Bass Direct

[timmo]

My first Bass was from Ebay. A Warwick Fortress Rockbass. Luckily I liked the sound and tone. However I bought right hand, but need left hand. I have never been to a shop to try out basses, but I want to try some out before buying. I know the budget and sticking to it is important. I am at the mercy of the shop assistant as I can play scales and arpeggios, but can`t play any music as such.
Has anyone been to Bass Direct as that is where I am going? I have looked at all the left handed basses they have in stock, and read reviews and watched clips, so I sort of know roughly what to expect

[Stan_da_man]

You'll be in safe hands, Mark is a top bloke.

[stingrayPete1977]

Mark will sort you out, you will probably come back with something totally different but that's the fun of it! Enjoy.

[PTB]

+2

Be open minded & trust your ears. Mark's a good guy.

[Graham]

Went there last week, Mark was very obliging, let me try pretty much anything I wanted and kept bringing me new basses to try, determined by what I told him I liked in a bass.

It was a great experience, I worked out the next day I'd played £15680.00 of basses in the couple of hours I was there and it turned out the one I liked best was the first one I'd tried and was the second cheapest!

[Roger2611]

Mark will look after you, he is extremely passionate about bass playing and players in general, I found him a little scary at first but he is trying to work out exactly what you need rather than what you think you want....if you get my drift! I would definitely buy from him with confidence

[timmo]

[i]That sounds great. I was being a bit apprehensive about it, but looking forward to it now. Thanks for the replies[/i]

[timmo]

Walked out of Bass Direct with a new Clover 4 Avenger. Very happy

[fretmeister]

Photos man!!! Photos!!!!!!!

[nottswarwick]

Yes, I've had a few dealings with Mark. Very nice, enthusiastic chap, recommend him and his shop.

[Ghosts Over Japan]

[quote name='timmo' timestamp='1377777363' post='2191625']
Walked out of Bass Direct with a new Clover 4 Avenger. Very happy
[/quote]

Damn.. I was lucky enough to play an avenger 5, One of the best sounding basses I've ever played, definitely on my Top 5 list!
Definitely get some pictures in the bass porn section!
Cai

[lowdowner]

Bought my Vigier from Mark at Bass Direct. He also tweaked my Thumb. Oh, and i bought my Genz Benz amp and cabs from there too. Oh, and my stageclix, erm and...

well, you get the picture - recommended, but take a fat wallet if you can!

[timmo]

[quote name='lowdowner' timestamp='1377806469' post='2192233']

well, you get the picture - recommended, but take a fat wallet if you can!
[/quote] Yeah, I didn`t want to spend as much as I did, but it is for a good cause. Never seen so many basses in one place.

[thebassman]

+3
Mark is a top guy, with lots of experience and good advice.
He's also a great player, so if you are feeling a bit shy or apprehensive, he is more than pleased to demo the gear.
I just wished I had the money to walk away with a lot more gear.
Cheers
Thebassman

[Jah Wibble]

Unfortunately I had a really bad experience with this guy (or perhaps it was someone else working there? Apologies if it was)

Called him up last year to see if he could do a price match on a head.
He laughed heartley and loudly down the phone at me and said "Why would I want to do that??!"
Left me feeling pretty humiliated for asking a pretty normal question.

Bought the head from somewhere else and called Bass Direct back to tell them I'd bought else where and had he not laughed down the phone at me, I might have bought from him.

Not gonna be seeing any of my money in their till.

It's a pity as a lot of people seem to like it in there.

[seashell]

Yes, I found he can be a bit scathing if you ask the 'wrong' question. Or use the wrong terminology for anything.

It wouldn't put me off going back. But now I'd go in a bit more prepared, and not expect him to be all touchy feely. I think I had probably had my expectations raised by reading testimonials such as those in this thread.

[Jah Wibble]

I can understand being an independent and perhaps not being able to compete with other stores, I'd like to support an independent.....but not if they behave that way, no thanks.

[White Cloud]

[quote name='Jah Wibble' timestamp='1377858182' post='2192788']
Unfortunately I had a really bad experience with this guy (or perhaps it was someone else working there? Apologies if it was)

Called him up last year to see if he could do a price match on a head.
He laughed heartley and loudly down the phone at me and said "Why would I want to do that??!"
Left me feeling pretty humiliated for asking a pretty normal question.

Bought the head from somewhere else and called Bass Direct back to tell them I'd bought else where and had he not laughed down the phone at me, I might have bought from him.

Not gonna be seeing any of my money in their till.

It's a pity as a lot of people seem to like it in there.
[/quote]
Whats the problem?

You asked him an honest question and he gave you an honest reply...you took your custom elsewhere and got what you wanted cheaper. Its business and nothing personal!

What was your rationale for calling him back to tell him you had purchased it elsewhere? I personally would not do that.

[pierreganseman]

I have personally never had a problem with Mark so I cannot say.

Its all in the way, I have asked shops sometimes to match something. Alex at the gallery usually says "nah man that's all i can do..."

No need to laugh at potential customers....

I would personally never come back to a shop where some one laughs at me and makes me feel low.

[Jah Wibble]

[quote name='White Cloud' timestamp='1377876401' post='2193159']

Whats the problem?

