Recap of the 2nd Annual Guitar Center Musician’s Expo at the Long Beach Convention Center

Aloha!

On Saturday, March 29, 2014 there was an event at the Long Beach Convention Center that should have been of interest for Southern California musicians. The 2nd annual Guitar Center Musician’s Expo was an opportunity for us common folks to see a lot of the new gear that was introduced at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim.

Guitar Center is the big daddy of music retailers, and I admire that they are trying new things despite the crushing debt they are staggering under and their general lack of direction. Through their relationships with their suppliers and vendors, they were able to feature equipment from 100 vendors, including Ernie Ball, Shure, Zildjian, Fender, QSC, Orange, Yamaha, Pioneer, American DJ and more. There were company representatives on hand to answer questions, and the equipment was out for the unwashed masses to touch and use. Most musicians are not able to go to NAMM, and I know they enjoy seeing and playing gear that is not even at dealers yet.

Besides the gear there were performances from bands and artists, including Rome, Dug Pinnick and GIlby Clarke, as well as artist and DJ workshops and plenty of demos. Highlights for me were getting to see some old friends and having the opportunity to play with the new QSC TouchMix and the new series of Yamaha MG series mixers.

There was equipment on sale at great prices, though it was hard to tell what was for sale and what wasn’t, and many of the vendors were not clear about what the actual sales process was. Also, there was almost no advertising for this event, and postcards mailed out to their local customers would have been a good idea.

Supposedly there were free tickets available at the local Guitar Centers, but none of them had any so I had to pay $5 to get in, as well as parking at the convention center. Considering that they were selling stuff it should have been free.

These minor gripes aside, I had a good time and appreciate that Guitar Center is able to hold this event right in my backyard, and I hope they can keep up the tradition.

I hope to see you there next year!

Mahalo!

Save The Date: First-ever Guitar Center Musician’s Expo at Long Beach Convention Center

Aloha!

On Saturday, April 6, 2013 there will be an event at the Long Beach Convention Center that should be of interest for Southern California musicians. The Guitar Center Musician’s Expo is an opportunity for us common folks to see a lot of the new gear that was introduced at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim.

Guitar Center is the big daddy of music retailers, and I admire that they are trying new thing despite the crushing debt they are staggering under. Through their relationships with their suppliers and vendors, they will be featuring equipment from over 60 manufacturers, including Martin, Fender, Casio, Roland, DW, Bose, Pioneer and more. There will be company representatives on hand to answer questions, and the equipment will be out for the unwashed masses to touch and use. Most musicians are not able to go to NAMM, and I know they would like to see and play stuff gear that is not even at dealers yet.

Besides the gear there will also be artist and DJ workshops with a pretty fine line-up that includes Chad Wackerman, Allan Holdsworth, Jimmy Haslip, Mix Master Mike, Derek Sherinian, Stephen Perkins, Tony Franklin (my hero!), Rob Wasserman, DJ Qbert, and more. There will also be free group clinics, including group Recording Made Easy classes, guitar lessons and ukulele lessons. This might be kind of cool for the kids.

Rumor has it that there will also be a few notable instruments from Guitar Center’s collection on hand, including Eric Clapton’s "Blackie" Fender Stratocaster guitar and Gibson ES-335 as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Lenny" Fender Stratocaster guitar. You probably will not get to touch these, though…

As I said earlier, the Guitar Center Musician’s Expo will be at the Long Beach Convention Center on Saturday, April 6, 2013. The show will be open from 10AM to 5PM, and admission is $5 if you buy your tickets from a local Guitar Center, or $10 at the door. Complete details should be available at guitarcenter.com

I hope to see you there!

Mahalo!

Guitar Center

I have a real love/hate relationship with Guitar center, which is probably the largest musical instrument retailer in the world. They have stores all over the US, which always give me a welcome place to go if I am out of town and need to kill some time.

Guitar Center stores vary quite a bit, but generally they have a very diverse inventory so there are quite a few instruments to choose from. They have had a long-standing policy that you can sit down and play pretty much any instrument on the walls for as long as you like. The idea is that all of the wanky 15-year old kids that come in will eventually buy something, so they make it a place that is friendly to them. This makes for a handy place for me to practice while I am on the road. The down side to this policy is that some instruments get a lot of wear and tear, and generally they will not discount instruments for this. They USED to, though (more about this later).

One thing that you will find is that Guitar Center does not carry instruments and accessories from every major manufacturer. If you need a Mesa Boogie or Genz Benz amplifier, you will have to go elsewhere. Until recently they did not carry any ESP guitars. These brands are popular, dammit.

Guitar Center made a few changes after they were acquired by Bain Capital in 2007 (for an astounding 2.1 billion dollars). By far, my least favorite change was their “guaranteed lowest price” policy, which pretty much took away my ability to negotiate pricing on instruments.

The “guaranteed lowest price” policy means that they will match any other retailers lowest advertised price. Many manufacturers and distributors set a minimum advertised price, so they prices are the same everywhere you look. Generally, Guitar Center will not negotiate below these minimum advertised prices, even if instruments show a lot of wear or are (GASP!) damaged. In the good old days, if you were a good customer they would negotiate the prices below the minimum advertised price, and closer to their cost for the item. Nothing good lasts forever, I guess.

Fortunately, they always have a large selection of used instruments that are in very good condition. These are generally available for a little more than ½ of what you would pay for a new instrument, and there is usually some negotiating that can be done. Also, during their yearly sales, they will still discount equipment to stupidly-low clearance prices, which can make for some lucrative eBay reselling.

By the way, Guitar Center also owns Musician’s Friend, which is probably the largest online retailer of musical instruments. In the past few years they have bought out Music & Arts Center and Music 123.