Guitar Center — Attraction in La Mesa

#GuitarCenter. Donkey Balls.

Tips on how to shop for a higher end guitar or bass guitar if you are shy or intimidated by seasoned musicians:

Try not to shop at guitar center and check out the smaller local guitar shops. But if you have to for various reasons then here are some tips:

Go with a friend who will help advocate what is that you want and that you can jam with who will help run through songs so that you can actually play along with and truly get a feel for the sound and the ergonomics of the instrument.

Ask for on a private lesson room to try out several instruments. There’s a ton of people plugged in doing their thing but you can’t really focus on you and the instrument out in the chaotic retail space. You are about to drop a few bucks… you should definitely feel good and certain about what you are buying.

Try to Find a nice patient sales person. They get commission. We would have preferred a woman. If you do get stuck with an impatient, rude, male chauvinist who rolls his eyes, gives faces, and treats you like you don’t know what tuners are on a guitar head are…. don’t get insulted, he’s the idiot, … don’t give up.

They will not ask you why you are shopping for a new instrument because they have zero proper training. So, take a deep breath and keep your phone on you so that you can Google search all the answers to product specifications. For example the weight of the instrument is very important. I don’t know about for men, but for ladies it matters. If you have back problems then standing and holding a heavy instrument will cause more back pain. We were looking to shave a few pounds off what she already had. The salesman would NOT look up weight of the instruments to help her, even after several mentions of this. It was like… “sorry” we don’t have that info and won’t look it up.

They do NOT prioritize the customer experience. The only value is the immediate access to a wide on-site inventory, you can try the instruments there and purchase on the spot.

You’ve been there for a couple of hours. You found the right model, it sounds good, it feels good, but you want it in a different color. Your sales guy is busy and missing. There is no organization with their instruments on the retail floor. Go walk the floor and triple check with your own eyes. Check their local website inventory. We were looking for a different style bass and they said they didn’t have it. I walked into the premium guitar room and found it up high on display on the wall. Told the large rude sales guy that I found it. He looked at me like I was stupid again. Without even going to check it out he said there are only guitars in that room and continued to look at the screen.

Nope, I’m pretty sure I know what a bass guitar looks like. But I guess there’s a possibility that I’m the idiot.

He was walking looking for the bass that she needed. I politely pointed to the bass up on the wall on display that I already told him about. He acknowledged it was a bass and remarked… how and why was that in there?? Good lord…. This person continues to make himself look like donkey

My friend did try it out back in the private lesson room. Confirmed that she loved it. This demo bass had a bent damaged knob… so she ordered a new one from their inventory and had it shipped to her in 3 to 5 days.

That was a long and slightly painful buying experience but I’m happy for my friend because she has something she really likes.

I really enjoyed comparing the expensive and the mid range to really get a feel for the difference in quality. You can’t do that online.

And now at our weekly jam sessions… I get to look at a very pretty bass and know that she’s happier because she’s playing music on a beautiful bass and her back isn’t hurting.

You deserve to have the best instrument for you.

Hope this helps you out when shopping at guitar center or anywhere for a...

