Guitar Center — Local services in Southfield

During the COVID fiasco, having a lot of extra time on my hands, I decided to get back into playing guitar. After a 20 year hiatus from playing acoustic guitar, I went to the Guitar Center in Southfield and bought a Martin acoustic, and a Taylor acoustic. I was determined to break into electric guitar as well so I bought 2 Fender amps and a Stratocaster guitar. The acoustic guitars were great, but the Fender - no matter what pick-up was being used - sounded like crap. There was a constant overpowering humming coming from the amp which, no matter where it was plugged in, interfering with my playing to the point that I essentially gave up trying to make the bridge from acoustic to electric guitar. I asked several people from Guitar Center and never got any advice on how to deal with the problem. This was some years ago. Recently I made my way back to the Guitar Center in Southfield, MI to trade in my Fender GTX for another amp hoping that might solve the issue. I was going to trade in my Strat as well as I just wasn't making any headway into the electric realm. I was ready to give up. I spoke to and was advised by 'Bubba' that he had the solution. I asked for Bubba to help me with my amp issues because he had helped me a few weeks before in buying a pedal. His knowledge and explanation re the pedal was impressive in that he educated me a great deal about pedals.

Bubba guided me to the amp which he was sure would be appropriate for my problem. It was a used Fender tube amp which he demonstrated how to use, and I bought it. I got it home with great anticipation that there was still some hope of getting into electric guitar playing. I didn't try out the new/use Fender amp until the day after I bought it. I turned up the volume on my Strat, and the clouds parted and the sun was shining through. There was NO background sound at all - no hissing and no humming - only the sweet sound of the guitar when I played it. An astounding success! Bubba has an understanding of musical equipment beyond anyone whom I've ever talked to. He is somewhat of a savant in my humble opinion.

It seems that there have been some major changes in management and personnel at this Southfield store. The personnel are much more helpful with the customers and much more educated in the needs and understanding of the equipment which they are using and selling.

I'll also compliment the new manager - Eric - he has been very personable and willing to assist me, as any of his personnel have assisted me.

Kudos to everyone at this store - but...

I ordered a DW hi hat stand on line for curbside pick up at Guitar Center in Southfield, MI. When I arrived, I notified the company and opened my trunk. No one appeared, so I went in, even though I received a message that they were on their way to deliver it to my car. Once inside, I found the sales rep who I spoke with previously on the phone. He said he did not get a message that we were at curbside. I showed him the phone message proving otherwise, upon which he apologized. He ran off to get me the order, which appeared in an annihilated box. See picture. He then opened that box, which contained another box with the hi hat stand, which other box had previously been opened. I specifically ordered a factory sealed item, so I rejected it. He asked me if I wanted a refund and I said no -- that I had paid for a new-in-the-box item and just hadn't received it yet. He said it would be 3-5 days for a new one. After shuffling some papers, he said he needed my credit card and that the price had gone up by $50.00! I exclaimed, "What?!!" and he said he'd check with the manager to see if I could get the original price. After a few minutes, he said they would honor the original price, and he again asked for my credit card. I said, "Why?" He said he refunded the first transaction, even though I specifically had told him not to. Although exasperated at this whole event, I gave him the card and he attempted to ring up another charge, but claimed the card was declined. Sure enough it was --- after wasting 10 minutes on the phone with the credit card company, I was informed that the sale's agent typed in the wrong three digit code on the back of the card!! When I went to inform the sale's agent of his error, he was no where to be found. That was all I could take. I got on the phone with Sweetwater, ordered the same item on the spot and paid for it (less money, by the way!) and will have it w/in 24 hours delivered to my house. I told the other clerks about my dissatisfaction with the entire transaction (the sale's agent still had not returned) and left the building. I look forward to dealing with Sweetwater...

Murphy is the man! I came in today hoping to buy my first keyboard, something I’ve been saving for a while for and was stoked to do. After about a 20 minute wait for my appointment (appointments are a safety measure the store is using to keep their capacity limited for everyone’s safety, you have to respect it) I was directed back the the keyboard area. Murphy immediately said hi while helping another customer and asked that I use hand sanitizer to keep things clean. When he finished taking care of the other person, he found me messing around with a few keyboards and let me know that, although he didn’t want to hover, I should feel comfortable to ask any questions I might have if I would like. I told him I wanted a keyboard that had a feel similar to a traditional piano and was like a MIDI controller. I gave him my price range. He directed me right to a product that fit (Yamaha P-125). I explained my long term setup goals and was given high and low end recommendations on microphones, headsets, and cases. He was honest about which products were and were not worth their price as well as which did just fine even though they were cheaper. I ended up walking out with a keyboard, stand, and a clear understanding of what I’m saving for next, which was far more than I was expecting. His product knowledge was solid, and he was patient with me and all the questions I asked. He even loaded everything into my car for me when we were done. Now I know you might be thinking, “well that’s his job... to do everything you’ve said.” Let’s be honest and admit that not everyone takes the time to do the job right. If you head into Guitar Center in Southfield and happen to be taken care of by Murphy, you’ll understand why I took the time to write this out. Thanks my guy.

Management, this man deserves a raise, or at least some extra PTO.

The one downside to my visit was that the store was a bit under-stocked due to COVID, which is arguably not their fault. I can only imagine the complications it has caused, so no...