Mylkinut Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 (edited) I've been travelling around the world for the last 7 and a bit months. Now that I've reached my last country, I thought I'd take you all on a cultural tour of guitar shops in every country I've been The US I did the manly thing and drove from New York to Los Angeles over four weeks in a red VW Beetle. What I discovered was that buying a bass in America is, unsurprisingly, extremely American. Sadly I didn't get a chance to visit any boutique shops, but I did visit a few Guitar Centers. What a mental experience. I'm used to toddling down to my local shop where they have around half a dozen basses, asking politely to have a go on one, hunting around for a nice-ish amp, and playing quietly in the corner. In the Guitar Center I visited (somewhere in California - it was part of one of the ubiquitous outdoor shopping centres you'll find everywhere over there... I'd only stopped for some Maccy D's) there was an entire wall of lovely, lovely basses, stacked 3 high. I did my usual and asked to try one, but the shop assistant (of which there were millions, all badged, all smiling) just looked at me strangely and said 'help yourself'. So I did. For several hours. Every amp in the shop is plugged in and every one has its own lead. I played some Musicmen, plenty of Fenders and a few Squiers too. What really blew me away was watching a kid buy a MIM Jazz. He was left to play it by a shop chap, decided he wanted it, and took it to what can only be described as a supermarket checkout. Once he was off, an identical black MIM Jazz was put in its place within two minutes! Very Best Buy if you ask me. New Zealand New Zealand's got a titchy population, as I discovered going around it for a month in a camper van. I stayed for a week in Auckland as I've got family out there, and they recommended a row of music shops to visit. What it turned out to be was the Rockshop - a row of stores with each dedicated to a different instrument. I had a peak in the bass one and got chatting with the owner - a very friendly Maori chap. There was the usual range you'd find anywhere else, except for a conspiciously large amount of pointy Deans. There were a few he'd struggled to get in that he was very keen to show off, like a CS 57s Precision, a 4003 and a 'Ray classic. He explained that business was always very, very slow simply because the population is so low, and there was a reason his was the only bass shop in the country. It was very telling that we had a 45-minute chat without a single customer coming in on a Saturday Australia Aus was an odd one - I travelled down the East Coast over six weeks in another camper and took in as much of the musical culture as I could. Ukuleles are big news down there, closely followed by cheap acoustics that can be thrown into the back of a ute. Shops varied as they do in England, with the exception being that beachy areas like Byron Bay have open-front stores where cheap instruments abound, especially small-scale ones designed for travel. I was damn tempted by a little 1/2 scale six string, but my motto's travel light - having a van to spread out in becomes a big luxury when you're living out of a 35 litre rucksack. I came to my senses when I witnessed tourists lugging didgeridoos through Melbourne airport Aus was pretty much overshadowed by the trouble I had out there - I managed to destroy three 4x4s (one became a 3x3), an awning and a fridge. I also slept on a milipede, which was unpleasant. Also, cripes is Australia expensive. 1,800 quid for a P Bass? No. No thank you. Hong Kong HK was great to visit because I grew up there. I only started playing bass when I moved to England, so it was interesting to see how things worked and guess at whether or not I'd have started at all if I'd not moved. I don't think I would have. There are a few instrument shops, but they're tucked away from regular traffic. Anyone who's used eBay in the last three seconds will have worked out that most of HK's music trade comes from selling high quality items at low low prices Malaysia This was the second time I'd visited Malaysia, so I only spent a week there. I didn't find a single music shop, but I know they exist because of one very special hostel. I stayed on Penang for 3 days in a small place run by an aging Malaysian rocker, who had a full music room for the use of guests! I only found out it was there after chatting with him on the second day and saying I played bass. An hour's jamming with the owner on drums ensued. Awesome awesome awesome. He even showed me a beaut of a '73 Les Paul Goldtop he kept tucked away for special occasions. I was not special enough to touch it Thailand Thailand is essentially my third or fourth home since I've been travelling there since I was a child. I've spent a total of 2 and a half months of this trip there, and the Thais are good peeps. Instrument-wise Thailand is a complete surprise. Bangkok is home to some of the world's best shopping centres, and one of them has TWO boutique guitar shops three doors down from one another. I was dribbling most merrily over CS Fenders, top-end Yammys and even a Parker Fly. It was all pretty cheap too. On the other end of the scale, tourist areas sell crudely made local instruments alongside no-name acoustics and ukuleles for the beaches. Fender seems to be big here - every bar band I've seen has had Fenders up the chuff. In Chiang Mai I even passed a group of buskers who had a bassist playing a cheap RBX, with the Yamaha label taped over and a 'definitely real' Fender logo added Cambodia I spent two weeks in Cambodia and loved it, despite the difficulty of reaching the bloody place. Instrument shops are everywhere, usually in tourists areas, but they stock everything from home-made flutes to low-end Fender knock offs. Good luck getting an amp though. I'd love to add more, but I spent most of my time either in a straw hut on an island or experiencing the runs on a biblical level. Do not eat with your fingers in Phnom Penh Vietnam Vietnam was my favourite place on this whole trip, and I spent a month there travelling from Saigon to Hanoi by train. Excellent food, excellent sights, excellent people. All excellent. There's even good instrument shopping, since the Vietnamese, brilliantly, name their streets by what that street has always sold. Music street sells musical instruments. Shops there were more specialised, with traditional instruments (both western and eastern) being separated from modern guitars and keyboards. Shops there are a bit quirky - they have a nasty habit of hanging whatever they're selling (even if it is a Fender Jazz) out in the open for all to see. In the sun, and the dust and the rain. I've never seen more knackered guitars, the whole 'bow and arrow' thing was more than comfortably accurate. Still, the ones they keep inside are all shrink-wrapped to show they're new (they do that with everything, even shoes which come in a box). Shrink-wrapped mandolins look brilliant. India I didn't like India. I probably have too much South East Asia