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

I like the Guitar Centers for a a lot of reasons (variety and price) but avoid it during the hours after 3PM and weekends and forget about summer days. There is rarely a chance to plug in for all the young kids playing 2 or 3 power chords over and over at max volumes.

There is no doubt these are probably future customers and that is why they let them play but current customers don't often get to try anything during those hours. Is this typical for the GC's? I don't see that much in the small shops.

I actually saw a kid about 12 years old playing for about 3 hours one Saturday. I came in, it was mobbed, I went across the street to The Outback for lunch, went back and he was still there with the same guitar on the same amp.

I used to own a music store... the reality is that 80+% of the people who come in are just tire kicking - killing some time. Since 80% of those folks would play 'Smoke on the Water' (and 75% of THEM only knew the first 10 notes of it -or worse, the 20% that thought they knew the first 10 notes of it), it got a bit old.

Still, you're there to sell instruments, so there isn't anything truly unwelcome... unless you've been in the store 100 times already doing the same thing on the same guitar.

Soundproofed trial rooms are a nice idea, but not practical economically. Even a small room in a low rent district would cost about $500 a year for rental on the space, plus the leasehold improvements that you'd never get back. Where I had my store, it would have probably run $2K in rent per year, plus at least $8-10K in initial build out for lights, power, HVAC, and soundproofing. You've got to sell a lot of guitars to pay for that investment - and to make business sense, they'd have to be guitars that you wouldn't be selling if you didn't have the trial room set up.

Still, there were folks who'd come in and play things that would start an instant conversation with me... Django, for one... or Lester Flatt, Leo Kottke, etc. - stuff that hardly anybody knows, well executed, and played start to finish will draw attention (and from me, at least, conversation, a discount, and maybe ongoing friendship!). Even stuff that wasn't 'difficult' - maybe a slow John Fahey tune - would have me asking questions about who they were, what they liked, where they'd played.

Be different, and play it well :)

Mine has a soundproof room off of the fancy guitar section.

The nearest guitar center to me has a soundproofed room, but they're about 10 miles away. I gotta agree with the 'schools out' thing... no chance to look at all, and very crowded.

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:DANG!
:o

ok, now that we have all the jibber jabber out of what should and shouldn't be. Here's another interesting topic: What are some easy songs to play that are easy to please and not a pain to listen to.

PS- I agree with all of you about smoke on the water and stairway.

Because there are a few that I can play pretty well that I never hear mentioned, for instance: Burning for You by Blue oyster cult (not sure about that one), and some Boston, Tom petty? What about these guys?

But some of you guys... You can't help but impress people. Cause some people, (whom unfortunately ISN'T me) can walk in, plug in, and jam and sound frickin awesome. I wish I was like that.

You know... it must REALLY be a slow day....
I think if you go into a place to seriously look for a guitar,
You should probably play some of the stuff you play - or try to play -
seriously as well.
Not to really show off your skills, but so that way you can tell if that's
what you're really wanting.... I mean who cares if it's some overplayed
song if that's what you really are into?

In all honesty I don't see where showing off for the sake of showing off does any thing but make people think you're stuck on yourself....
But on the other hand, you really should try to play something that's pleasing to the ear.

Also, I have to be honest, when I'm lucky enough to impress people with my ability, it does do alot for the old self esteem...

Has anyone ever been to a music store where just about everyone there
that was playing was playing extremely well? To me that's just as cool as
shelling out the $$$ for an arena venue.

As far as what GOOD songs to play? That's tough LOL i guess you gotta...
play it by ear LOL ROFL (i know, bad pun) But like if you were to go to
Buford's Guitar and Ammo Barn, and start to blare out the Clash on their
prized telecaster copy - you'll probably get hurt. Likewise, it would
happen if you played Perry Como at Wal-Mart...oops Guitar Center :roll:

Uh, the last time I was actually in a music store, I didn't play a thing. I was interested in finding speakers for my dying Peavy and
info about some weird thing that let's you play on your computer.

Yeah, it's a slow day... sorry I ranted so long

Arjen, Arjen, Arjen....

You wrote why should a person care what another person thinks about me?

I care. Especially when it comes to guitar. Look, I hardly ever even go to music stores, and I'll probably never see anyone of those people again, but I take my guitar playing serious. I haven't been practicing all these years to be a goof. I always care what people think about my guitar playing.