i bought 2 dan electro batery operated amps, a guitar where the screws were never tightened, both of them are defective, i called them it took over 10 minutes to answer the phone, i told them about the defective guitar and amps, they said even though you bought a 2 year extended guarantee for the new products you bought, we will not do anything, we will give you a number to call a $cam in$ure an$e company, so i call them they said they didnt see any proof so they gave me another number to call which i called and i guess they contacted guitar center and got my recipts, now when i paid for the new items they did not tel me who the company was, that i asumed i was insuring every thing i bought, for some crazy reason they did not include the 2 dan electro amps, and on their web site their were other complaints on the amps where the light comes on but no sound, so what is their excause in seling defective products i will be ading numbers, and more to the story, right now i am not a very happy camper,..latest update i did not know guitar center monoered the post put here, and how they proved they realy cared, not just a tired worn out slogan, like i experienced with the imperial ave sandiego autozone where i have yet to get replaced duralast brand vice grips with defective jaw cutters that dont meet, are crooked, imposible to cut fine guitar wire, even after a year going back 3 times, so i was expecting guitar center to also give me another run around blame me game, well i was pleasently suprised..i was severly "consumer shocked"( 1 the 2 dan electro amps i bought in nashville tenese did not come with the boxes the instructions, and a way heavy duty protective plastic protection case, that should have set off bells of alarm that the 2 dan electro amps had probably ben dropped a milion times, had ben in the store for years, turned on and off a milion times, i did not know how many years they were at the store, lets be fair they probably have over 10,000 + products and a $23 dolar product would not be a high priority, and i want to thank them for carying a inexpensive amp, as the next 1 was $60, so i figured i would buy 2, with a 2 year extended waranity, sure glad i did, so i called guitar center consumer customer service number, because the store demos, died in no time, and i was again severly consumer shocked by the most careing customer care represenitives 1 a fantastic person from india her name was surender, and i believe the other was caldin, in indiana, i could not believe how arening they were, and i could not believe how careing assurian insurance company who i bought the 2 year extended waranity was, i did not get 1 run around, expertly devized excause, when i took pictures of the defective amps and emailed my proof i paid for them, well i was so pleasently shocked, i chose to on the 2 new danelectro amps to get a 3 year extended waranity, knowing i finaly got brand new amps, and oh yeah these came with a 1 year waranity i did not know with the amps i bought in nashville, and the instructions to adjust the amp, hell i was dizzy with all the setings, so i decided to not use overdrive, keep tone on trebile, not base, and i noticed the batery lasted longer, well i created a 9 volt d size batery adapter box, i figure it should last probably over a year, and again i want to thank guitar center, and assurian insurance for realy careing, and wish autozone would replace my defective vice grips, oh yeah i absoutely refuse to use any special effects, cause i wonder are the electronice playing the musician,and still to this day cant figure out what they mean about tone, hell i only use what...

Who's the man... Dan! As a reviewer I feel the need to give credit where credit is due. Dan is sincerely the man. As of Aug 2020 he's the only Dan that works there. He's extremely knowledgeable, very fast, super low pressure (and let's you know it), he communicates at the highest levels of trust and he likes to give simple examples of situations that present lots of complexity. I honestly can't say enough. If you hear people laughing like crazy or having tons and tons of fun at the cash register, you'll now know exactly who's responsible. He's got a number of catch phrases that he clearly uses for every customer, but they keep the mood light and exciting because let's face it... Most people spend lots of money on music and between that and it being a moment filled with excitement and hope... Dan's the man you want working with you. Dan honestly took my experience of this place from a 4 to a 5. I do not like giving 5s to places, especially places that aren't restaurants, it often seems too subjective, but I can't imagine giving super stoked Dan a 4. Don't believe me? Seems too good to be true? Go in and ask for Dan, you won't be disappointed.

As far as this Guitar Center location... It was very well done. I've bought a few items from here before. It's well organized and seems very clean. They've always had a good selection, but due to the current times it seems lots of people are buying what they provide. Their stock is low in the more popular and less expensive items. If you want something, don't sleep on it too long. On that note, Dan had a great understanding of stock and literary went into the back 4 separate times to get us something different to try, and we didn't even ask. He was honestly so excited to help he just took initiative to help us in every aspect possible. We will be bringing the 2 young boys back here very soon for the start of their musical adventure.

COVID-19: everything is up to standards and the whole place seems to be cleaned as often as possible. Let's face it. A good amount of people in the store requires a little bit of patience on everybody's part. I bring my own hand sanitizer and sanitize my hands before and after picking up a guitar. Mainly because I know others don't. Otherwise, they have postings up to help control the amount of people in certain areas, etc. Please help us all keep safe and be respectful during this time at a place like Guitar Center where touching lots of stuff other people have touched is built into the experience. Thanks Guitar Center (and Dan) for doing everything you all can to keep us safe. I tip my hat to you all my good Sirs...