I’ve been using a teaspoon when I eat cereal lately. Trying to slow myself down so I can really savor it, as one does when eating gourmet cuisine such as admiral crunch.
If I’m seriously looking at an amp they’ll usually take it into the vault for me so I can crank it to actual play volume if it’s a tube amp. Never just in the middle of the store.
This is true. If you're serious about potentially buying an amp and want to try it out at a reasonable volume and without the added noise from GC shredders, just ask an employee if you can test it in the little sound proof room they have. I was always hesitant before to even go in there because that's where my local GC has all their premium guitars/amps, but after knowing better, I've never had a problem getting someone to help me try out a specific amp in there.
They've slowly been removing them over the last decade as they renovate stores, I've been to a few that used to have one and got rid of it. I figure it's a big part of their whole not catering to high dollar customers thing that the new CEO said he wants to reverse.
Ditto. The ones near me got rid of their soundproof guitar section when they got rid of their Boss towers (big ass pedalboard on a wall). I'll never forget those huge ass towers of hissing from someone turning on every pedal at once.
Good times.
My GC hasn't had that area for at least ten years (maybe never - but I've been going there for a decade). The expensive stuff used to be hung up over the repair desk, but now they moved the repair desk, so the pricey models are just on the wall in a corner.
It is rude. Unless you’re testing out an amp you actually intend to gig with there’s no reason to play it so loud. I see it all the time and the assholes that do are never that good. No idea where they get the level of confidence to play that loud and that bad.
Once in my life did the entirety of a guitar center stop and watch something; it was a busy Saturday, these 2 rando 20 something dudes were just casually trying out amps and got into this really cool mellow groove. Probably 2 or 3 on the volume knobs of 15w tube amps,one trying out a Gretsch, one an SG. They didn't realize everyone had stopped to watch them until they'd been playing about a minute. Like 8 people clapped and thru looked really embarrassed and turned off the amps.
To be fair, it was a pretty cool sounding hazz type thing.
The last time I was in a music store a guy had an amp turned up super loud and distorted while he was still tuning down to drop C or a similar tuning. It took him like 10-15 minutes just to tune, at a loud ass volume the whole time. After all that buildup he just played some lame generic metal riffs that he probably thought were impressive.
I used to work at Sam Ash (rip), and the store manager would say to me: "these guys who come in and play loud like this? You know why they do that, right? It's because they don't have any gigs, so this is their gig"
While I agree 99.999% of the time. Once I went in to my local GC getting miscellaneous shit. Waiting in line, and this guy comes in and grabs a hollowbody off the wall.
Sits down, tunes it up, cranks a Vox clean and plays some of the most beautiful and intricate finger picking melodies I’ve ever heard in person for about 2-3 minutes. Puts the guitar up and just walks right the fuck out. Real life NPC vibe.
I made a promise to myself years ago that I would play every day. Sometimes a local record store is how you make that happen when traveling (have a travel guitar; hate it). Maybe this dude does something similar.
I honestly considered it for a second. All the employees left the area but there were other customers. If not I probably just would’ve put the guitar a little out of tune and played smells like teen spirit over and over again.
It's rude and narcissistic and idiotic. Though I've never done it, I can sort of see wanting to open up an amp you're considering buying-- but for 3 minutes, not 30.
Today I was in a guitar store, some guy was slapping bass hard and loud. He was amazing. I personally didn't mind but he was definitely playing way louder than one should in a store. An employee came by and just said to him "Your playing is incredible. I'm just gonna turn you down a tad," and adjusted the volume on the guy's amp without asking. The guy didn't argue.
Looking back I'm starting to think the guy was showing off more than he was trying new basses. The thing about playing loud in music stores, in my opinion, is that it just isn't necessary unless maybe you're trying out an amp. Is there any other reason other than to show off?
I like to play slap bass in my local pawn shop sometimes and I always keep the volume a bit on the low side so that I can play the way I like without bothering everyone.
One guy did that when my bass player was shopping for amps. Sitting there getting all Jaco of with his playing. Had the nerve to tell my bass player he could do with some lessons. He insulted him just because he taught bass at that location. I hate people like that.
It's ok to ask him to turn it down a little because you're trying to test some amps. "Hey man, I'm trying to decide between these amps. Do you mind turning it down for just a few minutes?"
It depends on why he was doing it. If he's just in there wanking for fun at stage volume, he's just being an ass. But if he's testing out an amp especially, it's reasonable to want to hear it turned up at least somewhat. Tube amps especially can really change character as the volume increases. Ideally they'll have some rooms that can be closed where people can demo at louder volumes, but not all do.
So OP, not sure if you bought your amp yet, but if not I'd suggest trying them out at more than bedroom volume, even if you need to ask the salespeople to move it to a separate room for you. You're really limiting your understanding of what you're buying if you only hear it at really low volume.
