Yep- been there, done that. It always makes it easy to walk away, and yes I could ask them to set it up, and maybe on an off day with a good employee they might turn the truss rod. But honestly, the thrill is gone at that point.
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Thank God for Guitar Center Setups
- Thread starter Lesgo
- Start date
It's everywhere. There's a shop not too far from me that has a few Stingrays. All of them with ridiculous high action.
I can recall very a many basses that I tried at GC where the action was so high you could fling arrows with them..
It amazes me how many folks will consider a bass, or even an entire brand, as junk because of its setup in the store. Jeez, people. These things are ADJUSTABLE. If you can change your own oil, you can adjust a truss. It's really easy, and tons of info on the web to do it right.
That wouldn't happen to the "scarf joint" you're talking about ?
One time, after about an hour in a FL GC trying a few basses a employee asked me, "Hi, can I help you?" ... I said, "No, but thanks for letting me tune all the basses I tried." He said, "It's a big store." I said "No, it's your store that happens to be big."
When I worked retail I'd spend a few hours on slow days checking the action and the tuning on guitars. ... It wasn't my job, my job of to sell guitars but it made my job easy selling tuned instruments.
When I worked retail I'd spend a few hours on slow days checking the action and the tuning on guitars. ... It wasn't my job, my job of to sell guitars but it made my job easy selling tuned instruments.
Guitar Center is the Wal-Mart of music stores. You get great selection and great price.
The rest varies store to store depending on manager and employees hired.
If you want a good set up find a reputable luthier in your area. There are two in my area. One is great with acoustics as he is actually a violin maker and maintains all the stringed instruments for 3 different area school districts. The other is great for all things electric. Both are certified luthiers with more than 15 years experience each. I am very lucky to have found both of these guys. And don't always go running to the truss rod either. Sometimes just a bridge height adjustment on a single string is all it needs rather than impact all the other strings. If you go to a guy that gets files out right away that is trouble. Once things are filed/chisled away you can't go backwards without paying BIG bucks. Just my opinion based on various experience.
Guitar Center in my town had the best selection out of any other shop... the bass room usually sucks, but this week I went shopping for an acoustic guitar for recording.
Not one guitar in the massive acoustic room was setup, except the ones behind the glass. Most had comically dead and tarnished strings. Surely they could partner with a string manufacturer to get strings on the cheap to put on everything.
Luckily I found a guitar that felt and sounded good despite a poor setup and dead strings. Then I went home and ordered one from Amazon, prime shipped, for less than GC.
Side note, the one I played in GC was "on sale" because it had multiple bruises from being played by ham fisted idiots, and the pickguard had actually slid out of place.
There are no good deals to be had at GC.
Not one guitar in the massive acoustic room was setup, except the ones behind the glass. Most had comically dead and tarnished strings. Surely they could partner with a string manufacturer to get strings on the cheap to put on everything.
Luckily I found a guitar that felt and sounded good despite a poor setup and dead strings. Then I went home and ordered one from Amazon, prime shipped, for less than GC.
Side note, the one I played in GC was "on sale" because it had multiple bruises from being played by ham fisted idiots, and the pickguard had actually slid out of place.
There are no good deals to be had at GC.
Having personally worked at a big box instrument dealer, in this case, Mars Music, there isn't much focus on how the customer interacted with an instrument. They'd get a $3000 Gibson that you were gonna set out and jump on you if you took the time to tune it. Now I can tune a six string in about 30 seconds. I can't tell how many times I've watched a customer pick up a guitar and set it back down because it wasn't tuned. Floppy strings and all. That's a lost sale. It's like bringing dirty silverware to a table at a restaurant. Ya don't do it. So that being said? Setting up an instrument is laughable. Half those dillholes don't even know how to adjust a truss rod.
Side note too though. I've never bought a new bass that had a good setup from the factory....except my MTD fretless. My old Pro Tone was set up well used. So much to my liking that I'm terrified to touching it. Setups are subjective beyond eliminating way high action and fret buzzing if you ask me. We all like different setups.
Side note too though. I've never bought a new bass that had a good setup from the factory....except my MTD fretless. My old Pro Tone was set up well used. So much to my liking that I'm terrified to touching it. Setups are subjective beyond eliminating way high action and fret buzzing if you ask me. We all like different setups.
I'm gonna go ahead and disagree respectfully man. In the last 2 years I bought a bitchin' ESP japanese J-five, for $750, a SWR 12 stack cab for $300. A Squier Pro Tone V for $239, a DeArmond Pilot V in like new condition with hardshell case for $119!!! A Digitech jamman solo xt for $50... Lastly, a Yorkville blue rat fur covered 200 watt 1x15 combo for $25!!! Supposedly it had a blown speaker? The cabinet rattles a little when cranked hard. Speaker is fine. So there are plenty of awesome deals if you stop in regularly and also troll the website.
Yup.. my experience too..
And it is really quite simple.. say what you will, but I saw it every day.
