geoham Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) So, Mrs Geoham was getting the last few bits for Christmas yesterday and called to see if I needed anything, rather than her just guessing at gifts. I suggested a set of D'addario Chromes strings. She went to a music shop in central Glasgow (who have at least two more branches). The bloke told her that said strings are extremely rare - and tried to palm her off with a set of roundwounds! Thankfully, she politely declined! I'd really like to be able to support my local 'bricks and mortar' shop, but 70% oF the time or more I end up shopping online because I can't get what I need locally. On top of that, finding a sales assistant who actually knows about bass gear is challenge! Given the lack of a dedicated bass shop in Central Scotland, it looks like the internet is the way forward for me. What kind of experiences have others had? Edited December 24, 2014 by geoham Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybertect Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) Not much use to you, I imagine, but Wunjos in Denmark Street in London keep them in stock and Guitar Guitar had them at their Epsom, Surrey branch when I last went in. I bought a set there for my fretless VM Jazz. Edit: Given your mention of them having at least two other branches I have a sneaking suspicion it may be Guitar Guitar that your wife tried :-/ Edited December 24, 2014 by cybertect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telebass Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Yup, no worries for Chromes down this-a-way. Having said that, got the last two sets from Wunjos...Next set will be online! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EssentialTension Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Flatwound bass strings in guitar shops is extremely rare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobthedog Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 [quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1419440072' post='2640025'] Flatwound bass strings in guitar shops is extremely rare. [/quote] I tried several LMSs both locally and in Inverness with no luck on this one. Amazon was the way forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Bandwagon in Perth often have flats in stock, but I got Chromes from strings direct. Bit too late to order for Xmas delivery though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I've always bought my Chromes online. You are lucky if a generalist guitar shop stocks any flats at all, let alone in the make/length/material you want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I've noticed Rae McIntosh in Edinburgh has Chromes, they seem to have a pretty good choice of strings. Before the internet retailers took off I always had trouble finding flatwounds. Lots of places would have Rotosounds but they're a bit of an acquired taste, and a couple more told me they could order Ernie Balls but only if I committed to buying a box of six sets at full retail! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molan Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 We tend not to stock Chromes because we've not had much demand for them, La Bella and Thomastik move a lot faster. However it only takes 24 hours to get them from D'Addario UK. They are a great supplier and turn stuff around really quickly so there's no excuse for a D'Addario stockist to say they are 'rare'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) I've never bought strings from a shop - they never have what I want. And when Strings Direct have every possible brand and option you can think of online, and you generally see them next-day, I don't think I ever will... Edited December 24, 2014 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1419443428' post='2640069'] ...they could order Ernie Balls but only if I committed to buying a box of six sets at full retail! [/quote] So it's either a box of Balls, or no Balls at all..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBass Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Going in to my local shop and the Young girl didn't even know what flatwounds were when I tried to see if they stocked any! I was after TI's as well so god knows what she'd have said if I asked for those specifically! 99% of the time I buy online as it's cheaper and there's ALWAYS some in stock! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3below Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) Use the well known BC for flatwounds. Pre owned and run in, at a fraction of the new price. Cheap, me, never Edited December 24, 2014 by 3below Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jezzaboy Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 (edited) I think that Glasgow has a decent range of bass gear. The last set of chromes I bought, I got from Merchant City. Also, guitarguitar has a guy called Paul if I remember right who is a bass player and knows of things bassy Edited December 24, 2014 by jezzaboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingBollock Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 There's a large musical instrument shop just down the road from me. I went in there just after it opened a few years ago, looking for DR strings. They did have a couple of sets but not what I was after (I wasn't being overly strict, there were three sets I couldn't make my mind up on, so I would have bought the first one of those I came across), they told me I could buy one of the sets they had or I wouldn't be able to get any because, he promised me, they were the only DR stockist in South Wales. Except that