Greensboro NC. Guitar Center Rant

  • Thread starter Thread starter endofall
  • Start date Start date
E

endofall

Active member
So the Guitar Center in Greensboro has had a used Mesa Roadster in the store for a couple of months and about three weeks ago I went in to try it out. I really liked how it sounded and it seemed that pretty much ever channel was usable, but there was a couple of things about the amp. The amp is a couple of years old and it still has the stock tubes (or what I am assuming is the stock tubes) in it, and the reverb footswitch does not turn the reverb on or off on the amp. The reverb's footswitch light does trigger on and off when using it, and I also checked out the cable and it is not a problem with the footswitch cable but it just doesn't trigger anything on the amp. The store has the amp listed for $1400 which seems to be kind of the standard price even though I have seen several go for around $1200 lately, and I have tried several times to get them to lower the price of the amp to $1200 which is what I have in available funds, and no matter what I try these guys will only knock the price down to $1300 which is a pretty good price for the amp if everything on the amp worked perfectly, but seeing how there are a couple of issues with it I believe that $1200 is a fair price. So my question is............ is there some kind of super secret hand shake that I have to know in order to get a great deal on used gear at a Guitar Center, or does the Guitar Center in Greensboro just suck that much?
 
There's a super secret handshake, but I can't tell you how to do it. It wouldn't be secrete any more.
 
They have to get permission from corporate to reduce the price, sometimes the coporate dot com guys will reduce the price of an item in the used dept and the sales guys will not know anything about it... its not like it used to be, they dont haggle any more.
 
You'll spend close to $100 getting the issues fixed by a tech. So, why not just agree to give them the $1,300, on the condition that THEY fix all of the issues prior to you taking possession of the amp? :confused:
 
Talk to Chuck Browder, the assistant manager if you already haven't. If you have to go higher, take it up with Stephen Harris, the store manager.
 
I was wondering if it was something like that. It seems like with the issues on the amp they should haggle just a little bit, I would expect them to drop the price to $1300 if the amp was in perfect condition and I was paying cash. It almost seems like they're not relaying the issues with the amp to corporate or something...... or maybe they are and corporate is to blame for this situation!
 
rlord1974":1a4p0zup said:
You'll spend close to $100 getting the issues fixed by a tech. So, why not just agree to give them the $1,300, on the condition that THEY fix all of the issues prior to you taking possession of the amp? :confused:
Click to expand...

Because I do not really need the reverb to be footswitchable (but with the price they want, the amp should be in perfect condition), and I am getting married in October and I am working with a tight budget right now, so the difference in the $100 is enough to stop me from buying it. Then again I haven't really thought of that too much!
 
jmpman":b337vuzi said:
Talk to Chuck Browder, the assistant manager if you already haven't. If you have to go higher, take it up with Stephen Harris, the store manager.
Click to expand...
I have been talking to Sam, he has been awesome, but he has been working with the store manager on this, so I believe that this is the best price that I am going to get from them. It very well could be the issue that was brought up earlier where they are being limited by corporate......
 
I would present them with a final take it or leave it offer. If they don't accept you gotta walk away. I wouldn't buy a broken amp from a shop.
 
BrokenFusion":1iafsrfa said:
I would present them with a final take it or leave it offer. If they don't accept you gotta walk away. I wouldn't buy a broken amp from a shop.
Click to expand...


Agreed. They should at least send it to their amp tech(DJL Audio) who is a top notch tech even if you don't buy it. That is my other problem with them, I have brought things like this to their attention before and come back later and they still are trying to sell the same broken gear :confused:
 
jmpman":3sydnxz0 said:
BrokenFusion":3sydnxz0 said:
I would present them with a final take it or leave it offer. If they don't accept you gotta walk away. I wouldn't buy a broken amp from a shop.
Click to expand...


Agreed. They should at least send it to their amp tech(DJL Audio) who is a top notch tech even if you don't buy it. That is my other problem with them, I have brought things like this to their attention before and come back later and they still are trying to sell the same broken gear :confused:
Click to expand...

I guess at the end of the day that is what makes me so frustrated with the whole situation, I was willing to pay a good price for a amp that has issues (even though the issues is not that much of a problem for me), and I know that this amp is just going to sit there, until they can sell it for their price to someone even with the issues.
 
Im sure they are aware, but did you actually advise them how there are issues with the amp such as the reverb and footswitch? If so and they still wont come down then idk.

Try to find another one online at GC used for $1,200 and try to have them match it if there is one for that price.
 
maddnotez":14eniyig said:
Im sure they are aware, but did you actually advise them how there are issues with the amp such as the reverb and footswitch? If so and they still wont come down then idk.

Try to find another one online at GC used for $1,200 and try to have them match it if there is one for that price.
Click to expand...


Yeah the first time I came in I pointed out the issues when I was playing/talking to a sales representative, and since then I have pointed out the issues again. Yesterday when I called and talked to them about the amp they advised me that the price drop from $1400 to $1300 was to cover the issues of the amp.
 
endofall":2k6kniuv said:
jmpman":2k6kniuv said:
They use eBay as a reference from what they told me when I took some pedals to sell(big mistake), here is one that sold for 1250. Show this to them and see what they say. Worth a shot.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mesa-Boogie-Dua ... 3a83339eec
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip!! :rock:
Click to expand...


No problem :thumbsup: They should honor it, because in the past I bought a 5150 from the GC in Releigh and they'd overcharged me alot after looking on ebay, they actually made good on it and threw in some free video lessons to boot;)
 
^^^^ hes right, I watched a gc manager pull up ebay when I was trying to haggle them down on an amp and he said they do in fact use ebay as a reference.
 
Silly question, but did you make sure that the reverb levels were up on the back of the amp? Each channel has an individual reverb control.
Also, there's a dedicated tube for reverb so it may be something as simple as swapping it out...
 
tfridgen":op9xht8z said:
Silly question, but did you make sure that the reverb levels were up on the back of the amp? Each channel has an individual reverb control.
Also, there's a dedicated tube for reverb so it may be something as simple as swapping it out...
Click to expand...

Yeah the reverb worked on all the channels, and the level controls worked as well, its just that when trying to switch the reverb on and off using the reverb control on the footswitch it would not work. The light for the reverb on the foot switch would toggle on and off, but it wouldn't change anything on amp, and I don't believe it was the cable so Im not really sure what was causing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top