Thank God for Guitar Center Setups

[Fishheadjoe]

Does the bass resonate when you play it?
Does it sound good unplugged?
Do you like the feel of the neck?
Do you like the way it hangs from a strap?
Do you like the way it plays from a strap? (hand positioning)
Does it sound good amplified?
Do you like the appearance?
Do you have the cash?
I understand that there may be limits to the answers to these questions, but I have found them to be a good starting point when looking at a bass. Gas not with standing.
Fishheadjoe

 

[japhy4529]

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.

^This +1,000. If the GC in question cared about making a sale, they would have new AND used basses on the wall in playable and presentable condition. Do they need to be perfect? No. But they should be in the ballpark. I agree with the OP. Unless it's some crazy good deal that's too good to pass up (and I first confirm that the trussrod turns in both directions) I'll walk too if the bass is set-up horribly. It's not about whether I can do the setup at home or not (I can), it's more of the principle of the issue. It's about taking pride in one's work.

 

[electracoyote]

It's about taking pride in one's work.

I couldn't give two dumps whether those GC clerks take pride in their work. If you're waiting for that, you've got a long wait ahead of you.

It's not hard to assess a bass that isn't set up well and make an educated determination that it will probably be a good player once it's been set up properly, to your specs. If it's a great deal or a bass I'm highly interested in, lazy-ass clerks be damned, here's my money, give me the bass, and I'm on my way. With amazing frequency, it turns out I was right, it's a great player, and I'm a happy camper. In the rare event I'm wrong, right back to GC she goes for a full refund, no questions asked.

 

[Lownote38]

So it is Fender's setups you don't like. Yep, they can suck from the factory.

Fender setups are fine. When instruments have been flown across the country and gone through what they do in transit to the stores, the setups do NOT stay intact. Every locally owned store I know of here does monthly setups on everything in the store. Humidity changes. Strings wear out. These local stores want to sell the instruments they have, so they keep them setup. It's very rare that they open a new Fender and it's setup exactly the way it left the factory.

 

[Swerve]

Wiping down instruments would be nice, but that won't make them play any better. And I don't want those clueless dorks setting up my basses and guitars, so even though it may be clean, it will still need a set up to my standards after the purchase no matter what they do.

It's very hard to get past the fact that whether it came out of the box or from a previous owner, the chances of me buying a bass that is already set up to my exact preferences are astronomically poor. I resigned myself long ago to learning how to do my own set ups or having a tech I can trust with all new purchases. I have reaped the rewards of that many times with great deals that others passed up because they expect a bass to come out of the box or off the rack playing well. It just doesn't happen very often.

I get what you're saying. I don't except the bass to be set-up to my exact specifications, and if I want the bass badly enough nothing short of a broken truss rod or cracks would prevent me from getting it. It's those times where you're not really intending to buy anything and just checking out gear that it would help the store by making their stuff more attractive. There is a difference between 'not set-up to my specs' and just downright terrible to pick up and play.

 

[electracoyote]

I get what you're saying. I don't except the bass to be set-up to my exact specifications, and if I want the bass badly enough nothing short of a broken truss rod or cracks would prevent me from getting it. It's those times where you're not really intending to buy anything and just checking out gear that it would help the store to make their stuff more attractive. There is a difference between 'not set-up to my specs' and just downright terrible to pick up and play.

See post 63 above.

Yeah, if you're not really in the market or not feeling like spending money to begin with, any excuse for keeping it in your pocket will do. That's pretty obvious.

But I'm not swayed by things like a clean bass, or a nicely displayed bass, and even a bass that is "in the ball park" doesn't really tell me any more than a bass that is poorly set up. I can assess either one with the same accuracy.

As it turns out, I don't see basses that are "in the ball park" even right out of the box very often. On the used rack at GC? Almost never.

 

[Lesgo]

I need to clear the air a bit - I actually really like my local GC, all things considered. I've gotten some excellent used bass cabs there.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Reading all of these makes me think that it's probably a business plan. Set em up for free or sell em for a decent price knowing that half the people who buy will then pay for a set up. Maybe?

I don't think so. They go through a lot of lower end instruments - a lot of people who buy them don't know the difference.

^This +1,000. If the GC in question cared about making a sale, they would have new AND used basses on the wall in playable and presentable condition. Do they need to be perfect? No. But they should be in the ballpark. I agree with the OP. Unless it's some crazy good deal that's too good to pass up (and I first confirm that the trussrod turns in both directions) I'll walk too if the bass is set-up horribly. It's not about whether I can do the setup at home or not (I can), it's more of the principle of the issue. It's about taking pride in one's work.

