Crazy Tales From Working in a Guitar Store

[@ehrichard]

That moment where samuraiguitarist lives in your city and you watch a video dreading that one of the stories will be about you.

[@II-V-I]

So you're the naked guy 🤔

[@connorthedjenty188]

I mean i live in the same city and i have the same fear bro

[@mitchinatr7093]

You the licker?

[@okthen1256]

@@mitchinatr7093 i A m

[@monoswinger]

@@II-V-I hey we've got the same name, just mine in Hungarian:)

[@TheRamsberg]

My craziest guitar story, was when I'd been up for a few days on a bender, walked into a guitar shop to jam and didn't even realize until I sat down, that I had my "Big Bertha" bong with me. But nobody seemed to care about that, and everything was cool, until I went to stand up and somehow my overalls fell down. . .

[@chubbypapaya]

Yeah that reminds me of when I was a kid and I had my dad spend $5000 so I could recreate one note from a Metallica song

[@cegf3d]

back when i was a guitar someone paid 5k for me, an amp and a pedal just to recreate one note

[@lorenzkroh755]

Poor kid, he will never get the first note right. They put a piano under the first note to get that tone right

[@JulienPaarmann]

They might have bought that piano right afterwards in the store down the street.

[@geetarislife2843]

not to many people know that I guess

[@Kylora2112]

If only Andriy Vasilenko were there to tell the kid that :)

[@Goabnb94]

All the gear, no idea

[@MisterRorschach90]

poor kid? he got 5 grand worth of guitar equipment for one song, and OBVIOUSLY had a piano at home if he and his dad were super into music and buying expensive gear.

[@jordantaylor789]

I guy I used to jam with, his mom bought him an acoustic guitar at a garage sell for $10. He was young and didn't think much of it. It ended up being a 50s Gibson all original.

[@maxscardanelli6185]

Jordan Taylor Holy fuck! Did the guy sell it or keep it? I want to know the rest of the story now lol.

[@jordantaylor789]

@@maxscardanelli6185 last I heard he kept it and didn't have any plans to sell it

[@maxscardanelli6185]

Jordan Taylor Tell him not to sell it. It's worth a lot now but will be worth more in the future. Especially with Gibson's business on the decline...

[@jordantaylor789]

@@maxscardanelli6185 I haven't seen the guy in over 8 years. But he was a smart guy I'm sure he's holding on to it

[@gujikujtutu2330]

I had to break my bones to buy a guitar 😂😂

[@CurtisAlfeld]

"$5,000 was spent on literally one note." That sounds like a joke from Spinal Tap.

[@yese1697]

your profile pic is cancer

[@benjamindminor7552]

That’s not a real band.

[@CurtisAlfeld]

@@benjamindminor7552 No shit.

[@nigeltufnul917]

@@benjamindminor7552 Yea, it is.

[@ballpythonsarecool5437]

@@benjamindminor7552 yes it is

[@ShiningXwolf]

I also worked at a guitar store once. One of my most memorable tales was having a regular "tire kicker" (To those unfamiliar with the term, somebody who goes into a store with no intention of buying anything and just burning time, in a musical store this generally means someone coming in to play some instruments in their free time and not purchase anything.) come in. He was a younger guy and was on the slower side intellectually. On this particular day, he plugged into a 6505+ head attached to a Marshall 4x12 and started wailing away at louder than reasonable volume. And by wailing away I mean he was playing the intro riff to Crazy Train completely out of time and tune. Well also on this particular day, there was an older man that came in with a violin that was trying to find some way to amplify it. This was just a run of the mill beginner violin, but one of my coworkers obliged to the best we could and set up a mic and stand for him and ran it through a Roland Cube Street. Well for some reason, these two kindred spirits decided that they dug each others style and both started playing together. Ridiculously out of time Crazy Train, complete with completely out of time violin soloing. It was a once in a life time experience for sure. EDIT: I forgot to mention, this lasted for 45 entire minutes.

[@orlock20]

That's when Crazy Train stops being a song and becomes a way of life.

[@ciri151]

45 min and you didn't record any of it? It could have been one of those guitar fail hit on youtube!!

[@cmdrsocks]

That's why there is a master switch in the mains breaker panel - to simulate power cuts :-)

[@Bidwellz9]

and that my friend, is how TENACIOUS D

[@Tombo1230]

I think I might have engineered a fire alarm drill that day.

[@carljohnson4691]

I always preferred to have the dad bring the kid in, especially if he played. The moms would always say something like, “We want to get Junior a nice new guitar, but we don’t want one of them expensive hundred dollar guitars.” However, one day something awesome happened. A mom comes in with a big kid - 5’-10”, 170 pounds, maybe, but he’s twelve years old. He goes straight to this Gibson Les Paul Studio. I had played it a few times, and it was sweet. Mom says it’s too expensive, to no one’s surprise. She tries to steer him toward Squier Bullet, and low end Epiphone Les Paul guitars; meanwhile Junior is playing some really sweet stuff on some Epiphone Les Paul Standards. The kid is way better than the average music store kid, and polite, too. I’m hoping his mom buys him something good, just because I like him. I’m thinking, “Get him that Epi Plus top, he deserves it.” I ask if this is a graduation present, and they tell me it’s for his birthday.I ask him when his birthday is, and he says, “Today.” I said, “Cool, guess who else’s birthday it is.” His mom says, “Yours?” I tell her, “Yes, but it’s also that guys birthday.” As I point to a cardboard cutout on the wall. She asked who he was and before I can answer the kid says, “Mom, That’s Les Paul! That’s who all these guitars are named after!” She says, “Really? That’s a sign, we’ll take that one.” As she points to the Gibson. That was June 9, 2008. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier for a stranger’s child...or more surprised by a parents reason.

