Guitar Center Rant

[PowerTube44]

here is the thing too and not saying this is the case either as i full believe the OP here.
but how many times you thing someone returns shit to GC and has some excuse thats bs
to either get money back or put towards something else? a lot i venture to say.
what if, WHAT IF they turn it on and wait the time frame and nothing screws up? you know
that happens. how many times you been in front of the mechanic with a complaint and
bedamned if it doesnt happen and now you feel like a idiot lol. it happens and thats murphy
being murphy.
i try to believe in the good of people and companies. i dont first think that they are gonna
do the wrong thing, but sometimes they do. i dont blame the company i blame the employee.
i dont think its common practice at any company to "lets screw the customer as hard as we can".
i think GC knows they have a bad rep, at least the ones around here do. 5 in my area. i know a lot
of the employees over the yrs too. the ones i know, i must be very lucky, but they try to do the right thing
and are doing their best to restore the company to a better reputation. YMMV.

im kinda old school in that i find a salesman that i like when i go places and stick with him/her
everytime i go in. im building a quality relationship by doing that and i usually get 1st class attention when i go in.
hell ive had them call me 6 months since last visit, "rick i got something you might be interested in bro"
yep i hear stories of "everytime im in there they are asshole" or more lol.

find a good sales person and build the buyer relationship. its easy folks. dont even tell me that
they are all asshole or all idiots. thats just bs and possibly says more about you than it does them.
just being honest here.

now you know this thread will hit the net at some point when somebody somewhere does a search.
they will read the first few posts and move on telling this story somewhere else or not sticking around long enough to see the final outcome. all they will get is, 'guy bought a piece of shit that GC said was good. he took it back and they just put it back out on the floor w/o repairing it". thats all the story they will see and thats all
the story they will tell too.

All good points and I agree. I love certain things about Guitar Center and their return policy is one of them. If I had bought this at a typical pawn shop, they would have gently reminded me of their "Once we have your money, you own it" policy. There have also been some good, honest salespeople in my local GC that I've gotten to know.

Once I find another amp, if it has a problem I think maybe I'll get with a local repair shop instead of returning it. That might be a better solution when all is said and done. The JCM 2000 series amps aren't getting any younger.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

All good points and I agree. I love certain things about Guitar Center and their return policy is one of them. If I had bought this at a typical pawn shop, they would have gently reminded me of their "Once we have your money, you own it" policy. There have also been some good, honest salespeople in my local GC that I've gotten to know.

Once I find another amp, if it has a problem I think maybe I'll get with a local repair shop instead of returning it. That might be a better solution when all is said and done. The JCM 2000 series amps aren't getting any younger.

heres what ive done.
show them the issue. tell them your willing to take it to a repair shop and have it fixed
if they are willing to knock some off the price. tell them what the inspection fee is up front.
a lot of guys will take the fee towards the repair too. i wouldnt deal with a place that didnt.
or tell them your willing to wait for their guy to look and repair it if they will knock some off the price for the hassles.
they usually jump on that as they dont have to refund your cash entirely and the product is still SOLD after the repair
of which they are gonna have to do anyways. its a honest win/win. if they say no get your total refund and bounce.
thats a win/lose in your favor.

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

here is the thing too and not saying this is the case either as i full believe the OP here.
but how many times you thing someone returns shit to GC and has some excuse thats bs
to either get money back or put towards something else? a lot i venture to say.
what if, WHAT IF they turn it on and wait the time frame and nothing screws up? you know
that happens. how many times you been in front of the mechanic with a complaint and
bedamned if it doesnt happen and now you feel like a idiot lol. it happens and thats murphy
being murphy.
i try to believe in the good of people and companies. i dont first think that they are gonna
do the wrong thing, but sometimes they do. i dont blame the company i blame the employee.
i dont think its common practice at any company to "lets screw the customer as hard as we can".
i think GC knows they have a bad rep, at least the ones around here do. 5 in my area. i know a lot
of the employees over the yrs too. the ones i know, i must be very lucky, but they try to do the right thing
and are doing their best to restore the company to a better reputation. YMMV.

im kinda old school in that i find a salesman that i like when i go places and stick with him/her
everytime i go in. im building a quality relationship by doing that and i usually get 1st class attention when i go in.
hell ive had them call me 6 months since last visit, "rick i got something you might be interested in bro"
yep i hear stories of "everytime im in there they are asshole" or more lol.

find a good sales person and build the buyer relationship. its easy folks. dont even tell me that
they are all asshole or all idiots. thats just bs and possibly says more about you than it does them.
just being honest here.

now you know this thread will hit the net at some point when somebody somewhere does a search.
they will read the first few posts and move on telling this story somewhere else or not sticking around long enough to see the final outcome. all they will get is, 'guy bought a piece of shit that GC said was good. he took it back and they just put it back out on the floor w/o repairing it". thats all the story they will see and thats all
the story they will tell too.

When my local GC opened.
I went in and demoed the Dsl40c, 100H, and met the manager Dave.
A few months later I was rained out at work, I stopped in asked a few questions to David, ordered a white mg cab from the New Jersey store, ordered a White Dsl40c , and took home a black dsl40c that I unboxed in the store.
I have dealt with the same people at my GC since 2016.
And I get treated quite well.
So sorry to hear of all the lame ass stories of the ones who could care less about their job.
Cheers

 

[PowerTube44]

I have an update on a couple of things. One, I called today and asked for Sales. I played innocent and basically said, "Your website shows a JCM 2000 DSL 100, but when I click it, I get the 'Oops' page. Can you tell me what happened?"

