Skip to content
What are some No-No...
 
Notifications
Clear all

What are some No-No's at a guitar shop

62 Posts
35 Users
0 Likes
9,595 Views
(@villanovajunction)
Eminent Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 29
 

I suppose going into a guitar shop as a member of a Jimi Hendrix tribute band, selecting a guitar, pouring lighter fluid on it, setting it alight, wait for it to burn out and then turning around to the shop worker and saying...

"Well... it's not really what I'm after" and promptly walking out would be considered a bit of a no-no.

"Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded." Jimi Hendrix.


   
ReplyQuote
(@marshallsw)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 122
 

I can't stand when people (like myself unfortunately) walk in, plug into a half-stack, turn mids to 0, highs to 10, lows to 10, and gain to 10, and playing nothing but bar chords and power chords.
and in my opinion, you're an idiot if you TRY to impress people at a guitar shop. Cause some one that's far from good as you would feel intemidated to plug in. He would feel inadiquate(sp?) to play there. therefore YOU (or the dumbA$$ trying to impress someone) would be the cause of that person not buying or testing anything, which ultimately takes away from the business of the store.

Turn the amp to the level in which you can hear it clearly.
Play.
Buy (or not)
Leave.

in that order :D

You're a god among insects, never let anyone tell you different.


   
ReplyQuote
(@taylorr)
Prominent Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 736
 

Its good to play it loud though to check for buzzing and to hear how it sounds at gig levels, and to see what kind of poweramp distortion you can get from it.

aka Izabella


   
ReplyQuote
 hh83
(@hh83)
Trusted Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 52
 

yes, but there are people out there, who go into this music store twice a day, picks up a guitar, plugs it into an amp, to play smoke on the water and back in black with the volume at 11 on a marshall rack.
and never buys anything.

and, for those of us who can sit down and play an electric with no amp, just to "feel" the action, plug it into a crap amp just to hear it amplified
and talk to the clerk about it for a while etc, this guy who plays smoke on the water can be pretty annoying, and if i worked there, i know i would be
tired of it. nobody can question that..

but, even if it is alright to try out guitars, and amps etc, i still like to be
polite, and ask the guy who works there if i can try an amp loud, etc.
it makes the whole thing feel more "clean", than knowing you might be annoying someone, and he wont knock off that much if he doesnt like you, now will he? :D

Never call a shovel "an ingenious hole-digging instrument"


   
ReplyQuote
(@racer-y)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 114
 

Do you wanna show off? or buy a guitar? To show off, I'll play the intro
to Diary of a madman, and do some Whole tone diminished scale...
really fast and with a staggered progression. Being a lefty, I'm usually
pre-pegged to play Hendrix so that throws ppl off a little. :)
I use those two things, not JUST to show off. No, those two things
basically cover the whole neck and all the strings and works good
in finding bad frets and set-ups as well as turn heads and drop jaws :)

You know, I don't even know HOW to play Stairway. I hate that worn out
song.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but when
you're a 22lb sledge, do you really have to be?


   
ReplyQuote
(@call_me_kido)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 179
 

Come on bro,

There arent any songs you cant play at a guitar store when demoing an instrument. They are there to sell.

How many different types of people out there play guitar? How many different genres and titles of music do we all play?

If they were to get mad at you for playing "Little Wing", instead of "Ode to Joy" you need to find a new guitar shop.

Enough said, play on.

Kido


   
ReplyQuote
(@wes-inman)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5582
 

I personally do not go into Music stores to impress anyone. Probably haven't played in a guitar store more than twice in the past 5 years. But regardless, whenever you play guitar around other people, you are going to leave an impression whether you like it or not. So if you play bits and pieces of songs poorly, people will believe you are a poor player. And if you play well, they will think you can play.

Is this fake, or a put on? No more than wearing nice clothes and combing your hair to go on a date or a job interview.