And there is an advantage to this. When I do on rare occasions play guitar at a music store, the salespeople don't come over and treat me like a moron and give me slick sales talk. They don't try to pull anything over on you. When they hear you play well, they assume you know a lot about gear as well. You get a little respect.

I remember reading an interview of Leslie West, the famous guitarist for Mountain many years ago. They asked him what advice he could give upcoming guitarists. He said, "Play every note like it is going to be the last note you ever play". Sounds like he cares.

Wes: didn;t mean anything with it, but I guess we just look totally different to this. When I play in a store I play something so easy I can actually check out the guitar while my fingers do their work on their own. I won't win any awards, but then again, that's not why I'm there. When I play with others or pick up a guitar at a party *then* I do care, because then I play just for the music. But if some random nobodies in a store think I am a sunglass-wearing uneducated loser who can't even play a single fast riff, then so be it. Heck, my ego is big enough without others actually agreeing with my perception of my greatness... :wink:

And there is an advantage to this. When I do on rare occasions play guitar at a music store, the salespeople don't come over and treat me like a moron and give me slick sales talk. They don't try to pull anything over on you. When they hear you play well, they assume you know a lot about gear as well. You get a little respect.

I actually prefer them to think I know nothing. When it comes to talking prices I simply start by butchering every last sentence they told me. It's hard being a strong negotiator if you have to begin with admitting you've been talking rubbish for the past hour. :twisted:

If I'm just trying out the feel and the fit of a guitar, I don't even plug it in. If it doesn't pass that test, there's no point and I don't hear the feel of the neck (unless it's the scraping of the strings over rough frets - something I had the other day with a light ash Strat).
If I'm just window shopping (OK, drooling), I might go so far as to plug it into something that plays into headphones. Only if I get really serious do I look for an amp.
If it's an acoustic, I just retire to a corner and face the wall.

LOL

Salesperson- You see that kid over there?

New Salesperson- What, the kid with the sombrero and sunglasses?

Salesperson- Yeah, that's him.

New Salesperson- What about him?

Salesperson- That's Arjen, stay away from him.

New Salesperson- Why?

Salesperson- First of all, he's not gonna buy anything except Behringer, you won't make any money on that. Second, he's gonna yank your chain and make you look like an idiot.

New Salesperson- Whatta ya mean?

Salesperson- He's gonna ask you a bunch of questions like he's really interested in the guitar or amp.

New Salesperson- Yeah....

Salesperson- It's a trick. He already knows the answer. He's just playing dumb. As soon as you answer him, he'll tell you you are wrong and make you look like a fool in front of the whole store. If you argue with him, he'll make you dig out the manual.

New Salesperson- Wow, he's bad.

Salesperson- He's evil I tell you. But that's not all, there's more.

New Salesperson- There's more?

Salesperson- Yeah, he's a tightwad. He's not going to pay one penny more than he has to, even on Behringer.

New Salesperson- He is evil.

Salesperson- Satan himself. The bad part is, he seems to know when you've had a bad week and really need a sale. I sold him a thousand dollars worth of gear, and only made 2 bucks commission.

New Salesperson- Wow, thanks for telling me about him.

Salesperson- It's nothing, I didn't want you to have to learn the hard way like me.

Arjen- Excuse me!...... Hello,..... Hey, you're new here aren't you? Could you help me? I've got a question about this amplifier............

Get A buddy that plays drums with you and lay down Innagoddadividda full version.

GC is a really bad place to try guitars. I made the mistake of going in on a Saturday at around 3 PM a week ago for a set of strings. They have a display of pedals for you to try out that's 3 feet from the cash register. That day some kid was going nuts on a wah pedal with the volume on the amp cranked. This along with about five other people trying out stuff. Me and the guy working the counter eneded up shouting to each other.

Me: "COULD I GET A SET OF ALCHEMY STRINGS?!"
Guy: "YEAH. DO YOU WANT 12's OR 13's?!"
Me: "WHAT?"
Guy: "Huh?!"
Me: "I CAN'T HEAR YOU."

I tried a Tele for a few mins and got out. At least they've got a separate soundproof room for the accoustics. And is it just this one, or do they keep the lights in there really low so you can't spot blemishes?