Do you guys like to go to bigger or smaller shops to have setups done or buy gear and why?
To give a bit of background here, I've had my Les Paul for almost a year (some of you may remember my 'dumb questions' thread) and it's due for a setup, and I just ordered a Squier '51 which will no doubt need a setup also. So, while I've spent most of this year not doing anything with guitar (except some reading) I'm now ready to get back into things and maybe even take lessons when I have the time, so it's time to get things in order.
So what I wanna know is, in general for setups and advice, does Guitar Center (or similar chain-type retail joints) do just as well as a small 'mom and pop' type place, or do the smaller places give more knowledgable/personal service? Or is it more of a case by case sort of thing?
Wondering if I should start shopping for a smal shop or just go back to GC where I bought the LP.
All thoughts are welcome!
Thanks.
Location: Home, 'cause there's more beer here.
Personally I prefer the smaller shops; here in the UK I've a choice between a Coda Music (big chain) and a Guitar Centre which is run by a couple of really cool old guys.
I've been into the Coda once to buy new strings, and I won't be going back, I found it sterile and impersonal when compared to the friendly service and atmosphere of the smaller shops. Plus with the "mom-and-pop" stores the chances are the people working there REALLY love what they are doing, and don't mind helping you out with almost anything :)
Pete
ETD - Formerly "10141748 - Reincarnate"
I think it would be impossible to say. Because you might have a terrific GC in your area and a terrible mom&pop shop. But generally speaking I would always prefer to go Mom and Pop when I can cause I like the personal service.
Jim
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
I like to try out the bigger shops just in case they've got something which the smaller shops haven't, and then I go ask my local (small) shop to get one for me. In fact, my local shop's so small it doesn't even open on Sundays, but they do know me by sight and that counts for a lot.
Best,
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
i didn't know that GC had services like that.
until just recently i had to drive quite a ways to get to a luthier.
now a shop right down the street is advertising repairs and lessons.
#4491....
I don't have work done by music shops, I have it done by luthiers.
Not only are the prices generally better. The work is always first rate and their very very responsive.
My current luthier runs a small repair shop out of his basement.
But if he suddenly decided to team up with the local Guitar Center I'd still use him . . . he's fantastic (one of his guitars is actually in the Smithsonian . . .)
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
I have my work done by a guy who works out of his house, if you play guitar you know him. I asked several people who to use when I wanted my first setup, his name always popped up first. Ask the locals who they use, pick the one whose name keeps coming up.
I know a guy who does setups for big chains here - and he does them from his house. I don't think any of the mega-stores do service work in house... so you're getting an outsourced service.
There are pros and cons to that. You're getting the services of someone who's very good at it, and probably at a fair price (a store ordering dozens of setups can probably negotiate a good enough deal to allow for a markup without really ripping you off) - on the other hand, you don't have actual contact with the tech, so you'll get a fairly generic job.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
big store for stomp boxes, straps, stands, etc.
small shop for my guitars, setups, amps and those four for a dollar picks on the counter top jar.
I'm kind of limited because I don't really have any big chain stores around. The closest guitar center and sam ash are an hour and a half away. There are probably about 5 or 6 little stores around me but they all deal in different things. One half will deal with just the vintage stuff and others will deal with more of general beginner stuff.
All of them will do the repair work and things but I find its really mostly just two guys that will work at all of them. They travel around and work at each store and take the bigger projects home.
I like smaller shops, makes a big difference when you can deal with the same one or two guys and they remember who you are.
I go to the one that's cheapest usually as I don't really dig service too much. Just give me my stuff and I'm off again.
I think it just depends on who is doing the actual work. I've been to one small shop that didn't a really crap job of a setup and another that did an amazing job so you can't really judge just by shop size alone.