I did play a nice guitar at a Guitar Center about 9 months ago. I played a Schecter Tele on one of the Peavey XXX amps. Wow, I was getting great tone on that thing. But I kept the volume very low. I noodled around a bit to feel the neck, twiddled the tuners, looked it over. I played some old songs I know well. This was low volume. But the sales clerk came over and asked me if I was in a band. You see, they are all listening, all the time.

That might discourage a beginner from playing at the store. But more likely it will encourage him (or her) to go home and practice more so they can play well.

If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis


   
ReplyQuote
(@lederhoden)
Trusted Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 82
 

How many different types of people out there play guitar? How many different genres and titles of music do we all play?

Dozens - so why do they all have to play Stairway or SOTW??


   
ReplyQuote
(@omega)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 92
 

Little off topic, but speaking of No-no's for a guitar store, I went into a store today and they don't even sell finger picks. :shock:

Somnium Dulcis.


   
ReplyQuote
(@racer-y)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 114
 

..... see, they are all listening, all the time.

Well then, you SHOULD try to play something decent :)
See also, You go in there slinging off key power chords to some played out piece, and well it WILL probably affect the type of service you get.
Whether or not that's right, it's still basically true.
That's one of the best reasons NOT to play Stair way to Heaven, is
because it can lead you to Customer Service Limbo. LOL

What y'all got me to thinking about doing now is to go to a music store, one that's got left handers, and play Top 40 80's tunes lol Rofl
think they'll wait on me or throw me out?
I got two "clear the Room songs" : Roxanne & Hit Me with Your Best Shot!

Muhhhahahahaa... they'll be begging for smoke on the water from a dyslexic 9 yr old when I'm done with them!!!! muhahahah :twisted:

..... see, they are all listening, all the time.
that's also why I keep a hat full of aluminum foil handy :)

Merry X-Mas!

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but when
you're a 22lb sledge, do you really have to be?


   
ReplyQuote
(@ignar-hillstrom)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5349
 

So if you play bits and pieces of songs poorly, people will believe you are a poor player. And if you play well, they will think you can play.

And then again, why would I give a crap about what a bunch of people I've never seen or heared think of me? As you said, a music store is not the place to impress others, and as such I play to find out whatever I want to find out about that particular item, and if the other customers think I am a bad player then that's their problem.


   
ReplyQuote
(@nicktorres)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 5381
 

BTW, I really like your Esteban look in your pic.

The thing is, if you are really listening to your own guitar, you probably aren't playing any of the above related assaults on the eardrum.

If you are there playing SOTW or Stairway, you are probably playing it to impress someone else.

It's a dilema. You can't go in playing "Go tell Aunt Rhoady"


   
ReplyQuote
 cnev
(@cnev)
Famed Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 4459
 

Here I go finding myself agreeing with Arjen, who cares what anyone thinks about what I'm playing or how good/bad I'm playing.

All that matters is me...ha.

Actually though I say it doesn't matter but I am a realtively shy person and since I am also a poor guitarist at best I try to keep it low so no one hears me.

"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!


   
ReplyQuote
(@gizzy)
Estimable Member
Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 109
 

The thing I don't like at a store is when someone has the amp blasting and keeps playing some song they learned from Tabs over and over again
instead of realy checking the guitar out, yeah turn it up for a minute and see how it sounds then turn it down, I was in a store one day and this kid kept playing this same blasting solo over and over for as long as I was in the sore which was about 1 hour, If I worked there I would go crazy after a while, I would rather hear alittle stairway or smoke on the water for a short period. I left the store and did not get a chance to plug in a electric because this kid would not stop.

:roll:


   
ReplyQuote
(@nicktorres)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 5381
 

yep...that is more aggravating

Then again, when you spend as much as I have in my local store, even if I played Stairway over and over again, they'd keep saying

"Wow, that gets better everytime you play it. I love that song. One more time."

...with smiles on their faces, because they know a fool and his money are soon parted.


   
ReplyQuote
Page 3 / 5