Benefit Concert to Save Guitar Center Features 97 Dudes....

Modern Saint

Modern Saint

Starve your Fear, Feed your Dream!
....Playing “Sweet Child O’ Mine”

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https://thehardtimes.net/music/bene...features-97-dudes-playing-sweet-child-o-mine/
 
All 97 will be ignored by stoner sales staff who haven’t bathed in so long that the dirt is starting to hide the tattoos.
 
I'd rather have thousands of mom and pop music shops across America. Like it was before Guitar Center came along. Or like it was when Guitar Center was a single shop on Sunset Blvd. I used to go there frequently back then.
 
rickenvox said:
I'd rather have thousands of mom and pop music shops across America. Like it was before Guitar Center came along. Or like it was when Guitar Center was a single shop on Sunset Blvd. I used to go there frequently back then.
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That would be nice, but not likely to happen. I think online shopping hurt mom and pop stores more than Guitar Center.
 
Gary Blanchard said:
That would be nice, but not likely to happen. I think online shopping hurt mom and pop stores more than Guitar Center.
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We have one music shop that just went out of business in Pasadena, and a new one that's been thriving for the past several years. LA has McCabe's Guitars that has a nice selection of acoustic instruments and hold concerts in their basement. We have another shop just like that in Covina called The Fret House. I saw Bill Frissell at McCabe's and Scott Tenant at The Fret House. Of course we still have an independent book store, record store, and video (dvd) rental shop in Pasadena that have all been doing well for decades.
 
we still have a couple "mom & pop" shops in town. the highest end stuff they have is Behringer.
no thanks.
 
We do not have a Guitar Center nearby; we do have a few "mom and pops", but, as Mongooz points out, very little in the line of higher-end guitars. I do use them as much as possible for incidentals, but can never find the guitars (or keyboards) that I want locally.
 
I am fortunate, I suppose, in that there are a few independent music stores near me with a good selection of new and used gear. I rarely go to GC. It's also further away than the local shops. For a few miles more I could be at Atomic where the used gear choices are endless.

I agree with @Gary Blanchard, online has probably hurt mom and pop music shops as much, if not more, than GC. Pretty much the same story for a lot of brick and mortar retailers. Sears and K-Mart are hanging on by a thread. Speaking of Sears, I see that Lowes is now carrying Craftsman tools. That could signal the end of their stand-alone stores.
 
My last few trips to GC have been disappointing at best. They don't even bother to update their stock anymore. I see the same merchandise there that I saw 20 years ago. They didn't even have a Roland FA-06/08 for me to try out when I was shopping for a new keyboard after my XP-50 went tits up. Let 'em die.
 
shoeless said:
I am fortunate, I suppose, in that there are a few independent music stores near me with a good selection of new and used gear. I rarely go to GC. It's also further away than the local shops. For a few miles more I could be at Atomic where the used gear choices are endless.

I agree with @Gary Blanchard, online has probably hurt mom and pop music shops as much, if not more, than GC. Pretty much the same story for a lot of brick and mortar retailers. Sears and K-Mart are hanging on by a thread. Speaking of Sears, I see that Lowes is now carrying Craftsman tools. That could signal the end of their stand-alone stores.
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There used to be at least a dozen indie music shops in the greater Lowell area, and most had at least a couple Strats & LP's on the hooks. Like now, they stayed alive by selling band gear and music lessons. One thing that nobody has mentioned is corporate greed on any of our discussions. The little music retailers can't or may not be able to move the quantity of expensive product that the music corporations want. The big retailers like GC have the pricey stuff, but I think that they have too much tied up in inventory. On my last trip to GC was just a couple weeks ago, and I was looking for a decent acoustic. Lo and behold, the acoustic room was packed with el cheapo Mitchells & Fenders under 500 bucks. Any Taylors or Martins were 15 feet off the floor, and the pickings for mid priced (750~ 1500) instruments were very slim indeed.
 
parrotheada1a said:
There used to be at least a dozen indie music shops in the greater Lowell area, and most had at least a couple Strats & LP's on the hooks. Like now, they stayed alive by selling band gear and music lessons. One thing that nobody has mentioned is corporate greed on any of our discussions. The little music retailers can't or may not be able to move the quantity of expensive product that the music corporations want. The big retailers like GC have the pricey stuff, but I think that they have too much tied up in inventory. On my last trip to GC was just a couple weeks ago, and I was looking for a decent acoustic. Lo and behold, the acoustic room was packed with el cheapo Mitchells & Fenders under 500 bucks. Any Taylors or Martins were 15 feet off the floor, and the pickings for mid priced (750~ 1500) instruments were very slim indeed.
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As far as the inventory, i think that the cheapo stuff probably where a majority of their sales come from. It makes sense they would have a lot on hand.
 
I miss good independent stores. There was Cambridge Music in Porter Square in the 80's and 90's, just had great stuff. And Grandma's out here in Albuquerque.

Both gone now.
 
The shop 2 blocks away is Drum City Guitar Land. It has been around since 1965.

Great guys to deal with.
 
The local place here closed last year. If I want to look at electric guitars I have to drive to another town. Wildwood is only a ten minute drive, but it’s not really set up for browsing.
 
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