You asked him an honest question and he gave you an honest reply...you took your custom elsewhere and got what you wanted cheaper. Its business and nothing personal!

What was your rationale for calling him back to tell him you had purchased it elsewhere? I personally would not do that.
[/quote]

Well my problem with it was the laughing - as if it was a ludicrous question.

Called him back to perhaps let him know if you treat people discourteously they WILL go elsewhere.

I supposed you're right though. Business is business, I'll just stick to where I can get it cheapest and not get treated like a c**t

Anyway, I don't wanna jack this thread, I'm glad others have had a good experience

:-)

Edited August 30, 2013 by Jah Wibble

[White Cloud]

[quote name='Jah Wibble' timestamp='1377876844' post='2193166']
Well my problem with it was the laughing - as if it was a ludicrous question.

Called him back to perhaps let him know if you treat people discourteously they WILL go elsewhere.

I supposed you're right though. Business is business, I'll just stick to where I can get it cheapest and not get treated like a c**t
:-)
[/quote]
I understand how that would have made you feel. I would not have bought from bass direct either if they treated me like that.

I personally would not have called back though...fanning the flames for further upset.

Glad you got the deal you wanted elsewhere. No retailer can please all of the people all of the time.

[rk7]

Can't fault Mark at BassDirect from my experiences with him. Top bloke and very helpful.

RK

[GregBass]

I had a not-so-good experience too. I dropped in without an appointment (I have never actually made an appointment at a music shop before). He was working with a guy on an effects pedal, and said he would be with me in a couple of minutes. Someone else came in and he immediately set them up with a bass and an amp at the other end of the shop, then went back to the effects guy. He alternated between the two, swapping basses for one and effects for the other - then a third person came in and he gave her a bass to play. After 45 minutes, surrounded by all that gear, I had not got to touch a bass or try an amp. I gave up - but as I was getting into my car he ran out and gave me a price list. I would not e spending that kind of cash without trying, but at least I suppose it was a gesture.

[BassTractor]

I have one experience with Bass Direct only, from a single telephone conversation, and in my mind, Mark was stellar during that.
On the basis of that experience, plus what has been written about them on here, I've decided that my next amp is gonna be bought there, just to support their way of doing bizniz.


As to the laughing bit, from my perspective as an owner of a similar importer/shop biz, I'd guess his experience is that [b]virtually no[/b] customers who ask about price matching ever buy anything at any rate.
IME, being friendly, polite and nice about it doesn't help one iota. Explaining the difference between different types of shops doesn't help one iota. Using one's professionality to help them to a good choice doesn't help one iota.
They will just not buy. They seem to think they steal from themselves if they buy from a better shop, and that better shops are thieves. In fact, experience tells me they will often go online to complain about prices even after they've been given the royal treatment.

If you had called me asking about price matching, you would've gotten a polite and friendly answer, and I'd use time on you in the vain hope that you would turn around, but afterwards I'd realise I'm only hurting myself this way, and that I really should have laughed. Laughing is liberating.

[Zodiak]

I'll share my own experience that was kind of a mixed bag.

I was buying online because I don't live in the UK. Was looking at an expensive-ish bass, had it narrowed down to either a Stingray Classic (2k) or a second-hand Custom Shop Jazz Bass, and an amp. To cut the story short, over the course of the purchase. I wrote to Mark many long detailed letters explaining my logic and reasoning, which might have been flawed but at least I was open. Buying something this expensive (for me, anyway) online is a daunting task and all I wanted was some help from Mark who is infinitely more experienced and knowledgeable than me and runs the shop for profit which I was prepared to give him. Instead, all I ever got from him were one-liners with very little information about what I was asking. I understand he is a busy man and I was asking waaay too many questions, I guess they were the "wrong" questions to him, as someone here pointed out, but still, all I needed was a little proper help, not just one-liners to my long and detailed questions. I obviously couldn't try the basses, nor see them, nor have a proper conversation. I did buy the used JB just because I thought it was the best option I could find, despite the lack of customer service. Maybe he thought I was wasting his time? I wasn't. I had the cash and was ready to pay given just a little bit of help. I got the feeling he wasn't interested in selling at all and was just doing ME a favor. I probably wasn't the most exciting customer for my lack of knowledge, but still... He did give me a small discount, but no deal of any kind for guitar + amp + pedals + accessories. His right, but I only got the bass because of that. Also, strangely no option to pay by credit card which took a surprisingly long time to get cleared even though it cleared instantly on my part.

Futhermore, the bass arrived with a faulty bridge pickup. It's still at the tech's a month since, waiting for the pickups to arrive. Im not mad only because Im strangely happy to get new pickups anyway. But Mark never mentioned this. I guess he never checked nor asked the original owner why he was selling the bass in the first place. Maybe because of the broken pickup. It's definitely not "immaculate" as was written on the website.

To be fair, the bass was set-up well and arrived fast and packed really well. So the bottom line is, he may be a great guy in person, but online, with someone who is maybe not that interesting to him, he's totally indifferent and doesn't care at all. I wasn't buying a freakin pack of strings, I was buying a high-end bass. So yeah, never would have done business with him if it werent for the fact that the bass he had was the best option.

No offence intended. I was just glad it was over.