Hey I can relate to this story. I've always felt weird in guitar shops because I don't have that "musician" look. No body piercings, no tattoo's, didn't have big hair in the 80s, ... They probably thought that I'm a shoe salesman or something. :-)
This situation is actually getting better these days because most of the guitar shops now realize that us guys who have gray hair, and love guitar, are the ones who are more likely to buy the expensive equipment that we could never afford in our younger days! Guitar Center is really friendly with me now, especially when I ask to play their more expensive guitars, etc. They often come by several times to see if I have questions, the owner will come by and chat with me, etc. They probably have a special alert system at the front door now when a 40-something guy walks in and wanders over to look at the Gibsons and PRS guitars. They know that these are the ones who will go for the more expensive stuff that they always wanted.
When I lived in the LA area in the late 80's I couldn't get any attention from people in the guitar shops because I didn't have the required permed hairdoo that identified you as a serious guitar player :-) I would often have guys in these shops trying to educate me about guitar equipment as if I were an idiot, without having any clue about my background or interests in gear, etc. Fortunately, this seems to be changing as I get older.
So now it seems that I'm finally treated as a serious customer in the shops, either because I look like someone's Dad or because I look like I still have a job. Either way, they seem to be clued in about who is likely to spend money in the shops. It's nice to finally get decent customer service for once!
-- Jim
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Originally Posted by jpfeifer