risingson Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) Long story short, I was helping my girlfriend move out of her flat in Bethnal Green and in exchange for this she let me go to the Gallery for a bit. I don't often get down to London being based up north, but to me a trip to London isn't really complete until I've got to the Gallery. The service was great as well, I don't know the guy's name in there (it wasn't Alex this time) but he couldn't have been nicer about letting me try out some stuff. I actually went in to try the Nordstand VJ4 they have on their website ( [url="http://www.thebassgallery.com/product_details.cfm?ID=1587&type=Bass%20Guitar"]http://www.thebassgallery.com/product_deta...e=Bass%20Guitar[/url] ) but alas it was nowhere to be seen so in my quest to try out a few good 5 strings, I ended up playing a Sadowsky MV5PJ, a Dingwall Combustion 5 and finally a Sadowsky MV5, all through the Randy Jackson Markbass head + one of their 10" cabs. The first two were nice... they didn't blow me away though and I was a little disappointed to find out that the Sadowsky MV5PJ wasn't what I expected it to be, the low B wasn't as tight or focused sounding as I expected which was a shame. The Dingwall was cool and had a good low B but I was again a bit disappointed and quickly discovered that whilst the fanned fret thing was fairly easy to get on with, it definitely was not for me. The Sadowsky MV5 though, what can I say... it was brilliant. I've always found Sadowskys to be the basses I wanted to love but just couldn't for some reason or another. This particular MV5 was just excellent. The best low B out of all three of the basses I tried, focused, and such a massive tone as well. I was doing everything to justify the purchase of it but I think I'll have to get one now, it was just too great. The only thing stopping me walking out the door with it was the hefty pricetag of a little over £2000, but actually I think it was worth every penny. One of the best basses I've played. So all in all, a good day and if it hasn't been said enough on this site already, get down to the Bass Gallery Camden if you're in London as the service is always good, and the moment you walk in the door you'll feel like you've died and gone to heaven! Edited July 21, 2011 by risingson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 (edited) Unless you're left handed. I tend to go to the vinyl record shops around Kings Cross and Camden instead and buy loads of old sh*te. Camden is a great place. Edited July 22, 2011 by steve-soar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin_lindsay Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Glad you had a good time at The Gallery mate. The bloke who assisted you - if he had a shaved head, that would have been John Chapman, great guy (he's actually just completed a new custom built guitar for my brother). If he had shoulder length hair, that will have been Martin, the owner. Great guy and a great friend of mine for many, many years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nottswarwick Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 How was the randy j head mate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted July 22, 2011 Author Share Posted July 22, 2011 [quote name='kevin_lindsay' post='1312289' date='Jul 22 2011, 05:45 AM']Glad you had a good time at The Gallery mate. The bloke who assisted you - if he had a shaved head, that would have been John Chapman, great guy (he's actually just completed a new custom built guitar for my brother). If he had shoulder length hair, that will have been Martin, the owner. Great guy and a great friend of mine for many, many years[/quote] I saw them both but the guy that served me was John, incredibly helpful. [quote]How was the randy j head mate?[/quote] Really nice actually, it packed a punch and sounded brilliant. I liked the simplicity of it all as well, you only had to touch a few bits and then you could leave it completely alone. Obviously I couldn't ramp it up too much inside the shop but it was very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbassist Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 I bought my Sadowsky M24 from the Gallery. It's a great shop and the service was fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc2009 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Only been there once and loved it. Also loved trying out a Dingwall 5, though wasn't convinced by the price. Was not a fan of the huge array of Markbass amps thoguh, and having been put through one and asking to be put through something else, I got put through another Markbass! I adored the Tanglewater contemporary J 5 though, beautiful looking thing and played amazingly, I think I may yet get one of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 [quote name='nottswarwick' post='1312302' date='Jul 22 2011, 07:33 AM']How was the randy j head mate?[/quote] I played one at the Bass Merchant the other day. Effing great! Going to sell my RH450 TC head and get one. Really punchy and clean sounding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan2112 Posted July 22, 2011 Share Posted July 22, 2011 Me and a friend visited the gallery.....what a treat!!! got to try out a lot of fancy high end gear even though we said we were not buying on the day. Top marks for the gallery (staff and the stock of basses). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Had a trip to deliver some of my wife paintings to a new gallery in london a couple of weeks ago. Got it done early so made a 1st time visit to the bass gallery. Went in & was blown away, just couldn't take it in! Too many basses, amps & everything. Couldn't try anything, just wandered around like a twat for a while then left. Same used to happen to me in record shops, I'd go completely blank & leave without buying anything. The only thing I remember was a sweet old trace v6 valve head just inside the door! Felt like a right dickhead! oh well I'll have to go back again with a written shopping list. Cheers, Norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
risingson Posted July 23, 2011 Author Share Posted July 23, 2011 [quote name='Norm' post='1314169' date='Jul 23 2011, 08:02 PM']Had a trip to deliver some of my wife paintings to a new gallery in london a couple of weeks ago. Got it done early so made a 1st time visit to the bass gallery. Went in & was blown away, just couldn't take it in! Too many basses, amps & everything. Couldn't try anything, just wandered around like a twat for a while then left. Same used to happen to me in record shops, I'd go completely blank & leave without buying anything. The only thing I remember was a sweet old trace v6 valve head just inside the door! Felt like a right dickhead! oh well I'll have to go back again with a written shopping list. Cheers, Norm.[/quote] I was kind of the same, my girlfriend said my eyes lit up like a kids would on Christmas day. I took the plunge though and tried a few things out, and they couldn't have been nicer about it really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 [quote name='risingson' post='1314372' date='Jul 24 2011, 12:26 AM']I was kind of the same, my girlfriend said my eyes lit up like a kids would on Christmas day. I took the plunge though and tried a few things out, and they couldn't have been nicer about it really.[/quote] Yes, me too, I was probably probably drooling slightly too. Keep going back to look at a CV Squier jazz with all that bling stuff in front of me. I already bloody know what they're like! Must try harder next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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