Guitar Center Openings in Wisconsin/Northern Ill

I think there have been a couple of discussions about Guitar Centers recently. Like most "big box" stores, they are a mixed bag. I frequent two that are within 20 miles of my house. Sometimes its fun just to wander around and play with all the toys!

Here are a few of pros and cons from my point of view. One thing to keep in mind is that although they are part of a chain, each store is somewhat unique so your experience might be totally different. My understanding is that part of their success is that they give a lot of latitude to local store and district managers.

Pros:
Large Selection.
Decent Pricing and willing to negotiate.
Convenient hours.
Outstanding return policy (30 days) that basically let's you take your equipment home for a trial run.
They run some really good sales with super financing terms.

Cons:
The large selection is mostly in big names. Botique items difficult to find.
Staff is a mixed bag. Some are very knowlegable and friendly without being pushy. Others just the opposite
Commissioned sales staff. Not too much of a con as long as you're always aware of that fact.
Sometimes it's really loud in the store with clashing guitarists playing really loud. This is a hit or miss thing, but can be really annoying at times.

Overall, I like them. I wish I had bought the stock after my first visit as it has appreciated a lot in the past three years.

Anyhow, that's my $.02 on GC.

Steve

I got a call from Guitar Center in Danvers, Ma. They told me(left a message) there was a new one opening in Portland, ME...I think the date was Feb 23.

There are now two within about 10 miles of me - one in Aurora IL, the other in Villa Park.

They're definately a mixed bag. The vintage instruments at each store are overpriced in my opinion, but they have some really good deals in the mid-range and lower prices. Stock is huge - probably 400-500 instruments at each store, vs. 20-50 in the average Mom & Pop.

Staff seems to be decent at both stores as far as locating things, especially those in sale ads. They are not very helpful with the used gear they stock (although I've bought some anyway), and they carry so many different things you might have to go through two or three people to get an answer to a technical question.

I contrast that with the level of service I get at other stores... practically around the corner from the Aurora one is Hix Brothers Music, owned by a couple of guys who really know their gear. And if I'm driving to the one in Villa Park... along the way I pass Tobias Music, which is a great place for their niche: high end acoustic instruments. They dropped everything else when the GC opened, and have focused on the really good stuff - with a great repair guy in house, and immediate (and correct) answers to anything you might want to know.

GC is the Wal-Mart of music stores. Big place, lots of stuff, low prices, figure it out yourself. Although I certainly shop at their stores, I spend just as much or more with the local places like those above, or Beautiful Music in Downers Grove IL - you simply can't beat small shop service.

A couple service examples from the last year:

- power supply on a pedalboard failed. Odd voltage (it's a transformerr, so it's 12V AC coming out). Went to both GCs, who didn't stock it - though they sold me the board in the first place - and weren't very helpful about ordering one. Hix Brothers didn't stock it either... but they looked up the price, ripped open a new pedalboard in their stock, and sold me the power supply for the listed price... said they'd just order another for their board, and then put it back in stock.

- restoring an old Harmony acoustic, found I had a worn worm wheel in a tuning machine. Couldn't find one anywhere - the particular size hasn't been made since the late 1960s. The repair guy at Beautiful Music dug around in all his little bins, found one that would work, and said "you're in here all the time - no charge".

I can't imagine a GC staffer saying that.

On top of that, GCs tend to be packed with teens who think loud + fast = really good. If I go to Tobias and they're crowded, we're talking 2-3 other people instead of 30-50 or more... and folks looking at guitars in the price range at Tobias tend to be very respectful of each other. We take turns playing and listening. :)

I've bought instruments from both sorts of places. What's best depends on what you're looking for. As for the little stuff - picks, strings, etc - I'm not going to save enough money to justify the drive time, and it just feels better to me spend an extra dollar or two with the smaller folks.

dntalb,

Howdy, fellow Cheddarhead!

I'm just up the road from Janesville. I might check out the Guitar Centers just to see them, but I agree with the idea of supporting the little Mom and Pop stores whenever possible. And once you find a great one, you do get that extra service that's worth so much.

Have you ever been to Good N Loud in Madison or Spruce Tree Music on E. Johnson in Madtown? I haven't been in Good n Loud but our guitar teacher purchased our guitar for us there and does quite a bit of business with them, and the couple who own Spruce Tree are awesome! My sister wanted to get a quality beginner's banjo for her hubby for Christmas, so I recommended Spruce Tree. They did everything over the phone, and got a beautiful used banjo for a good price, delivered with some nice extras tucked into the case, etc. The banjo was purchased sight unseen, but I felt confident Spruce Tree wouldn't steer them wrong.

I'm ticked that I missed seeing an article in the J'ville Gazette that was about a new/recently opened guitar shop/luthier in (I think) Whitewater. It was supposed to be in last week, maybe Thurs or Fri. Did you happen to see it?