In tune, playable clean guitars sold faster than out of tune, bad set up dirty guitars.
This went for all levels of guitars and all levels of players. The 5k Gibson arch top with the Berklee post grad doctoral candidate to the dad buying a Christmas gift for their kid that did not even play yet..
Exactly. Bargain shoppers like me look for those dirty, beat up fret buzzers you mentioned.
On the new ones? I usually ear tuned them quickly while carrying each instrument to the floor despite what they said. Even the $129 Affinity strats. Got pretty good at being able to tune like that. I can still be given a guitar that is all over the map out of tune and get it within about a 10 cents sharp or flat of in tune. Setting them up is a whole other thing. That does take time, and as another poster said, that's basically a full time job for one person since inventory constantly changes. Places like Mars doesn't believe in investing in someone to do that. They see that as a bottom line expense and not worthwhile. I see it as essential. Maybe on the cheapies that come in droves and move out quickly, have some no sale "demo" units that people can try and when they buy, they get an unused guitar that is then setup. Rotate the demos as such. Honestly? I think that electronics aside, most of those cheap Fenders, LTDs and Washburns were all pretty dang good instruments with proper setups.
Also something else to mention...That bass that you grab and go, "why is this thing so high on the action??" If it's tuned standard, drop it down a half step and see if its attitude doesn't soften. We play tuned down, so I set mine up 1/2 step down and actually raise the action so the B isn't floppy and slapping the fretboard. My old ESP J-five had the lowest action I had EVER seen without fret buzzing. So much so that when I received it, I had to raise it up because it was completely awful tuned down 1/2 step. All over the neck buzz buzz buzz....Obviously, this individual played in standard tuning. Completely unacceptable down 1/2.
Yep...You never know how someone was utilizing it. I think the Pro Tone was 1/2 down because it plays perfectly down a half. I like it a lot less tuned up.
It isn't just Guitar Center. This is a Flea Jazz at Sam Ash in Cincinnati. It was pretty much unplayable. I noticed, though, that the basses with the truss adjustment at the headstock were pretty much okay. The basses with the truss rod nut at the body, and that required the neck to be removed, were a mess.
I used to believe this. I am no longer convinced it holds water. A few years ago, I stopped worrying about how much I adjusted the truss rod at a time and now I just pay attention to getting the bass set up the way I want. Across many basses, this has caused no problems. I do find that when I make a "big" truss rod adjustment, I sometimes have to make another, smaller one a couple days later.
That ESP was like that. Man I hated that! Taking the neck off to adjust doesn't really lend itself to easy adjustments. Taking it off over and over again over years is asking for trouble.
I like you used to believe that you had to do small increments. I brought a Washburn that had some neck issues to a tech and watched him turn it about a turn, then decide that wasn't enough, and turned it some more. I freaked out! What the heck are you doing man??? Regardless, this guy was one of those dudes that knew guitars and basses too, so I trusted him. Worked fine. Said just what you said too that a subsequent adjustment might be in order in a day or two.
That's an interesting perspective. I'm wondering how you can be so sure about the last part.
I've worked music stores. IME, the customer too lazy to take 20 seconds to tune the guitar by ear before he plays it is almost always a tire-kicker. I know this from many episodes of tuning the guitar and asking the customer to try it, just to watch him feebly play a few bad notes and walk out of the store empty-handed.
People who are serious about music and making a purchase aren't that easily deterred by something so relatively innocuous as an out-of-tune instrument.
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Customer shouldn't HAVE to tune a guitar in a store. Not only that it is always full of seasoned musicians that even know where E is. Customers as a result over tune, which either breaks strings or puts undue tension on the neck. If nothing else it results in an instrument that doesn't play well or sound right...hence setting it back down. I don't see how (or why) an associate wouldn't care enough to tune an instrument before putting it out for sale. Seems like good old common sense to me. It doesn't have to do anything about lazy customers. So by that reasoning, I guess if you sell a sports car to a mechanic, he shouldn't care whether it's properly tuned. He's a mechanic. He can tune it himself because the dealership doesn't care enough to make the car palettable to the customer. I mean it's complete and all...new, but runs like crap. Good thing he brought his tools right? Hmmm. I bet that will sell a lot of cars.
There is a denfintely a difference between each GC store. There is one 10 miles from that is terrible. They won't give you a good deal, they are rude, you have to walk around for 10 mins just to find someone to even help you. Never have much stock and generally have a bad attitude problem.
There is another GC 20 miles from me that treats you great, seem to be honest, they take their time to work with you and always seem come up with a discount that the GC closest to me refuses to offer. If they were only closer distance wise I wouldn't even consider dealing with the other store.
Same here.I have never bought a bass and not done a complete set up on it: fret polish, neck oil, new strings, truss and saddle adjustments, polish the body, tighten every screw and bolt...then play it.
Would you not buy a car because the drivers seat was too far from the steering wheel? (No you would adjust the seat to your liking).
Just my 2 cents.