Best and Worst Bass Shops

[Musicman20]

[quote name='tombboy' post='706811' date='Jan 9 2010, 05:49 PM']Bass Merchant is the only dedicated store I have used and can't fault it at all. Darren is a pleasure to deal with and makes you feel welcome like an old friend. [/quote]

Best: Bass Merchant. Yep, I totally agree. Darren (and Chris) treats all his customers like old friends and always has nice new bass toys to play with. He also has fantastic prices. I spent ages trying to find a store that dealt with the brands I like all under one roof, and I found it.

EDIT - Pooles in Grimsby are also good. For a small town, they can get hold of some nice gear if you ask, and will pricematch. I use them for my Orange gear now, and any setups/checkovers.

Pretty good: Soundslive and GuitarGuitar are really nice chaps. Always reply fast to emails.


Worst: Personally, it has to be PMT in Leeds. I put a post up about 8-10 months ago about the terrible service they gave me on a new 08/09 American Series Jazz. They tried to pass it off as new, it was scratched. They then said it was the best they could do for the price match, (even though ALL stores online had them at £829...the same price, and Id just spent a lot of money on mr Orange OBC410 and AD200b Mk3 with them!). The same chap then lied to my face, and said it would be a new bass when I next went in. Two weeks pass, I remembered the serial number roughly, and yep, 'here is your new bass' turned into me opening the case to notice it was the same one but poorly polished.

I complained to Fender UK and they were furious. Its a shame, PMT stock a lot of great gear....but I blame that store/assistant.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Musicman20

[jim_bass]

[quote name='niceguyhomer' post='707378' date='Jan 10 2010, 09:03 AM']Soundslive are brilliant IME and that's where I go first. I've always had great service from Electromusic in Doncaster[/quote]

Soundlive are great. Bought my amp and cab from them. I bought an ex display Ashdown head, but there was a mix up so they sold me a brand new head at ex-display price. Spot on.

Electromusic were great. Went to try out Markbass amps, let me play for ages and no pressure. Even when I didn't buy one, they guys in the shop were really cool about it - no pushy salesman.

Pooles music in Grimsby are fairly good too, although limited in stock. Went to try out a squier classic vibe jazz, but it was expensive compared to soundslive etc.

Music Rooms in lincoln - I think it depends on who serves you, some are pushier than others, but I get fed up of trying to hear a bass over the top of 14 year old kids cranking up the overdrive on a guitar amp to play metal! Aaarrrggghhhh!

[Musicman20]

[quote name='jim_bass' post='707470' date='Jan 10 2010, 11:04 AM']Pooles music in Grimsby are fairly good too, although limited in stock. Went to try out a squier classic vibe jazz, but it was expensive compared to soundslive etc.[/quote]

+1 to Pooles in Grimsby, I forgot about them. They will match prices and I get my Orange stuff from them now. Pete is a brilliant chap and looks after my setups if I need something checking out. Great store for a small town.

Edited January 10, 2010 by Musicman20

[brummie]

[quote name='BurritoBass' post='700734' date='Jan 4 2010, 06:02 PM']I also like the guys at Peter Cooks. For a personal touch I love my local shop for servicing, set ups and the odd second hand interest[/quote]

+1

Took my (now sold) Fender Jazz to be re-set up because it had been out of action for a long time, did it and said no charge as they weren't busy. Still gave a tenner for a pint.
Great shop.

[Pete Academy]

An elderly-ish chap came into our shop and was browsing the books. He handed me a little piece of paper, on which he'd drawn a diagram of the back panel of a Marshall AS50D acoustic combo. He hadn't a clue what the inputs and outputs did. Turned out he'd bought it from a little shop a few miles down the road. He'd paid full money for it and they told him it was brand new. As far as I know they are not an official Marshall stockist. I could have told him to go back to the store, but I showed him what everything did by showing him one we had in stock. Turns out they hadn't given him a manual and told him he needed to find one himself. I printed a manual off for him and said he needed to go back to the shop and claim a 3-year warranty for which he was entitled. The problem is, if they aren't an official dealer, the poor chap won't get this.

He was pleased with my help and spent £100 with us.

I don't know how shops can do that, especially to obviously naive folk.

[Wolverinebass]

The Bass Cellar seemingly never have what I've went in for. But that's not to say they don't get it for me.

The Bass Centre is a completely different kettle of fish. Whilst I got my Alembic from them whilst they were at Wapping and were very nice then, the moment they moved to Liverpool St. it all went wrong really.

Pricematching? What's that? Take it or leave it at the price we offer.

However, the best one was when I left my buzzard with them for a couple of days. All I asked them to do was lower the action. I specifically said "DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE." So, what did they do? They attempted to change the batteries. As some 9V batteries have the small plastic caps on the ends, whatever moron tried to do this had jammed the batteries into the slots with them still attached. This screwed the electronics. I take it to rehearsal the same night. Nothing.

That was very annoying. So I had to take it to Rob Green at Status to fix it as I didn't know what they'd done. I'm glad they don't have a shop anymore.

