Another GC Oopsy Daisy

[skoora]

Went in to check out a tweed style combo from Cutthroat Audio and got no sound. They had recently taken it in and it was $2499. Not serious about buying at the moment but a chance to try something you’re just not going to come across usually. Also noticed some of the knobs were free spinning, with some resistance but probably just loose chicken heads. Lean the amp forward trying to investigate the issue and discover it has no speaker connection. Not loose, or the cable hanging out, not connected. Nothing at all. Somehow they took in a 3K plus combo amp (new price) and didn’t discover it had no speaker cable

So not to be deterred, I grabbed a nearby 2x12 and ran the combo into it and guess what?….It just sounded like any other average, tweedish/Fender combo I’ve played with options that added almost nothing to the amp (switchable 1st stage tube, internal jumpering and switchable extra gain stage). Can’t imagine spending this kind of money on boutique versions of Fenders when a kit will get you there and just use the volume knob on the guitar. They also had a Toneking Imperial there and even though the feature set was cool, the tone cranked up (where I live on a Fender circuit) was just so…ordinary. Also not a great tremolo. Granted I have a Royalist MKIII head, but it delivers big time on the Marshall thing.
I like the old Fenders that keep a more raw, wild edge when you crank them up. A lot of these boutique amps just seem to neuter the character out of these things.

 

[fek]

I stopped in to my local GC on Sunday. Kind of in the market for an LP Custom so when I saw a 1987 black beauty in the used section, decided to give it a strum. Anything above the 10th fret was just a plinking sound. Completely fretted out across all 6 strings above the 10th. Took a look down the neck and it was like a banana. $4,000 for a used guitar that was completely unplayable. Wow.

 

[cardinal]

To the OP: it's possible that it had a speaker cable initially but someone swiped it.

Not much excuse for having an unplayable guitar on the wall. Most charitable guess is that the neck relief shifted once it acclimated to the new environment after it was traded in and just needs the rod adjusted.

 

[BryanMiura]

Went in to check out a tweed style combo from Cutthroat Audio and got no sound. They had recently taken it in and it was $2499. Not serious about buying at the moment but a chance to try something you’re just not going to come across usually. Also noticed some of the knobs were free spinning, with some resistance but probably just loose chicken heads. Lean the amp forward trying to investigate the issue and discover it has no speaker connection. Not loose, or the cable hanging out, not connected. Nothing at all. Somehow they took in a 3K plus combo amp (new price) and didn’t discover it had no speaker cable

So not to be deterred, I grabbed a nearby 2x12 and ran the combo into it and guess what?….It just sounded like any other average, tweedish/Fender combo I’ve played with options that added almost nothing to the amp (switchable 1st stage tube, internal jumpering and switchable extra gain stage). Can’t imagine spending this kind of money on boutique versions of Fenders when a kit will get you there and just use the volume knob on the guitar. They also had a Toneking Imperial there and even though the feature set was cool, the tone cranked up (where I live on a Fender circuit) was just so…ordinary. Also not a great tremolo. Granted I have a Royalist MKIII head, but it delivers big time on the Marshall thing.
I like the old Fenders that keep a more raw, wild edge when you crank them up. A lot of these boutique amps just seem to neuter the character out of these things.

I think I can buy it by selling my one kidney

 

[BeZo]

Everything I play at Guitar Center needs a grain of salt. I can't tell you how many good guitars with bad setups I've played. People suck.

 

[Matt300ZXT]

When I worked at Guitar Center, I was in the guitar sales department. After having sales constantly stolen by a total snake for a department manager that the store manager did nothing about, I just quit trying that hard and spent most of my time cleaning up the nicer guitars on the walls, keeping the Les Pauls strung and clean, Fender Strats polished up and playing nicely, etc. I tweaked a lot of truss rods and oiled a lot of fretboards in my time there. I did my parts to keep every guitar worth touching on that wall playable.

 

[BeZo]

When I worked at Guitar Center, I was in the guitar sales department. After having sales constantly stolen by a total snake for a department manager that the store manager did nothing about, I just quit trying that hard and spent most of my time cleaning up the nicer guitars on the walls, keeping the Les Pauls strung and clean, Fender Strats polished up and playing nicely, etc. I tweaked a lot of truss rods and oiled a lot of fretboards in my time there. I did my parts to keep every guitar worth touching on that wall playable.

Thank you for your service. We and Guitar Centers everyone truly miss you.

Funny thing is that I know the tech at my local GC. We shared many a stage in our respective bands throughout the mid '00s. I'll have him replace strings and tweak stuff from time to time. I had him put a high e on a Caparison V and lover the pickups on a Schecter recently. It's nice, when he's there.