For the most part, GCs are not full service music stores like many of us remember. They are there to pump out music gear. That's just the nature of the beast. These are not store owners or trained experienced techs - they are mostly young kids making minimum wage. You don't expect to get gourmet food from McDonalds - and GC is McMusic store. WE created the beast - no one wanted/wants to pay for service, so you ain't gonna get service.

 

[socialleper]

I know there is nothing new about slamming GC here, but I'm going to defend them for just a moment.

1.) GC employees aren't given the tools, time, or equipment to maintain the instruments in their stores. It hurts their bottom line to do so. An employee doing setups isn't keeping the floor "retail ready", answering phones, or selling. Strings cost money. Tools cost money. Training on how to properly set up an instrument costs money.
2.) There are literally hundreds of guitars and basses in some of these stores, and dozens of people banging on them all day long. It would take a full time crew to keep them in proper order.
3.) It is used. Of course the setup is going to be out of whack. I've never seen an excellently treated piece of used equipment at any MI shop, because if the previous owner truly cared, they wouldn't have sold it at half of what they could get selling it themselves. The people that do this don't care.
4.) It is freaking retail man. I don't know what rainbow covered world y'all live in, but if you have never worked in retail, you have no idea how soul crushing it is. "They don't seem to care." You're right! They don't. They work bad hours, for bad pay, being treated badly by both the customers and the company. Minimal effort is the logical result.

Should they do something about their instruments? Sure. They should also have more than a junk selection of 3-4 brands of basses and 2-3 brands of amps. But they don't do they? Should I shop somewhere else? If there were any MI shops left that didn't have an even smaller selection of even more half @$$ed stuff, I probably would.

 

[SteveC]

4.) It is freaking retail man. I don't know what rainbow covered world y'all live in, but if you have never worked in retail, you have no idea how soul crushing it is. "They don't seem to care." You're right! They don't. They work bad hours, for bad pay, being treated badly by both the customers and the company. Minimal effort is the logical result.

Should they do something about their instruments? Sure. They should also have more than a junk selection of 3-4 brands of basses and 2-3 brands of amps. But they don't do they? Should I shop somewhere else? If there were any MI shops left that didn't have an even smaller selection of even more half @$$ed stuff, I probably would.

For better or worse, out her in "fly over" country, we don't have a lot of choice. The nearest GC is 400 miles away. The local store has only so much and usually cheaper because that's what they sell in a small market like this. I only know about Roscoe and Genzler and stuff because of talk bass. I buy my stuff online. I have developed a good relationship with a few online retailers. SoI don't have to deal with #4 of your reply. I buy (often) sight unseen and never played.

 

[electracoyote]

I know there is nothing new about slamming GC here, but I'm going to defend them for just a moment.

1.) GC employees aren't given the tools, time, or equipment to maintain the instruments in their stores. It hurts their bottom line to do so. An employee doing setups isn't keeping the floor "retail ready", answering phones, or selling. Strings cost money. Tools cost money. Training on how to properly set up an instrument costs money.
2.) There are literally hundreds of guitars and basses in some of these stores, and dozens of people banging on them all day long. It would take a full time crew to keep them in proper order.
3.) It is used. Of course the setup is going to be out of whack. I've never seen an excellently treated piece of used equipment at any MI shop, because if the previous owner truly cared, they wouldn't have sold it at half of what they could get selling it themselves. The people that do this don't care.
4.) It is freaking retail man. I don't know what rainbow covered world y'all live in, but if you have never worked in retail, you have no idea how soul crushing it is. "They don't seem to care." You're right! They don't. They work bad hours, for bad pay, being treated badly by both the customers and the company. Minimal effort is the logical result.

Should they do something about their instruments? Sure. They should also have more than a junk selection of 3-4 brands of basses and 2-3 brands of amps. But they don't do they? Should I shop somewhere else? If there were any MI shops left that didn't have an even smaller selection of even more half @$$ed stuff, I probably would.

Well stated. Worth quoting in this post.

For the most part, GCs are not full service music stores like many of us remember. They are there to pump out music gear. That's just the nature of the beast. These are not store owners or trained experienced techs - they are mostly young kids making minimum wage. You don't expect to get gourmet food from McDonalds - and GC is McMusic store. WE created the beast - no one wanted/wants to pay for service, so you ain't gonna get service.

