Guitar Center Story

[CB22]

I wen't to guitar center about two or three weeks ago to pick up a pair of speaker sands. So I would up talking to the guy who said he did a lot of custom home av setups. Chatted with him for about bit. Told him about my Klipsch speakers. He had never heard of Klipsch and looked them up on his iPhone. I feel like if your in to home AV you know about Klipsch, right? He said, "ohhhh, these are home theater speakers, i would't listen to music on these. It must sound bad. You should really get a pair of these powered Yamaha's, they'd be a lot better" (IDK they were were $250 pair.)

I say something like, "I don't know, I think there's just more bassy"

Then head said, "You really should really use active monitors for music, there's a lot more detail and clarity there. That's what professionals use."

I'm thinking to my self, BRO, BACK OFF!

 

[jliedeka]

There are a lot of advantages for powered speakers. Kind of a hassle for a surround system since they all need power, though.

 

[CB22]

There are a lot of advantages for powered speakers. Kind of a hassle for a surround system since they all need power, though.

I was just like WTF when he said, your speakers are "It must sound BAD" - i think rock and roll on em sounds great.

 

[lovinthehd]

He's a salesman and was trying to sell you something he had in the store? Why talk to salesmen at all is the way I look at it....(except for the bemusement factor I suppose).

 

[panteragstk]

I used to work for them and the thought is that the recording monitors are more neutral than "home" speakers.

They aren't wrong, but they aren't right either. We all know speakers/monitors can do all sorts of stuff to our music depending on how they are designed.

What that moron probably doesn't realize is that most of the recording monitor brands have home speaker lineups as well.

You should go back and let him know his company is probably going to file for bankruptcy soon anyway...a bit harsh though...

 

[slipperybidness]

I used to work for them and the thought is that the recording monitors are more neutral than "home" speakers.

They aren't wrong, but they aren't right either. We all know speakers/monitors can do all sorts of stuff to our music depending on how they are designed.

What that moron probably doesn't realize is that most of the recording monitor brands have home speaker lineups as well.

You should go back and let him know his company is probably going to file for bankruptcy soon anyway...a bit harsh though...

I've seen some rumblings of Guitar Center problems lately on the forums, but I don't think I've seen an official press article. What gives?

And, is Guitar Center related to Gibson?

 

[shadyJ]

Yeah, Guitar Center looks to be a big trouble. Vulture capitalists loaded it with debt and then ran off with the profits in the form of exorbitant interest payments, just like Toys'R'Us. Bain Capital, of course, Mitt Romney's alma mater. There ought to be laws. I have fond memories of both Toys'R'Us and Guitar Center. What Toys'R'Us was to my childhood years, Guitar Center was to my 20's; a place with a lot of really cool, fun stuff, and not much of it I could afford. Still, I enjoyed going there, and playing with their keyboard synthesizers and drum machines.

As for the salesman who hadn't heard of Klipsch and thought that home audio sounds bad, my first instinct is to say what an idiot, but I remembered I used to be like that too. My interest in hi-fi audio began in studio audio, and I used to hold some pretty dumb misconceptions myself. After a lot of education, I know that home audio can be as linear and high performance as decent studio monitors, and also that some studio monitors can perform very poorly. Don't judge a speaker by its origins in pro audio or home audio. Look for good measurements, preferably done by a third party. That being said, there are some really excellent values in the studio monitor world for pure sound quality, as long as you don't mind the more business-like appearance.

 

[lovinthehd]

I didn't see anything connecting Gibson to ownership of Guitar Center, imagine that's more like the relationship between Mattel and Toys'r'Us.

 

[shadyJ]

I didn't see anything connecting Gibson to ownership of Guitar Center, imagine that's more like the relationship between Mattel and Toys'r'Us.

Yeah, when Guitar Center dies, that will be devastating to a lot of manufacturers, just like the fall of Toys'R'Us. I would imagine this will be a serious blow to Gibson, among others.

 

[CB22]

He's a salesman and was trying to sell you something he had in the store? Why talk to salesmen at all is the way I look at it....(except for the bemusement factor I suppose).

Well I try to be friendly to everybody but every once and a while that backfires into frustration. If you don't listen how can you learn, right. Before college I used to work at a recording studio for about several months and loved the pair of JBL studio monitors they had. These were them:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/jbl-lsr4328p-studio-monitor-pair

I remember the bass on these would really kick...

 

[panteragstk]

I didn't see anything connecting Gibson to ownership of Guitar Center, imagine that's more like the relationship between Mattel and Toys'r'Us.

Gibson is apparently already in trouble as well. Something to the tune of a half billion in debt. Guitar Center going away would just make things worse for them. Granted, a LOT of people will buy their guitars no matter what happens, but the real question will be "will it be enough"?