[@jimix5708]

Great story I try not to ignore signs myself

[@agent_orca7512]

You sound like an amazing person, Respect +

[@marthab-c5226]

Guitars a better for children if the parents who bought them have played before.

[@falconlover5430]

such a wholesome story, you made my day :)

[@maxy4545]

r/thathappened

[@aryamanagarwal5051]

Guitar lick oh you mean ohhhh

[@loveyouian150]

One day I looking around in my local guitar center and I saw this white Ibanez gio. It was 250 dollars and I asked my mom for it. She said that we don’t have they money for it and to put it back. So as I walking to the wall to put it back this stranger offered to buy it for me. I still have it today and it is my number 1 guitar. I will never forget that day

[@chopin65]

I like that story. People amaze me.

[@sansocie]

I was having a crap day until I read this. Thanks.

[@MarkoMarcello]

Wow....

[@truther4851]

Ian Lyman Isn't that so great ..

[@anishmistry2067]

That's a great thing to do! Hopefully you'll pay it forward in the future!

[@samuraiguitarist]

Note: Art and Lutherie definitely still exists Another Note: The guy who gave the guitar biker the guitar was Rob Godin of Godin guitars. Thanks to my former fellow employee Mark for pointing that out in the below comments (also check out his channel for some cool pedal demos).

[@msmoniz]

Yeah I was gonna say! I did a "huh?" when you said that. They're on of the Godin acoustic guitar brands

[@MarkLondon.]

That was actually Robert Godin that gave the guy the new guitar. And how can you forget spunbob no pants. These are great memories!!!

[@msmoniz]

Mark London Robert Godin himself? 😲whoa!!!!

[@MarkLondon.]

Michael Moniz Yep ! He was in giving a history and how they do it at Godin Clinic . He was moved by the guys story .

[@samuraiguitarist]

@@MarkLondon. Oh man how did I forget!

[@catjudo1]

I've had great experiences in music stores over the years, but the best one was when my wife and I took our ten year old to a music store because she wanted to play with a trombone. (I played trombone in middle and high school in orchestra and jazz, and was actually pretty good.) We took her to a Sam Ash and the salespeople were very kind. They pulled one of those plastic horns down (the ones used for outdoor stuff in which the sound doesn't have to be absolutely perfect but a brass horn can get damaged) and handed her a mouthpiece, to which I showed her a basic embouchure and told her that she had to be very careful with the instrument as it did not belong to us. She had a blast (literally) just making noise and moving the slide around for a few minutes, then she carefully handed the horn back to the salesperson and thanked him as a polite child should. My reward was getting to look at all the pretty new guitars and basses, one of which was a new Rickenbacker 4003 Mapleglo, which was (and still is) my dream bass. I said as much to my daughter and before I could stop her she goes and asks the same salesperson if her dad could play that bass in the glass case. As he came over I told him that I really didn't need to play it, but he shook his head and replied that "It gets lonely in there and the air gets stuffy. It's good to let him out and let him socialize for a little while." I feel a bit embarrassed playing the bass, as I'm not much of a bassist, and my daughter is watching me with a big grin, basically gloating that she did this for me. Nothing really exciting happened, nothing got broken, no feral Karens, just a very kind staff who made my daughter's day, twice. Mine too, in truth. Some days are good days.

[@jadenrobinson9781]

I love it when people humanize stuff like that, it shows that they care about what the thing does and what is represents.

[@chalkedupmusic9610]

As a proud guitar store employee myself, I'd have to say my favorite crazy story is the guy who played an acoustic guitar AND SANG in our store for nearly 3 hours, and even did a mic-check into the sound hole, and then proceeded to tell me that both Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain are both alive and well in his home town of Omaha, Nebraska, after having faked their deaths, both to escape charges brought by the Omaha, Nebraska police.

[@truther4851]

brady Could be true lol

[@truther4851]

brady Did Sid ever live in America though , I don't think so lol

[@drpibisback7680]

The image in my mind of this man whispering "testing, testing" into an acoustic guitar is hilarious.

[@TheStompboxer]

Strange. You’d think they’d leave Omaha, in that case.

[@darrenkrehoff5200]

Of course Cobain is still alive. He's totally living in Green Beau Alabama, though. Forrest Gump started renting him the guest house once Little Forrest went away to college. Why does everybody always look at me funny when I tell them that?

[@Djarra]

Back in 84 The Bass Centre opened in London and they had no one buy anything the first day. The second day around lunchtime a tall bearded guy walks and looks round, John Entwhistle of the Who, he buys some stuff and then proceeded to tell all his mates to get their arses down there helping the shop become a success and a business that is still going strong today.

[@AlexH8280]

I once went into a Guitar Center, and strangely enough, all the guitars were set up well, even the used guitars. I could just enjoy trying new gear instead of constantly tuning. The sales staff were all extremely knowledgeable, yet humble and experienced musicians themselves and really understood guitar gear. Overall I just felt good being in there. Ok I'm lying none of that happened.

[@lindasmith6316]

Right! Last time I went into a Guitar Center I could have been a ghost!

[@TokyoBlue587]

Ha, I knew it wasn't true! The people in my local Guitar Center didn't even seem to know much about guitars. Luckily I tried the local Sam Ash and they were helpful there.

[@galaxy7nails613]

Really? I'd say just about everyone at my local guitar center are good guys... and gal. The sam ash nearby is about as good too

[@NickAdamski69]

The people at my guitar center are the best. I got a free case and everyone there is helpful and the guitars are set up nicely

[@eclong462]

@@TokyoBlue587 I went to my local Sam Ash the other week and they had infinitely better customer service

[@izzyh3735]

K I want a guitar store show Like The Office but guitars

[@jacemeldrum5052]

Izzyee Is Tired DUDE YES

[@BrandochGarage]

Make one (but like Clerks)

[@truther4851]

Izzyee is tired Great idea ..

