My latest Guitar Center story

Shayne White · Post by **Shayne White** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 8:38 pm

Hi everyone,

I was out with my mom earlier this afternoon. While she went into a CD store, I decided to take a peak in the Guitar Center across the street. It was...well, Guitar Center. Anyway, I went into the keyboard area looking for Noah (

), and the guy at the counter automatically asked if I were "rockin'" today. I said no, I was just a lookey-loo. Then I asked him if they carried CreamWare. He actually seemed fairly intelligent regarding CW -- he said no, not at the moment, though he wished they did; GC has 98 stores, and CW can't produce units fast enough. However, a lot of people have asked about CW, and he hopes they might be able to carry them sooner or later. I was surprised because I'd heard that the guys at GC didn't know how to do anything except bang on a guitar. At least, that's what Frank Hund said.

So perhaps there are two sides to the story?

Shayne

wsippel · Post by **wsippel** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:23 pm

Well, I think it depends...
We have a small music store in town, they carry CW, RME, a lot of stuff.
There are at least eight salesman there, and whenever I wanted some info about the CW stuff, I was told that they don't know about, they could tell me about drums, or guitars, or even keyboards - but I should come back later, because they have one guy who knows about those things, and that he was out for lunch... well, I've never met this guy, so I don't even know if he's for real!

BTW, this store is an "authorized CreamWare Dealer"...

Joxer the Mighty · Post by **Joxer the Mighty** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:32 pm

Yeah, I think with Guitar Center it's a hit and miss situation. It boils down to the particular employee. I called my local GC a couple months ago to ask if they carried Virsyn Tera. The Software Dept. employee who took my call didn't have a clue about what I was looking for.

Post by **garyb** » Mon Mar 29, 2004 10:49 pm

guitar center likes to buy at levels that destroy companies. cw does NOT need gc. gc had cw for a while and got no support.

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 3:32 am

I don't think the GC is responsible for CW's dismal performance in the marketplace. Some people want to find a scapegoat when the blame should rest purely on CW's management. They seem to think that all they need to do is produce great products and then sit back and watch the money roll in.

valis · Post by **valis** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 4:42 am

Actually unless I'm mistaken the issues with GC & CW were related to CW's US distributor, and it hurt them beyond just GC. Its also old drama, and its probably time to forge new alliances for CW.

Nice to see you're optimistic as ever braincell

Kenf · Post by **Kenf** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 1:19 pm

Hi
My local 'music technology' shop part of a large chain in the UK (Digital Village), told me that CW stuff does not work properly when I asked for pricing a while ago. CW have had a 'new' distributor in the UK for a while, I will pop into the shop and ask again.
Regards
Kenf

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Kenf on 2004-03-30 13:22 ]</font>

Post by **garyb** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 2:33 pm

at braincell:

gc is not responsible for cw's "poor" performance in the marketplace.

i was talking about gc's aggressive grinding tactics. the story of the destruction of acoustic and the near destruction of yamaha(!) by gc's purchasing department is legendary in southern california. gc likes to make a manufacturer dependant on it's patronage and then dictate terms. this was the cause of the problems between cw and gc.

gc DOES have the size and power to bury(or float) a product.most "musicians" have no idea what to buy until they see what gc is pushing(present company excluded,of course!). it is possible to sell thousands of units at gc and go out of business,as gc is not interested in the health or quality of it's suppliers,only the bottom line(how american!).check the hiring,pay structure and "training" of it's employees........

the reason i write these things with confidence is that i have worked in music retail for over 15 years and many of my colleagues go back to the early '70s in the business. i am from gc's home area and i know people who know gc management personally.

Basic Pitch · Post by **Basic Pitch** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 3:32 pm

Actually,

GC does sell CWA products in a round about way, it was explained to me by a salesman in GC that they basically own "musiciansfiend.com" which is a major online retial outfit, you can find plenty of crea,mware items for sale on the site, now as to why they dont sell them aswell instore I have no clue..

Cheers!

Post by **Guest** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 4:36 pm

Basic pitch is correct. the GC online store (musicianfriend.com)
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid ... =creamware

does sell all the creamware line. However individual store sell the CW products on a special orders.

IF you call any GC store and say you want to special order a pulsar. they will sell it to you. However if you walked in and ask average joe salesman of the day to explain SFP he will say.....say what?

Shayne White · Post by **Shayne White** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 7:35 pm

Guitar Center does not define America. I prefer to shop at Sweetwater and JRRShop, which are both in America and provide excellent service. In fact I know of a lot of stores in America that *are* commited to quality, service, and friendly people. And then there are others who aren't. Which is why America is great: if you don't like someone, choose someone else -- government and businesses alike!

Shayne

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 8:34 am

Go to Sweetwater and type "Creamware" in the search engine:

Your search for “creamware” did not locate any items.

This is the rule rather than the exception. What's your excuse here Gary?

Post by **garyb** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 1:24 am

MY excuse?
ummm, i don't know what you mean. my excuse for sweetwater? they have none just like gc. the music biz is b.s.,ESPECIALLY the m.i. end. good products,companies and marketing mean nothing in a world of kickbacks, cronyism and graft.you know this just like i know that cw marketing could be better.(the new website is a great step in the right direction. i love the easter colors and the olive. nice that they listened to everyone's suggestions huh?

)

are we fighting?

Post by **Guest** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 1:40 pm

to list few

http://www.audiomidi.com
http://www.infinitevortex.com
http://www.novamusik.com
http://www.jrrshop.com
http://www.musiciansfriend.com

etc..........

they are pretty famous in the US and outside the US

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: antar on 2004-04-01 13:43 ]</font>

scary808 · Post by **scary808** » Thu Apr 01, 2004 8:07 pm

On 2004-04-01 01:24, garyb wrote:
i love the easter colors and the olive. nice that they listened to everyone's suggestions huh?

Not to sound like a fashion guru or anything but, those colors are very "chic" right now! I dig'em.

PS - Your pic on the CWA site is off the hook!