Some schadenfreude over Guitar Center

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

There's a lot of abstract (er, and potentially flame bait-y) economic commentary here*, but one thing is crystal clear among the many points made: Guitar Center is seriously toast.  Poking around a bit among the various links down the rabbit hole, there's a wider trend that's taken hold of the bigger players in the music instrument biz.... and I'll refrain from further commentary driven by personal opinion.  :glasses10:  But I'm sure most folks reading this will feel similarly.

*tl;dr - Guitar Center sucks because it's not just a big dumb corporation, it's a badly run sub-corporation of a private equity firm that is aiming to make as much money as possible, and because of all the money they already have would literally barely notice (much less care) if GC folded tomorrow.

Also: if you didn't already know, google "schadenfreude", feel smarter because you learned a cool new word, then go to youtube and search for "schadenfreude avenue q".  I'm terribly sorry in advance for the delightful song that will remain in your head until sometime after your grandchildren graduate college.

 

[Strat Avenger]

Very good article. I also liked the one below it.

http://www.ericgarland.co/2014/03/19/guitar-centers-real-problem-customers-broke/

 

[sixstringsamurai]

I can't find it right now, but I read a article saying that the reason they they are staying in business is because the sent back a crap load of unsold Merch.
Thats why most GC's you go into right now look so poorly stocked...

And yes, schadenfreude is a great word.

 

[DarkPenguin]

I can't find it right now, but I read a article saying that the reason they they are staying in business is because the sent back a crap load of unsold Merch.
Thats why most GC's you go into right now look so poorly stocked...

And yes, schadenfreude is a great word.

I just assumed they were going to massively reduce their store count.  If GC doesn't pay their bills how many small companies go belly up?

 

[mark1178]

tldr. In the last 10 years I've only bought strings and guitar picks at guitar center maybe 3 times. Blame the interwebs.

 

[ihavenothingprofoundtosay]

I just assumed they were going to massively reduce their store count.  If GC doesn't pay their bills how many small companies go belly up?

Sadly, at least a few.  As mentioned in the article, they (and/or one of their subsidiaries like musicians's friend) are the exclusive distributor for several small companies.  It would make sense to tie your fortune to the biggest force in music instrument retail, but it's clear that Guitar Center is nowhere near "too big to fail."  I suspect that if GC goes belly up, they'll leave a LOT of smaller vendors well short on payments.

A few years ago, I might have reacted to news like this by saving up spending cash in anticipation of a closeout (like what happened to Mars Music).  But now, I'm firmly of the opinion that most of the stuff they sell there is overpriced junk, and that I'm probably better off building something myself from quality parts.

Still, I'll make sure to keep and eye out for the first signs of vultures, because it's quite possible the death of guitar center will bring new life to my gear pile.  :icon_jokercolor:

 

[mark1178]

Well, at least GC isn't Brook Mays. The one thing that I loved about BM was their repair guy in their old location in Lewisville Tx, can't remember his name.

 

[KaiserSoze]

My "the last time I went to GC story"…
Visited with the intent of buying a telecaster and spending about a grand.  The one I had a eye on was so poorly set up and intonated that it was hard to get a decent impression of it.  I asked if I could borrow a couple tools to adjust things a bit.  The moron actually refused and said their tech could adjust it the next afternoon when he was in.  ?!?!?! huh? 
If GC fails, its because their staff consists (mostly) of wanna-be musicians who can't see that it might be a good idea to help the forty year old guy with a grand in his pocket rather than the 14 year old slacker bashing a $3,000 Les Paul but has no job.  'nuff said.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I maintain any lack of qualified employees is a result of the talent pool being spread too thin.  There's too many stores with too many employees to possibly know what they're doing.

My GC purchases consist of strings and returning cables with lifetime warranties.  I have bought stage lights there recently.  A friend with the 20% friends and family discount made it too sweet.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Stuff like this is the reason I still prefer to go to a privately owned mom & pop music shop.
Small business and family farming are in my opinion, the heart and soul of Americana, not large coorporations.

 

[stubhead]

It's a weird business these days. One thing nobody likes to talk about is the simple fact that there are a huge number of really good guitars and amps and accessories already in existence. They're sure not wearing out as fast as the "replacements" are being made. The magazines have a hard time pushing new guitars and amps that offer "authentic vintage tone"  when you can just buy authentic vintage - too. It's a real stretch for the antique bubble that helped price vintage Les Pauls to cover Marshall JCM900's and 1980's Gibsons. And when economic growth is the only success and maintenance=failure and you've got too much product... uh-oh. 

 

[musicispeace]

I used to grit my teeth and occasionally go into Guitar Center when I knew they had some small item I needed that day but I stopped going in at all after one sales guy there said "Oh, we're getting off topic" when during a question I asked he mentioned he had a tele and I asked him about what pickups he had in it. If I have to order something mainstream I just use Sweetwater online and they have been great.

 

[Cagey]

It's a weird business these days. One thing nobody likes to talk about is the simple fact that there are a huge number of really good guitars and amps and accessories already in existence. They're sure not wearing out as fast as the "replacements" are being made. The magazines have a hard time pushing new guitars and amps that offer "authentic vintage tone"  when you can just buy authentic vintage - too. It's a real stretch for the antique bubble that helped price vintage Les Pauls to cover Marshall JCM900's and 1980's Gibsons. And when economic growth is the only success and maintenance=failure and you've got too much product... uh-oh. 

It is weird. The only thing I can figure is most of these companies are made up of just a couple/few employees, so they don't have to sell much to stay alive and staying alive is a low-cost proposition. As the old saying goes "If you wanna make a small fortune in the music business, start with a large fortune". There just can't be that much business out there. If they all thrived, it would only be a couple/few years before every man, woman and child in the US would own a plethora of guitars and a roomful of gear.  I mean, hardly a month goes by where Guitar Player isn't featuring some new guitar, amp, SFX, or accessory manufacturer. What are they doing with all this stuff? Dumping it in the ocean?

 

[drewfx]

I think the number of just the relatively ordinary looking maple/maple and maple/RW strat and tele necks that appear in the Showcase here each and every week indicates that there must be quite a lot of customers out there in musicland.