[@jpd4eva]

Strummer Rifflin Guitar Company 😏 make it happen my dude!

[@struckbyamightygustofwind]

@@jpd4eva limitless guitars in a guitarless world

[@GistOfItMedia]

I ripped my jeans down the ass crack a few weeks back at my guitar store. Toward the end of my shift I leaned against a glass case, and was startled by how cold it was. At that point, I realized I had been trying to sell guitars with my ass cheek almost fully exposed. It's humid where I live, part of the reason I'm always free balling it. At least I got to go home early.

[@davidschwartzguitar]

I’ve never worked in a physical music retail environment, but I did work for zZounds in Chicago, and I’ll never forget the time when one of my coworkers IM’d me saying that there were two people fucking in the office building next to ours. So of course everyone rushed to the window, and sure enough, there was this woman riding a dude hard on a big leather sofa. Naturally the supervisors got pissed because no one was answering the phones, so they broke up our voyeur session. The next day, I got another IM telling me to look out the window again, and this time, the dude was getting screamed at by (presumably) his boss, who kept violently pointing at various spots on the sofa. The dude was pacing around, clearly saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry” over and over again. A few hours later, the dude came back to the office again with a bucket and sponge, and scrubbed away his love stains.

[@chopin65]

Damn! LOL. I think that was "I Worked in A Guitar Store and Here is My Crazy Ass Story" adjacent. Great one. Clearly you had the wrong job ; )

[@truther4851]

David Schwartz Scary lol

[@maxscardanelli6185]

The office could only have been the one that they use for Casting Couch...

[@alexanderruckheim3870]

I once went to my local guitar store ( I don’t buy anything there anymore, except for picks) and here comes the story why I‘m not a fan of this store. It is a small store first of all, there’s not much of space but it is the only real instrument store around in my district. So I went in, and there was a 12 year old kid with his mother, getting some advice from one of the employees on which guitar to get to start. And overhearing their conversation, I figured their budget was like 600€ ( I think the bigger the budget to start with the less will the kid be able to appreciate a squier strat or tele which are good instruments for beginners) But the salesman smelled money and he tried to sell them a Hagstrom 7-string for 500€ quit. As he was getting the guitar set up and all of it, I stepped in. I told the kid and mother that he would need 7-strings and that learning on an acoustic is actually better, but if it has to be an electric guitar I would go with a squier strat and he doesn’t need the fancy 7 string shit. The employee called them over to try out the Hagstrom. And he fed them with bullshit like how good it is to learn on a 7-string. I buy my stuff and wait outside of the store. The mother and kid come out empty-handed. She actually gave me her phone number and asks me to get a guitar with the boy. As they walk away the employee comes out of the store and shouted at me. I‘m trying to ruin the store, he said. How could I? I replied: How could you try to rob this hard working mother off her money and more importantly how could you rob the kid off the pleasure of learning an instrument. Turns out they fired him 4 months later. The boy became my first and only student and we remain friends until this day. That was 5 years ago.

[@tetrayeet8146]

And then everyone clapped

[@WhyAreHandlesAThing_]

That boy's name? Albert Einstein.

[@firdaus125]

That boy grew up to be Barack Obama

[@goose_42]

and that boy grew up to be kurt cobain

[@dingdong6757]

It's true I was the guitar

[@TeamScorpioRI]

Oh man, thanks for the memories. I worked at a guitar store for 12 years and like any job, you have stories. For some reason, musicians always make for more interesting ones. I remember one guy who came in with an SG copy to sell us. The headstock was snapped off and attached back on with a drywall screw. If that wasn't bad enough, The "Gibson" logo was painted on by hand. When we tried to explain that we could not buy the guitar because it was not a real Gibson (plus the damage), the guy proceeded to call us idiots and that this was a rare guitar from the time when they were "painting the logos by hand". There was also a guy who traded in a Les Paul, but forgot to take the brick of cocaine out of the case (that was a fun call to the cops). So many stories, so many memories. It was a fun job, but at the same time it was hell.

[@WingmanStudios]

What happened to cocaine man?

[@TeamScorpioRI]

@@WingmanStudios no idea. Gave the info to the cops, last I heard of it.

[@mannyj5195]

My most cherished guitar was a Small (about a size 3/4) classical guitar with a Blue Auburn finish on it. My grandma had bought it for me for my 18th birthday on my trip to Mexico. I remember getting off the bus and seeing this guitar flashing the suns reflection on my eye, obviously catching my attention quickly. But what kept me hooked was the beautiful color blue it had. I had to at least try to play it ( I hadn't yet learned how to play guitar). So as we were discussing and looking around he recommended me a smaller version for myself as a beginner and offered to help me learn with the purchase of the guitar. The guitar only cost 500 pesos (50 usd at the time) which was a deal. It only took me 3 sit downs to fully understand and catch on to chord shapes. for the next 2 years I didn't let that guitar leave my grip. unfortunately I had to leave that guitar behind as I joined the navy. Which I now have 4 and a ukulele.

[@evmanbutts]

When I was 15, I was sick of always playing acoustic, and had been saving up all the money I could make to buy an electric guitar and an amp at a pawn shop. I had about 150 saved up, when my dad broke down and took me to the music store and got me an Epiphone LP100 and a Fender Mustang amp. The difference in playability made me much more eager to learn to play.

[@MirlitronOne]

A former guitar teacher of mine was working in a local music shop when a guy walked in and placed a guitar case on the counter. Inside was a VERY old Stratocaster which he'd apparently had under his bed for nearly fifty years, unplayed. He was going to sell it but wanted a new set of strings on it and asked if he could pay them to re-string it. My teacher agreed and asked him to come back in twenty minutes. He had just removed the old strings when the shop owner came over and let out a low whistle. He took the guitar out of the case, turned it over to look at the back and... all the frets fell out of the dried-up fretboard onto the floor. Embarrassing.

