Lee

Hello! I'm feeling sad and alarmed at the decline of Denmark St - particularly for bass players. I clocked something wasn't right about a year ago when looking in the Bass Cellar (with cash on me to buy) and noticing there was a slow turnover of stock with very few new additions and many dusty basses remaining unsold. The shop as always remains dimly lit and many key brands are now missing with a general lack of enthusiasm, loving care and attention - even nice lighting would be a start and perhaps a cloth to wipe off the dust too! A source told a few months ago that the account for Musicground was often 'on stop' and was the reason why the 'chain' in Denmark street weren't getting many deliveries of new stock and why customers are being quoted long lead times (whether this is true or not I can't say but this is what I was told). When I went to Denmark St last weekend (wanting to buy a bass) I went back to the Bass Cellar and was shocked to see the same dusty basses still on the racks unsold and a large number of Stagg basses and cheap Peaveys! There weren't as many Fenders as usual and not one single Squier AT ALL! I can understand Rose Morris selling Staggs etc as they sell alot of educational material and probably cater for schools and people starting out and it's also good that the Bass Cellar stocks a few of these brands too to cater for all budgets and experience but I don't understand why the supposed 'specialist' bass shop which we all need is now filling more and more of its space with these brands and seemingly not making any effort to source new and exciting basses and products currently being talked about and sought after. I went across the road to Rockers and its the same situation there - except worse - they've only got about 20 basses (many non-descript no-brands)left in stock and the assistant told me they won't be selling basses anymore - they're phasing them out and it will only be the Bass Cellar! So, I went to Wunjos to see if they also do new basses and the guy offered to order me the bass I wanted with a lead time of 5 days (and not 2-3 weeks or even 6 MONTHS as quoted by the assistant in the Bass Cellar!) He gave me a good price - and no word of a lie - I came away having ordered 2 basses in the range! So, in case people weren't aware - Wunjos isn't just a second hand/vintage shop - they will order new ranges in and offer a good deal too with lovely smiles and good old fashioned service which is increasingly hard to find! Thank goodness for these guys!! Am I getting old and cynical or does the Musicground chain of the street seem a bit limited, with nothing in stock, long lead times and a decrease in enthusiasm and product knowledge? There are so many exciting new products and basses hitting the market with good reviews etc and it feels that Denmark St (with the exception of Wunjos who are lovely and bend over backwards to make you happy AND don't look bored, taking the time to have a conversation about guitars etc) has let its foot off the gas and is getting left behind - in fact it appears not to care. It's worrying when the people running these shops (whom I assume are bass players/ guitarists themselves) don't seem to care or even share the same level of excitement and joy in the products as us ...