My GC opened a Platinum room...

[Steinmetzify]

Apparently it's been there for a minute; I just hadn't noticed and never expected it here...I don't go in there much anyway and it's usually to grab strings or picks or whatever and GTFO because of the noise.

Man, there was some SICK shit in there. Whole wall of ten top PRSi, USA EVH stuff, EBMM Axis with a rosewood neck and a ton of Gibsons, including one of the 150 aged Billy Gibbons sigs, which I made em take out of the case so I could drop tune it and blast it thru a Dual Rec. Drop D on 6 in a soundproof room. I can't really hear right now...

Holy shit that was what all Gibsons should be. That thing is perfect, and should be for $9.2k.

They also had a 2014 LPC BB, but I wasn't that impressed....looked ok, played ok, but for $4k it should be pretty exceptional, and it just wasn't. I played it before the Gibbons model so that didn't color it at all for me.

That MM Axis was seriously impressive......rosewood neck was slick as hell and I really loved the fretwork....really had to fight not to bring that one home and it was one of the cheapest guitars in there.

Hetfield ESPs in there were great...something about EMGs and Rectos always sit well with me....they had a bunch of different 4x12s in there and you can try out any of em you want with whatever amp, and weirdly enough that guitar with that amp sounded ballsy as fuck thru an EVH 4x12.

Played the JP Majesty as well.....that is a WEIRD looking guitar. Neck is really nice, but the bridge feels almost non-existent....coming from Hipshots and TOM bridges I think it'd be really hard to get used to....basically your hand is lying flat on the top of the guitar for palm mutes.

Bunch of Custom Shop Fenders on the wall too.....lot of super reliced 60s Strats, and the boards on those are done really nicely....not for $6k though.

Anyway, pretty cool experience. No pics....I was too busy playing, so next time I go back I'll snag something. All the guitars were set up extremely well and played fantastically...I was pretty shocked. They demolished the existing store last year and set up in a smaller pad in the same complex, and I just figured it meant they were on the way out...they might be, but they got some uber cool shit while they're waiting.

 

[Mailman1971]

Best amp we have at our local Guitar center is a 6505+

 

[Steinmetzify]

Dude......Rectos, 5153s, PRS amps...'twas glorious, I say!

 

[Mailman1971]

You play an Archon yet?

 

[Steinmetzify]

Yup, they had one. Still like Rectos better lol...really nice amp though!

 

[andross182]

My local GC is terrible, hardly any amps, the only tube amp was a 6505+, everything else was Line 6 and the guitar selection is atrocious. Sad really.

 

[gibson5413]

Is this the one on Redwood and 54th (ish)? I'll have to go check it out if so. I am like you, I hardly ever go there but wouldn't mind checking out some that stuff. We should meet up there and crank the amps to 10. Lulz!

 

[Steinmetzify]

Yeah Chad, that one. Straight back from the door...go check it out, some nice stuff in there, and it's pretty soundproof!

 

[stanbog]

I have a JP7 with the all-rosewood neck since a year or so and I was not able to put it down since. So I know what you're saying

 

[Heritage Softail]

Downtown ATL has a Platinum Room. They are very cool. I found my MKIIC in there. Funny thing is that sometimes you still get sales people that have no idea what they are selling. The guy kept trying to push me to the much better MK V

I have played the 50K old strats there. It was cool to hold a piece of history.

I like Guitar Center. They have lots of stuff and you can find great deals.

In stock Friendman and Bogner is nice.

 

[JeffHenneman]

My local GC is terrible, hardly any amps, the only tube amp was a 6505+, everything else was Line 6 and the guitar selection is atrocious. Sad really.

That is exactly what the GC in my town has. I have a bigger and better collection of equipment at my house than they have, it totally sucks. When they first came to town they had tons of amps and guitars. Now, they have almost nothing.

 

[Shask]

My local GC is terrible, hardly any amps, the only tube amp was a 6505+, everything else was Line 6 and the guitar selection is atrocious. Sad really.

That is exactly what the GC in my town has. I have a bigger and better collection of equipment at my house than they have, it totally sucks. When they first came to town they had tons of amps and guitars. Now, they have almost nothing.

That is how mine is. They were once cool, but now a sea of Squire and Line 6.


I usually just stop in there to look at the used stuff. That is about the only cool things that pop up in there.

 

[andross182]

My local GC is terrible, hardly any amps, the only tube amp was a 6505+, everything else was Line 6 and the guitar selection is atrocious. Sad really.

That is exactly what the GC in my town has. I have a bigger and better collection of equipment at my house than they have, it totally sucks. When they first came to town they had tons of amps and guitars. Now, they have almost nothing.

That is how mine is. They were once cool, but now a sea of Squire and Line 6.


I usually just stop in there to look at the used stuff. That is about the only cool things that pop up in there.

I have a feeling they only ship high end gear to stores in high dollar parts of the country and leave the rest to fend for themselves. When my wife was shopping for my Custom 24 GC wanted almost 4k for one, when I pointed out that they go for 2700ish online the sales guy got all huffy and told us good luck getting that locally. So we went over to another local store (who's selection crushes GCs) and sure enough, custom 24 for 2700ish. Blows my mind that GC stays in business.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Interesting......we have a really good local shop here as well with a massive selection of high end gear....maybe they were losing $ and felt like they had to compete.

Before this there was no way I'd even consider dropping any decent amount of $ in that store....everything is over priced and I can always get it at least halfway cheaper used on forums.

That Axis is calling me though....

 

[jrh_67]

The guitar center by my house has about 40 squire strats and 50 epiphone les pauls as well as numerous all in one amp, guitar packages. They used to have good gear in there but now seem to just carry whatever is the cheapest model of everything.

I fortunately live in a city that at least has a Sam Ash in it and they usually have a very nice selection of both new and used gear in stock.

 

[Rdodson]

I'm very spoiled. A quarter mile from me is the North Dallas GC Platinum Room, and it is outstanding. Robbie Gustin runs it, great guy. Currently there is an SLO, a Hot Rod 25, a Bad Cat, an Engl, a BE-100, two Dirty Shirleys, a Smallbox, an SS sig and a JJ sig, a HW JTM45 and a HW Bluesbreaker. Oh, and a Bogner XTC. Plus cabs.

Thats just the amps. 1 Gibson R8 and two R9s and several CS Strats and Teles, and a boatload of PRSs.

 

[FourT6and2]

My local GC has a "Platinum" room too. All they have in there though is a Marshall JCM800, a 5150, a Fender Princeton Reverb, and an Orange 4x12. Pretty non-platinum shit IMO.

 

[Valtyr]

Is the Platinum Room that little room with the glass doors?

The Bham GC has cut back, almost no EB/MM guitars. They have Fender, Gibson, and mid level PRS, maybe one MM Majesty (and I was surprised to see that). Their best stuff is used, currently a couple of used PRS (a Di Meola Prism, another one with some sort of "raspberry" finish) 70's Fender bass, Gibson Standard LP. The amps in there aren't anything special or even high end, mostly lunchbox style tube amps by Orange, H&K and Peavey.

A lot of their nicer used stuff disappeared a few months back, sent to other locations.