anyone work at a guitar center or other music store?

[sc00by4life]

just throwing this out there.

all of my buddys that worked at the one in lynnwood are now gone, either to other stores, or dont work for them anymore. im in the market for an epiphone les paul custom, and am looking for some sort of bro deal. school is making me go broke. if you can hook me up a 6 pack or me comming over to install some parts for you could be arranged, or i could throw a $20 under the table for you.

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[CosmoTheCat]

get in touch with gooseman here, although he may not have a 5 finger discount for you (which is what it sounds like you're looking for)

[MeanEditor]

You want a guitar for $20 or a six-pack, and an Epiphone Les Paul copy no less... right. How would a "bro" make a guitar disappear from the inventory? These guys work on commission.

[dphoenix]

I wonder why none of your friends work at the store anymore

I'd love some cheap carts for my technic 1200s though

[sc00by4life]

double post.

[sc00by4life]

Originally Posted by MeanEditor

You want a guitar for $20 or a six-pack, and an Epiphone Les Paul copy no less... right. How would a "bro" make a guitar disappear from the inventory? These guys work on commission.

epiphone and gibson are the same company. only difference is the woods used (and where they are manufactured). gibson uses more exotic woods and are hand built in the united states. epiphones use standard mahogany and rosewood construction (still sounds fantastic), and are made overseas. the epi les paul customs actually sound very nice, ive played them against jacksons, ibanez, fenders (tele's and strats), and even some of the cheaper gibsons. the epi les paul customs blow them out of the water (until you get to the gibson standards etc...and even then its the woods that make the difference, hence the price tag). the customs are even gibson certified.

i dont know where you guys are getting a bro deal = free? just looking for a bit of a discount is all :P.

[T-boner]

Tried musiciansfriend.com yet?

[CosmoTheCat]

I think it was the part where you asked for the bro deal and offered $20 under the table, which sounds like asking the Schuck's clerk to leave an o2 sensor out back and offering them a half-rack of Henry's in exchange.

[T-boner]

I think some of the GC guys use varying degrees of "discretion" when moving things to a Scratch and Dent status.

[Vostok 7]

Originally Posted by sc00by4life

epiphone and gibson are the same company. only difference is the woods used (and where they are manufactured). gibson uses more exotic woods and are hand built in the united states. epiphones use standard mahogany and rosewood construction (still sounds fantastic), and are made overseas. the epi les paul customs actually sound very nice, ive played them against jacksons, ibanez, fenders (tele's and strats), and even some of the cheaper gibsons. the epi les paul customs blow them out of the water (until you get to the gibson standards etc...and even then its the woods that make the difference, hence the price tag). the customs are even gibson certified.

i dont know where you guys are getting a bro deal = free? just looking for a bit of a discount is all :P.

I think he knows what the difference is. I think the reason he was mentioning it is because it's still a $200-700 guitar.

- Patrick

[sc00by4life]

Originally Posted by Vostok 7

I think he knows what the difference is. I think the reason he was mentioning it is because it's still a $200-700 guitar.

- Patrick

price doesnt matter when the sound quality is as good as its $2500 counterpart. its a fanstastic guitar, and is within my price range. the top end of my budget was $1500 (wouldve taken a bit longer to save that much up), and honestly this sounds better than almost any guitar in that range.

thats like asking "why buy kartboy when you can buy hks?" or something along those lines.

[sc00by4life]

Originally Posted by T-boner

Tried musiciansfriend.com yet?

yea, i wouldve ordered from musiciansfriend if they had the free shipping, not wanting to spend $50 bucks on shipping when id spend about that much in tax buying it locally.

[DrnknZag]

Originally Posted by sc00by4life

yea, i wouldve ordered from musiciansfriend if they had the free shipping, not wanting to spend $50 bucks on shipping when id spend about that much in tax buying it locally.

If I remember correctly, you'd have to pay sales tax through MusiciansFriend anyway because they are somehow affiliated WA (corporate headquarters or something, who knows).

You would have been in luck about a year ago when I was planning on selling my Epi Paul Custom, but I decided not to (good choice on my part I must admit). I'd go and check out some Agile Les Paul knock-offs at Rondomusic.net. The couple I've played have had a really good feel, maybe even better than my Epi. They're really well liked on some of the musicians forums I frequent.

[Vostok 7]

Originally Posted by sc00by4life

price doesnt matter when the sound quality is as good as its $2500 counterpart. its a fanstastic guitar, and is within my price range. the top end of my budget was $1500 (wouldve taken a bit longer to save that much up), and honestly this sounds better than almost any guitar in that range.

thats like asking "why buy kartboy when you can buy hks?" or something along those lines.

I think you missed the point, and then some.

Anyway, I know perfectly well what an Epiphone Les Paul is as well, you don't have to sell me on them. I have a Epiphone Les Paul '56 Goldtop "reissue" and a Epiphone Korina SG-400. They sound wonderful, but they have cheap wiring... Both of mine need to be re-wired and re-soldiered big time.