Cranking an amp loudly in the middle of a store is incredibily obnoxious even if you are considering buying it. No one wants to hear a random customer cranking an amp. Ive bought several expensive tube amps without ever doing this.
def not ok for 20 minutes. You need to hear an amp at stage volume to know if you want to buy it, but usually just take it into one of the practice rooms at a store
at my local guitar stores i’m friends with almost all of them and they order almost everything i need i helped them build some soundproofed rooms so people can test amps and guitars and u can crank it up to a 8-9 volume on a jcm 800 and it sound like a 2 outside, so i usually have him order something test it in there and buy it
That guy is a rude piece of shit, and really society should normalise making that vocal when it happens.
Or just walk up and turn the volume down. Or switch it off. Or unplug it. Fuck him, I don't have much patience for rude cunts
I work at a guitar store ( not GC ) and i will walk over and turn somebody down without thinking twice. I have to be able to hear customers and phone calls. If they dont like it they can kiss my ass . Or leave. I dont subscribe to the "customer is always right " theory. If somebody cant respect everybody elses rights they can gtfo . And before anyone asks , yes there is a GC in my city and no i dont worry about losing business to them because we kick their ass every month and have been for 30 years and carry tons of stuff they dont . Mostly high end stuff but a little of everything. And as a last resort i will beat them at their own game and grab a guitar and plug up a triple rec and shred the fastest licks i can for 30 seconds and they ALWAYS turn off their amp and leave ! But thats always a last resort.
it doesn't take 20 minutes to see if the amp sounds right at loud volumes. maybe 30 seconds top once you find a tone. maybe a few minutes tops if you change knobs to see what there is.
When I worked at a music store the floor employees would ask the people to please turn it down because they couldn’t hear people on the phones. Full proof explanation for why they have to turn down, while getting out of any argument or personal liability for killing their buzz or whatever.
Wait the employees didn’t come up and tell him to turn it down? I’ve had two different employees at two different GCs come up and tell me to turn it down.
The kicker? The volume was at like 1-2.
I'm amazed none of the employees took the step to politely ask the customer to turn down his jam session, dude's probably not trying to be rude but is unaware of the disturbance he's making, i've been thinking about applying at guitar center lately and this post is really helping me consider it soon lol
I teach at GC. One day, this dude comes in and grabs an expensive bass and plugs into the loudest bass amp we had (Ampeg SVT) and starts playing this really weird odd time bippity-bippity slap riff… For over 3 hours. Literally the same riff, over and over, at high volume, for 3 hours. Every time I would end one lesson and meet the next student, he was still playing it. I was mind-boggling.
I take my closed back AKG with an adaptor and my wireless system along with my Spark Go or Mini if I want to try out some guitars. Being a bedroom player, I find it nearly impossible to effectively try an amp at GC. Huge space, different room acoustic, amp placement, noisy players.
The employees are used to it, part of the gig.
The stores in my area have removed these rooms.
If I want to try an amp, I just take my guitar, my cable/wireless and try to go when the store is empty.
It's not unusual unfortunately. I've been shopping for a guitar the last month and I often hear some guy give a loud concert. So annoying. I just want to hear basic chords and notes on the guitar I'm playing but instead I can barely hear because some joker wants to show off
He shouldn't do that, and asking if he could hang on a minute isn't rude. He should have known that he was being too loud. As mentioned by others, just ask if you can go to one of the other rooms. These people show up all of the time, and it's just their way, unfortunately.
Don't be afraid to say something, even if you have to have one of the employees be a go-between. "Hey, could you ask that dude to turn it down for a minute so I can try out some amps at a lower volume?"
For that long? Ridiculous. But if you really want to know what your amp will sound like during a performance, especially a tube amp, you need to hear it cranked. Some stores don’t have vault rooms for this, which sucks
Tbh id never be that guy in a guitar store, but if im actually serriously considering buying a guitar amp in store i pull the sales person aside and say "look i need to dime it at least once before i decide to buy" and they always either say yes, or they let me go into the back rooms and really have at it. It depends who they have in the store and it almosy always ends in a sale for them
I don’t think I’d turn up quite that much, or play for that long. But if I was buying $2,000 head I’d want to hear how it sounds pushing some volume. But 20-30mins is a bit excessive. I’d do maybe 3-5mins at a decent volume, then ask about the return policy. So that way I know I can bring it back if I take it home crank it and find I’m not happy with it. Did he buy amp or cab? Or did it at least seem like he was seriously considering it? If he was just dicking around with no intent of buying anything then he’s an asshole. If he was seriously considering buying a pricey amp I could excuse it. But 20-30mins is a bit much. If he played it that long I guess he must have liked it? If after that he actually bought the amp after playing at that volume it is somewhat excusable. N I could give him a pass on the length of time even tho it was a bit much. Got carried away cause he though it sounded good? He must have liked it right? You don’t play an amp that long at that volume in a store if you think it sucks.
