NBD - Shocking stuff from PMT, pre dinged and missing backplate

[Guest]

I do wonder what goes on with music instrument retailers flogging non-clearance items at heavy discounts. The Kingpin Stingray listed on another recent thread is a perfect example - PMT must have made a massive loss, which I guess is fine for one item but why seem to have done this quite a bit (I just missed both a USA Sterling 5 and a Classic Stingray 5 last year, both of which they dropped to a frankly astonishing £1199).
 

Setting side any nefarious behaviour or mis-description of items for sale, it doesn’t seem to bode well for any shop’s long term future.

 

By contrast, Bass Direct basically never discount anything (by which I mean the prices are generally set - not necessarily more expensive than other shops, but once set don’t usually drop) and their used basses are rather pricey - but then they are one shop with a much smaller cost base, specialise in bass and tend to have a lot more high end gear. However, it strikes me that their business model might actually turn a profit that can be sustainable.

 

We don’t have that many shops that sell a reasonable range of bass gear in the UK, so if one of the bigger chains were to fold (like Sound Control for example) it would probably harm any price competition - particularly when much of what I am interested in is actually available at, can be bought from Thomann in Germany, in GBP, and shipped to my door for less

 

[Woodinblack]

32 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

I do wonder what goes on with music instrument retailers flogging non-clearance items at heavy discounts. The Kingpin Stingray listed on another recent thread is a perfect example - PMT must have made a massive loss, which I guess is fine for one item but why seem to have done this quite a bit (I just missed both a USA Sterling 5 and a Classic Stingray 5 last year, both of which they dropped to a frankly astonishing £1199).

 

Yes, thomman had the 5 string Rick 4003s/5s last year for £1600. I would have got one but it was before they had their vat thing sorted (ie, they would have been £1600 once you added vat), by the time they got it sorted (and they were still £1600) i had gone off the idea.

 

 

32 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

By contrast, Bass Direct basically never discount anything (by which I mean the prices are generally set - not necessarily more expensive than other shops, but once set don’t usually drop)

 

The prices of anything that has been there for a few months starts dropping routinely at bass direct. Its one it is easy to compare as you have an email trail for it.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Woodinblack said:

The prices of anything that has been there for a few months starts dropping routinely at bass direct. Its one it is easy to compare as you have an email trail for it.

Perhaps the commission sales, because they’re basically decided by the seller, but most don’t seem to hang around that long and not the new bass stock. I follow quite a few items that have been on the site for over a year and the prices are exactly the same, Dingwall, MM Spector, Sadowsky etc. so that’s not my experience at all.

[Chris2112]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

 

 

The prices of anything that has been there for a few months starts dropping routinely at bass direct. Its one it is easy to compare as you have an email trail for it.

 

That Jerzy Drozd fretless four string that they had seemed to have been there since Jesus was a lad and went through a few price drops. They don't seem to keep hold of used stock all that long in general. 

[Kev]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

The prices of anything that has been there for a few months starts dropping routinely at bass direct. Its one it is easy to compare as you have an email trail for it.

Depends what it is I guess.  They had a top of the range Warwick bass in stock at £7,000 since 2017 and its only sold this year, last pirce I saw online was still £7,000...

[Woodinblack]

Just now, Kev said:

Depends what it is I guess.  They had a top of the range Warwick bass in stock at £7,000 since 2017 and its only sold this year, last pirce I saw online was still £7,000...

 

I am guessing just second hand stuff, the price of some other stuff (like the spector) dimensions has gone up

[thisisswanbon]

I've had a similar issue in store to be fair with an EBMM sterling 5.  It had been in the shop for a while, so they discounted it by around £300.  I snapped it up, foolishly without checking it properly.  Got it home to find the nut had been damaged and looked like it'd roughly filed.  Their distributer gave me a couple of sets of strings to make the issue go away which I accepted. 

 

Then the phantom coil in the pick up stopped working, so every 1/3 times you plugged it in, series sounded thin, parallel sounded thinner, and single coil didn't exist.  Seemed to correct itself if you pushed the pick up until you got an audible click.  Had it sent for repair 2 times to come back unfixed.

 

Third time I told them I wanted the bass exchanged.  At this point, they couldn't honour my previous deal and would only give store credit. The bass I wanted was now out of budget and money I otherwise wouldn't have spent was tied up in store credit.  Ended up putting a bit more money down on a Sandberg, which I heavily modified to suite my needs before moving on at a fair sized loss.

 

The most I'll buy from PMT now are accessories and lower cost pedals.

[Grassie]

@lemmywinks can I ask which branch of PMT you’ve been dealing with?

[lemmywinks]

Just now, Grassie said:

@lemmywinks can I ask which branch of PMT you’ve been dealing with?

 

 

Of course! Address on the invoice is the Liverpool store.

 

[Grassie]

17 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

 

Of course! Address on the invoice is the Liverpool store.

 

The reason I ask is that I had some dealings with the Romford store regarding a damaged used bass a while ago, but the guys there were super-helpful and managed to turn around a repair and despatch (along with a no extra charge upgraded hard shell case) within 48 hours. Very impressive stuff. I would use them again.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

33 minutes ago, Grassie said:

The reason I ask is that I had some dealings with the Romford store regarding a damaged used bass a while ago, but the guys there were super-helpful and managed to turn around a repair and despatch (along with a no extra charge upgraded hard shell case) within 48 hours. Very impressive stuff. I would use them again.

Crikey, you’ve just reminded me that I have dealt with PMT more recently than I thought and it was at PMT Romford!

