Thank God for Guitar Center Setups

Lesgo

Lesgo

Jun 20, 2016
250
431
4,551
#1
I found myself out in the burbs with some time to kill the other day, so I was able to pop into my local Guitar Center.

On the wall were two beautiful Precision Basses. An olympic white Highway One for $549, and a red 60th Anniversary MIA with a maple board for $649. I asked to try both, and I was quickly developing my plan for how I would justify this purchase to my wife when I got home with one of them later that evening.

GC employee handed me the 60th Anniversary. I plugged it in and played it. It had maybe the worst setup I've ever dealt with on a bass guitar. I handed it back. He handed me the Highway One. Setup was much better, but still terrible. I dinked around on it for a few minutes and handed it back.

I know for a fact if either bass had a semi-decent setup, I'd have one more P Bass that I don't need. Why don't they just setup their instruments? Oh well. I dodged a bullet!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Thisguy, southgabass, aquabass and 14 others
#6
Lesgo said:
I imagine Fender factory setups aren't great - never played one out of the box. These were both used basses.
Click to expand...

Oh. In that case go back and get the red one! I would take it to them and see if they would set it up in a playable fashion, wait a day or 2, go back and see how it held. If the setup held the bass is good.
 
#7
Sid the Kid said:
Oh. In that case go back and get the red one! I would take it to them and see if they would set it up in a playable fashion, wait a day or 2, go back and see how it held. If the setup held the bass is good.
Click to expand...

If I was in the market for a new bass, I would absolutely jump on either one of them. I'd pay for a pro setup/lookover on any "new to me" used instrument anyway.

My point is, I didn't need an instrument, and the poor setups protected me from falling in love and inevitably purchasing something that I don't need. This is only a 60% GC troll thread. 40% sincere!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Algo, mikeyjm2, pudgychef and 11 others
#8
Sid the Kid said:
Oh. In that case go back and get the red one! I would take it to them and see if they would set it up in a playable fashion, wait a day or 2, go back and see how it held. If the setup held the bass is good.
Click to expand...

This holds true for most used gear in stores, I think. My latest addition is a 2008 Warwick fretless. I had no chance to try it out so bought online after speaking with the store. The guy said it was perfectly set up and their tech found no reason to do anything, but on receipt the setup was dreadful - over 1.5mm relief, string spacing all over the place, saddle heights uneven, etc. But after a proper setup it's a total keeper. And $650 for an MIA sounds like a good price to me...
 
  • Like
Reactions: BlueAliceOasis and slobake
#10
You have to understand what happens when they buy in a bass. Some guy, either desperate for the money or ignorant on how to get full resale value on his own, brings his bass into the store. One of a dozen guitar player employees takes the bass and plays a slap octave groove in E while precariously resting the bass against the counter. At this point he may or may not plug it in. Then he talks to his manager who looks at completed ebay listings and then they offer the guy 40%. If he agrees, the bass goes on the wall. It may or may not need a set up. That was never questioned or even thought of in this transaction. But as long as a guitar player can perform a quick slap groove in E, it's considered playable and ready to sell.
 
  • Like
Reactions: selowitch, Radio, Marikk and 30 others
#11
I'm not taking issue with the facts of buying a used bass. One of my favorite instruments was a beat to hell MIM P I got off eBay for $180. I'm just saying that because neither bass was set up properly, I didn't have that magic moment that would have inevitably led to an unnecessary purchase.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marikk, JRA, pudgychef and 3 others
#15
It's simple...
They just don't care.

They are NOT going to do anything on any of these unless enough people complain.

It would seem that they would rather let an unplayable instrument sit on the wall and then eventually discount it and blow it out. Rather than having some one do a quick once over, neck tweak and possibly a rudimentary set up and get full price for it.

There have been tons of times I would have bought something. But because it was set up so badly it just did not grab me enough to fork out the cash. It is that initial first pick up the instrument make or break.

It's really basic retail.. The cars that are clean and smell like armor all when you open the door are going to sell quicker and for more money than the dirty cars with cans and candy wrappers all over the floor.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Crowd crusher, StrangerBasses and japhy4529
#17
buldog5151bass said:
1. What? A GC bashing thread??? Oh right - it's today... :banghead:

2. There were two basses, with what appear to be very good prices, and you walked away, blaming the set up? So what do you do when a bass you have need an adjustment - do you throw them out?
Click to expand...

If you are looking for "that bass" then it more a matter of assessing that everything seems ok and you can repair, tweak or fix it as needed. Or that you might be able to live with it being a color different from what you really wanted, rosewood when you wanted maple, etc..

If you are just looking, pick up a bass, play it and it does not immediately grab you then it is really easy to walk away.
 
#18
Lesgo said:
I found myself out in the burbs with some time to kill the other day, so I was able to pop into my local Guitar Center.

On the wall were two beautiful Precision Basses. An olympic white Highway One for $549, and a red 60th Anniversary MIA with a maple board for $649. I asked to try both, and I was quickly developing my plan for how I would justify this purchase to my wife when I got home with one of them later that evening.

GC employee handed me the 60th Anniversary. I plugged it in and played it. It had maybe the worst setup I've ever dealt with on a bass guitar. I handed it back. He handed me the Highway One. Setup was much better, but still terrible. I dinked around on it for a few minutes and handed it back.

I know for a fact if either bass had a semi-decent setup, I'd have one more P Bass that I don't need. Why don't they just setup their instruments? Oh well. I dodged a bullet!
Click to expand...


It all depends on the location of the GC. The 2 GCs here sells their guitars and amps off the wall, they don't have em in boxes. And almost every guitar is set up with standard factory specs. Also, they consider the wall demos the brand new instruments, and never give a discount for demo unless the guitar is damaged or shows signs of wear.

Keep in mind everyone has a preference for how they like their setups. Some do their own setups, and some pay for it.
 
#19
Badwater said:
...
Keep in mind everyone has a preference for how they like their setups. Some do their own setups, and some pay for it.
Click to expand...

This is the point. Setup is such a personal thing that more often than not you have to be able to assess the ability of something to be adjusted to your requirements than expect it to be there out of the box. But I understand the OP, where the setup can make or break the instant 'gotta have it' reaction, especially if you only there on a whim.
 
  • Like
Reactions: petrus61
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back