[@lindasmith6316]

Guitar under a bed for nearly 50 years would have a bent truss rod,(which would also need repair) no matter unplayed ,or in a case. Hard to believe the guitar teacher did not check the guitar out more thoroughly before removing the strings.

[@tboysrocknroll8848]

My friends and I opened up a guitar shop back in the 80s ( just a small place, nothing fancy) but we were lucky we knew a collector who gave us guitars to stock our walls...one day this dude walks in and asks us if we had any kazoos..that's right KAZOOS..well we told him we'd order one for him and he left...as a joke we got in touch with one of our suppliers who promptly shipped us a box of them ( box was like 10 bucks or something). Next week dude comes back and buys the BOX...and after trying to put his orange ( the fruit, not the amp) into his pack of cigarettes ( you know to keep it fresh) he then reached into his bag and pulled out an open box of fig newtons that he wanted to share with us...you can't make this stuff up...there were a million other crazy stories as well but that one was the funniest and light hearted that I remember...

[@willmorrison1022]

My only real story from the stores I've worked in was the Christmas time one year when a man called up and told me he wanted to buy his son a guitar amp to learn to play on. "Nothing too big, 3 or 350 watts should be enough". I made him say it again. I told him that I had been playing for over 20 years and had YET to even SEE a guitar amp that big, that I played on a 100 watt amp and NEVER turned it up past 3. I also told him that if his son was just learning, that HE didn't want that large of an amp in his house, regardless of WHO was playing it. I also told him that if he came down to the store I would show him how loud a 15 watt guitar amp actually is, and that we had them with headphone jacks, something HE would definitely want even if his son didn't. He didn't want to believe me, and said that he had 350 watts a side in his car. I tried like crazy to tell him that car watts and living room watts are NOT the same thing, and he just wouldn't accept that. Here I was trying to save his wallet, his hearing AND his sanity, and he DEMANDED more watts for a kid who didn't know how to play yet. I'm sure he went down the street to the bigger name store and bought the biggest one he could find. Some people just won't listen to the voice of reason. Guess I've been lucky that this is my most interesting story. Beats the hell out of Spongebob No Pants.

[@ciri151]

lol I would've loved to stand outside his house when he put a 100W on 10 and played a note. (Assuming the big amp he found was 100w) He and his son probably went deaf XD

[@willmorrison1022]

@@ciri151 Most likely. He was probably really disappointed that he couldn't get his son a "real" amp, too. I wonder how many times he went back over that conversation he and I had...

[@truther4851]

Will Morrison Sometimes people get things in there head and you cant budge them , Its like they are not listening properly , I know because Iv had people go over and over something to me till I get it .. Sometimes they lack logic I think he will soon find out though lol

[@crimsun7186]

So, I'm gonna assume he actually bought a 3000W bass amp...

[@willmorrison1022]

@@crimsun7186 Your guess is as good as mine, but I know it coudn't have turned out well.

[@RC32Smiths01]

I thought that this would be about the time someone didn't play Crazy Train, Smoke on The Water, Smells Like Teen Spirit, Back in Black or anything of the like lol! Great video as always man!

[@samuraiguitarist]

Those times didn't exist

[@RC32Smiths01]

@@samuraiguitarist Ahh ye, but one could only dream haha

[@maxscardanelli6185]

RC32 Don't forget 'Sweet Child O Mine'!...

[@RC32Smiths01]

@@maxscardanelli6185 ahh you aren't wrong there!

[@alexandershaer1079]

Yea they played stairway to heaven

[@molly-bd2lo]

ive only ever bought one guitar from a guitar store and the guy who was there was so helpful - i was looking at the squire bullet strats because i had a tight budget (since i dont have a job and i had to pay half for guitar and amp) and the guy quickly pointed us towards second hand guitars which were much better for the same price. i managed to get myself a much nicer instrument for the exact price me and my dad had in our pockets, and the store guy threw in a gig bag free. he also helped us pick out an amp the second time we came, so yeah, gotta love him

[@Pluh88]

I worked at a small mom and pop shop here in Atlanta. This man and his son came in and asked if we can install a kahler tremolo. I asked my boss he said sure. The kid had a cloth case with band names written all over it and when he opened it up it was a Walmart first act strat clone. It had a really bad hack job EMG pickups and had black beauty strings. Needless to say the guitar was pretty much hacked up and the neck was like a slice of bacon. My boss said I don't think I can help you. His father insisted on the tremolo. My boss told him that it would probably do more damage to than good but he didn't care. My Boss accepted the deal. He went to the back with it. Before I left he was showing me how bad the neck wasn't lined up with the body and that the pickups we're little taped in. My boss after a day or so was able to install the new tremolo. When they returned the kid picking it up and played it for a second and said, " I liked it better before". His dad shelled out the cash and never saw them again.

[@Speedojesus]

Oh god. If I was his dad I'd have some pretty fucking stern words for that kid.

[@Pluh88]

I agree, I have also had the same as samurai a man came in and spent 5k on a whole gear setup for his son, he bought a Zakk Wylde Les Paul the Gibson model the name slipped my mind. A whole set of Krank amps and pedals. Three months later he came in trying to sell it back because his son was bored with guitars...

[@andrewmccloud8581]

@@Pluh88 Only started guitar a few months ago. My guitar at the moment isn't garbage, but it's not great either. It's a 'legend' stratocaster. I am pushing myself to keep playing for a few more months before spending much money on it.

[@CurtisAlfeld]

I'm trying to figure to figure out why anyone would buy such expensive parts for a Walmart guitar intended to be played by a child.