$1500 would get you a very nice REAL Gibson, though. Why settle? The differences are not just in the wood, the Epiphone LP isn't a true solid body. And like I said the wiring tends to be on the shoddy side.

- Patrick

[sc00by4life]

Originally Posted by Vostok 7

I think you missed the point, and then some.

Anyway, I know perfectly well what an Epiphone Les Paul is as well, you don't have to sell me on them. I have a Epiphone Les Paul '56 Goldtop "reissue" and a Epiphone Korina SG-400. They sound wonderful, but they have cheap wiring... Both of mine need to be re-wired and re-soldiered big time.

$1500 would get you a very nice REAL Gibson, though. Why settle? The differences are not just in the wood, the Epiphone LP isn't a true solid body. And like I said the wiring tends to be on the shoddy side.

- Patrick

yea ive heard that about the wiring, i have a set of EMG's 81/85's laying around, and planned to throw those in as well as rewire it while i was at it. ive also heard the tuners are kind of cheap, i have a gibson sg that i just put some schaller tuners on, i figured id throw the old ones off the sg i would throw on it as well. i have the sg as my main, but wanted a back up that would feel just as good (although i dislike the lp necks a bit, they arent as fast as the sg imo), and wouldnt break the bank.

[Vostok 7]

Originally Posted by sc00by4life

yea ive heard that about the wiring, i have a set of EMG's 81/85's laying around, and planned to throw those in as well as rewire it while i was at it. ive also heard the tuners are kind of cheap, i have a gibson sg that i just put some schaller tuners on, i figured id throw the old ones off the sg i would throw on it as well. i have the sg as my main, but wanted a back up that would feel just as good (although i dislike the lp necks a bit, they arent as fast as the sg imo), and wouldnt break the bank.

Gotcha *thumbs up*

I like my Epis.

- Patrick

[Ferg]

According to the MF website they have free shipping on several Epiphone Les Pauls.

Here's how to get a good deal at GC...although as a disclaimer I will say it's been a few years since I ran one of their stores so some things might have changed but the basics should be about the same.

First off understand that only the guitar department manager, assistant manager, or sales manager have the juice to give you a really good deal. Your average sales guy has a preset discount limit that he has to get approval to go below. GC works from cost and goes up rather than starting at retail and discounting down. A sales guy is really only going to be looking at one thing on his screen as he works your deal and that's Gross Profit. That's the only thing that really matters. The GC system will tell the sales guy exactly how much profit he's generating, which is why they always try and throw add ons into the deal. Buy the guitar at the GLP (guaranteed lowest price) and I'll "throw in" a strap, strings, gig bag, stand, whatever...they can let that stuff go for next to nothing, keep the profit on the guitar and come out with a decent margin. The hard part comes in working the deal when you only want a low price on the guitar. You have to play the game a bit.

Bring your own pick. Sounds stupid but honestly anyone not bringing their own pick to try out guitars is a ****ing moron. It's like going to test drive a car without your license. If you have to, go and buy some picks then hit the guitar department.

"Do you have a pick I can use?"

"Did you know you were coming in to try out guitars today?"

"Yeah."

"Are you ****ing stupid?"

Most sales guys will give you the crappiest, thinnest, most chewed up piece of plastic they can find then go make fun of you with the other guys behind the counter as you try and slap your way through whatever it is you're trying to play.

Hit them mid-week, in the morning is best because they're not burned out from endless wankery yet and cutting a deal first thing is always a nice way to start your day.

If you know what you want, get to the point quickly. Find your guitar on the wall, don't bother asking for something out of the back.

Don't **** around and be a finicky shopper. At the most you should only "try out" two guitars, three at the maximum, and keep your demos brief...you know inside twenty seconds if the guitar your holding is "the one" or close enough anyways so don't take twenty minutes to come back with, "I don't like it..."

Let him know right away that you're going to buy it TODAY if the price is right. "I really want to take this home today but I really can't spend this much." That saves all the hassle of qualifying and closing since you're both immediately on the same page.

Oh and don't bother trying to pull a "Well Musician's Friend has it for only this much..." Here's a tip, Guitar Center owns Musician's Friend.

Realistically you're not going to get much of a discount on an Epiphone, maybe $75, $100, or $150 bucks if you're lucky. An Epi retails for what, $1,200, is tagged at around $500 to $600 and usually has a "cost" built in at somewhere around $250 to $350 depending on when and how it was bought. Different guitars can have different "costs" so it never hurts to ask if he has another guitar (even if it means not getting the one you want...after all we are talking about Epiphones and the difference between a Standard and a Custom is how they look..not to mention you're going to stick active pickups in the thing anyways which means you could buy a ****ing slab of formica from Home Depot, insert said EMGs and end up with the same sound...where was I, oh yeah...) he could go lower on. Like I said, it never hurts.

