That time I bought a Guitar for $1 at Guitar Center
When I had just graduated high school, I was still working my job at a grocery store. I made enough money to go guitar shopping. I used to drive from rural Lenawee county to Toledo OH to get to Guitar Center.
One day I heard a radio ad for a Guitar Center Labor Day Sale on September 5th, 2005. At this point in my life, Guitar Center was something I had only recently discovered. This ad was extra special... the loud demanding voice on the radio ad claimed Guitar Center was going to be selling guitars for just $1!
The night before the sale, I drove down to the Guitar Center and arrived at about 10:30 pm. I began waiting at the front door of the business. I remember texting some of my friends from the grocery store I worked at, they ended up joining me about an hour later. Then, two other small town guys that went to my high school showed up randomly. The first 6 or 7 people in line, (me being first of course) were all from Lenawee county! I thought this was sort of funny because we all lived about an hour away from Guitar center. We had fun hanging out that night, strumming an acoustic guitar one of the guys had brought and talking about music.
Anyways, by the time morning came, the line had grown to at least 100 people. Some people tried cutting in line, there were some instances of people arguing in the crowd, and drama. When the door opened, there was a stampede! I ended up finding one of the 4 guitars they had for a dollar!
It was an Ibanez RG220B, just like this one on the right. The one I had, was missing one of the pieces to the locking nut. The whole experience was very exciting to me. I ended up selling the Ibanez shortly after buying it, for $150. I ended up regretting it, because buying it for a dollar was such a good memory!
I found this one on craigslist for $125. I am thinking about taking a drive and adding it to my collection today! I found the ad yesterday, and had a dream about it last night. Dreaming about guitars and music has become quite a common occurrence to me.
This Ibanez appears to be a great deal for $125. I wasn't sure of the value, but when I went to Guitarcenter.com and did a used gear search, the only model of this guitar they have is without the EMG pickups, and is selling for $249. Guitar Center prices are usually pretty accurate. They are an excellent way to find a point of reference to a piece of gears actual value, not just what someone on craigslist say's it's worth.
Well, in short, I hate sounding like a corporate shill. I find it embarrassing, but I think GC won a lifetime customer after selling me that Ibanez for a dollar. Guitar Center hasn't done a promotion like that since. The company was bought out by Bain Capitol in 2007. Now the company is 1.6 billion dollars in debt. Read about it here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/guitar-center-bonds-slide-to-record-lows-on-concerns-about-companys-debt-burden-2017-04-25
I think a significant source of competition is private sellers on craigslist, although 90 percent of the time those ads are still asking retail or above for the instruments being advertised. The article above states that online sales have hurt the guitar giant. I am not an economist, but I hope GC stays in business. If Guitar Center fails, the lack of competition may boost sales for smaller stores, but I doubt it will be good for the consumer.
---- Matthew T. Mruzek MD
One day I heard a radio ad for a Guitar Center Labor Day Sale on September 5th, 2005. At this point in my life, Guitar Center was something I had only recently discovered. This ad was extra special... the loud demanding voice on the radio ad claimed Guitar Center was going to be selling guitars for just $1!
The night before the sale, I drove down to the Guitar Center and arrived at about 10:30 pm. I began waiting at the front door of the business. I remember texting some of my friends from the grocery store I worked at, they ended up joining me about an hour later. Then, two other small town guys that went to my high school showed up randomly. The first 6 or 7 people in line, (me being first of course) were all from Lenawee county! I thought this was sort of funny because we all lived about an hour away from Guitar center. We had fun hanging out that night, strumming an acoustic guitar one of the guys had brought and talking about music.
Anyways, by the time morning came, the line had grown to at least 100 people. Some people tried cutting in line, there were some instances of people arguing in the crowd, and drama. When the door opened, there was a stampede! I ended up finding one of the 4 guitars they had for a dollar!It was an Ibanez RG220B, just like this one on the right. The one I had, was missing one of the pieces to the locking nut. The whole experience was very exciting to me. I ended up selling the Ibanez shortly after buying it, for $150. I ended up regretting it, because buying it for a dollar was such a good memory!
I found this one on craigslist for $125. I am thinking about taking a drive and adding it to my collection today! I found the ad yesterday, and had a dream about it last night. Dreaming about guitars and music has become quite a common occurrence to me.
This Ibanez appears to be a great deal for $125. I wasn't sure of the value, but when I went to Guitarcenter.com and did a used gear search, the only model of this guitar they have is without the EMG pickups, and is selling for $249. Guitar Center prices are usually pretty accurate. They are an excellent way to find a point of reference to a piece of gears actual value, not just what someone on craigslist say's it's worth.
Well, in short, I hate sounding like a corporate shill. I find it embarrassing, but I think GC won a lifetime customer after selling me that Ibanez for a dollar. Guitar Center hasn't done a promotion like that since. The company was bought out by Bain Capitol in 2007. Now the company is 1.6 billion dollars in debt. Read about it here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/guitar-center-bonds-slide-to-record-lows-on-concerns-about-companys-debt-burden-2017-04-25
I think a significant source of competition is private sellers on craigslist, although 90 percent of the time those ads are still asking retail or above for the instruments being advertised. The article above states that online sales have hurt the guitar giant. I am not an economist, but I hope GC stays in business. If Guitar Center fails, the lack of competition may boost sales for smaller stores, but I doubt it will be good for the consumer.
---- Matthew T. Mruzek MD
If you enjoy making music and playing it, then this labor day is for you replace your older instruments with some new ones with the Guitar Center Labor Day 2020 Sale.
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