[@nate_creates]

I never worked at a music store, but during my most recent trip to that Guitar store everyone knows, I was noodling away on a Nord Stage and an employee comes up to me and says that he needs to take the keyboard I'm playing on because it was just sold. He then proceeds to pick up this massive, 88 key, $4000 keyboard using the side of his waist (since his other arm was apparently occupied by a single cable...) and carry the whole damn thing under ONE ARM all the way up to the register. My friend and I offered to help him, but he refused. He was clearly struggling, too, and he wasn't some big bodybuilder type of guy either. He was pretty average sized. I swear that he could have dropped that thing at any moment. Oh well!

[@lurk7967]

1:47 Overalls and a bong sounds like Canada to me.

[@shannonm7981]

Honestly, I would kill to work in a guitar store. On an unrelated note, can I borrow your samurai sword?

[@redactedht8709]

Funny how that dad bought 5000 dollars worth of gear for his son who wanted to recreate the first note of Sanitarium, but the whole reason it sounds that way is because they added in a piano note on the record lol

[@wowok7082]

Your the kind of channel where I like the video before I watch it

[@samuraiguitarist]

Appreciate ya

[@propyro85]

I've learned the hard way not to work retail for anything you've got an mild interested in. Because of my experiences working in a comic shop and EB Games I nearly lost interest entirely on games and comic. Took quite a few years to heal those wounds, and I now extend that rule to just not working retail at all.

[@yucatansuckaman5726]

Let Disney smash your favorite franchises, not retail.

[@guitarplayer1994]

You got me scared there. Art&Lutherie still exists...

[@samuraiguitarist]

Ya it seems they definitely do. Did they stop making them for a bit? Maybe the store I worked at stopped carrying them. Not sure why I had that in my head

[@DannyoftheAlpacas]

@@samuraiguitarist Yeah they did, they upgraded them from what they were and brought out the legacy, Americana and Roadhouse(I think). I love them.

[@Djarra]

@@DannyoftheAlpacas Godin restructured a couple of years ago so it was a bit sketchy and you can't get any of their brands in the UK any more.

[@DannyoftheAlpacas]

@@Djarra Yes you can, I live in Suffolk, England and own a couple. Plus my local store always have Seagull and Art&Lutherie

[@Djarra]

@@DannyoftheAlpacas Well never them in London. Since Chappel became Yamaha

[@parkerhatcher224]

I nearly cried when you were describing that Les Paul they wanted to butcher! Good ole Winnipeg eh? I can guess the store you may have worked at. As a tech, I've personally had to do some odd things that I desperately tried to talk clients out of. But sometimes they won't budge. It's painful! The other day I stripped a BEAUTIFULLY stained tele body. And painted it black, with red splatter. I mean, it looks amazing. But that naturally stained body was so sexy.

[@eetfuk8431]

Haven't even watched it yet , and i already know it's awsome.

[@scottman68]

Not really "guitar store" related, but did you happen to see the story about Myles Goodwyn of April Wine recovering a stolen '62 Gibson Melody Maker after it had been gone for 50 years? Apparently it was assumed to be destroyed in a vehicle accident, but was actually stolen. He got it back this Christmas Eve.

[@TannerGr8rix]

Check out the Premier Guitar Rig Rundown of Peter Frampton. He tells the story of how he got his famous Les Paul back after it was though to be destroyed in a PLANE CRASH.

[@Rowe4900candymachine]

Sonic Youth had their entire gear truck stolen and got a guitar back that had been burned. Earthquaker actually did an entire video about Lee Ronaldo's gear kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoewoGd8Z61jmrs ,he shows it off at about 16:43.

[@scottman68]

@@Rowe4900candymachine Just wanna say that there is a special place in hell for anyone who steals an instrument from a working musician. it is bad enough to steal from us "enthusiasts", but for a working musician, the instrument is their livelihood.

[@Rowe4900candymachine]

@@scottman68 100% agreed, not to mention the emotional attachment, they also stole and repainted the first guitar Lee used in the band too. Luckily they were able to borrow some instruments from people they were touring with and they also changed up the setlist.

[@Djarra]

Back in the 80s, I've been told by a few people, they had to start locking the Steinburg pencil guitars to the wall in the old Music Exchanges in Birmingham, England, as on more than one person attempted to steal one by putting it down their trousers.

[@woodchucksquirrel]

I have some crazy stories from being *in* guitar stores. I am afraid of what this vid holds.

[@angus2016young]

Here's a crazy guitar store story: Somebody went into a guitar store ONCE and the employees ACTUALLY assisted them instead of trying to sell them something that the customer wasn't even asking about. I know right, crazy, huh? It's down-right frightening!

[@samuraiguitarist]

One of the nice things about where I worked is that it wasn't commission based. So I was never pressured to sell something rather I was encouraged to help people buy the *right* gear instead of expensive

[@Ash-gv7uj]

Good on you Samurai. There’s too many sales people out there that prey on consumers that don’t understand, whether it be for their own commission or for the business. It’s taken me a long time to learn enough about guitars to go into a store and buy one with the confidence of knowing what I want but would hate leaving with something that costs extra for a feature I’d never use. I don’t really even make much use of my tremolo bridge.

[@angus2016young]

@@samuraiguitarist You are a godsend, Sensei! Thank you for being you! Thanks for restoring my faith in guitar store humanity!

[@mungus381]

The stores I go to are brilliant, haven't had a bad experience with employees

[@geekychick131]

@@samuraiguitarist I know the Long and McQuade ways

[@fazooleq1523]

love the best guitar-buy story........my mom was a realtor and her clients often had garage sales. I went over at the tail end of one.....I found an old glass blender from the 50's for $5 which was relaly cool....house was otherwise empty. Went down in the basement and a old battered guitar case had a piece of tape that said $35.....I opened it up and was sure what I saw but knew it was special. I bought it immediately and researched it to find I had a 1956 Gibson ES-225T.

[@PatPosse]

Oh MAN do I have a TON of these!! I was a Senior Department Manager at a SamAsh in Miami. I have seen EVERYTHING!!