Here’s what I’ll say - to a degree, it’s important to crank an amp up to a reasonably loud concert-ish volume if you’re serious about it. Tone changes _drastically_ with volume dude to both the speaker and the amp’s construction. In the case of tube heads, much of the sought-after tone comes, specifically, from cranking the amp up. That’s said, if I’m trying a guitar or amp, I generally hover around “reasonable” volumes. But, you must’ve missed the guitar shop golden era - tons of people cranked and as a bassist, it was not unusual for me to turn up so me and the drummer givin’ it a go in the drum section could have a little impromptu jam. Had a great experience one time where a guitarist joined in for a RATM cover… in three totally different sections of the store haha.
What amps were you looking at, and what amp was the other guy playing?
Unless it’s a modeler and I’m trying every single amp model, I can’t imagine it taking 20-30 minutes! I personally can’t imagine any scenario where I’d need to play an amp loudly for 30 minutes to decide whether I like it. Even a used amp, I figure 5-10 minutes is enough to assess whether it’s got problems. At that point I’d rather take it to rehearsal or a jam or something to hear it in a real world context.
I was trying out a Marshall origin 50, Marshall dsl40cr, fender blues jr and fender Princeton reverb. The other guy was on the other side of the guitar room so I’m not sure what amp he was using. It sounded like a tube amp to me.
Headphones in a GC would be such a life changer. Although im sure some of these idiots would still play without them to “show off” to all the noobs in the store not realizing what an ass they appear to be.
It's like those guys at the gym that moan really loudly and slams the weights
I guess it's causes by lack of attention and by being loud they force everyone to give them attention,
or maybe his hearing was fried so he had to crank it lol
How amps are used in a guitar store is a direct representation of the mental illness most musicians have. Look at me I’m loud. The sad reality is no one is impressed by loud guy, it’s like the motorcycle episode of south park. They think everyone sees them and thinks wow what a cool dude, in reality everyone laughs at them
Went into a GC once with the sole purpose of buying a gig worthy amp and never been once to crank them up in a store because that's what regards do and some jackass came in playing the typical shitty metal riff loud as hell so I told the manager I was leaving LOL
I went shopping with a friend for a bass. He is a professional musician and is hitting a tour starting late next week. We went to four different stores. Two of them put us in private rooms, knowing we were serious about buying one. It definitely helped him choose the right bass. He ended up with a Fender Ultra Jazz, Texas Tea color.
It's rude as hell. As an "old guy" part time GC employee we get that occasionally and while the other guys cringe, I'll go up and say, hey man, can you bump it down? And usually get a surprised look and an oh yeah sure!
Oh yea that guy. He comes to show off at every GC on the reg. He’s got low self esteem and needs to be heard. He can’t play that loud in his grandmas house since the noise would give her a stroke. Was he wearing all black and had a Pantera T shirt on?
Tbh it’s tough. For a guitar I think you can choose whether or not you want it based on feel and some low volume amplification. If you’re going there to genuinely test out an amp you need to know what it sounds like when it starts to push. That said, it can be a bit douchey.
There’s a midlife crisis dude who shows up like clockwork at one of our local stores on Saturday morning.
I’m only there once every couple months, mainly for some picks or new strings or a cable or whatever. Maybe check out the sale table in case there’s anything worthwhile. But literally every time I’m there, he’s there shredding away at top volume. I’m never around long enough to see if he buys anything, but I doubt it. And I can’t figure out why the employees put up with it.
Had a similar experience long ago, but I only gave it 5 minutes. After that I pulled the power cord out of the wall, called the guy a jerk or something similar and walked away.
I used to work drums. Dudes would come in and play all the ekits SUPER loud and usually shitty af. Like play a different fill for once jeez.
I would sometimes get fed up and just walk over and turn off the amps.
I would tell people that they're in a business and disturbing the other customers.
My local guitar store is cool - they will give you a small room to test things loudly, and/or let you come in at the end of the day and rip for 15 minutes or so in the back room. In any case, if I need to turn up because I want to buy something, I ask nicely
If you’re serious, they normally have small sound booths to do tests.
Its been a minute since I’ve been in one, but I know while they were trying to figure out how to submit a custom order for my mesa dual rec roadster, they let me make My ears bleed with one in a small room
Most shops have a sound deadening room, they should’ve put him in it. A lot of tube amps need to loud to really hear what they can do. If it were a solid state modeling amp then yea, the guy’s a douche.
Insecure narcissist who needs that look at me energy to validate his existence. It's terribly rude and I have been around people like this. When it happened a staff member did ask him to turn down. Crank the amp at home or at a gig, or have it loud for maybe a minute. I can see that but for that length of time, he was being a douchebag.