[lemmywinks]

Another +1 for Soundslive, i bought my Stagg EUB there (£45 cheaper than everywhere else at the time) which had a couple of issues. They were great, had the old one colected and was playing a new one with in the week, very pleasant people and seemed genuinely concerned with getting me something i was happy with.

I know someone on here had a really bad experience with them a while ago, maybe they've actually responded to criticism and got their act together?

GigGear were also excellent when i bought my "designed-and-built-by-morons" Ashdown Superfly, took it back and fixed it twice and were always pleasant to deal with

[molan]

I hate to have to slag off a bass specialist shop but I was, once again, amazed at the crapness of the Bass cellar again this week. they were quite friendly when I went in - I was the only customer - and quite chatty.

I spotted a used Spector NS2 on the wall & it was labelled as an NS4. Not exactly a big deal as they both list for the same price new (although NS4's tend to hold value better than NS2's). I casually mentioned it was an NS4 - it was hand written label so would ahve taken approx 3 minutes to write a new one.

They immediately got slightly prickly and said that they'd already had this 'debate' with another customer. They said they couldn't be expected to be 'experts' about every bass on the market. There was a real intimation that I (and presumably the other customer) was a bit of a 'smartass' and was trying to put them down in some way.

I'd estimate it would have taken them less than 30 seconds with a search engine to look up the difference between an NS2 & an NS4 - the former has a P type pickup at the neck & a J at the bridge, the latter has a pair of humbuckers.

It was obvious they simply couldn't be arsed to check the authenticity of their information on a stock item worth over £1,000. In fact it actually made me wonder if it was even an American made NS2 at all (I didn't look that close).

As I was leaving one of them said it was a 'custom' build NS4 - yeah right, a 'custom' build to convert it to an NS2. . .


Best shop - The Gallery, a whole different world

[jmsjabb]

My Best vote is split between Bass Direct and GAK!
Yes, I know, GAK.
I made contact and offered a silly price on an amp, was excepted and delivered next day.

If you want someone friendly, helpful and thoughly nice, Mark at BD takes some beating.

[Musicman20]

Another +1 for Darren at Bass Merchant. He has been very patient with my bring indecisive about my 5 string but I'm almost there!

[4000]

The Gallery by a mile. Gary at Promenade Music is really helpful too, though they don't have the goodies that the Gallery do.

[ThomBassmonkey]

The best: Music Inn in Nottingham. I've been in to try stuff out and they're always pleasant. I wouldn't hesitate to buy from them, they just never seem to have anything in that I want apart from an RG370 that I picked up and have never had problems with (beyond the usual setup ballache on a floating FR. ).

To be honest, I've never really had good experiences buying anything expensive and music-related from any shops. I could produce a list as long as my arm of bad shops though.

Worst: Take2Music in Long Eaton, only a little shop and to be fair I've never had bad really bad experiences with them personally (they sold me an awful acoustic guitar a while back but I should've known better really by then) but I work in a music shop and the amount of people that come in to see us for help with their guitars that they've bought at T2M is absurd. We've literally had 9 year old kids come in with full size Spanish guitars because that's what the guys at T2M have said would be best for them. It's not even an isolated incident.

I could rant about them for hours.

The guys at Academy of Sound in Nottingham were always awful. They always thought they were better than you and, as such, you weren't worth their time.

Also there seems to be way more mess ups at GAK than chance would explain. I'll make my choice on whether or not I'd use them again (which I will if I will) depending on how a current order goes.

Edited February 13, 2010 by ThomBassmonkey

[BassJase]

[quote name='leschirons' post='707152' date='Jan 9 2010, 10:00 PM']Don't know a best bass shop as I usually buy off mates, ebay or the last time, from the States.

Worst? (don't think it's fair to name them) but it's in a sleepy little Norflok town. The boss makes a point of playing every bass the punters would like to try and proceeds to slap at a zillion miles an hour, thus putting off "novices and some intermediates" with his "see what I can do" attitude.[/quote]

Ha, couldn't agree more.
I know the guy and the shop, and he loves to tell potential customers what they really want (not what they ask for) for ridiculous prices, and then lord it over you with his "check out my awesome playing skills" slap bass fest.

The guys a total biff and I'm not bigging myself up here, but I've been playing for 17 years and he sets about telling me (on all three times I've been in there) how I'm wrong about this and wrong about that too.

But don't fear mate, from what I hear he's 100-G in the hole and losing ground fast.

Edited February 13, 2010 by BassJase

[JTUK]

I don't have an opinion for the worst..and agree that all shops can have a bad day or time in all probability,
but these are the notables I've used in recent times.

GAK... did exactly what they said they would, no problem at all and all with a smile and a chat
The Gallery... they know what they are doing

and two I hear good things about and will get along to soon

Bass Merchant and Bass Direct

[clauster]

Best for -

Range of kit - GAK. Great range of basses and amps. Something for all tastes and budgets.

Exotica - American Guitar Centre. Hidden away above a regular high street music shop. Biggest collection of Alembics I've ever seen under one roof. Some nice Overwaters too right now and an Enfield which is stunning.