[@shaharyair4314]

Dude i worked in Guitar Store and i had a customer that actually had one sided conversion with me while i was setuping a guitar for two hours... My Manager was impressed :)

[@WingmanStudios]

What was the conversation about?

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

These stories are amazing.Kinda makes me want to work at retail stores just for the experiences.

[@dimebagtribute]

One day in the store where I worked a customer bring me back a guitar he bought several month ago and he wanted to sold it. I told him there was no problem and ask him to show me his axe. When he gave me the guitar I notice a big hole in the headstock and I asked him what hapened. He answered me he didn't know were to place this beautifull US Strat and one day he found the perfect solution: he drilled a hole in it to be able to hang it to a screw he put in his wall... Sometimes people can be really stupid 😂

[@Dust514rocks]

Okay, now THAT should be punishable by death! xD

[@CurtisAlfeld]

He really couldn't have just left it leaning in a corner?

[@WingmanStudios]

I almost hate you for having told me this story.

[@kouroshesfandiari1278]

0:53 James Hetfield plays the clean part of sanitarium

[@iqceo4276]

Kourosh Esfandiari the dad is crying right now

[@cardfreak0560]

The fact that the note the kid wanted to replicate is an open E string just makes that story so perfect

[@phillipholt6005]

I had a POS Ibanez acoustic guitar for 10 years and finally took it to Sam Ash and I paid 35 dollars for a Strat. I still have it in original condition. I've never modded it. I'm a 😊 HAPPY man.

[@guitarreviews]

I also worked in a music store and I also took it upon myself to clean up 'that room' one day. I also found lost guitars. There were two Epiphone Masterbuild guitars with huge cracks in the back. They sounded amazing. Marked them 50% off and sold them in a week!

[@benakanecrophile2878]

The first note of sanatorium was a piano

[@lespaul678]

The piano was under the guitar low in the mix

[@HimTortons]

@@lespaul678 it wasnt that low. Also that first note was played by james and Im pretty sure james didn't play a les paul back then (although I might be wrong)

[@john564holloway]

@@HimTortons Yep, piano & guitar simultaneously...

[@DC-yb7qd]

A lot of people who play the guitar are just cringe

[@moiseslopez815]

“These are the people we share this planet with” 😂😂😂 Great stuff 👏🏼😂

[@melodica5407]

Modding out an expensive jimmy page signature guitar? Why don't just custom build a guitar 😐

[@ziggylayneable]

I walked into a guitar store in 1984. I bought a 1980 USA American Standard Stratocaster still in the box never before played. I guess it came from that forgotten room where they put stuff that they think is never going to go anywhere that you were talking about( I still play and still own that guitar to this day)

[@briano.5746]

The Page Les Paul story was freakin' horrifying ! 😰🤢

[@john564holloway]

Love these stories, Sensei! Thanks for sharing! It all balances out mixing horror stories & success stories...

[@Polyphemus.]

4:05 - I have soooo many banners! I turned the second bedroom in my apartment into a small studio, totally decked out in all sorts of brand paraphernalia. My best score was a bright orange neon 'Orange' sign, which sits pride of place between my studio monitors and just above my screen. Bathes the studio in a lovely orange glow, whilst I rock out on my Orange amps. 😁

[@TheUncleLar]

I used to hang out (1960s) at a local music store where the owner had bought out his father-in-law's organ studio. He preferred organs too, but had a nice stock of guitars as well. One of his staff asked me to check the storeroom with him shortly after the sale, and we found a 1959 gold Les Paul, which the staff guy bought, and a 1958 National Resophonic, which they gave to me as a thank you for demoing their cheap acoustics to potential buyers. 40 years later, I gave the Resophonic to a guy states away because a) he was a good guy, b) he was a good player and c) I was moving to Germany...

[@thecompanioncube4211]

You'd be surprised how many superrich dads come to fulfill their child's "dreams". I have once witnessed a shop owner convincing a dad to buy a CHEAPER guitar coz his son wanted a $1000 hollowbody electric with an 100W amp as his FIRST guitar. Owner sold him Squier tele and a 20W amp. He was a good owner

[@theamateurfurry4735]

I work at a WinnDixie, which while it’s not a a music store (like at all, we’re a supermarket, and we have a few CDs but you’re not necessarily looking for music whilst shopping for groceries) I have discovered quite a few interesting goodies. I doubt I’ll find a guitar in the backroom, but I love this video! Much love!

[@kw9172]

In late 1999 I hung out at my local music shop and talked to a friend of mine who worked there when a customer called to check if his 1960ies Fender amp was y2k proof. My friend replied that he should be fine unless this particular tube amp had a date feature. He managed to keep a straight face which is a testament to his work ethics:)

[@irahenderson7840]

Going to the post office really meant goin to smoke some hooch

[@OEMPlus]

modding that lp would be like buying a ferrari, doiing an LS swap on it and doing a new paint job.

[@skyrimpro117]

someone somewhere has done this, and you fuckin' know it.

[@BassistBob81]

6:44 He had to go to the post office to drop off a big package.

[@jmsanchez5989]

I'm a drummer trying to learn bass and here I am watching a lot of your videos for more than a day now. And I don't know why.

[@Paulscottrock]

I was in mount Juliet music one day in 1979 when a guy walked in and exclaimed “ that’s my guitar “ . Apparently it had been stolen . The music store guy just said , do you have proof ? And the first guy said “ yes I do. So I hung around and that dude came back in 15 minutes with his proof and the music store guy handed it over . Also was in that same store and the people who owned the store were on family feud. I watched it with them .

[@WingmanStudios]

What was the proof? A receipt? Video?

[@danwilhite]

Great stories! I spent several years working and teaching at a music store. You’ll definitely meet some interesting people there! Sadly music stores have been becoming quite rare where I live.

