I just wanted to add my 2 cents here. While I respect and understand the other comments, I am thinking that they may have unreasonable expectations or a little too much venom due to a bad experience. GC is just what it is, a band store with the most products in house. Yes, I have gotten less than stellar service there at times, but I have also worked with some of the most helpful salespeople there too. Personally, I appreciate the Emo guy's honest character more than the polished, blah blah blah - put you to sleep, salesmanship I have found at other stores. I do my own research before shopping and if I still have a question, I sift through employees until I find the one that I feel has the experience and knowledge to answer my question. I have not found pulling a guitar down off the wall, plugging it in and playing it nearly as convenient or even allowed at other stores in Fresno and when I bought my new Strat, I wanted to try out many before choosing the one I wanted. This is also why I don't do the online thing anymore with guitars. One bad experience and I decided I want to try before I buy from now on. That online purchase was through a major online retailer and they were excellent at addressing my concern and replacing the product, but it was inconvenient to say the least. Unless you are buying custom made equipment, all a store is to me is a place with products to buy. That is how I use Guitar Center and it is very good at that. As for our Emo's and such compared to the ones at places like Sunset Blvd or especially Union Square's Guitar Center, they have a much larger pool of underpayed musicians to choose from. Most of the best musicians I know in Fresno have a decent day job or are full time musicians.
Pros: Lot's of equipment, easy to try out
Cons: Hard to find the quiet times to check stuff out
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