[K Gilbert (Kevin1960)]

Walked into my local Guitar Center a couple days ago and was confused. Maybe it is the artistic culture that they are trying to convey but the place was a mish-mash of product. They had their PRS instruments prominently displayed to the left and top to bottom of their wall behind the counter. Understandable considering their pricepoints but I saw no such grouping of Gibson product. I would have expected at least the Les Paul's to be grouped but they were mixed in the hodgepodge of other product. Doesn't Gibson have some kind of display standards that GC has to maintain? If not, it might not be a bad idea to institute one. You would have a pretty good assembly of policemen/women in the forum if you do. Most of us regularly visit these places regularly and if we know what to look for and it wouldn't be a problem to let you know who is not shaping-up when it comes to what you expect from them. I know I certainly wouldn't mind.

[J GGoerge (joey257)]

You would rat out a Guitar Center for not displaying Gibson guitars 'properly'?

WHY???

(it's GUITAR CENTER - who cares what they do???)

[C Robbins (Blackwidow 21)]

Who cares about Guitar Center or Sam Ash I say the music world would be better without either one of them.

[K Gilbert (Kevin1960)]

Maybe so but the reason most of us are here is that we have a passion for music and Gibson instruments in particular. Your idea of "ratting" out a store in the business world is ridiculous. You may not choose to help but why would you care if I did report them? As far as who cares, I would say that Gibson and any other company in business to make money cares. Why do you think one of the key forums here is about the purchasing experience. That alone says that they care. To the other point, Maybe the would would be better off without them but there are a lot of people out there who have very little choice but to buy from these "big box" stores. Being here and posting says you probably care at least a little about Gibson. God knows there are plenty of other places you could spend time on the internet. If you were in a business like Gibson, wouldn't you seriously care if your product was next to crappy amps or used gear habitually? It says a lot about what they think of your product and thus what they project to the public.

[J GGoerge (joey257)]

I wouldn't care, at all, what you do...I just didn't understand the notion.

I enjoy Gibson guitars, and a few other brands too, AND talking about them, but I never felt the need to appoint myself a member of the Gibson (or Fender or Gretsch or Martin) Police so I can report back & let them know when some crappy megastore has a messy layout. I was curious why anyone else might. You explained it re:your passion and your lack of shopping choices...OK, no problem.

What I care about is getting a really good product at good prices so I can enjoy playing & owning them, AND getting really good service when buying & if something goes wrong; not whether some idiot at GC Et. AL. displayed the overpriced & 'GC exclusive' Les Pauls too close to the Telecastors. GC et. al. isn't offering a satisfying buying experience - so don't shop there!!...THEN maybe Gibson (along w/GC et. al.) will be concerned enough to worry about it, and come up with a plan that will benefit all of US.

[K Gilbert (Kevin1960)]

Not exactly appointing myself as the Gibson police nor did I say I personally had a lack of shopping choices. You are right about my comment that my enjoyment of Gibson products does cause me to want to help protect the image. I really happy for you that you have a know what you want. This is a forum for everyone that has an interest and it is not like it would cost me anything to look around when I am in a local store. So what I am saying is that it wouldn't be for everyone.

Maybe I am the only one in the forum that considers this part of the Gibson reputation this important. If so, so what? Who does it hurt? What possible damage does it do to anyone? If I happen to go to a certain store on a regular basis and I notice that a product that I like is being treated with a lack of respect that I think it deserves and post a message, does it do anything other than help protect the brand. You were talking about "all" of us. Maybe you should read my post on certified Gibson sales people.

Yes this is only one aspect of a big picture but, how good of a buying experience will you have if the sales person can't figure out where the product is because it is not where it belongs. That is the reason many stores have a floor plan. I do get it. You don't like GC, Sam Ash and the like. Knocking is easy, What do you propose to improve the buying experience that Gibson can have an affect on?

[M Lewis (Matt in a Hat)]

At least in Nashville, you could say that the Gibson guitars are the most prominently displayed guitars. The middle of the store has two large octagonal pillars that are labeled "Gibson" and covered with hanging Gibson guitars, from various Les Pauls and SGs, to various Juniors and semi-hollow bodies.