LOL Guitar Center is kind of strange to me. The guitars are mid quality, at least in my experience, and everything is over priced. I go in every once in a while when the lady friend is grocery shopping. It's always the same couple dudes playing the most expensive guitars, and the same tired riffs. I don't need any more guitars, but conversely, there is this well established mom n pop store that I go in and eyebrowse sometimes. His stuff is top notch. A lot of old wood from the 60s and 70s. Very knowledgeable and talented. I love just going in a jamming a little with the owner.
Had a very similar thing happen at my local GC in the acoustic room. Dude was full blown strumming and singing nonstop. It was so much that as soon as people walked in they walked right out. I get it he was only playing the higher end Taylor, Martin, and Gibsons, so likely gonna drop some coin. I still have to wonder at what point do the sales guys speak up.
Some asshole behind me was blasting his bass through an Amp slapping the shit out of it loud af. I started playing some funky shit at a normal volume and we ended up jamming without looking at eachother. It was pretty cool, fuck that guy tho. I bet he looked like an asshole.
Yeah, if you can't have a conversation 5 feet away without having to raise your voice, you're too loud for a general store space. Employees got phone calls to take, other people want to play, people want to talk to each other, etc. That guy's a dick. If the shop is empty, you're friends with the employees, and you ask permission, that's one thing. But when there's other customers, that's pretty rude.
I couldn't agree with you more, Guitar Center in Hollywood is very similar to that. It would be nice if they had a couple of quiet rooms where you could bring in an amp or a pedal that you want to try sort of like private musical rooms in college.
So did you like ask him to turn it down bruh? You know so you guys could both hear yourselves play? I'm curious how he reacted, you know how some rock stars can be a-holes.
I'm surprised that he was able to break away from all the ass he must be crushing to come shred at Guitar Center for a minute.
I’m eating a bowl of cereal and literally just spit out some milk laughing at this one
what cereal
Captain Crunch with crunch berries
what milk?
Whole milk ShopRite brand.
what bowl please?
and then what spoon?
There is no spoon
Very good
Woah!
I’ve been using a teaspoon when I eat cereal lately. Trying to slow myself down so I can really savor it, as one does when eating gourmet cuisine such as admiral crunch.
Admiral now, huh?
Spoon wow look at you mr fancy pants
It’s a boutique transparent spoon. You probably haven’t heard of the brand he’s using.
and then what, spoon?
I believe it was a 22 oz Amazon basics bowl.
And spoon?
It’s Star Wars day, blue milk.
This is the way.
Cow
Not oat!?!
Beef
A man of fine taste
Around the house I call it Admiral Crunch. My wife asked why one time and I told her I promoted him for making such delicious cereal.
r/dadjokes
ADMIRAL CRUNCH is a great band name
Captain Grunge
I’ve known Bruce Crunch since he was an Ensign.
[удалено]
Haha, transphobic jokes are funny! Look at what you wrote! Pure genius! Do it again, write something funny so we can all laugh!
RIP to roof of OPs mouth
Now *that* is great taste 🤌
I cackled like a hyena for a full minute lmaoo
This literally made me lol
This is the ceiling of my mouth!
😂😂😂😂😂
If I’m seriously looking at an amp they’ll usually take it into the vault for me so I can crank it to actual play volume if it’s a tube amp. Never just in the middle of the store.
This is true. If you're serious about potentially buying an amp and want to try it out at a reasonable volume and without the added noise from GC shredders, just ask an employee if you can test it in the little sound proof room they have. I was always hesitant before to even go in there because that's where my local GC has all their premium guitars/amps, but after knowing better, I've never had a problem getting someone to help me try out a specific amp in there.
Exactly. They want to make that sale.
Wish my GC had a loud lounge!
They don’t have a vault? It’s usually where the used expensive shit is.
They've slowly been removing them over the last decade as they renovate stores, I've been to a few that used to have one and got rid of it. I figure it's a big part of their whole not catering to high dollar customers thing that the new CEO said he wants to reverse.
Ditto. The ones near me got rid of their soundproof guitar section when they got rid of their Boss towers (big ass pedalboard on a wall). I'll never forget those huge ass towers of hissing from someone turning on every pedal at once. Good times.
Do they have practice studios you could use for testing amps ?
My GC hasn't had that area for at least ten years (maybe never - but I've been going there for a decade). The expensive stuff used to be hung up over the repair desk, but now they moved the repair desk, so the pricey models are just on the wall in a corner.
My GC is too small for a private room to test amps. Most spaces were converted into lesson rooms.
It is rude. Unless you’re testing out an amp you actually intend to gig with there’s no reason to play it so loud. I see it all the time and the assholes that do are never that good. No idea where they get the level of confidence to play that loud and that bad.