the next shop I wet into, down on the coast, had them, too, but only the same sets that the first shop had. One day I visited every instrument shop I could find west of Cardiff. The choice of bass stuff was absolutely woeful. I had always preferred to go to a local shop rather than buy online, but that day changed that for me, Strings Direct every time for me now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I've always struggled getting anything string-related in shops. I find that Guitarguitar tends to only stock the odd set of EB or D'addario (no Prosteels) in 5 string sets. I tend to use Elixirs which finding these for a 5 string is near impossible in shops near me. I would prefer to buy in shops but just find the lack of gear that I actually want to own/try is generally a little flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoham Posted December 24, 2014 Author Share Posted December 24, 2014 [quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1419439802' post='2640018'] Not much use to you, I imagine, but Wunjos in Denmark Street in London keep them in stock and Guitar Guitar had them at their Epsom, Surrey branch when I last went in. I bought a set there for my fretless VM Jazz. Edit: Given your mention of them having at least two other branches I have a sneaking suspicion it may be Guitar Guitar that your wife tried :-/ [/quote] Wunjos is great! Bought a P Bass and some flats from them the last time I was in London. Had the best selection of bass strings I've ever come across offline, and staff that knew their stuff. We need something like that north of the border. When I took my metal head 13 year old string shopping for guitar strings, he was presented with plenty of choice and advice. For bassists - we're lucky to get two brands and two gauges to choose from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 [quote name='geoham' timestamp='1419437443' post='2639983'] So, Mrs Geoham was getting the last few bits for Christmas yesterday and called to see if I needed anything, rather than her just guessing at gifts. I suggested a set of D'addario Chromes strings. She went to a music shop in central Glasgow (who have at least two more branches). The bloke told her that said strings are extremely rare - and tried to palm her off with a set of roundwounds! Thankfully, she politely declined! I'd really like to be able to support my local 'bricks and mortar' shop, but 70% oF the time or more I end up shopping online because I can't get what I need locally. On top of that, finding a sales assistant who actually knows about bass gear is challenge! Given the lack of a dedicated bass shop in Central Scotland, it looks like the internet is the way forward for me. What kind of experiences have others had? [/quote] Rare? No more rare than any other D'Addario string. That is to say that you (music shop owner) stick it on your order with D'Addario, and it arrives in a day or 2 with all your other strings. As Molan says, they're a very good supplier, and usually you can get anything (rare or not) from them in 24 hours. I've never had a problem ordering any string off them before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 Unless your local shop is a specialist shop, it's very unlikely to have any great selection of bass stock, whether instruments or accessories. If you want your local music shop to stock more bass related things, you need to have bassists going there on a regular basis, willing to buy. Show them that you are there, and you are willing to support their business, but they have to give you what you want in return. I really don't know how much people moan about the selection of bass strings we have in the shop, but as far as I know, bassist make up an incredibly small portion of our customers. What I'm trying to say is that I don't know how many bassists have come in looking for strings, because loads of them won't have told me what they're after, and just left when we didn't have it. I do my best, being a bassist, to offer other bassists a decent selection, but it's very very difficult when we don't know what they want, and they don't tell us. I can moan and bitch all year long to my boss about what we offer bassists, but if the bass sales aren't there, he won't give in. No shop owner would. I suppose what I'm saying is if you want your local to give you better choice, show them that you're willing to support them, and tell them what you want. If small shops managed even a couple of bass string sales a week, they'd be more relaxed about expanding the range. Just my tuppenny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbaby Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 My local shop is Kenny's music in Dundee, they stock chromes, £30 a set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoham Posted December 25, 2014 Author Share Posted December 25, 2014 So, looks like Santa had more luck at Kenny's Music in Glasgow than my wife did! [size=4]Woke up this morning to a nice set of Chromes! [/size] Wife thought she was being funny....... apparently the salesman was really good too. Apologies for an unjustified rant..... MERRY CHRISTMAS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 [quote name='geoham' timestamp='1419502738' post='2640432'] Apologies for an unjustified rant..... MERRY CHRISTMAS! [/quote] Ho, ho, ho - that mrs geoham is a one!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miles'tone Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1419518383' post='2640610'] Ho, ho, ho - that mrs geoham is a one!! [/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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