Well stated. GC is not for needy customers. That's why I do so well shopping there. A little determination and DIY results in tons of great deals over the years. I have raped my three local GC's so many times, I'm chuckling just thinking about the money I've saved. And when something goes wrong, management steps in and bends over backwards three ways to Sunday making it right.

When it comes to set ups, there are only two people I trust to know what the hell they're doing, me and the one tech I've met here in Colorado who actually communicates well and is highly skilled (a rare combination in guitar techs, I have learned). The last person I trust is the average person standing behind the counter at GC. I'll concede; it would be a nice gesture if they busted out the tools and made the effort, but most of those people will not be doing anyone any favors, and they might just make matters worse.

 

[fhm555]

So it is Fender's setups you don't like. Yep, they can suck from the factory.

IME there really is no actual set up from the factory. In recent years i've seen quite a few Fender basses and guitars shipped straight from a retailers warehouse to the end user that was never opened by the retailer and every one of those had a looish truss rod nut and ballparked intonation/height adjustments on the bridge, and all had slack strings. More than a couple required a little minor tweaking of random nut slots.
Given what i've seen i would imagine any set up at your typical big box joint is tuning to pitch and putting it out for sale.
Our local GC has at least one sales guy i know who can do setups and he said their set up guy was decent at the basics which probibly explains why most of the stuff in their inventory is at least playable enough to give an honest representation of itself. I've never been in but one other GC and i was swapping cables and never tried any basses so i can't comment on the differences (if any) between the playability of one stores inventory over the other.

 

[mp40smg]

I know there is nothing new about slamming GC here, but I'm going to defend them for just a moment.

1.) GC employees aren't given the tools, time, or equipment to maintain the instruments in their stores. It hurts their bottom line to do so. An employee doing setups isn't keeping the floor "retail ready", answering phones, or selling. Strings cost money. Tools cost money. Training on how to properly set up an instrument costs money.
2.) There are literally hundreds of guitars and basses in some of these stores, and dozens of people banging on them all day long. It would take a full time crew to keep them in proper order.
3.) It is used. Of course the setup is going to be out of whack. I've never seen an excellently treated piece of used equipment at any MI shop, because if the previous owner truly cared, they wouldn't have sold it at half of what they could get selling it themselves. The people that do this don't care.
4.) It is freaking retail man. I don't know what rainbow covered world y'all live in, but if you have never worked in retail, you have no idea how soul crushing it is. "They don't seem to care." You're right! They don't. They work bad hours, for bad pay, being treated badly by both the customers and the company. Minimal effort is the logical result.

Should they do something about their instruments? Sure. They should also have more than a junk selection of 3-4 brands of basses and 2-3 brands of amps. But they don't do they? Should I shop somewhere else? If there were any MI shops left that didn't have an even smaller selection of even more half @$$ed stuff, I probably would.

from MY experience... you are not correct.
At the places I worked. One of us sales dweebs HAD to check an instrument out, look at it, tune it, and made sure it was acceptable BEFORE it got hung up, we would also tag them at this point with model info/ pricing.

Anything that was really off would be sent down to a tech. The tech would then either make it playable, OR send it back for replacement.

In our down time.. get a tuner and a polish cloth, start on the left and work to the end.

Because.. IT makes a huge difference. The customer buys with their eyes first. Shiney is better than dull. Unless it is supposed to look beat up.


Then they pull the guitar down.. Hey! It's in tune! As opposed to hitting a chords and it being massively out of tune and asking for a tuner.

Or even worse, if the A is a step off + or - and the player just tunes it to that A (especially in a loud store) ..
All of a sudden it plays like crap because you are tuning it a step too high, or it's buzzing all over as it's a step too low.

I have seen many times where it was not noticed and some kid put a guitar into some "alternate" tuning. the guitar was put back up. Then given to another customer who spends more time tying to tune than play. Gets frustrated and leaves.Especially on a busy/ LOUD saturday.

And.. from experience... you NEVER wanted to be the "Oh, let ME tune that for you" sales dweeb.. Right up there with "Wow! who is that ugly person, who let them in?"..customer " Oh ya, that's my girlfriend"..

 

[seang15]

New Orleans GC?

 

[gln1955]

Funny how so many posting in this tread interpret a playable setup as on that meets their exacting needs. That's not what the OP is talking about. Playable means a relief close to manufacturers specs, and correct intonation and pickup height. Unacceptable are strings a quarter inch or more off the fretboard or lying directly on the fretboard, both of which I have seen at GC and also at Sam Ash stores. Seen it on used basses, cheap new basses and Fender Custom Shop basses. Defending this is just enabling a bad business.