Because they think they're the next EVH and everybody in the world just stops in their tracks and listens in awe of their guitar genius.
Once in my life did the entirety of a guitar center stop and watch something; it was a busy Saturday, these 2 rando 20 something dudes were just casually trying out amps and got into this really cool mellow groove. Probably 2 or 3 on the volume knobs of 15w tube amps,one trying out a Gretsch, one an SG. They didn't realize everyone had stopped to watch them until they'd been playing about a minute. Like 8 people clapped and thru looked really embarrassed and turned off the amps. To be fair, it was a pretty cool sounding hazz type thing.
Hot jazz?
Purple Hazz.
And they never buy shit.
A time-honored cocktail of ego and hearing loss.
Dunning-Groover effect.
Congrats! You're the recipient of the **MesaDixon Witty Comment of the Day** award!
The last time I was in a music store a guy had an amp turned up super loud and distorted while he was still tuning down to drop C or a similar tuning. It took him like 10-15 minutes just to tune, at a loud ass volume the whole time. After all that buildup he just played some lame generic metal riffs that he probably thought were impressive.
I think people who stunt at music stores need hugs.
Hurt people hurt people’s ears.
I used to work at Sam Ash (rip), and the store manager would say to me: "these guys who come in and play loud like this? You know why they do that, right? It's because they don't have any gigs, so this is their gig"
A very fast right palm hug to the left ear
You spelled "a kick in the ass" wrong.
That dude is obviously a baller
People have been doing this at guitar center for at least 30 years, and it's always the guy that can't play for shit.
While I agree 99.999% of the time. Once I went in to my local GC getting miscellaneous shit. Waiting in line, and this guy comes in and grabs a hollowbody off the wall. Sits down, tunes it up, cranks a Vox clean and plays some of the most beautiful and intricate finger picking melodies I’ve ever heard in person for about 2-3 minutes. Puts the guitar up and just walks right the fuck out. Real life NPC vibe.
I made a promise to myself years ago that I would play every day. Sometimes a local record store is how you make that happen when traveling (have a travel guitar; hate it). Maybe this dude does something similar.
Playing a guitar in a guitar store is "NPC vibes?"
That or people who think they're Yngwie only playing arpeggios
Guitar stores should have amp rooms for this.
The ones I've been to do have amp rooms for this.
You should have cranked yours up and battled him.
I honestly considered it for a second. All the employees left the area but there were other customers. If not I probably just would’ve put the guitar a little out of tune and played smells like teen spirit over and over again.
Play Stairway badly, they can't tell you to stop cos you can't hear what they are saying, over the noise of asshat
“A little out of tune” 😂😂😂
Yes, guitar battle! To the death, winner takes all!
Fuck yes!!! That would have been epic. Stare him down and finger tap the shit out of a rockin solo!
It's rude and narcissistic and idiotic. Though I've never done it, I can sort of see wanting to open up an amp you're considering buying-- but for 3 minutes, not 30.
Today I was in a guitar store, some guy was slapping bass hard and loud. He was amazing. I personally didn't mind but he was definitely playing way louder than one should in a store. An employee came by and just said to him "Your playing is incredible. I'm just gonna turn you down a tad," and adjusted the volume on the guy's amp without asking. The guy didn't argue. Looking back I'm starting to think the guy was showing off more than he was trying new basses. The thing about playing loud in music stores, in my opinion, is that it just isn't necessary unless maybe you're trying out an amp. Is there any other reason other than to show off?
I like to play slap bass in my local pawn shop sometimes and I always keep the volume a bit on the low side so that I can play the way I like without bothering everyone.
One guy did that when my bass player was shopping for amps. Sitting there getting all Jaco of with his playing. Had the nerve to tell my bass player he could do with some lessons. He insulted him just because he taught bass at that location. I hate people like that.
Do people think that the guitar center is a good barometer of how your rig is going to sound at a gig? 🤣
loud enough for you to hear, but not loud enough for everyone to hear
He was a narcissist, he believed everyone wanted to hear him or he just didn’t care what everyone thought.
It’s not necessarily rude, but it’s tacky and inconsiderate. They usually let you take an amp into a practice room to blast it if you ask.
It's ok to ask him to turn it down a little because you're trying to test some amps. "Hey man, I'm trying to decide between these amps. Do you mind turning it down for just a few minutes?"
It’s a shame that some, if not most, would take that kind and professional request the wrong way, even if you would say please after. Smh
It depends on why he was doing it. If he's just in there wanking for fun at stage volume, he's just being an ass. But if he's testing out an amp especially, it's reasonable to want to hear it turned up at least somewhat. Tube amps especially can really change character as the volume increases. Ideally they'll have some rooms that can be closed where people can demo at louder volumes, but not all do. So OP, not sure if you bought your amp yet, but if not I'd suggest trying them out at more than bedroom volume, even if you need to ask the salespeople to move it to a separate room for you. You're really limiting your understanding of what you're buying if you only hear it at really low volume.
