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Bass Direct


jgmh315

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15 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

I think we’ll agree to disagree on this one. I recognise your tone from some of the “customers” I had the misfortune of encountering.

Wow. No biggie, I recognise your tone from some of the "sales assistants" in multiple shops that ultimately went bust due to lack of customer loyalty as a result of awful customer service😁 

Edited by mrtcat
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13 minutes ago, mrtcat said:

Wow. No biggie, I recognise your tone from some of the "sales assistants" in multiple shops that ultimately went bust due to lack of customer loyalty as a result of awful customer service😁 

Anyone visiting Bass Direct is a serious potential buyer. I would like to bet that they get almost no casual 'walk-ins'.   I've spent time at the retail 'coal face' and have to agree with mrtcat (and therefore disagree with FDC484950) that if they want a long term future they should/must pay attention to making the customer feel good about the purchase. I travel on Ryanair by necessity not choice - even Michael O'Leary, about whom it has been said that he is capable of starting an argument even when in a room on his own, has realised that a business has to give the customer the 'warm fuzzies' as my kiwi mate calls it. I am not saying that Bass Direct is as bad as Ryanair btw - far from it, but they need to up their game in that department

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I’ve just picked up on this thread: I have sold 5 Basses thro’ BD, I’ve bought one. I’ve bought and sold (via BD) a few heads. I’m a retail person, customer based, worked in Rumbelows Wallasey in the late 70’s, Domestic, Electrical, Vinyl and musical instruments. I understand the ‘filter system’ but, as has been said there are (IMO) no tyre kickers in BD. I went there to buy, bought and sold, Marks a hard nosed retailer, Marcus is receptive IMO it’s a great place to both dream and shop.... Sure, the pressures on with so much stock, but, look at the alternatives...... a London Company that has relatively little stock, international retailers that are ‘just’ retailers.

Me, I’ll stick with BD

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On 22/06/2018 at 08:53, mrtcat said:

Wow. No biggie, I recognise your tone from some of the "sales assistants" in multiple shops that ultimately went bust due to lack of customer loyalty as a result of awful customer service😁 

 

Nope, they disappeared for any number of reasons, not least that spend on musical instruments went through the floor, poor financial management, not stocking (or being able to get enough credit to stock) what customers wanted or would sell in enough quantities to keep the business afloat, customers wanting a discount on everything, cutting into an already tiny margin, and finally, box shifters on the internet undercutting at rock bottom prices. Bass Direct may be different in that it specialises in a narrow area and there are few bass shops in the UK. Flouncing out because you thought you got poor service and telling everyone about it on here, rather than dealing with it there and then benefits no-one. As you’ve been a customer there before and “spent £5K” there, surely you’ve built up enough of a relationship to sort out such an issue?

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8 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

 

Flouncing out because you thought you got poor service and telling everyone about it on here, rather than dealing with it there and then benefits no-one. As you’ve been a customer there before and “spent £5K” there, surely you’ve built up enough of a relationship to sort out such an issue?

Who "flounced" out? I just didn't bother looking. I don't feel any need to discuss it with the shop as it's their loss not mine. I don't see why it's upsetting you so much that you feel it's ok to be fairly offensive in your response. This whole thread is pretty much about people's mixed experience of Bass Direct so my original post simply tells of my own experience. 

Edited by mrtcat
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  • 2 weeks later...

Big positive from me, I spent half an hour or so at BD yesterday on the way up to Manchester. Played a nice Maruszczyk (which has changed my opinion of them!) and was very close to pulling the trigger. No pressure from Marcus, some sound advice and a very pleasant experience indeed. Will certainly go back :)

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I forgot about this thread, I was treated very well when I popped in about ten days ago, arrived with two Precisions, left with an Alembic and a small dent in the wallet, no pressure was applied (not that it was needed, the Alembic was calling to me!) and everything was very relaxed and friendly.

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On 11/09/2017 at 20:39, ambient said:


Sound/tone comes as much from your hands as much as the pickups and guts of the thing.



I have to agree with this.

At uni people played my instrument, I played theirs, I sounded like me, they sounded like them.

Disclaimer. I'm a bit drunk, sorry.

Running a specialist shop like BD is admirable, and no doubt they do good business. Fair enough, wish I had the confidence to make a visit etc etc. But.....and I know this is gonna tick off just about everyone on here. I've been to a number of big gigs/festivals recently with bassists playing all manner of different instruments.....and guess what..they all sounded the same...boom mush boom.

So I put out there a philosophical conundrum. Bass.   Do you really need to spend gazillions of quids to create bass tone that Jo public can appreciate?. My ill informed opinion, nope....

And with regard to the above gigs etc... all the P's sounded like all the others. It's made me really appreciate my crap but pleasant sounding Squier.

If enough of u have a go at me for writing in this inebriated manner I will pull this post asap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pershonally, I think righting when pished is fine, it is more expresso of what you is thinking. 

I'd agree with what you said or wot you rote, in general. Or anywhere else.

Anyways, a lot of it is not about what the pubic appreciate, its about having a sound that makes you happy, and we do like to be happy, don't we? I mean, if the bass sounds nice in your ears, then it helps you play better. Or something.

I usually play Fender basses, but last weekend played two giggles using my Alembic and it sounded nicer to me ears, but also to the rest of the band, the soundman and a  surprising number of peeple in the ordinance, many of whom came to tell me how nice the bass sounded. Which was nice.

 

(it's harder trying to write pished when you're not than trying to write sober when you're not!)

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1 minute ago, FinnDave said:

Pershonally, I think righting when pished is fine, it is more expresso of what you is thinking. 

I'd agree with what you said or wot you rote, in general. Or anywhere else.

Anyways, a lot of it is not about what the pubic appreciate, its about having a sound that makes you happy, and we do like to be happy, don't we? I mean, if the bass sounds nice in your ears, then it helps you play better. Or something.

I usually play Fender basses, but last weekend played two giggles using my Alembic and it sounded nicer to me ears, but also to the rest of the band, the soundman and a  surprising number of peeple in the ordinance, many of whom came to tell me how nice the bass sounded. Which was nice.

Hic.............eh?

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3 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

Anyways, a lot of it is not about what the pubic appreciate, its about having a sound that makes you happy, and we do like to be happy, don't we? I mean, if the bass sounds nice in your ears, then it helps you play better. 

 

Ugh just downed a gallon of coffee...bad idea, anyway.😝

Cant say I really agree. I have always strived to produce a tone that the paying audience finds satisfying and guess it stands to reason that its usually a tone I find pleasing too.

 

 

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31 minutes ago, oldbass said:

Ugh just downed a gallon of coffee...bad idea, anyway.😝

Cant say I really agree. I have always strived to produce a tone that the paying audience finds satisfying and guess it stands to reason that its usually a tone I find pleasing too.

 

 

I thought your initial post was suggesting that as it all sounds the same out front why bother wasting money on an expensive one when a cheap does the same job. I think that is down to having a sympathetic and competent sound man more than anything else.

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