 

[Lesgo]

I know there is nothing new about slamming GC here, but I'm going to defend them for just a moment.

1.) GC employees aren't given the tools, time, or equipment to maintain the instruments in their stores. It hurts their bottom line to do so. An employee doing setups isn't keeping the floor "retail ready", answering phones, or selling. Strings cost money. Tools cost money. Training on how to properly set up an instrument costs money.
2.) There are literally hundreds of guitars and basses in some of these stores, and dozens of people banging on them all day long. It would take a full time crew to keep them in proper order.
3.) It is used. Of course the setup is going to be out of whack. I've never seen an excellently treated piece of used equipment at any MI shop, because if the previous owner truly cared, they wouldn't have sold it at half of what they could get selling it themselves. The people that do this don't care.
4.) It is freaking retail man. I don't know what rainbow covered world y'all live in, but if you have never worked in retail, you have no idea how soul crushing it is. "They don't seem to care." You're right! They don't. They work bad hours, for bad pay, being treated badly by both the customers and the company. Minimal effort is the logical result.

Should they do something about their instruments? Sure. They should also have more than a junk selection of 3-4 brands of basses and 2-3 brands of amps. But they don't do they? Should I shop somewhere else? If there were any MI shops left that didn't have an even smaller selection of even more half @$$ed stuff, I probably would.

Good post - I agree with everything here. I'm not saying GC should try to be something it's not. Just the nature of the beast. I appreciate having access to one, because sometimes I need a one-stop-shop.

There's a music shop in town that shut down recently. If either of those bases were in there at that price, one of them would've come home with me. But you can't make business-empire-type money hocking quality used gear the same way you can make money being the Target of music shops.

 

[Plucky The Bassist]

Depends on the store, methinks. The one in Post Oak area for Houston, TX was pretty good...but they had a good GC Garage crew that did some fantastic work. If they've only got one or two techs, chances are doing store setups is rather low on the priority list for them. IIRC, Guitar Center doesn't really "own" the new instruments, it just works like consignment. The distributor puts the products there, GC has some wiggle room on price and get a certain cut from the sale. Think of it like a buddy asking you to list something for sale on Craigslist and you pocket $10 when it sells.

Now on used items, the store actually has cash invested in that. If it needs a setup and they want it done right, they probably aren't going to leave it up to "Random Guitar Salesman #4" to do, since they are likely a dude who plays guitars but doesn't have any idea how to do a real setup on a wide range of instruments. If "RGS#4" attempts to do a setup and breaks/damages the used instrument, the store is actually losing invested money there. My hunch is they would rather not chance it, so they leave them as-is.

...or they could be lazy

 

[40Hz]

Rule #3: Off-limit Topics & Forum-Specific Rules Controversial topics will be VERY closely moderated. Politics and religious debate/discussion are not allowed in any forum unless specifically allowed by the forum's posted rules ("sticky" threads).

You can't be serious. Tell me you're not serious.

 

[electracoyote]

Funny how so many posting in this tread interpret a playable setup as on that meets their exacting needs. That's not what the OP is talking about. Playable means a relief close to manufacturers specs, and correct intonation and pickup height. Unacceptable are strings a quarter inch or more off the fretboard or lying directly on the fretboard, both of which I have seen at GC and also at Sam Ash stores. Seen it on used basses, cheap new basses and Fender Custom Shop basses. Defending this is just enabling a bad business.

You can not know for sure what any bass is really like until you put YOUR final set up on it. Anyone who thinks it's more attractive because it's an "acceptable" set up is fooling themselves. And anyone who rejects a bass because the existing set up is "not close enough to specs" is likely missing out on a great bass. That's the thinking of less-experienced and needy customers. But it's usually a myth.

And with such a generous return policy, how can you go wrong? It's much more likely you'll score something you desire or save a lot of coin in the process. Well worth the minimal risk.

I've also seen "close to factory specs" equate to "as close as it's ever going to get without heroic measures." In other words, you would pick up the bass and say, "This is playable, therefore I'm more tempted to buy it," just to get it home and discover the truss rod is maxed, the frets are not level, the nut slots are too shallow, and it won't take to a better set up without heroic (and possibly expensive) measures.

I am thankful I don't use the "factory specs" standard when I shop used basses. I'd have missed out on a lot of killer deals.

 

[SunnBass]

You can't be serious. Tell me you're not serious.

Only about 20%.
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