I tried out loads of basses today

[fender73]

...and do you know what was consistant about all of them? dull strings and bad setups. I went to 4 local shops today, with cash to spend, but didn't try one bass that had decent strings or any where near a decent all round set-up.

Now i know setups are a personal thing, but some had true egg slicer actions and far too much relief in the necks - the Cort was almost unplayable. When i asked about money off, i was told that 'It's already on a deal'....NO SALE.

To me, buying a bass with dull strings and a bad setup is like buying a car with flat tyres, Yes it will still drive, but not very well and will not show the car off to its best.

Oh well....

[Chris2112]

The worst experience I've ever had of this was playing a Schecter bass in Sound Control, Newcastle many years ago. The strings were as rough as sandpaper and evidently ancient. The setup was so bad, I couldn't believe it had went on the rack like that. It was more likely to put people off the basses than anything else! And funnily enough, I've never been that wild about Schecter basses ever since!

[fender73]

agree about the cost of strings for dealers, but why not get hold of some really cheap ones, and at least check the basses once every few weeks...if they're dull, change 'em - obviously not a problem for new in stock basses, just the harder to sell.

[EssentialTension]

If we're expecting shops to always have fresh strings on basses (or guitars) then even more of them are going to close down because they can't make a profit.

It's more reasonable to hope for the bass to be set up but even then one person's good set-up is another person's not good set up. I've never bought a bass without needing to restring it to my liking and set it up to my liking.

[stingrayPete1977]

I know some great players who between them have had action between lower than a snakes belly and so high I could not play above the 7th fret, like a bow and arrow! All of them can put my playing to shame and are well aware of what other action options are available. I picked a USA Strat up off eBay a few years ago that belonged to a young lad, he was given it as a gift from his uncle which from the age of the guitar and the lad who answered the door we worked out he must of been about 7 at the time! I doubt the spoilt brats folks know it now lives with me anyway he had messed with it and the action was really really high, the saddles were up and down yet the guitarist in the function band loved it! I took it back a week later after EBS freak had sorted it all out and put fresh strings on, he hated it!

[fender73]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1316888725' post='1384147']
If we're expecting shops to always have fresh strings on basses (or guitars) then even more of them are going to close down because they can't make a profit.

It's more reasonable to hope for the bass to be set up but even then one person's good set-up is another person's not good set up. I've never bought a bass without needing to restring it to my liking and set it up to my liking.
[/quote]

Agree, but it depends how long the gear has been in stock - if it's been in for 6 months, been tried lots of times and not sold - is it not reasonable to spend £4/£5 on a set of strings that may last another 6 months to help sell the bass?

Maybe i expect too much?

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='fender73' timestamp='1316889773' post='1384175']

Agree, but it depends how long the gear has been in stock - if it's been in for 6 months, been tried lots of times and not sold - is it not reasonable to spend £4/£5 on a set of strings that may last another 6 months to help sell the bass?

Maybe i expect too much?
[/quote]
I accept that a shop may need sometimes to consider restringing a bass sometimes in order to help to sell it but for myself I'd rather try it with the old strings anyway. I never use roundwounds so I virtually never get to try a bass with the kind of strings I want on it (the last time that did happen it was a custom shop Pino Palladino Precision and I couldn't afford it) and for me six months is just about right for the strings to be starting to be broken in a little.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1316891315' post='1384199']
£4/£5 for a set of bass strings!!!

Who is your dealer
[/quote]
I meant to say that but I forgot.

[fender73]

Dealer price for cheap brands - or go to thomann! :-)

[fender73]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1316890332' post='1384186']
I never use roundwounds so I virtually never get to try a bass with the kind of strings I want on it (the last time that did happen it was a custom shop Pino Palladino Precision and I couldn't afford it) and for me six months is just about right for the strings to be starting to be broken in a little.
[/quote]
That's where you and i greatly differ then mate. i'm a zingy string roundwound kinda bloke. As for the same strings for 6 months - more like new set every 2 gigs for me.

Each to there own, we're all different

[fender73]

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1316892260' post='1384216']
Even at dealer prices they will be cheap and nasty.. You are talking cheap Chinese import cheap. Which will be dead again in no time and back to square one.
[/quote]
#
Hopefully in that time, they will have sold the bass... :-)

[Kiwi]

FWIW, I make a point of buying the cheapest possible strings I can find, and I've not been let down yet. £5-7 a set if you choose your Ebay seller carefully, mostly when they're selling NOS.

