Pathetic local selection

[Dan Dare]

Not great where I live (Hants), but I don't expect it to be. Specialised items tend to be thin on the ground away from major centres of population, unsurprisingly. Say, for example, that one in ten thousand people play the bass and so will have the occasional instrument to sell. In the Greater London area, with approx 10 million inhabitants, there are likely to be a few hundred to choose from at any one time.

 

Move to where I live and you'll find a couple of dozen at best. Better players (excluding the rich and famous who have bought a mansion in the country) tend to live in major population centres because that's where most gigs are. Unless you want a used Squier, there ain't likely to be a lot to choose from.

[Bagman]

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[Terry M.]

On 27/10/2025 at 16:57, neepheid said:

Just having a random moan about living in the sticks, relatively speaking.

 

For excrement and amusement I had a look at bass guitars within a 100km radius of Aberdeen on FB Marketplace.  This yielded a choice of... 20.  And which one would I buy?  I'd rather just keep the one I'm trying to sell right now.  How pathetic is that?

 

Just a random Monday grumble for you.  How abundant (or pathetic) is your local bass marketplace?

Just heard Kenny's Music has closed all Scottish stores 🤔

[neepheid]

5 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Just heard Kenny's Music has closed all Scottish stores 🤔

 

Indeed, sad times.  The Kenny's in Aberdeen was your typical small town "try to do everything" shop which didn't really stock a lot of stuff useful/interesting to me, but I would buy sundries/strings/accessories from them from time to time.  Ahh well.  Only one shop left (Ramjam) but it's mostly a second hand place, will be interesting to see how they do in the void which has now been created.

[jezzaboy]

30 minutes ago, Terry M. said:

Just heard Kenny's Music has closed all Scottish stores 🤔

I have spent a few quid in there over the years and even before that when it was Sound Control. It`s a sad day when they have moved loads of gear but still can`t make it pay and makes me worried for the likes of Merchant City Music in Glasgow. 

[mcnach]

On 27/10/2025 at 17:48, Len_derby said:

Come to lovely, sunny Derby. It’s……..erm……..in the middle. 🤪

 

You know the island doesn't stop at Hadrian's Wall, right?

[Phil Starr]

I'm a regular user of Marketplace but I don't have high hopes of it. You are largely trawling the bottom of the pool, people clearing out their houses of unwanted trash. Pricing is all over the place and I've seen a lot of stuff where the asking price is more than the new price. You aren't buying from experts by and large. In the case of basses a lot of the stuff is parents selling off starter instruments. Most musicians wouldn't expect a top price through FB and are going to advertise elsewhere, like on Bass Chat . On the plus side a lot of people don't know what they are selling so you'll sometimes see a real bargain pop up. I might sell my Cort Action bass on Marketplace but I'm not going to sell my MIA Fender Deluxe that way. If I was going ot use FB I'd go to some of the FB groups that specialise in buying selling Musical instruments.

 

Having said that I've picked up some quality PA gear on Marketplace including a pair of RCF ART745's as new, and in RCF cases for £1200.

 

Anyway if @neepheid buys any more basses he's going to need a bigger truck next time he comes down here, what a fabulous collection

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Phil Starr

[Len_derby]

25 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

You know the island doesn't stop at Hadrian's Wall, right?

Ah yes, being unforgivably Anglocentric. It’s all those years being told I live in the Midlands!

[Terry M.]

18 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

Pricing is all over the place and I've seen a lot of stuf where the asking price is more than the new price.

Just seen a Fender Mexican Player Plus Jazz V on E-Bay £1.6k or best offer. I nearly spat my tea out!!

[Dad3353]

Mmm... Tea...

[basexperience]

Oh man, I remember sound control <sniffs> - got my first bass in the one in Dundee!! Visited the one in Edinburgh. Bought my first decent amp in Dundee, TNT150 and a 2x8 bright box which I still have. All way back in the late 80s / early 90s.

[Cornwall Steve]

On 27/10/2025 at 16:57, neepheid said:

Just having a random moan about living in the sticks, relatively speaking.

 

For excrement and amusement I had a look at bass guitars within a 100km radius of Aberdeen on FB Marketplace.  This yielded a choice of... 20.  And which one would I buy?  I'd rather just keep the one I'm trying to sell right now.  How pathetic is that?

