop in to check out some pedals and see if there was anything interesting. There was a really good sounding used ride cymbal I probably would have walked out with had there been a single person in the drum department. I was looking at the used mic/accessory case and the kid behind the counter never looked up from his screen. And I took asking THREE people before I could play and compare a couple of overdrive pedals. I found one I like. So I went home and found one on Reverb... Curiously, Fender is having a fantastic year. Is anyone surprised though? It’s the vulture capital way... Find something good, suck the life out of it, leverage the shit out of it, extract massive management fees then part out the carcass... Yep. Bleed it dry and leave it by the side of the road once they're done. |
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