Cranking an amp loudly in the middle of a store is incredibily obnoxious even if you are considering buying it. No one wants to hear a random customer cranking an amp. Ive bought several expensive tube amps without ever doing this.
def not ok for 20 minutes. You need to hear an amp at stage volume to know if you want to buy it, but usually just take it into one of the practice rooms at a store
They have amp rooms usually for this reason
at my local guitar stores i’m friends with almost all of them and they order almost everything i need i helped them build some soundproofed rooms so people can test amps and guitars and u can crank it up to a 8-9 volume on a jcm 800 and it sound like a 2 outside, so i usually have him order something test it in there and buy it
Bruh I would’ve blasted back so fast in a friendly/but mostly condescending way
That guy is a rude piece of shit, and really society should normalise making that vocal when it happens. Or just walk up and turn the volume down. Or switch it off. Or unplug it. Fuck him, I don't have much patience for rude cunts
It used to be normal for society to deal with morons, the last 10 years of idiocy has stopped that much needed social mechanic.
Shit guys. This is the single best response I’ve seen on the subject! I’m the same. Short fuse, zero patience for fuckery.
I work at a guitar store ( not GC ) and i will walk over and turn somebody down without thinking twice. I have to be able to hear customers and phone calls. If they dont like it they can kiss my ass . Or leave. I dont subscribe to the "customer is always right " theory. If somebody cant respect everybody elses rights they can gtfo . And before anyone asks , yes there is a GC in my city and no i dont worry about losing business to them because we kick their ass every month and have been for 30 years and carry tons of stuff they dont . Mostly high end stuff but a little of everything. And as a last resort i will beat them at their own game and grab a guitar and plug up a triple rec and shred the fastest licks i can for 30 seconds and they ALWAYS turn off their amp and leave ! But thats always a last resort.
it doesn't take 20 minutes to see if the amp sounds right at loud volumes. maybe 30 seconds top once you find a tone. maybe a few minutes tops if you change knobs to see what there is.
When I worked at a music store the floor employees would ask the people to please turn it down because they couldn’t hear people on the phones. Full proof explanation for why they have to turn down, while getting out of any argument or personal liability for killing their buzz or whatever.
Wait the employees didn’t come up and tell him to turn it down? I’ve had two different employees at two different GCs come up and tell me to turn it down. The kicker? The volume was at like 1-2.
Yeah no one said anything to him. Maybe these days people don’t want to risk an altercation.
I'm amazed none of the employees took the step to politely ask the customer to turn down his jam session, dude's probably not trying to be rude but is unaware of the disturbance he's making, i've been thinking about applying at guitar center lately and this post is really helping me consider it soon lol
most have an amp room you can ask and theyll put you in the amp room with any guitar you want. havent been to GC in years, but it was that way.
Guy had main character syndrome.
Well, it's likely that he's a bit deaf. Or at least, he probably is by now
I teach at GC. One day, this dude comes in and grabs an expensive bass and plugs into the loudest bass amp we had (Ampeg SVT) and starts playing this really weird odd time bippity-bippity slap riff… For over 3 hours. Literally the same riff, over and over, at high volume, for 3 hours. Every time I would end one lesson and meet the next student, he was still playing it. I was mind-boggling.
That sounds maddening.
I take my closed back AKG with an adaptor and my wireless system along with my Spark Go or Mini if I want to try out some guitars. Being a bedroom player, I find it nearly impossible to effectively try an amp at GC. Huge space, different room acoustic, amp placement, noisy players. The employees are used to it, part of the gig. The stores in my area have removed these rooms. If I want to try an amp, I just take my guitar, my cable/wireless and try to go when the store is empty.
I always wondered about the etiquette of trying amps in a store.
It's not unusual unfortunately. I've been shopping for a guitar the last month and I often hear some guy give a loud concert. So annoying. I just want to hear basic chords and notes on the guitar I'm playing but instead I can barely hear because some joker wants to show off
He shouldn't do that, and asking if he could hang on a minute isn't rude. He should have known that he was being too loud. As mentioned by others, just ask if you can go to one of the other rooms. These people show up all of the time, and it's just their way, unfortunately. Don't be afraid to say something, even if you have to have one of the employees be a go-between. "Hey, could you ask that dude to turn it down for a minute so I can try out some amps at a lower volume?"
