Not looking good for GC. I pretty much stopped shopping here in 2009 or so. I would only use GC to try out stuff and then I would just order online. I was about to drop nearly $3k there in 2012 and they wouldn't negotiate, so I told them I would order online...and I ordered online...fuck them. You used to be able to negotiate with them. Those days are long gone...

http://www.ericgarland.co/2015/02/03/end-guitar-center/

&

http://www.metalinjection.net/its-just-business/guitar-center-financial-woes-continue-lays-off-several-high-level-employees

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@audioidkid

Sam Ash, Music Go Round etc. Fuck GC. The only thing was good to offload a trade in.

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Elections have consequences.

Gonna suck not to have a place to walk in and check out a wall of guitars.

I hit up a Guitar Center before Christmas to buy a podcasting setup to give as a Christmas present. (USB mixer, condenser mic, various cables). Their prices out the door ($250 for the whole setup) were competitive with or even better (due to dickering) than Amazon's on that gear.

Someone should send Danny Mac a podcasting setup. Heck, Bill Burr often ends up recording his on his iPhone (when he's on the road and doesn't take his setup with him). And he's been doing the podcasting thing since 2005? I think.

Alhtough I guess I didn't get everything (needed headphones and a few more cables), but fuck it, it was gift.

Not until the most recent version of equity firm ownerships bleeds a little more out of 'em, plus the blogger in question has some kind of weiedrd vendetta.

My guess is they'll close the most underperforming stores first.

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Not a mult.

What's the deal with hedge funds/private equity buying up all these dying businesses. Sears, Radio Shack, Guitar Center.

Bought my 17 inch Harbingers at Guitar Center. One had the metal screen dented, and I got like $150 off the pair for it. Can't really even see it.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Free enterprise. Welcome to the shark tank and jungle. RS and even KMart should have died years ago.

What sucks most about Guitar Center are all the noodlers. Can't really even hear a new pedal or effect at all with some mope blaring away some lousy triads at full volume.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

I used to love going to Guitar Center. Going to the record store & the instrument store are experiences & memories that I cherish & remember fondly. Listening to guys "noodle" at Guitar Center was one of the things that I enjoyed about going here. My Dad used to take me downtown to Franks drum shop on Wabash when I started playing. Every famous drummer shopped at Franks & there was a good chance one of them would be there every time you went. The day they closed it hit me like losing a family member.
Gosh I miss those days...

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

My old Guitar Center on Milwaukee is a produce mart now. They have pretty good produce.

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I don't remember half the time if I'm hiding or I'm lost

Not that it's very convenient for me unless I have work downtown, but Chicago Music Exchange is worth the trip. If GC goes away completely, CME will still be around, and be a better destination visit, anyway.

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Not a mult.

It's also a sign of the times. Mainstream rock and metal has been dead for awhile now.

80,000 people rather crowd into a stadium to watch some retard in a mouse outfit hit play on his laptop.

ding ding ding

playing guitar isnt as cool as it used to be. putting gel in your hair and dancing around on stage like a fag is whats hot.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

There's literally dozens of independent shops in the chicagoland area.

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I'm not a musician but I had to get some stuff for my daughter at Sam Ash and I have to say it one of the coolest stores I've ever been in. I spent like an hour just messing around with the stuff there. I was this close to dropping $6,500.00 on a Tuba. Thing was a work of art.

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Soccer 1,2,3
Spanish Honor Society 1,2,3,4
Forensics 1,2,3,4

"Smiles with Nostrils"

"...no Hmong, go find some blacks"

The drum section is the worst. Usually entry-level kits only out on the floor and some dope showing off for whomever will listen to his "gospel chops." Ugh.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

The last time I went into a GC was about a year or so ago, when I needed a capo for a show that night because mine had broke.

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I read that and laughed out loud.

Is there something wrong with me?

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I did get a new ?uestlove BreakBeats kit at the one in Rockford for $299, and a great deal on a used 21" Sweet Ride. But usually it is how you describe it. I do miss going to Sam Ash, Drums Ltd. (now Bison Drums, RIP maybe?) and the Drum Pad in Palatine. Scorehead, I made it to Frank's once in high school, and Biasco's (they had a basement full of drumsets) in jr. high. Vic's (former employee at the Drum Pad I think) is supposed to be really nice too...

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner

I hear good things about the ?uestlove kit. Of course, it's usually from Ludwig devotees, so I want to hear one first.

That Sweet Ride should be a good fit for a smaller kit. I have a Roland V-drum kit, but really miss the feel/sound of real gear. I've been eyeing the Tama kit below. Russo Music had this finish for $400 shipped, but it's gone up. I like the larger (18") kick and the snare actually sounds decent with upgraded heads.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Bass drum on the Ludwig sounds nice and punchy with nothing in it...the elevating mount similar to the one in the tama sounds great, I still have my Yamaha Stage Custom (got that shell kit for $299 when they changed the mounting unit) and that bass drum sounds huge now with an emad on it. I go back and forth between the Sweet Ride and a 22" K Medium...

One day I want to get a 6 piece Tama set up Copeland style vintage 1982 Police...

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An unjust law is no law at all--St. Augustine of Hippo

Cause tried and true
I see the light in you
Oh, can you dig in my soul?
Could you smell my whole...
life?--Gener and Deaner

I am old enough to remember when both Ludwig and Slingerland were based in Chicago and made all of their drums here. I used to go to the Ludwig factory on Damen and met Bill Ludwig a couple of times. Ludwig is the only brand that I ever played, with the exception of a Yamaha SFZ marching snare drum.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

What's your drumming background, Scorehead? You really don't talk much about it.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Both my father & grandfather played drums. My cousin was Peggy Lee's drummer for many years, despite the fact that polio caused him to have a left arm about half the normal size. My grandmother played piano & sang & my mother still plays piano & sings at the age of 80. I wanted to play the drums but my folks told me that I had to take piano lessons first which I did for a couple of years when I was about 9. Took drum lessons for a few years & played in the school orchestra & the usual school music activities. Played in a bunch of rock bands hauling my blue sparkle Ludwig's all over the place in the mid to late 1970's. I marched in a couple of competitive touring drum & bugle corps until I turned 22. A high school buddy of mine manages a local band & he asked me last year to join the band, but my playing days are behind me. I haven't played in many many years.
To this day, there are times that I regret not pursuing a career in music education. Music & percussion were very very important to a young Scorehead & I cherish those memories.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

I highly recommend Players Guitars for any of your guitar needs. They are located on 111th street just east of Harlem. Good guys. And you can haggle a bit with them.

This, x a million. Mike and Geno are the best around. They performed some surgery on one of Darkside's guitars this summer, and while cosmetically there wasn't much they could do, the thing still sounds like its right from the factory. My Dad has been going to them for years, as have I.

You don't need to haggle as most of the times their prices are too low!

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Oh shit that's the guys we went to?
I couldn't believe that they did what they did with my guitar... and honestly cosmetically it's not that bad really.
And the price. Wow. Just wow.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Yes sir. Mike was the one who fixed your axe.


My haggling comment was meant in terms of guitar repairs/work. I have never purchased any equipment or instruments there.

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Oh yeah, I couldn't believe the price they wanted for the work on my guitar. I really wanted to over tip them.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way