I popped in there with a bass I wanted to p/x, not really knowing if they would be at all interested. I walked out with a Fender Am Deluxe (just before they turned into whatever the face lifted model was). They had three of them in the shop and the Olympic White one was the best of the them. The guys in the shop were super helpful and gave me an excellent deal on the p/x. The Am Deluxe is a bass that I still have and is a keeper. 

[lemmywinks]

45 minutes ago, Grassie said:

The reason I ask is that I had some dealings with the Romford store regarding a damaged used bass a while ago, but the guys there were super-helpful and managed to turn around a repair and despatch (along with a no extra charge upgraded hard shell case) within 48 hours. Very impressive stuff. I would use them again.

 

Yeah tbh every member of staff I've spoken to either via phone or online has been very good. The person I spoke to on the phone had a scouse accent and the number was the Liverpool warehouse.

 

In other news the cavity cover has arrived (albeit with 3 black and one silver screw) and has been installed.

Edited August 2, 2022 by lemmywinks

[Rich]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

 

In other news the cavity cover has arrived (albeit with 3 black and one silver screw) and has been installed.

 

For some reason -- and my only excuse is that it's been a long, busy day -- at first glance my poor addled brain read this as, "In other news the cavalry has arrived..."  

[mcnach]

On 01/08/2022 at 14:11, lemmywinks said:

Just to mention - this isn't a thread asking how to deal with a situation so no silly comments, drama or advice is needed

 

are you new here? 

[lemmywinks]

Update - spent a bit of time setting the bass up to factory specs, it came with a silly low action and a lot of backbow but is now playing properly. With the cavity cover on it's basically a fully functional ex-demo bass and PMT offered a further 5% discount making it around £730 which I think is an excellent price so will be keeping hold of it.

 

Got to have a full rehearsal with it last night through the provided cabs in the picture, sounds great and is very ergonomic to use. The Nordstrands in this bass are excellent, also fits nicely in the Gator Pro Go Deluxe guitar gigbag even with the bottom padding still in place.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by lemmywinks

[Guest]

It does seem that the satin finish on some recent models (like the newest Laklands with the roasted maple neck) are a little more prone to bumps and dings. That might account for it being in the shop but in less than mint condition. Still, considering the the new selling price £730 seems pretty good. As someone who plays seated I really must try one of these - the balance must be fantastic. All’s well that end well

 

[lemmywinks]

55 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

It does seem that the satin finish on some recent models (like the newest Laklands with the roasted maple neck) are a little more prone to bumps and dings. That might account for it being in the shop but in less than mint condition. Still, considering the the new selling price £730 seems pretty good. As someone who plays seated I really must try one of these - the balance must be fantastic. All’s well that end well

 

 

As much as I like Cort basses they do turn out basses with very soft finishes, think I already mentioned the B5 OPM I had which developed player wear extremely quickly. They should do the same on the Squiers they produce and sell them as easy relic finishes!

 

Definitely give these a try if you like playing seated, I do most of my home playing/learning sat at a PC with headphones and it's very comfortable for that, lots of options RE positioning and a more upright, classical style posture is possible. Been playing my Sinsonido a lot recently which I think may have subconsciously steered me towards these basses.

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, lemmywinks said:

 making it around £730 which I think is an excellent price so will be keeping hold of it.

 

Got to have a full rehearsal with it last night through the provided cabs in the picture, sounds great and is very ergonomic to use. The Nordstrands in this bass are excellent

 

Yes, its a great price, would have snapped it up and I already have one (ok, mine is a MS but still). the nordstrands are excelnt, they have the bite of the Big Singles without the hum, which is very good.

[lemmywinks]

34 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Yes, its a great price, would have snapped it up and I already have one (ok, mine is a MS but still). the nordstrands are excelnt, they have the bite of the Big Singles without the hum, which is very good.

 

 

I like that they keep that same sound in passive mode, really pokey midrange that is also present in my Zoot. I have an urge to put Elixirs on this, haven't used them in ages but think they'd really suit how the bass sounds.

Edited August 4, 2022 by lemmywinks

[lemmywinks]

I gigged this bass last night - keeping hold of it was absolutely the correct decision, it's killer.

[GremlinAndy]

Personally, I want to hear about it.   Calling it “not classy” isn’t classy, and imo, beneath a moderator.

If I’d payed for a new bass I’d expect exactly that.  Plus, in the expectation of getting a perfect bass, the OP has committed to some other bits.  I think he has the right to be miffed at them for apparently not even quality checking the stuff they send out. 
 

Glad to see it all settled in the end though.

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by GremlinAndy

[Supernaut]

10 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

I gigged this bass last night - keeping hold of it was absolutely the correct decision, it's killer.

So... marketplace in a month? 

[lemmywinks]

3 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

So... marketplace in a month? 

 

Contrary to the norm on here I generally gig the same bass for years, besides I've already bought a guitar gigbag for it so kinda have to keep it now as nothing else will fit in it!

[neepheid]

28 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Contrary to the norm on here I generally gig the same bass for years, besides I've already bought a guitar gigbag for it so kinda have to keep it now as nothing else will fit in it!

 

You think that'll keep it safe from resale?

 

[Woodinblack]

46 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

Contrary to the norm on here I generally gig the same bass for years, besides I've already bought a guitar gigbag for it so kinda have to keep it now as nothing else will fit in it!

 

Did it not come with a gigbag? I know it was a b stock but it seems odd as by default from ibanez, they come with gigbags (they are slightly offset, like a triangle profile, and they just fit the EHBs and nothing else.