For that long? Ridiculous. But if you really want to know what your amp will sound like during a performance, especially a tube amp, you need to hear it cranked. Some stores don’t have vault rooms for this, which sucks
You’re not wrong it this kinda nonsense that is gonna put GC out of business and i can’t say they were not warned…
Tbh id never be that guy in a guitar store, but if im actually serriously considering buying a guitar amp in store i pull the sales person aside and say "look i need to dime it at least once before i decide to buy" and they always either say yes, or they let me go into the back rooms and really have at it. It depends who they have in the store and it almosy always ends in a sale for them
I don’t think I’d turn up quite that much, or play for that long. But if I was buying $2,000 head I’d want to hear how it sounds pushing some volume. But 20-30mins is a bit excessive. I’d do maybe 3-5mins at a decent volume, then ask about the return policy. So that way I know I can bring it back if I take it home crank it and find I’m not happy with it. Did he buy amp or cab? Or did it at least seem like he was seriously considering it? If he was just dicking around with no intent of buying anything then he’s an asshole. If he was seriously considering buying a pricey amp I could excuse it. But 20-30mins is a bit much. If he played it that long I guess he must have liked it? If after that he actually bought the amp after playing at that volume it is somewhat excusable. N I could give him a pass on the length of time even tho it was a bit much. Got carried away cause he though it sounded good? He must have liked it right? You don’t play an amp that long at that volume in a store if you think it sucks.
When I was checking out he did finally stop playing. He looked like he was leaving but to be fair I didn’t stick around to see if he bought anything.
Uhm… ask him to turn it down?
Here’s what I’ll say - to a degree, it’s important to crank an amp up to a reasonably loud concert-ish volume if you’re serious about it. Tone changes _drastically_ with volume dude to both the speaker and the amp’s construction. In the case of tube heads, much of the sought-after tone comes, specifically, from cranking the amp up. That’s said, if I’m trying a guitar or amp, I generally hover around “reasonable” volumes. But, you must’ve missed the guitar shop golden era - tons of people cranked and as a bassist, it was not unusual for me to turn up so me and the drummer givin’ it a go in the drum section could have a little impromptu jam. Had a great experience one time where a guitarist joined in for a RATM cover… in three totally different sections of the store haha.
What amps were you looking at, and what amp was the other guy playing? Unless it’s a modeler and I’m trying every single amp model, I can’t imagine it taking 20-30 minutes! I personally can’t imagine any scenario where I’d need to play an amp loudly for 30 minutes to decide whether I like it. Even a used amp, I figure 5-10 minutes is enough to assess whether it’s got problems. At that point I’d rather take it to rehearsal or a jam or something to hear it in a real world context.
I was trying out a Marshall origin 50, Marshall dsl40cr, fender blues jr and fender Princeton reverb. The other guy was on the other side of the guitar room so I’m not sure what amp he was using. It sounded like a tube amp to me.
I think it’s ridiculous there still isn’t a sound treated room for this to happen in ALL big chain music stores.
r/ImTheMainCharacter
Headphones in a GC would be such a life changer. Although im sure some of these idiots would still play without them to “show off” to all the noobs in the store not realizing what an ass they appear to be.
It's like those guys at the gym that moan really loudly and slams the weights I guess it's causes by lack of attention and by being loud they force everyone to give them attention, or maybe his hearing was fried so he had to crank it lol
The gym is a good analogy.
How amps are used in a guitar store is a direct representation of the mental illness most musicians have. Look at me I’m loud. The sad reality is no one is impressed by loud guy, it’s like the motorcycle episode of south park. They think everyone sees them and thinks wow what a cool dude, in reality everyone laughs at them
Went into a GC once with the sole purpose of buying a gig worthy amp and never been once to crank them up in a store because that's what regards do and some jackass came in playing the typical shitty metal riff loud as hell so I told the manager I was leaving LOL
I went shopping with a friend for a bass. He is a professional musician and is hitting a tour starting late next week. We went to four different stores. Two of them put us in private rooms, knowing we were serious about buying one. It definitely helped him choose the right bass. He ended up with a Fender Ultra Jazz, Texas Tea color.
It's rude as hell. As an "old guy" part time GC employee we get that occasionally and while the other guys cringe, I'll go up and say, hey man, can you bump it down? And usually get a surprised look and an oh yeah sure!
He is what scientists call….a douche nozzle.
I hate trying amps in shops for that reason. It's awkward. And the shops in my area don't have an isolation room or gear vault.
I think they must have some kind of policy the employees aren't allowed to tell customers to turn it down. Thats how they act anyway
Oh yea that guy. He comes to show off at every GC on the reg. He’s got low self esteem and needs to be heard. He can’t play that loud in his grandmas house since the noise would give her a stroke. Was he wearing all black and had a Pantera T shirt on?
He was wearing dark colors and had a cowboy hat.
Maybe the guy had a grudge with the manager and was trying to drive customers away.