[J GGoerge (joey257)]

My buying experiences over the past couple years, the majority of them involving getting a Gibson, have been quite good, so I would have to give that some more thought! Other then a couple minor 'complaints' I have mentioned, I don't have much.

Anyway, I agree with your view of the Gibson reputation, and I buy into that rep a bit with each guitar of theirs I buy (haven't been dissapointed-yet!). However I am also thinking that I may not agree with some of the...distribution practices they pursue (as I understand them so far), especially when it seems those practices may well put my future Gibson buying experiences in jeopardy.

When that happens, it won't be the name on the guitar that decides how I spend my money.

[A Jordan (vortexx)]

Guitar Center has probably become too powerful to allow Gibson to tell them how to display their products.

[A Jordan (vortexx)]

don't look here

[J Luekemeyer (ACELUEK)]

A Jordan (vortexx), on 30 July 2010 - 08:18 PM, said:

don't look here

Lawyers... Scum of the earth.

[A Jordan (vortexx)]

J Luekemeyer (ACELUEK), on 30 July 2010 - 11:34 PM, said:

Lawyers... Scum of the earth.

told ya not to look

[H Lane (H-Bomb)]

My local GC doesn't even carry enough Gibsons to warrant a "section" for them. And when they do I wish someone would tell them that if they're going to "set them up", make sure they do it so they're playable! I won't ever buy a guitar there because I always have to lower action and check intonation (thanks to my little Swisstech keychain tools!) before I can even try anything out. Someone really should make them hold to a standard. Or hire someone like me to go in and set everything up properly. They'd move inventory better if people could PLAY the things, and we wouldn't see the same guitars in there for 2 or 3 years.

H

[C Robbins (Blackwidow 21)]

The Memphis Guitar center is the same way their Les Pauls are scattered all over the store.I usually go to the Memphis Gibson retail,Nashville retail store or Martin music in Memphis when looking for gibson products.

[S Tari (Steven Tari)]

I've bought from guitar center on and off line. No problems in the past either way. I'm speaking out now because of uncertenty in the guitar I'm waiting for now. I've been fishing for answers for a month now, and still uncertin. Is Gibson still making the ES-339 in antique red to fill the orders the Guitar Center has sold? I'm just wondering because I'm one of the people waiting for one, For a couple months now. I sure hope you are. Thanks for your time and feed back.

[D Colegrove (Daniel)]

The Local GC here has exactly 4 Gibson Les Pauls... Hung 12 ft. up the wall... And 996 other guitars (there were a couple of faded Gibson SGs in the mix).

I wanted to look at one of the LPs (A standard) but the guy behind the counter was too busy yelling at his (soon to be EX?)girlfriend on the phone.

I was going to tell him that yelling at girls never worked... At least not in my experience but he was on a roll... Her name was Mary...

[P Petiniot (Blues4U)]

I was in a guitar center yesterday--The gibson selection was lame at best--I am assuming that availability could be at least part of the issue but this particular store wasn't stocking many Gibsons before the flood-

Ibanez and ESP's were in the space where Gibson had been since they opened-

This particular store is not all that great-I have actually purchased two guitars there when they first opened but these days, they don't have many decent guitars on the wall-

[B Putt (Access)]

I think the consensus is that GC does a poor job of "Representing" the Gibson product lines to the Fan.

.......So why is it again that they are allowed to remain a full line Gibson dealer, when only a few stores out of the 200+ meet the stocking requirements?

As I recall it was a decade ago that Gibson realized this and pulled the line from them.

[J Luekemeyer (ACELUEK)]

The two GCs (Fountain Valley / El Toro) in California have lots of Gibsons on site. Both of these stores have decent staff and I would buy from them.

[K Gilbert (Kevin1960)]

M Lewis (Matt in a Hat), on 29 July 2010 - 07:29 PM, said:

At least in Nashville, you could say that the Gibson guitars are the most prominently displayed guitars. The middle of the store has two large octagonal pillars that are labeled "Gibson" and covered with hanging Gibson guitars, from various Les Pauls and SGs, to various Juniors and semi-hollow bodies.

I would hope that any store that was that close to the manufacturer would be on top of keeping product well displayed and represented. They should be the model for how both Gibson and GC should want product presented. Not all stores are physically the same but they should be able to adapt to a floor plan.