[@Pit_Wizard]

Never worked in a guitar store, but I've definitely had some odd experiences working retail. One time this guy came to pay his phone bill. I tell him the amount, and he pulls a wad of cash out of his pants pocket. So far, so good. I take the cash, and that's when I feel something wet running down my hand. I look closer, and the money is completely dripping with syrup. Like pancake syrup. Smelled like butter pecan. The guy must have seen my dumbfounded look, because he starts trying to explain himself, saying how his "kids must have done that". It came from your pocket, that doesn't explain anything! What the hell is wrong with people?

[@billymayo3640]

Ol’ No Pants sounds like a Borderlands boss

[@ChrisBlackTV]

Damn, that's one hell of a floydy strat, my favourite type of guitar. Great deal mate.

[@TeaBagOfChaos]

One time I went to a music store to practice on electric drums because I can't get my own set, and there were 2 employees. After some time they both left the store for about an hour. I was the only one at the store and I was thinking "Who leaves their store full of expensive things unattended?!" Did they assume I'm trustworthy and would watch over the store as I play? Hmm

[@poisenbery]

Me: Blasphemy? That is a little dramatic... Me, after hearing story: You should have killed them on the spot

[@Lozoot2]

Godin is a pretty fucking cool company. I work in a small mom n pop music store (support your local businesses!) And we carry Godin and their sub brands. Sometime in 2014, one of our regular customers bought a brand new Seagull (I think it was an Excursion) and he absolutely loved it. Well, unfortunately in 2017 he had a house fire that destroyed most of his collection of expensive and gorgeous guitars. One of the few survivors was that Seagull. Granted, the bridge pulled off and the neck was now warped, but it was surprisingly structurally sound. When he told my boss (the store owner) this story and showed us the guitar, my boss got on the phone with our rep and before you could say "stairway", our guy had his battle scarred guitar back in playing condition, courtesy of Godin, for no charge. And let me tell ya, that solid top SANG from being oven roasted! This is why you should shop local, you'd never see that kind of service from a guitar center.

[@frequencydecline5250]

The guy at my local guitar store started refusing to sell me strings until I could name the string I needed. Turned out he had been playing for 12 years hoping to one day be "good enough to be in a band" and there I was in a band, playing weekly, and coming in just before shows saying, "I need another one of those third fattest strings." The day he wouldn't sell me one was hilarious. He just started screaming, "D! it is the D! D STRING! D! D! D! D! D STRING!" But I guess that is what happens when you think you need to hit the ground running as the next led zepplin but we were just aiming for The Germs. Felt pretty bad for him for postponing his dream.

[@suetruett3812]

I worked in a music store awhile back and this is a story that has stuck with me..it was Christmas and you can imagine how busy we were. A couple came in wanting an electric guitar for their kid. It was my time to demo si went out and did so. Several of the other workers had been sick with a stomach bug. As I was demoing, I hegan to sweak, turn very red in my face and feeling like I was going to be really sick. The lady says, "Honey, look how hard she is showing this guitar" she's really into it. They thought I was so hard at trying to make a sale that they bought the guitar, an amp and all the goodies that go along with a new guitar. I wzs given credot for the sale cause I had to run to the restroom.....

[@andrewharing2637]

My best story from working in a guitar shop was the time a middle-aged guy came in and told us his dad had recently passed away and they'd found some guitars in his loft when they cleared the house out and he thought he'd find out if we wanted to buy them before throwing them away. He didn't expect them to be worth anything. We asked him if he knew anything about the make, or could describe any of them. One of them, he said, was "not a proper guitar", and might be a toy, but it said "Gibson" on it. We asked how old it was, and he said it must have been more than 50 years old because his dad had had them before he was born. Anyway, long story short, after some more quizzing and having pointed at various things on the wall and asked whether it looked like any of them, it turns out it was one of a very small early run of flying Vs that Gibson made before discontinuing them and then bringing them back years later, and according to our book of guitar values, it was worth about a quarter of a million pounds. The guy would have been happy if we'd offered him fifty for it. We didn't, by the way. We told him to get it valued by someone who sells extremely valuable guitars because our building insurance wouldn't even cover having it under our roof overnight. By the way, another guitar he remembered seeing had "Some German name", and we asked whether it was Rickenbacker, and he said yes. So that one was also worth a lot, and we didn't even find out how many more there were or what they were.

[@argyristsoukatos4093]

I loved you at the ending story about the post office! Did not expect it! Great video!

[@Nckfallin]

Dude you’re almost one million! Congratulations 🎉

[@leedesrosiers3382]

I think around 1996 or 1997, I was a kid starting to learn guitar with my awesome candy apple red squire strat, bullet series. My mom took me to American Music in Seattle to look around. Was playing terribly, on a couple of amps and ended up jamming with some skinny bald dude. He was super nice and helpful, I had alot of fun. Turns out, the guy was Chris Ballew from The Presidents of the United States.

[@onsesejoo2605]

Well, the first note story isn't worse than what you read in the guitar magazines where they tell their stories about the sound in their head they've been chasing for years even though they don't know it until they hear it. Needless to say no one else has ever heard or will hear that sound.

[@aliensporebomb]

I don't work in a music store but I've frequented them enough to see some stuff: a guys dad buying him a Jackson USA Soloist SL1 with a Marshall JCM800 head and 4x12 bottom and rack of effects and the guy was a rank beginner. Another time at a "Music go Round" used music store I saw what appeared to be the aftermath of a band breakup where they brought in a PA, amps, lights, guitars, drum set, keyboards, basses all to sell to get what they could off of it. Odd. Either that or someone stole a bands trailer. Another time I saw a guy who looked to be 15 not liking the feel of a Gibson L5 jazz guitar because "the neck was too fat". Good lord. I also saw a guy who looked like an accountant playing letter perfect Mahavishnu covers trying out a Gibson Howard Roberts. Scary stuff.