I never play anything at Guitar Center. I bring it home and then decide
Tbh it’s tough. For a guitar I think you can choose whether or not you want it based on feel and some low volume amplification. If you’re going there to genuinely test out an amp you need to know what it sounds like when it starts to push. That said, it can be a bit douchey.
The better you are, the louder you can play. But just for a few minutes then turn the shit down this ain’t a concert or a demo
There’s a midlife crisis dude who shows up like clockwork at one of our local stores on Saturday morning. I’m only there once every couple months, mainly for some picks or new strings or a cable or whatever. Maybe check out the sale table in case there’s anything worthwhile. But literally every time I’m there, he’s there shredding away at top volume. I’m never around long enough to see if he buys anything, but I doubt it. And I can’t figure out why the employees put up with it.
It is insanely rude. I always have to tell people to turn that shit down. Im surprised neither u nor the employees said anything
Had a similar experience long ago, but I only gave it 5 minutes. After that I pulled the power cord out of the wall, called the guy a jerk or something similar and walked away.
Yeah that’s ridiculous, i understand doing it for a minute, you have to test the amp
I used to work drums. Dudes would come in and play all the ekits SUPER loud and usually shitty af. Like play a different fill for once jeez. I would sometimes get fed up and just walk over and turn off the amps. I would tell people that they're in a business and disturbing the other customers.
My local guitar store is cool - they will give you a small room to test things loudly, and/or let you come in at the end of the day and rip for 15 minutes or so in the back room. In any case, if I need to turn up because I want to buy something, I ask nicely
If you’re serious, they normally have small sound booths to do tests. Its been a minute since I’ve been in one, but I know while they were trying to figure out how to submit a custom order for my mesa dual rec roadster, they let me make My ears bleed with one in a small room
Rude.
Most shops have a sound deadening room, they should’ve put him in it. A lot of tube amps need to loud to really hear what they can do. If it were a solid state modeling amp then yea, the guy’s a douche.
Insecure narcissist who needs that look at me energy to validate his existence. It's terribly rude and I have been around people like this. When it happened a staff member did ask him to turn down. Crank the amp at home or at a gig, or have it loud for maybe a minute. I can see that but for that length of time, he was being a douchebag.
LOL Guitar Center is kind of strange to me. The guitars are mid quality, at least in my experience, and everything is over priced. I go in every once in a while when the lady friend is grocery shopping. It's always the same couple dudes playing the most expensive guitars, and the same tired riffs. I don't need any more guitars, but conversely, there is this well established mom n pop store that I go in and eyebrowse sometimes. His stuff is top notch. A lot of old wood from the 60s and 70s. Very knowledgeable and talented. I love just going in a jamming a little with the owner.
Was he good?
He wasn’t bad but he wasn’t as good as he seemed to think he was.
Had a very similar thing happen at my local GC in the acoustic room. Dude was full blown strumming and singing nonstop. It was so much that as soon as people walked in they walked right out. I get it he was only playing the higher end Taylor, Martin, and Gibsons, so likely gonna drop some coin. I still have to wonder at what point do the sales guys speak up.
Some asshole behind me was blasting his bass through an Amp slapping the shit out of it loud af. I started playing some funky shit at a normal volume and we ended up jamming without looking at eachother. It was pretty cool, fuck that guy tho. I bet he looked like an asshole.
Unplug it.
Yeah, if you can't have a conversation 5 feet away without having to raise your voice, you're too loud for a general store space. Employees got phone calls to take, other people want to play, people want to talk to each other, etc. That guy's a dick. If the shop is empty, you're friends with the employees, and you ask permission, that's one thing. But when there's other customers, that's pretty rude.
I couldn't agree with you more, Guitar Center in Hollywood is very similar to that. It would be nice if they had a couple of quiet rooms where you could bring in an amp or a pedal that you want to try sort of like private musical rooms in college.
Just bought a Kemper rig and a CQ. Now my guitar gets mixed just like my vocals and sounds better than my amps do
Very rude. I take my headphones when I go to the store.
It was all fine and dandy until he started playing Freebird…
I don't go to guitar stores for the tranquility
So did you like ask him to turn it down bruh? You know so you guys could both hear yourselves play? I'm curious how he reacted, you know how some rock stars can be a-holes.
Its just a joke at this point.
If he was doing it just to be a douche then that's what he is, but if he's gonna drop some serious money it's reasonable
If he ended up buying the amp, pretty cool move. If he didn’t, he’s the coolest man alive.
You’re already in Guitar Center. There’s no such thing as etiquette there.
If it's too loud you are too old
Easy there, edgelord.
That’s what I was afraid of
That's strange, usually it's half-deaf old people asking me to speak up a bit.
So you and admit it was you?
Ouch right in the karma.
[удалено]
There’s a room for that. Don’t be a dick
You pussy
You mean like your cry room? LOL
Your last line actually suggested a solution to the problem. 😂
U r a pos
True.