The music shop up the road from me is awesome for guitars, always loads in stock, really friendly guys. But the basses are... meh. And the setups are unplayable by most humans. And unfortunately, they don't stock fender or squier stuff, which I love. Otherwise it's a great shop.
The other two shops in the area pale in comparison. One is run by a really unfriendly old bag who, despite me having bought two instruments from them in the past, always gives me some snide remark when I go in to try something out. The other one is full of teenagers playing at full volume, and I find the owner unfriendly.
If I want to try anything now, I mainly hop on the train for £8 return and go down to Bristol, there's a good store near... hmm, I've forgotten - broadmead I think it's called - and I've forgotten the name of the shop. That's helpful. But it's a great shop, lots of stock, amps set up to plug in to, and the instruments are set up fairly well.
I'll edit the post when I remember the shop name