Bye Bye Guitar Center

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:11 pm

Rickenbacker notifies Guitar Center that they are no longer authorized dealers.

Good 1 Evil 0

http://www.rickenbacker.com/us/gc_press_rel.htm

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:28 pm

I'm very glad to hear that

loendmaestro · Post by **loendmaestro** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:39 pm

RIGHT ON! Have I ever mentioned that Guitar Center Sucks? Not that my GC ever had Ricks anyway...

You'll like this story:
About 2-3 weeks ago I went to GC to try out the Ampeg B100R amp - only because they're near my rehearsal space. (I bought it from an independent store later for cheaper!).
But I took my Monty Brown 4003 in there so I could hear how the amp sounded with my #1 bass.
While I was going through the whole recording of the serial number/cavity search thing you have to do upon entering the store, one customer on the way out was like "Nice bass! Is that the Montezuma Brown?" I'm like "Yeah, cool, thanks!"
Then I go & play the amp LOUD (nice amp - sounds great), but while I'm doing so 2 other customers come up & compliment me on the bass. Then a 3rd guy comes up & points to the wall & says "Where did you get that one from?" I respond loudly "THEY DON'T HAVE THESE HERE!" He kind of chuckles & went to look at the vast array of Squier P-basses in the corner.

Oh yeah & by the way, while all this was going on - not ONE saleshole there came up to help me or even acknowledge my presence.

I really enjoyed giving my money to Galaxy Music a week later.

Kudos to RIC Inc. for making this decision. It's nice to know that John Hall doesn't "dance for the man."

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:04 pm

This is the only Ric (way overpriced IMO) that has been at my local Guitar Center in quite some time....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4713&item=7301640872&rd=1

Some real nice guys there and I have gotten some great deals BUT I have felt for some time that it was a shame that they were a Ric dealer. I know that there are other quality basses/guitars being made by some great companies but to just seemingly shun the Ric line the way they have (around here anyway) is just wrong.

When I asked a sales guy there once about why they don't stock any 4003's he just said that "nobody wants them so why stock them". But how can you develop interest in a bass if there aren't any to be seen/played? They may not be the hottest seller due to price but having one or two around couldn't hurt.....well, it would probably be a problem for me

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:21 pm

The Guitar Center I used to go to actually had about 5 Ricks last time I went, four of them being basses. But none were new, all used. Mostly late 70's-80's stuff, except the guitar was a '66. Nice, but overpriced.

I actually got my 360 there almost a year ago, new. Since then, I haven't seen a new one there.

dean712 · Post by **dean712** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:56 pm

Good bye, Guitar Center.

It's disappointing on GC's part, but not surprising, given the stock I've seen in their stores the last few visits. It's been like a scooped EQ, with lots of garbage low-end foreign entry models and a few overpriced, gold-plated luxury models. Not a lot for the real musician, IMHO.

Bye Bye.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:56 pm

I actually had a manager of a guitar center tell me that Ric was going out of business and that I should buy something that he had in stock ... So I told him he didn't have anything that intetested me and that Ric was doing fine ... they were selling instruments faster than they could make them ...

bluespckr · Post by **bluespckr** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:42 am

Guitar Center has it's place somewhere in the music food chain (scavenger, maybe?), I'm sure, but I haven't a clue what it is. Rics? I have never seen one in my local GC. The stuff they do have is pretty ****** and/or overpriced. There also seems to be a mentality that "old and used" equals "vintage and collectable" as in "expensive." There is a wall of shame in my store that has some of the most trashed looking pieces of used guitars priced through the roof. Some of it -- hell, most of it -- is no-name or who who-cares kind of stuff. I would never buy a guitar there. GC - RIP.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:35 am

I always get the impression that I have forgotten more information than most music store staff will ever know. Of course alot of that comes from 25+ years of playing and experimentation.

I mean what can you expect from some kid trained to push the popular items.???

Back to the GC thing, I'd like to think we as a group, may have had a hand in the decision. As we like to blatently point out the shysters of the world.

eatswodo · Post by **eatswodo** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:54 am

How long before this shows up on alt.guitar.rickenbacker as "Guitar Center dumps Rickenbacker"?

dave4004 · Post by **dave4004** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 5:21 am

I have to agree that GC's busines model doesn't suit Rickenbacker. But almost all my experiences with GC have been pleasant.

kenindfw · Post by **kenindfw** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 5:25 am

While I'm not a guitar center fan by any stretch of the imagination, I am not happy about the announcement. I will not by a guitar without being able to play it first. Than means no internet sales for me. Does anyone know of a place in Dallas that will carry a new Ric? What else is there besides GC?

johnashfield · Post by **johnashfield** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 5:34 am

Good for Rickenbacker!

It was so rare that I ever saw new ricks at GC anyway,

I cannot say how often GC tried to sell me ricks without the case, because they like to add on the price of the case, to the "sale" price.

Or how often some bone head salesman would try and tell me something about a ric when they knew nothing.

The time I saw my poor mutilated 74 4001 being sold as a 60's bass (for over $2000!), that really soured it for me.

Now that I found a local shop (Rocker Guitars San Francisco) that carries a ton of rics, and ric 12 string string sets, I don't go to GC unless I get a gift certificate or something.

GC is SF just moved to a new location where there is like no parking. There is a garage there but you have to buy $75 worth of stuff to get parking validation!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 5:59 am

John, I'm a resident of the Bay area like you--at which GC did you spot a Rick in the wild?

The newly-opened one on Van Ness even had me check my wallet when I walked in last time. I've been there an average on once every couple of weeks and have never seen a Rick there.

I buy my strings there for my other guitars, and picks and cases and gig bags. Some of my tech books come from there.

Here in the BA, Bananas At Large--huge store, just down the road from my house--not a Rick dealer, did have a couple of thrashed basses, but I wuz looking for a six or 12. E*Guitars had nothing, although their selection of other stuff is pretty excellent.

But I keep running into this anti-Rick snobbery--"Ricks? Nobody plays those anymore" type of ignorance. Boring.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 6:00 am

Forgot to ask--where's Rockers?