He confirmed that they sold it, which was what I suspected they would do. Then I let him off the hook and told him I had bought it and returned it because it had a problem, and told him they were just kicking the can down the road with it. He was very nice and actually agreed, and admitted that this is what they do.



Update #2: As I type this, there's a TSL 100 listed for $674.99, and I'm fairly sure that this is the THIRD time I've seen this exact same amp appear on there in the three weeks or so I've been looking. It's still there as of now:

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Marshall/TSL100-JCM2000-Triple-Super-Lead-Tube-Guitar-Amp-Head.gc

Just for record-keeping, I took a screenshot this time:



So if this one shows up a fourth time, I'll let you know. I would love to know what the problem is with this one.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

that just makes no sense to me at all. why would he even say that true or not?

 

[junk notes]

agreed, and admitted that this is what they do.

 

[PowerTube44]

Specifically, he said, "Our guys will power it on and maybe hit a couple of buttons," something like that, then call it good.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

Update #2: As I type this, there's a TSL 100 listed for $674.99, and I'm fairly sure that this is the THIRD time I've seen this exact same amp appear on there in the three weeks or so I've been looking. It's still there as of now:

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Marshall/TSL100-JCM2000-Triple-Super-Lead-Tube-Guitar-Amp-Head.gc

Just for record-keeping, I took a screenshot this time:

View attachment 92753

So if this one shows up a fourth time, I'll let you know. I would love to know what the problem is with this one.

Ha!

I've been watching that 1too.

I only want a 2 channel amp so I didn't buy it.

For nearly 3 months I've been trying to get a good jcm/dsl or looking for something that'll do the job. I did keep a 2016 dsl100h that sounds phenomenal but I'm just worried about the bias problem and looking for something more stable as a backup.

I don't like the new hR series or the jvm210h because they don't switch channels seamlessly like the jcm and the old dsl. Marshall really screwed the pooch with the hr series if you ask me.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

I'm just worried about the bias problem and looking for something more stable as a backup.

take that money and do some preventative measure to the current amp and put the extra in your pocket.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

take that money and do some preventative measure to the current amp and put the extra in your pocket.

I just might.

I also have a couple Marshall clones for sale locally that I have to try. Roughly a grand each so we're only talking 3 to 4 hundred more than I paid for the dsl. If they fit the bill then I'll probably just list the dsl for sale.

If I could put the stable bias kit into the dsl 100h along with replacing whatever components are under spec (I forget now but I can find it in my bookmarks) and doing the ground mod I think I'd be set. Afaik, after doing all those to the jcm they no longer have problems. So if I could do it with the dsl I'd be set.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

I just might.

I also have a couple Marshall clones for sale locally that I have to try. Roughly a grand each so we're only talking 3 to 4 hundred more than I paid for the dsl. If they fit the bill then I'll probably just list the dsl for sale.

If I could put the stable bias kit into the dsl 100h along with replacing whatever components are under spec (I forget now but I can find it in my bookmarks) and doing the ground mod I think I'd be set. Afaik, after doing all those to the jcm they no longer have problems. So if I could do it with the dsl I'd be set.

i see where your going with that but do remember, a clone is only a clone.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

i see where your going with that but do remember, a clone is only a clone.

Exactly!

Which is one reason I've been screwing around for almost 3 months trying to find a reliable 2 channel Marshall within my price range that switches seamlessly. I didn't know about the faults when I started this journey otherwise I would've done more research and probably made some different decisions.

Give it another 3 and hope for the best I guess, Lol.

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Exactly!

Which is one reason I've been screwing around for almost 3 months trying to find a reliable 2 channel Marshall within my price range that switches seamlessly. I didn't know about the faults when I started this journey otherwise I would've done more research and probably made some different decisions.

Give it another 3 and hope for the best I guess, Lol.

So you have a 2016 DSL 100 H ??
I have heard of no problems with this amp, and I have the same year Dsl40c’s..
The bias drift was with the JCM2000’s DSL, maybe I am wrong here, but I have no idea on the 2016 DSL 100 H’s having any issues.
Cheers
Mitch

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

So you have a 2016 DSL 100 H ??
I have heard of no problems with this amp, and I have the same year Dsl40c’s..
The bias drift was with the JCM2000’s DSL, maybe I am wrong here, but I have no idea on the 2016 DSL 100 H’s having any issues.
Cheers
Mitch

Yes but research indicates that the DSLs do meltdown. Also, I actually had a 2006 or something for about a week and a half and it melted. So I'm worried about this 2016 too.

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Yes but research indicates that the DSLs do meltdown. Also, I actually had a 2006 or something for about a week and a half and it melted. So I'm worried about this 2016 too.

watch mitch's youtube channel. his are flame proof.

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

watch mitch's youtube channel. his are flame proof.

Well if that's the case, @Mitchell Pearrow make mine flame proof too!

Also, link?

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Well if that's the case, @Mitchell Pearrow make mine flame proof too!

Also, link?

My YouTube channel is just mitchpearrow.

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

@Leonard Neemoil

Here ya go bro

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

@Leonard Neemoil

Here ya go bro

Awesome tone dude!

Pretty slick moves too.

So how do I make my DSL flame retarded? Lol

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

My YouTube channel is just mitchpearrow.

I've been watching your you tube videos and I bet we'd have a blast jamming.

Nice style, you like Judas Priest? Me too.