[@phromic]

i have never worked in a guitar store , but i have worked retail - it is very true, every once in a while there is a absolutely crazy moment and i love to hear them

[@ValenceFlux]

Daddy's Junky Music was where I got my first guitar and the place I went until it went out of business. I suppose I can name the place seeing as they went out of business. I applied to work there once. The manager was a bit out of his mind aggressive. 'Why do you wan't to work here!? How many sales can you bring in!? What do you know about gear!? Never mind give me your number I'll call you if I get time to train someone.' I had second thoughts on the job after leaving... haha. The staff that worked there was always really helpful. Good memories at that place. I never ended up working for a music store.

[@curbmassa]

I worked in two of their NH stores from '75-'78. Let's just say there are better places to work. Much, much better. They went out of business because of having to spend $700,000 in legal fees and back wages because of a lawsuit filed by two former managers. And it wasn't the first time they were taken to court for underpaying an employee. It was greed that did them in.

[@gilwood7530]

I got an A&L guitar in great condition ...JUST VERY DIRTY for 10 bucks at a yard sale ...I cleaned it up , new strings and I love that guitar ...it has a warm sound

[@dylanyeo1631]

The post office break one had me laughing for days 😂

[@henrystemme8009]

I loved this video ever since it came out. Now I work in a guitar store myself and I'm very happy about this

[@caseyplooy1696]

I worked in the drum department of guitar center for a couple years when i was younger..........oh the stories🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@ShallieDragon]

Great stories. Definitely looking forward to more tales from the road in the future. Side note, I am currently wearing my Traditional Guitar-Playing Samurai shirt. It's a good fit.

[@diogoRibeirinha]

i worked at my music academy's guitar shop for a couple of months as a part-time job in order to get some money to buy gear and possibly going to a few music festivals. we had a very old, don't remember the exact year now, gibson sg black with gold pickups, everything original, and i actually sold that guitar to spanish musician for about 5.500 euros, which was 500 euros more than it was being advertised. long story short, the store owner gave me part of the money as a "thank you" because they weren't able to sell that guitar, and i ended up going on a trip through my country (portugal) and its music fests. it was pretty cool, i guess ahah

[@sue_m]

6:28 - lysol wipes aren't the kind of thing i keep in my home, but when working retail, they are **invaluable**! 6:32 - i think "**sigh** these are the people we share this planet with..." is a standard lament among specialty retail workers. :D

[@roberthenry6910]

Once walked into a Guitar Center (go figure) in the suburbs of Chicago to look at the Gibsons as I was considering one at the time. Inside the store there were these two guys, one considerably younger than the other (presumably father and son or maybe brothers) "shredding" on these two high end Ibanez guitars. These guys were playing random notes really fast at the highest frets possible with no tempo or proper keys or anything, just playing as loud and as fast as they could. Absolutely astonishing. Their playing was surreal. I cannot begin to describe how bad it was. I plugged into a 50 watt orange and kept to myself at a reasonable volume until they left.

[@hotwheel6663]

This are great stories as short to the point and entertaining.

[@finnmcool2]

Everyone that has worked retail has those kind of stories. I got my first guitar, an entry level Yamaha classical, as a tip for loading a set of flat pack bookshelves into someone's car. Until then I'd only played low brass. At the time it was a $150 guitar so, good tip.

[@stefanpalicki3538]

uh, art and lutherie still exists, they're under godin

[@thesollylama130]

Not a guitar store story itself but in a guitar store. I met a guy in the Army that was being processed out after the vehicle he was touching got struck by lightning during a training op. It had killed one soldier and injured two more. He was a bit of a snapcase after that and would leap over tables to start bar fights with whole groups of people. He was also a pretty solid guitarist. As I was a newbie bassist we hit it off and started hanging out. We went to the Guitar Center in Denver where this guy proceeded to sit down and start playing amazing keyboards, then he sat at drums and was really good on those too..he never mentioned he could play anything but guitar yet he walked around the store sounding like a pro at every instrument he touched. The only thing he didn't do was sing but I suspect he could do that too. Eventually he was processed out of the Army and went to Chicago to visit family...and never returned. He left over $1000 worth of guitars and amps at my house as well as his car and all his medical records in it. Never heard from him again. I ended up giving the car to a scrapyard to get it out of my driveway, handed his records back to the Army, and played those guitars for years until divorce forced me to sell everything I owned. To this day I have never heard from him again but I still warm up with a basic song we wrote together during that brief time.

[@WingmanStudios]

Last name? I might be able to track him down for you?

[@MichaelEdelman1954]

Managing a music store is what got me to go back to school and get my degrees. It was either that, or start killing customers...

[@cms3816]

nice hat

[@danrunnheim3870]

I always felt bad for the guys at my local music connection. My mom bought my first guitar there 30 yrs ago, i would actually go in and pretend i was looking at a certain used guitar but i was just watching people play trying to learn something, anything. Then buy a bunch of picks.

[@htauz]

Love the hair, hate the hat. -Yours truly, a depressed Minnesota sports fan.

[@samuraiguitarist]

I was at the game last weekend. Wild won, Buff got injured, not ideal

[@htauz]

@@samuraiguitarist I hope you still enjoyed the game a little bit despite losing and Dustin getting injured. I think the Jets are at the top of the Central right now, so you guys can boast about that at least. Meanwhile the Vikings gave us Minnesotans our seasonal depression the next day though, fun times ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@joshbittner]

$260 USD for a not-broken American Strat is just insane value. And I thought I got lucky on eBay by getting a basically unplayed 1995 American Strat a couple years ago for $500 cause the seller failed to put "American" in the listing name...wow, congrats on your buy. I guess it can play all the metal with those EMG's and the Floyd, haha

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

I just couldn't take anymore when you said "paint job" in the first story!