 

[lovinthehd]

Gibson is apparently already in trouble as well. Something to the tune of a half billion in debt. Guitar Center going away would just make things worse for them. Granted, a LOT of people will buy their guitars no matter what happens, but the real question will be "will it be enough"?

How much credit did Gibson extend to Guitar Center and was it secured in any way?

 

[TechHDS]

I wen't to guitar center about two or three weeks ago to pick up a pair of speaker sands. So I would up talking to the guy who said he did a lot of custom home av setups. Chatted with him for about bit. Told him about my Klipsch speakers. He had never heard of Klipsch and looked them up on his iPhone. I feel like if your in to home AV you know about Klipsch, right? He said, "ohhhh, these are home theater speakers, i would't listen to music on these. It must sound bad. You should really get a pair of these powered Yamaha's, they'd be a lot better" (IDK they were were $250 pair.)

I say something like, "I don't know, I think there's just more bassy"

Then head said, "You really should really use active monitors for music, there's a lot more detail and clarity there. That's what professionals use."

I'm thinking to my self, BRO, BACK OFF!

So you actually stood there having this conversation with this guy? . How about You and I head over to BestBuy. We walk in at different times start a conversation, Magnolia Department ask one of them specialty guys to hook up two of Bob Carvers Tube amps the monoblock kind to a pair of active monitor speaker's. . And when they look at You are I, We go, You don't have No active monitor speaker's? How about those B&W's over there, crank to volume past reference level You and me walk out. .

 

[highfigh]

Yeah, Guitar Center looks to be a big trouble. Vulture capitalists loaded it with debt and then ran off with the profits in the form of exorbitant interest payments, just like Toys'R'Us. Bain Capital, of course, Mitt Romney's alma mater. There ought to be laws. I have fond memories of both Toys'R'Us and Guitar Center. What Toys'R'Us was to my childhood years, Guitar Center was to my 20's; a place with a lot of really cool, fun stuff, and not much of it I could afford. Still, I enjoyed going there, and playing with their keyboard synthesizers and drum machines.

As for the salesman who hadn't heard of Klipsch and thought that home audio sounds bad, my first instinct is to say what an idiot, but I remembered I used to be like that too. My interest in hi-fi audio began in studio audio, and I used to hold some pretty dumb misconceptions myself. After a lot of education, I know that home audio can be as linear and high performance as decent studio monitors, and also that some studio monitors can perform very poorly. Don't judge a speaker by its origins in pro audio or home audio. Look for good measurements, preferably done by a third party. That being said, there are some really excellent values in the studio monitor world for pure sound quality, as long as you don't mind the more business-like appearance.

You can stop mentioning Romney and Bain- he left close to fifteen years ago.

 

[highfigh]

I went to the local GC and they had their "studio" set up with the monitors on the left & right in the same placement, which I don't have a problem with- there's no way to have some far apart and some really close, so that was a goo thing. They also had acoustic treatments on one wall and only one wall. The other wall was slightly farther from the closest speakers, but that didn't keep the treatments from royally effing up the sound. Felt like my ear was being sucked out of my head, due to reflections from one side and none from the other. If more of their people had a clue about sound, they would have done better but then, there wouldn't be any reason to say "DUDE!" as often.

 

[panteragstk]

How much credit did Gibson extend to Guitar Center and was it secured in any way?

That I don't know. The article I read mentioned both were in trouble.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/guitar-center-imminent-bankrupcty/

 

[highfigh]

That I don't know. The article I read mentioned both were in trouble.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/guitar-center-imminent-bankrupcty/

Did the article mention Fender? If not, it only tells part of the story because GC owes them a helluva lot of money, too.

 

[panteragstk]

Did the article mention Fender? If not, it only tells part of the story because GC owes them a helluva lot of money, too.

I don't doubt it. The article was really split in two. First part about GC, second about Gibson. They didn't really relate them other than to say that Gibson told retailers to make stores more comfortable so people will want to come in. Something along those lines.

 

[highfigh]

I don't doubt it. The article was really split in two. First part about GC, second about Gibson. They didn't really relate them other than to say that Gibson told retailers to make stores more comfortable so people will want to come in. Something along those lines.

They also made the initial buy-in almost impossible for small stores and that means even the large ones with money would have to floor plan their inventory.

 

[panteragstk]

They also made the initial buy-in almost impossible for small stores and that means even the large ones with money would have to floor plan their inventory.

When I worked at a GC store (two different ones in fact) I was astonished with how much product they had not only on the floor, but in the warehouse as well. They'd have $2000 guitar in multiple colors just in case. We even had a classic Fender on the wall for sale at a very reasonable $65,000. Crazy.