The most important thing is not to get hung up over small change. If he won't (or can't) come down another $20, just buy the guitar and be happy.

Anyway um yeah, that's about all I have to say about GC.

[Ferg]

One more thing...when you're haggling price, keep the sales tax out of the equation, there's not a damn thing he can do about that.

Oh and most important of all, after you get the price you want or at least one you can live with, don't ask him to throw in "some string and picks". That's bull****. If he does give you a killer deal be a nice guy and buy them at the marked price (from him of course) to bump his profit a bit. It's a classy move.

Good luck and post pics of what you get!

[sc00by4life]

Originally Posted by Ferg

One more thing...when you're haggling price, keep the sales tax out of the equation, there's not a damn thing he can do about that.

Oh and most important of all, after you get the price you want or at least one you can live with, don't ask him to throw in "some string and picks". That's bull****. If he does give you a killer deal be a nice guy and buy them at the marked price (from him of course) to bump his profit a bit. It's a classy move.

Good luck and post pics of what you get!

yea, thats been my experience from buying in the past. if i get a killer deal, i usually wind up saying "well i need this this and this as well" when i get to the register to bump up their gross profit (usually you can get a few packs of strings and/or some picks and strap for about the retail cost of the axe).

thanks for the tips :P. like i said, i used to have buddies that worked at my local GC so ive never had to work on haggling a price down. thanks for giving me the inside tip on their system .

[MeanEditor]

After playing guitar for years, I have played a few guitars. I can say that I have never really liked an Epiphone copy of a Gibson anything. They just don't play as well. Granted it has been a few years since I really sat down with both side by side, but after playing both side by side, the Gibson is clearly better on all fronts. The last guitar I bought was an Ibanez Artcore copy of a Gretsch Nashville and it is a fantastic guitar. My dad bought the George Bensen copy as well. The Artcore series is great. My other guitar is a Jackson "Metal" guitar, the same one the dude from Prong used to play, dual humbuckers, floating bridge and locking tuners, however I have had problems with the wiring since the day I bought it... Anyway, glad to see you aren't trying to get an axe for "free" and they always have big sales etc, why not wait till they mark down all their guitars by 50***37; and then go?

[Chris Phelps]

Disclaimer: I'm a professional guitarist, and teaching/performing/studio work has been my only source of income for well over a decade. I have more guitars than I care to count.

Gibson is way over rated, and has been for a long time. Long ago (10yrs) they fired the entire factory, and hired new people over a labor dispute. They have been hit or miss every since. There are some good Gibson guitars that are new, and there are a lot more lemons. Gibson has a reputation built on vintage guitars, but the new ones are just not up to that standard. Period. You must really shop around, and know what to look for in terms of fret work, neck relief, and fit and finish to find a good Gibson guitar. That said, I do own a Les Paul that I really like. I just looked at more than 20 before I found "the one". Quite frankly my favorite Japanese made Ibanez RG770 is far more useable for a wide range of styles than the Les Paul is.

Don't even think about buying a new Gibson acoustic guitar. They are a joke compared to Martin, Taylor and Larrivee!!!

Epiphone is even more hit or miss than Gibson, and frankly not worth the money.

There are so many fantastic guitar manufacturers why screw around with Gibson, or especially Epiphone? Ibanez = cheap but fantastic copies as was said in the last post, and really there are many, many other fantastic companies. Shop around.

My Opinion: If you make money playing, and image is important then get a Gibson. Otherwise, buy a couple of cheap guitars that play well and spend your money on a decent tube amp like a Mesa Boogie. The amp effects your sound twenty times more than the guitar does. Your hands and technique effect your tone twenty times more than the Guitar and amp does.

Summary: Save your money and practice, practice, practice.

Flame suit on!!

[sc00by4life]

i know its hit or miss with ANY guitar you buy. which is why im trying to buy locally. ive tried a few here and there, and theres an LP at the guitar center in clairemont here that felt really good, and sounded fantastic (im in san diego atm visiting family). i would much rather find one in store that i like then purchase that exact guitar than "get one out of the back" or order online, which is what im trying to do.

as far as acoustics go, i currently have a martin DCX1E (with the cutaway). no plans on going for anything else in the near future. the next step for me after this martin would be a gibson j185, but that wont be for a very long time. every j185 ive played has been fantastic, no lemons yet.

im not in the market for a gibson, so image isnt my deal. i have a gibson already, and the epi will do more than just the thing for what i need. i already have a few cheapo's in my closet.

lol im no professional guitarist, but ive been playing since i was 8 or 9, and have been in a few bands continously over the last 5 years. not new to them at all :P.

i appreciate the kind words and advice though. really.

[B00st3dWRX]

mmmm I want a Les Paul...I love my Jackson for metal, but nothing beats the warm sound of a good Les Paul