Margaret

You just can't beat Woody's Music in Rock Hill S.C. :D It's a small place, very crowded ( amps, guitars, banjo's, keyboards. CD's etc.....) always at least 3-6 customers ( did I say it was small) And you never know what you will find there. Kinda like going on a safari. About 6 years ago I found a 63 fender Jazzmaster for $199 ( the neck had been replaced, and some goon painted it civil war blue and grey, but it was a sweet sounding axe) :lol: And they have an excellent Guitar tech. Also they will mach any price with Musicians Friend. Who needs the big box marts :P --the dog

I got a call from Guitar Center in Danvers, Ma
Gee, do you have money hanging out all your pockets, or what?? :lol:

You must have a bad case of GAS! :lol:

Margaret

dntalb,

Howdy, fellow Cheddarhead!

HA! :lol: Yep, another Cheesehead! I was born & raised in Chicago, (that would make me a "flatlander" to you!), but lived in Wisconsin now long enough to shake that title. Still like Da Bears though! :wink: :lol:

Yes, I've been to Good N' Loud Music in Madison many a time! I used to live in Madtown, and worked not far from there on University Ave. Good N' Loud & Ward Brodt off the Beltline is were I used to buy most of my gear. I've never heard of Spruce Tree, are they new? Now I go to Paradise Guitars down in Beloit. They're pretty good down there. I don't much like Voight Music here in Janesville. They mostly cater to the school kids in band, and their guitar selection is quite dismal. I'll probably check out the Guitar Center in Rockford just for curiosity's sake, as it's alittle closer to me, but I'll still probably continue to give Paradise most of my business. If you ever need a good guitar tech, Jim Bulter has a shop on Hwy 51 on the south side of Janesville, and he's excellent! It's called: "Bulter's Guitar & Vintage Amp", 2502 Center Ave (S. Hwy 51), # 608-751-2275. I take all my guitars to him to be set up or be repaired.
I didn't see the article in the Gazette that you're talking about. Hmm... Whitewater you say? That's only about 20 miles from me. Would be nice to have another store to shop. :wink:

Dan

born & raised in Chicago, (that would make me a "flatlander" to you!

Actually, I'm originally a Flatlander, too, but from west of Rockford a ways.

I've never heard of Spruce Tree, are they new?
Spruce Tree has been on E. Johnson Street for many years. I can't remember for sure if they have electric guitars, since I haven't been in there since I started playing myself. But they definitely have acoustics, and harps, banjos, mandolins, etc and it's a really cool little place. Good, good people. They do have a website, too.
I don't much like Voight Music here in Janesville

I agree.

Margaret

born & raised in Chicago, (that would make me a "flatlander" to you!

Actually, I'm originally a Flatlander, too, but from west of Rockford a ways.

I knew there was something really cool about you!! 8) :D :lol: :wink:

We have a GC opening here in Evansville, Indiana too. Suppose to open this month. I'll be there opening day to see what is going on. :)

Jason

I had an interesting experience in GC the other day. I got an email from musiciansfriends and they had an MXL 990 mic on sale for $49.99. So I thought I'd stop buy GC and see if they had the same sale. GC didn't have the mic on sale but they had a 990/991 combination package for $99.99. I told them that I didn't need the extra mic and that I'd just buy it online. The salesman said wait a minute maybe we can make a deal. He went online and saw that the sale was over and that the 990 was back to it normal price of $69.99. So he offered the combo deal to me for $69.99. Now I needed a stand, GC had some real nice proline boom stands for $39.99 but I knew MF had a boom stand for $19.99. I ended up getting the proline for $19.99. I did pay $14.00 for a 20 foot mic cable, which I thought was a little high, but what the heck. :wink:

Way to go Tim! I'll have to keep that in mind before I visit GC! Do alittle re-con work at MF 1st! :wink: The GC in Madison opened last week, and they were advertising a big sale on the radio, but I didn't get a chance to make it up there. I'm hoping to check out the GC in Rockford for their grand opening weekend. Thanks for the info! :D

Dan

dntalb wrote: Still like Da Bears though!

You have to be careful what crowd you say that in, Dan! :lol: We were living in Platteville and working at the university when da Bears held their summer training camps there, so I have a soft spot for them, too.

I ran up to visit the new GC in Madison on Sunday, and wasn't overly impressed. I did get a padded gig bag, a cord, and a strap, but even on the Grand Opening weekend, they weren't sale priced. It was a loud loud madhouse and the clerk seemed to be on drugs so I didn't take time to deal, or I probably could've gotten some $ off, but I just wanted to get out of there. Went on over to Ward Brodt and bought a Micro-Cube amp, capo and a couple books. It was unusually quiet over there, likely due to GC's crowd, and the SuperBowl, of course!

Margaret

The Guitar Centers in the Chicago area have always at least matched Musicians Friend prices for me. They will normally match any other internet prices also. It usually pays to do a little internet search to find lower prices when you know what your looking for. If you find a price that is a lot lower than anyone else's, print it out. If you can show it to them on paper, they will almost always match it.