Guitar Center does me a solid, and I didn’t even initiate it.

← World (and Lunar) Domination – 2012 in review

Posted on January 1, 2013 | 4 Comments

On the Saturday before Christmas, we were headed to a family gathering & gift exchange.  On the way, we stopped at Guitar Center in Monroeville so I could pick up a book of Christmas Carols that I had seen at the Guitar Center in Robinson.  I didn’t find the same book, but was pleased with two that I did find.

Usually, I’m the one who lollygags in guitar stores, but the wife has taken up the ukulele, and over the past few years she’s the one that lingers near the ever-growing uke section at music stores.  In Monroeville’s Guitar Center, the ukes were right by the music books, so we both started looking.  Bethany was the first to spot our newest acquisition… The Yamaha GL1 “Guitalele“.  We both were fascinated by it, and I played with it a little as she asked “Do you want this as an early Birthday present?”

At first, I said no and went to hang it back up, but flipped over the price tag and saw that it was $99.99.  She gave me the “just get it” look, so we both new I just landed an early birthday present.  I do enjoy the wife’s ukulele, but the GCEA tuning did always mess with me.  Now I can play the ukulele without having to play the ukulele.  Although, if tuned “properly” the guitalele should be ADGCEA.  Of course, I dropped it to E because I didn’t like pretending it was a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret.  Although, I may have to get thicker strings or just suck it up & put it back in the A tuning.  They’re sort of like rubber-bands at this point.

Well, that’s just the first part of the story.  The second part stems from some interactions on Twitter.  I’ll try to post it all here as it happened, thanks to @YaJagoff and Luke from Guitar Center.

Eric Carroll @AiXeLsyD13

Photo: Stopped at Guitar Center today to buy a book of chords for Christmas carols, and Bethany bought me an... tmblr.co/ZexcVyZxAvZi

22 Dec 12

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Pittsburgh Jagoff @YaJagoff

@AiXeLsyD13 haaa cool. Is that a tenor?

22 Dec 12

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Eric Carroll @AiXeLsyD13

@YaJagoff yeah, it says "guitalele" on the label inside... Strung like a guitar, sounds like a uke!

22 Dec 12

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Pittsburgh Jagoff @YaJagoff

@AiXeLsyD13 do you prefer Guitar Center or Pgh Guitar on the southside?

22 Dec 12

A simple question.  I gave the easy, flippant, and predictable answer.  Rock musicians are supposed to rail against the establishment and big business, right?  Well, Guitar Center proves to be awesome here…

Eric Carroll @AiXeLsyD13

@YaJagoff hmm... Local shops always beat Guitar Center. Ha ha. Pgh Guitars on South Side is awesome.

22 Dec 12

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Eric Carroll @AiXeLsyD13

@YaJagoff I also dig Lawrence Music... I think it's in Scott Township. Music Go Round in Monroeville is cool too.

22 Dec 12

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Pittsburgh Jagoff @YaJagoff

@AiXeLsyD13 was there the other day looking.. they told me they sell 4 ukes a day all of the sudden.. must be the hot thing

Luke Waala @LukeWaala

@AiXeLsyD13 Luke here with Guitar Center. Keep in mind we offer a price guarantee. If you see a lower price email us!

22 Dec 12

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Eric Carroll @AiXeLsyD13

@YaJagoff yeah, I got my wife a uke 2.years ago, a month later there was an article in the CP about their popularity. Ha ha.

22 Dec 12

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Eric Carroll @AiXeLsyD13

@LukeWaala ha ha, thanks man. I do buy a lot of stuff there. This guitalele was an impulse buy!

22 Dec 12

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Luke Waala @LukeWaala

@AiXeLsyD13 Sounds good Eric! No hard feelings =) We just want to make sure our customers get the best deal out there!

22 Dec 12

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Eric Carroll @AiXeLsyD13

@LukeWaala Yeah dude. I bought a Guitalele there, I saw it online the same price & it came with a case. Can I get a free case?

23 Dec 12

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Luke Waala @LukeWaala

@AiXeLsyD13 Sorry for the late response! Could you shoot me a link to Yourvoice@guitarcenter.com I would love to look into this for you!

27 Dec 12

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Eric Carroll @AiXeLsyD13

@LukeWaala No problem, man. Email sent! Rock on! ==:::

27 Dec 12

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These are the links I sent to Luke at Yourvoice@guitarcenter.com:

• Sam Ash has the Guitalele & gig bag for $99.99
• Musician’s Friend had the Guitalele itself for $79.99
  (It’s oddly now up to $99.99 on the website — aren’t Musician’s Friend & Guitar Center the same company?  From Wikipedia:  “Guitar Center’s sister companies/subsidiaries incorporate Music & Arts, Musician’s Friend, GuitarCenter.com, LMI, Giardinelli, Musician.com, Private Reserve Guitars, Woodwind and Brasswind and Harmony Central.”  …Interesting.)
• The music123 ebay store has a bundle with the Guitalele, strings, a pick, a polish cloth and a stand for $99.99

I only half-jokingly asked “Any chance I could get a gig bag or stand for free?”  I mean, it never hurts to ask, right?

I was met with a response saying I was getting both of them for free!  We discussed shipping details & the right size gig bag in a few more email exchanges… but they’re now on the way to me via UPS.

I’ve written to companies before, but I’ve never had any of them seek me out on a social media platform in a conversation that wasn’t even addressed to them.  It’s pretty cool that Guitar Center believes in their price guarantee so much that they actively go after any perceived detraction.  It’s also cool that they’ll not only go up against brick-and-mortar stores, but online retailers too.

That being said, the “little guys” could argue that they have no way to compete.  They can’t buy in quantities & therefore probably not at such a low price… so there’s no way they can pass on such savings.  Free enterprise, supply & demand, competition, it’s all very interesting & a continually evolving battle.

At any rate, I win out here… with a free gig bag & stand.  So, thanks to Ya Jagoff!!! & Luke for helping to set the whole thing into motion!  I’ll post some photos of the gig bag & stand as soon as I have them.

So, does the Guitalele count as a guitar in my “13 Guitars in 2013” goal?

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