in me, but I just didn't 'get' it. Still, the music's cool and the intruments they sell are absolute works of art. As per usual, nothing has a price-tag and I was being quoted many, many pounds for poorly made (but pretty) sitars. The dust there gets everywhere and things aren't well looked after - one shop was selling acoustics which had their entire backs missing! It's hard to get away from touristy areas there, so what I was seeing was far from all you can get but I didn't see any basses despite their prominence in modern Indian music. I've since left India and I'm now back in Thailand, sitarless. I do alot of travelling, but this trip's been a good one so far Edited March 22, 2012 by Mylkinut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I've only been a handful of Guitar Center stores...visited one in Las Vegas about three or four years back and concur with your experience. High ceilings, basses stacked three high and definitely an attitude of [i]here you are and off you go[/i]. I was with a mate of mine...I could hear him over in the drum section thumping away, so I joined in, me on a Geddy through a nice Hartke setup then a guitarist started jamming over what we were doing elsewhere in the store. Quite surreal. I know people will diss GC, but for what they are (the musical instrument equivalent of Sainburys) there's nothing not to like. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylkinut Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 [quote name='NancyJohnson' timestamp='1332420658' post='1588014'] I've only been a handful of Guitar Center stores...visited one in Las Vegas about three or four years back and concur with your experience. High ceilings, basses stacked three high and definitely an attitude of [i]here you are and off you go[/i]. I was with a mate of mine...I could hear him over in the drum section thumping away, so I joined in, me on a Geddy through a nice Hartke setup then a guitarist started jamming over what we were doing elsewhere in the store. Quite surreal. I know people will diss GC, but for what they are (the musical instrument equivalent of Sainburys) there's nothing not to like. P [/quote] I loved it. I consider myself confident enough to know what I need and what I like, so being left to it suits me down to the ground. If you didn't know what you were after, you could just ask one of the two hundred employees stood there smiling at you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gafbass02 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Brilliant post. Cheers for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 aaah, [i]round the world[/i]...i see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fitz666 Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 What a faulous read, cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Three points: 1. Great Story 2. What did you buy then? You surely didn't visit all those places without a single purchase? 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Great post. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylkinut Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 [quote name='charic' timestamp='1332424654' post='1588130'] Three points: 1. Great Story 2. What did you buy then? You surely didn't visit all those places without a single purchase? 3. [/quote] 1. 2. Budget would only allow a single bass-related t-shirt But it [i]was [/i]from the Fender museum in Corona 3. Ooh, didn't think of that. I'll get some up now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largo Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 This is one of the best posts I've read on this forum .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylkinut Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Some pictures: This is the Gibson factory in Memphis. They do a brilliant tour around it and you get to have a play in the on-site shop afterwards. Sadly they don't allow pictures of the inside, but it was pretty mindblowing. [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6197232980/"][/url] [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6197232980/"]P1010817[/url] by [url="http://www.flickr.com/people/landjtravel/"]landjtravel[/url], on Flickr Me having a plunk on some of the lovely things in the Gibson store. I must admit, I'm not too up on my Gibbos - can anyone tell me what this is? I loved it The beast in the background however... that weighed more than I do. [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6173302229/"][/url] [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6173302229/"]SAM_6917[/url] by [url="http://www.flickr.com/people/landjtravel/"]landjtravel[/url], on Flickr This an insane sculpture (yes, they're all real) inside the lobby to the Fender museum in Corona, California. The place is split between a Johnny Cash exhibit and a general Fender lovefest. Needless to say, I enjoyed it all. [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6174385110/"][/url] [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6174385110/"]P1020493[/url] by [url="http://www.flickr.com/people/landjtravel/"]landjtravel[/url], on Flickr Another arty thing in the Fender museum. [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6174393816/][/url] [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6174393816/]P1020510[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/landjtravel/]landjtravel[/url], on Flickr Saigon - there was a brilliant guitar shop down here, but the owner wouldn't let me take pictures inside (which seemed quite common throughout South East Asia), so here's the street instead. [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6719500507/"][/url] [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6719500507/"]DSCN3208[/url] by [url="http://www.flickr.com/people/landjtravel/"]landjtravel[/url], on Flickr This also happened. [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6951991199/"][/url] [url="http://www.flickr.com/photos/landjtravel/6951991199/"]DSCN4055[/url] by [url="http://www.flickr.com/people/landjtravel/"]landjtravel[/url], on Flickr These are just the few I could think of off the top of my head - between me and my girlfriend I've got close to 8,000 photos to pick from I'm still in Bangkok for a few days, so if anyone's interested and wants me to take some shots of guitar shops here I'd be happy to After that I'm moving around Thailand for another four weeks, and then I'm back home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mylkinut Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 [quote name='largo' timestamp='1332426960' post='1588193'] This is one of the best posts I've read on this forum .... [/quote] I'm glad, I was hoping others found it all as interesting as me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 [quote name='largo' timestamp='1332426960' post='1588193'] This is one of the best posts I've read on this forum .... [/quote] This one is better.... Cheddar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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