'Nocaster Insanity' led me to a STRAT! (Warning: GC PRAISE inside...)

[KissTone]

I too was lured by the Nocaster blowout pricing feeding frenzy a few weeks ago, and thanks to TGP, serendipitously ended up in contact with my area's GC regional manager.

Anyway, his advice at that time: what was left of the Nocasters probably were left for a reason--but there were some CS Strats in the system being blown-out if I was interested.

Well, I'm a sucker for relic Strats, and there were some relic 65's in Shoreline Gold. He said he'd have one sent to my local GC to check out. And a few days later I get word from him that they have one there all set up and ready for me to check out.

I visit the store the next day, get shown to the "quiet" room, have an amp brought to me, and left alone. Needless to say, I now have the guitar.

The entire experience was excellent from start to finish: good communication, service, and price---very professional all around. GC is easy to dog pile, I know, but this experience really changed my mind

 

[scottlr]

Cool, but where are the pics?

 

[dave s]

First off, congrats on the new guitar. CS Relic strats are usually REALLY nice guitars! Sounds like you got a good one. Enjoy.

Secondly, same here with GC. NE Ohio has 3 stores which, despite the usual 'ambiance,' are good to deal with. Good, knowledgeable staff, willing to deal, stand by their products, etc.

dave

 

[Csapo]

--but there were some CS Strats in the system being blown-out...

Congrats on the new Strat and glad to hear you had a positive GC experience.

So blown out with how much of a savings????

Look forward to pics...

 

[TheMiz]

I too was lured by the Nocaster blowout pricing feeding frenzy a few weeks ago, and thanks to TGP, serendipitously ended up in contact with my area's GC regional manager.

Anyway, his advice at that time: what was left of the Nocasters probably were left for a reason--but there were some CS Strats in the system being blown-out if I was interested.

Well, I'm a sucker for relic Strats, and there were some relic 65's in Shoreline Gold. He said he'd have one sent to my local GC to check out. And a few days later I get word from him that they have one there all set up and ready for me to check out.

I visit the store the next day, get shown to the "quiet" room, have an amp brought to me, and left alone. Needless to say, I now have the guitar.

The entire experience was excellent from start to finish: good communication, service, and price---very professional all around. GC is easy to dog pile, I know, but this experience really changed my mind

Here are the ones my GC DM told me were being blown out

1960 NOS Strat Sunburst
1951 NOS Nocaster Blnd
1965 Relic Strat Shoreline
1960's Strat Candy Apple

 

[XKnight]

Congrats! Lets see some pics.

My last buying experience at GC was excellent as well.

 

[KissTone]

Here are the ones my GC DM told me were being blown out

1960 NOS Strat Sunburst
1951 NOS Nocaster Blnd
1965 Relic Strat Shoreline
1960's Strat Candy Apple

Same guy handles my area as well, so I had the same list to choose from.

And I don't have any pics just yet as the weather has been pretty crappy every time I get a chance to take any, so the lighting has been terrible.

 

[KissTone]

This is true of any retail business. Get a good relationship with a regional exec or manager, and chances are he can make you have a good shopping experience. But 99.9% of people don't have this luxury. And they're stuck with seeing if they get lucky at the store as a typical customer. No?

True, I know. And perhaps what makes this deal all the better is that TGP led me to this manager. :AOK

 

[motorcitychick]

I tried buying a Fender G-Dec Jr. amp today from a different sales associate, and it didn't go well. I ended up walking out the door with no amp. My sales guy Chad wasn't there to give me the customer service I am used to. I don't fault the other guy, he might have had a bad day. So I will cut him some slack. But please if you are going to try to sell me an amp off the shelf, at least dust the thing off for me. I made the comment that it was extremely dusty, but he did nothing to correct it or even give me a dusting cloth to wipe it off. So I waited for over 15 minutes to try to figure out why he needed to see the manager and finally I just told him I will be back another day. So the morale to this story is, stick with your regular sales guy if you want that special attention. This is anywhere you go. When I buy a Jeep, I always have the same sales guy wait on me because he knows how I operate and what pisses me off. The mom and pop stores I rarely do business with, because they do not have the lead way on price at times, like the bigger stores do. Everyone likes to save money if they can, and I am one of them. I had no idea that there were other guitars on sale from the Fender Custom Shop when I bought my relic Nocaster. I'll have to check into that.
Thanks for the information and enjoy your new guitar!