[chrismuzz]

I remember trying out a 'new' Ibanez BTB in a shop once with a horrible setup and really crackly pots. When I mentioned these to the assistant, he very helpfully advised me that 'basses are supposed to have high action', because 'otherwise you just get fretbuzz'. And that 'active basses always have noisy knobs, because of the electricity in them'

[ThomBassmonkey]

It's alright saying that there should be fresh strings on basses and that they can buy cheap ones to put on, BUT shops can have lots of basses in. Assuming it's a fairly busy shop with 20 basses in, spending £5 a month on strings (which cheap ones that cost £5 probably wouldn't last in a busy shop) then that's £100 a month just on bass strings. No one in their right mind would do that. Realistically most shops will buy strings for more like £10-15 (depending on what they are), the business just doesn't work out. Also what else should be changed? Presumably if bass strings are being changed, so are guitar strings, the strings on any other stringed instruments, drum heads, reeds etc. How much would a big shop have to spend every month just to keep people happy that 99% of the time aren't going to buy anything anyway?

I do agree about setups though. 90% of the time you go into a music shop, there'll be a bored looking guy waiting around for customers. They should be taught how to do setups so they can earn their wage instead of wasting time.

Edited September 24, 2011 by ThomBassmonkey

[LiamPodmore]

[quote name='chrismuzz' timestamp='1316901153' post='1384320']
I remember trying out a 'new' Ibanez BTB in a shop once with a horrible setup and really crackly pots. When I mentioned these to the assistant, he very helpfully advised me that 'basses are supposed to have high action', because 'otherwise you just get fretbuzz'. And that 'active basses always have noisy knobs, because of the electricity in them'
[/quote]

That has actually made my day. How someone can be that clueless and work in a music shop is beyond me. You would think that at least a basic knowledge of how guitars and basses work would be necessary.

Liam

[TRBboy]

You'd be surprised how many people who work in instrument retail do not have a clue what they're talking about half the time, and don't know how to set guitars and basses up!
I worked in instrument retail for quite a few years, and saw a lot of this. The basses are more likely to get neglected because unless the shop has a bass player working there, the guitars get all the attention from the staff (guitarists), most of whom also think that basses are just awkward to play regardless of what you do to them.

Profitability is definitely a factor, and I'm glad I got out of retail when I did. I think the usual profit margin was about 35% if you sold at full RRP (never!) and when VAT was 17.5%. Instrument retail has about the lowest mark-up in the retail industry. It was quite common for people to come in asking if we could match an internet price which was actually lower than the trade price that we could buy the instrument at! This is unfortunately why we are slowly losing music shops, and I'm sure there will come a time in the not too distant future when there is nowhere to try instruments out, and you can only buy online.

That said, I always used to make sure all the guitars and basses were well set up and played as nicely as they could; you are trying to sell them after all! Besides which, I would've felt embarrassed if a customer pointed out that a guitar in my shop played like a box of veal! The answer to the dull strings issue is that it's much cheaper to give them a quick wipe with fast fret and a cloth after someone's tried a guitar than change the strings quite so often.

EDIT: Ha ha, damn predictive text! "box of veal" was supposed to be "box of crap"!

Edited September 24, 2011 by TRBboy

[gjones]

I went browsing a couple of moths ago and tried quite a few basses. Most were set up pretty badly but the best set up one was a US Jazz bass which almost played itself. I came to the conclusion that this was the bass the sales staff played when they picked up a bass for a bit of noodling and they'd set it up nicely themselves. I even suspected that they'd taken it out and gigged it a few times. Which I'm certain must happen to the tastier guitars and basses in your average music shop.

[chrismuzz]

[quote name='LiamPodmore' timestamp='1316902980' post='1384332']

That has actually made my day. How someone can be that clueless and work in a music shop is beyond me. You would think that at least a basic knowledge of how guitars and basses work would be necessary.

Liam
[/quote]

Seems to be the trend at this particular store. A different guy in that same store refused to order me in a Yamaha TRB1006 because "they're sh*t mate, get an Ibanez or don't even bother"