 

Just a random Monday grumble for you.  How abundant (or pathetic) is your local bass marketplace?

I have nothing but empathy. In fact I've had the same moan myself here on basschat more than once over the past months. Living in rural Cornwall, it's a 240 mile round trip to Bristol before you get to any half decent outlets with any choice. Even then I've made the pilgrimage only to return empty handed. Locally, we have a handful of small music shops stocking a disappointingly low range of basses mostly comprising the usual uninspiring budget brands with the occasional more premium instrument nearly always at inflated RRP £. I often return home feeling I've got more basses resting in my guitar racks than the local, regional shops have on display on their walls. Sure, they're willing to order in anything you want to buy. But who wants to commit to placing an order without first seeing or trying the instrument first.

[Geek99]

On 02/11/2025 at 11:19, mcnach said:

 

You know the island doesn't stop at Hadrian's Wall, right?

Who knew? 

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Living in rural Cornwall, it's a 240 mile round trip to Bristol before you get to any half decent outlets with any choice.

 

Point of order, there aren't any half decent outlets with any choice in Bristol!

[Cornwall Steve]

53 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Point of order, there aren't any half decent outlets with any choice in Bristol!

Doesn't surprise to hear you say that. Not when you see so many big names that have disappeared since Covid. The last time I journeyed up to Bristol (last May) was to pay a visit to PMT for the sole purpose of viewing a Schector fretless they were advertising. I checked with the store before travelling, explained where I was journeying from and gave them my phone number. When I turned up (the following day). I was told the bass hadn't been in store for a month. Another wasted trip 😥

Can't say I was too sorry to learn PMT had gone under. 

But as @neepheid said it's tough going when it comes to needing gear and living in the sticks !🙄

[Woodinblack]

12 minutes ago, Cornwall Steve said:

Doesn't surprise to hear you say that. Not when you see so many big names that have disappeared since Covid. 

 

Yeh, PMT used to be quite good for bass stuff until they moved, only went in a few times after they moved and they weren't as good. But there were others down your way, such as dawsons, in exeter, but they didn't have that much. 

[Belka]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Point of order, there aren't any half decent outlets with any choice in Bristol!

Mickleburgh sometimes has some decent stuff in, but in recent years the bass selection has been lacking.

 

Rikaxxe has had the same stuff sitting in it for years. They're friendly enough though.

 

If you're a real masochist you can try going into Heron Music or Electric Ladyland. The former has some decent stuff in it, but it can be a bit weird. There's stuff that's been hanging in there for months which he claims is sold and won't let you play, but it never seems to leave the shop. I get the impression he has regular clients who he'd very much rather deal with than walk-ins.

 

The latter is a real experience. He probably won't let you buy anything, the levels of secondhand smoke are ridiculous, and a lot of his stock has come out of a skip, but you get some entertaining stories out of him.  

 

Both Heron and Electric Ladyland allude to rooms with the 'good stuff' upstairs, but neither have ever let me see any of it. They both asked me to say what I might be interested in and if they had it they'd show me (I suggested various basses but apparently they didn't have any of it).

 

I did once see a couple of nice basses downstairs in Electric Ladyland - a cherry red fretless '80s Jaydee in good condition (although the amount of cigarette smoke in that shop can't be good for any guitar in there long term), and a 1968 Telecaster bass  - he did tell me not to buy that one as apparently it was haunted. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Belka

[Terry M.]

8 minutes ago, Belka said:

he did tell me not to buy that one as apparently it was haunted. 

😄🤣😅

[Cornwall Steve]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Yeh, PMT used to be quite good for bass stuff until they moved, only went in a few times after they moved and they weren't as good. But there were others down your way, such as dawsons, in exeter, but they didn't have that much. 

I thought Dawsons closed in Dec 2022 after going into administration. Have they re-opened again ?

[Woodinblack]

16 minutes ago, Cornwall Steve said:

I thought Dawsons closed in Dec 2022 after going into administration. Have they re-opened again ?

 

they did - thats what i mean, they used to have that (and wasn't there a PMT in plymouth?), but no longer.

[Terry M.]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

 (and wasn't there a PMT in plymouth?), but no longer.

There was. Wasn't great though unfortunately for basses. No sorry that was Portsmouth I'm thinking of.

Edited 22 minutes ago by Terry M.