 

[buddastrat]

Jeeps and strats rule!

I thought I read where GC was bought by some new owners. Could be related to them blowing out all kinds of Fender stuff over the last few months? I wonder if it's just for inventory or what.

 

[JimmyR]

My little family was in San Fran a few months back. We went to the GC there and it felt really wierd - being Aussie we don't have GC here (although there is a store here in Perth that tries to be!) It felt more like going to Aussie K-mart (which is slightly different from US K-mart). I got to try a PRS SC245 which I had wanted to try - and it was good. Saw loads of hi-end Les Pauls, some old Fenders and some beautiful original tweed amps which I have never seen before - you just don't see old tweeds here in Perth.

My son loved GC. He was in cheap Gibson SG heaven! But I had to bite my tongue a few times when over-hearing the sales guys talking guitar specs etc. Wow! I shouldn't have been surprised I suppose. I guess it just shows that you have to speak to the right people. And that you can learn an awful lot from these forums!

 

[eric-d]

****!!!! the '65 Shoreline is the ONE I WANT!!!! DAMNIT!

 

[jda]

I too was lured by the Nocaster blowout pricing feeding frenzy a few weeks ago, and thanks to TGP, serendipitously ended up in contact with my area's GC regional manager.

Anyway, his advice at that time: what was left of the Nocasters probably were left for a reason--but there were some CS Strats in the system being blown-out if I was interested.

Well, I'm a sucker for relic Strats, and there were some relic 65's in Shoreline Gold. He said he'd have one sent to my local GC to check out. And a few days later I get word from him that they have one there all set up and ready for me to check out.

I visit the store the next day, get shown to the "quiet" room, have an amp brought to me, and left alone. Needless to say, I now have the guitar.

The entire experience was excellent from start to finish: good communication, service, and price---very professional all around. GC is easy to dog pile, I know, but this experience really changed my mind

How did you find your area's GC regional manager?

 

[KissTone]

How did you find your area's GC regional manager?

He was posting here and said to contact him if anyone was searching for one of the Nocaster deals. He posted in the original Nocaster Insanity thread.

 

[TheMiz]

How did you find your area's GC regional manager?

Jeff

Check your PM folder
I sent you a starting point

TheMiz

 

[shadowbox]

Jeeps and strats rule!

I thought I read where GC was bought by some new owners. Could be related to them blowing out all kinds of Fender stuff over the last few months? I wonder if it's just for inventory or what.

I was in a GC a couple weeks back and the kid in front of me, who was clearly jonesin' for a guitar he'd been trying out, asked the sales guy how much he'd move on the price. The sales guy said something like, "Dude, I'd love to? But, like, we were bought by some company? And, they, like, won't let us?"

That was the first I'd heard about GC having been purchased. Still, I'm looking at a Twin currently in stock, and I sure intend to ask what they can do price-wise.

 

[SW33THAND5]

But please if you are going to try to sell me an amp off the shelf, at least dust the thing off for me. I made the comment that it was extremely dusty, but he did nothing to correct it or even give me a dusting cloth to wipe it off.

:Spank

this post made me lol!

 

[motorcitychick]

Has Guitar Center been bought out? Remember when there was a Mars Music! I really liked those stores when they first came out. There was a big one here in Nashville and I bought a Fender bass amp BXR Sixty, just to miss around with my Rick 4003. Guitar players always have to have a bass in their collection. I don't even know if that amp I bought is still being made, but it sounds pretty good.
Mars Music had the absolute worse sales people working there. The guitars hanging on the racks, never had fresh strings on them. I never bought a guitar from them, but the store always had good price's on strings and picks. I do miss that store though, because it always had some kind of attraction going on. Drum or guitar contests and when Namm came to town in the summer, they would give out free T-shirts.
I hope Guitar Center doesn't close it doors. I do miss the original Guitar Center on Sunset Strip in Hollywood CA. That was the coolest store to go into and hang out.:AOK

 

[jda]

Jeff

Check your PM folder
I sent you a starting point

TheMiz

Thanks!!

 

[bluesjuke]

GC being sold was big news on all of the forums a few months back.