Trying stuff out - Andertons. Pretty poor selection of bass stuff compared to guitars and pro-audio, but they do have lovely soundproof audition booths so you can really try stuff out.

Most missed - A tie between The Bass Centre circa 20 odd years ago and Southern Sounds of Brighton in the early eighties (if only for putting up with me and my mates hanging out there playing on everything on the shop all day every day during school hols ).

Can't think of any really bad music shops but plenty with poor customer service, crap stock, overpriced etc etc.

[waynepunkdude]

The Northern Guitar Centre in Leeds is pretty good, they have nothing but tat but the two old lads in there are great to put the world to rights with.

[dumelow]

I just had quite a bad experience with dv247.com.... i wont be using them again.

Ordered two pedals, my compressor was delivered and it was broke and the other pedal was out of stock (but not advertised as out of stock)

Theyre sending a courier to pick up my compressor tomorrow and were quite happy to give me a full refund though.

[guybrush threepwood]

My favourite has to be Electromusic in Doncaster; no pushy salesmen that are earning commission on a specific brand, nice relaxed atmosphere, and they price match. What more could you want? I buy a lot of gear there, and they've always looked after me. Bought a Markbass combo there last weekend, and they knocked almost £200 off.

Worst has to be Music Ground in Leeds. Never before have arrogant attitudes, rude staff and ridiculous prices come together to form such a farce of a business.

[casapete]

[quote name='guybrush threepwood' post='743837' date='Feb 13 2010, 11:28 AM']My favourite has to be Electromusic in Doncaster; no pushy salesmen that are earning commission on a specific brand, nice relaxed atmosphere, and they price match. What more could you want? I buy a lot of gear there, and they've always looked after me. Bought a Markbass combo there last weekend, and they knocked almost £200 off.

Worst has to be Music Ground in Leeds. Never before have arrogant attitudes, rude staff and ridiculous prices come together to form such a farce of a business.[/quote]


+1 for Electro. Great service and prices.

[4-string-thing]

Rattle and drum in Derby were good when I bought my Corvette, let me try loads of basses, through any amp I wanted. Then knocked £80 off and threw in a nice strap. All the basses I tried were set up properly and even in tune, not the case in every shop.

Bought my Ashdown head from PMT in Birmingham, and they were ok, but when I asked if they had a manual, they replied "why do you need a manual? switch it on and plug in" I also got the amp I tried (not a boxed one) They did knock a few quid off though. But I have no registration card, so my only guarantee is a till receipt.

[guybrush threepwood]

[quote name='4-string-thing' post='744076' date='Feb 13 2010, 03:47 PM']...I have no registration card, so my only guarantee is a till receipt.[/quote]

If you go to the [url="http://www.ashdownmusic.com"]ashdown website[/url], you can actually register your gear online with them.

[4-string-thing]

[quote name='guybrush threepwood' post='744091' date='Feb 13 2010, 04:01 PM']If you go to the [url="http://www.ashdownmusic.com"]ashdown website[/url], you can actually register your gear online with them.[/quote]
yeah, just need to get round to it! My point was though, that they couldn't be bothered to go and look for the box which would have had all the paperwork in it.

[retroman]

[quote name='guybrush threepwood' post='743837' date='Feb 13 2010, 11:28 AM']My favourite has to be Electromusic in Doncaster; no pushy salesmen that are earning commission on a specific brand, nice relaxed atmosphere, and they price match. What more could you want? I buy a lot of gear there, and they've always looked after me. Bought a Markbass combo there last weekend, and they knocked almost £200 off.

Worst has to be Music Ground in Leeds. Never before have arrogant attitudes, rude staff and ridiculous prices come together to form such a farce of a business.[/quote]

+1 For Electro. Dave has always looked after me well, and has recently done me some excellent deals

It saddens me to hear about Music Ground. I used to be fairly regular in their Doncaster store, and they were always a good bunch of lads to me. Done me a really good deal on my 4001 Never been to their other stores though.

[Rich]

[quote name='leschirons' post='707152' date='Jan 9 2010, 10:00 PM']The boss makes a point of playing every bass the punters would like to try and proceeds to slap at a zillion miles an hour, thus putting off "novices and some intermediates" with his "see what I can do" attitude.[/quote][quote name='BassJase' post='743644' date='Feb 13 2010, 01:13 AM']Ha, couldn't agree more.
I know the guy and the shop, and he loves to tell potential customers what they really want (not what they ask for) for ridiculous prices, and then lord it over you with his "check out my awesome playing skills" slap bass fest.[/quote]
Yup, this gets my back up quicker than almost anything else. There used to be a guy at Sound Control in Bristol who did this sometimes -- once, I let him do his slappy willy-showing and then when he gave me the bass, I played two notes and said "nah, don't like it" and handed it straight back. And then left the shop.
Look on face: priceless.

[ThomBassmonkey]

From the sounds of it, I think the pattern with GAK is that their store is great but the online (and phone mail order) is pretty bad. Shame the shop's so far away from me, I'd like to have a good look around.