The bass cellar - denmark street

[Kiwi]

FWIW, I made a purchase decision about a MM Cutlass bass about 18 years before I could actually afford it.

I also think places like Bass NW or Bass Central in the US are excellent examples of how every person who comes in contact with them is treated like a potential customer. I'd cite Bass Gallery and Bass Direct as worthy UK examples too.

[Doc B]

[quote name='thedonutman' post='264674' date='Aug 18 2008, 03:57 PM']The worse experience(s) I've ever had with a guitar shop is Wizard Guitars in Sheffield, the worst guitar shop I've ever been to, and it's not even on Denmark Street![/quote]

I'd agree with you there - I went in once with the guitarist from the band I was in as he was looking for a second guitar and wanted to try some Epiphone Les Pauls. He had the cash on him and was literally at the point of finalising the deal when he asked if the Epiphone came with a case or gig bag: 'you've already got one' came the reply as he had his other guitar with him. We left there and then!

I did get some revenge on them when I was in once and saw a second hand Kent Armstrong Sky Telecaster bridge hotrail type pup and asked how much they wanted for it: £35 said the boss-eyed brother of the other ugly guy. I burst out laughing and said that's what they cost new - I got it for £20 with a scratch plate thrown in!

There was a lovely blonde girl who worked there for a while though....

[NeonMig]

Well dressing respectably will help wherever you are (bank trying to get a loan, haggling for a car, etc.) but ultimately, The Customer Is Always Right. And many musicians may look like the scum of society and still be loaded with cash (our drummer is covered in tattoos, has pink braids and the rest of his head shaved, but is the dictionary definition of a professional musician and has an endorsement with Pearl drums), it's the nature of the beast and if the staff at the store are musicians as well, they'll know that.

Maybe they've had a lot of bad experiences? Lord knows I've wanted to strangle customers when I worked in retail before. I always stayed polite however.

But yeah, like anywhere else prove that you know your stuff and they won't want to try to muck you about.

[Toasted]

[quote name='Crazykiwi' post='265879' date='Aug 19 2008, 08:46 PM']FWIW, I made a purchase decision about a MM Cutlass bass about 18 years before I could actually afford it.

I also think places like Bass NW or Bass Central in the US are excellent examples of how every person who comes in contact with them is treated like a potential customer. I'd cite Bass Gallery and Bass Direct as worthy UK examples too.[/quote]

Mark this date in your diaries. I agree with CrazyKiwi to the letter.

Edited August 20, 2008 by Toasted

[Stylon Pilson]

[quote name='NeonMig' post='266121' date='Aug 20 2008, 10:24 AM']The Customer Is Always Right[/quote]

Disagree strongly. An employee who is forced to adhere to this maxim is a very unhappy, demotivated employee. Shop assistants are not your slaves. They are people with whom you do business. Respect is a two-way street.

S.P.

[Protium]

Music Ground on Oxford Road, Manchester is rubbish too.

Looking on eBay now, £1700 for a Ric 4003? (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150282792550)

"At this time rickenbacker are quoting circa 6-12 months on new orders and based on this schedule do expect interest in above being strong"

Does this justify almost doubling the price?

[BassBomber414]

I've worked in sales and these Bass Cellar guys are simply clueless.Sales are made on goodwill built up over years.Customers NEVER forget good service and generate more custom down through the years.Kids given a good play of the gear today could be buying their grandchildren instruments in the future from a favourite shop.

If I was selling instruments my priority would be to , be friendly ,get the thing in their hands, make them feel relaxed, put the kettle on, compliment their playing and offer any advice they wanted.I would make everyone entering the shop feel welcome, money or not.There is always tomorrow's sale or a mate's.

And; even though I've worked in sales ,good service still works on me.

I went to Volkswagan,Ford and Honda for my last new car .Frankly ,there was not much to choose between the cars. But the Honda guy struck up a good rapport, chucked me the keys to a demonstrator for the day and fetched me coffee when I got back and we had a chat.All the staff were pleasant ,cheerful and helpful.

I bought the Honda - not rocket science is it ?

Edited August 20, 2008 by BassBomber414

[Happy Jack]

I sometimes do an internal presentation at work on Marketing. I always make the point that - [i][b]very broadly[/i][/b] - there are two approaches in business:

1. This is what we do. Now, can we persuade people to buy it?
2. This is what people actually want. Now, can we provide it?

The Bass Cellar has come up with A Third Way.

3. We don't give a monkey's whether or not you buy it. Come to that, we don't care what you want. Now go away.

[misrule]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='266595' date='Aug 20 2008, 08:25 PM']We don't give a monkey's whether or not you buy it. Come to that, we don't care what you want. Now go away.[/quote]
They're getting that mission statement engraved over the door

Cheers

Mark

[budget bassist]

[quote name='misrule' post='266600' date='Aug 20 2008, 08:30 PM']They're getting that mission statement engraved over the door

Cheers

Mark[/quote]
Haha that would REALLY make me laugh!

[waynepunkdude]

I'm going to take this opportunity to talk up Mac's music in Herne Bay.

Good old Mac sits in the corner of he store (not near the till ) with his toolbox next to him, bless old Mac he is getting old and can't walk.

Kids bring there guitars in and he fixes them FOR FREE knowing that when they buy there next guitar/bass their parents will buy it from there, he says things to people who have never been in the shop like "I just got this in you should try it " customer service defined although he hates my Fender keeps on telling me G & L's are better but it's better to have someone with an opinion than someone who doesn't care.

But alas old Mac can't keep going for ever and when he is gone the shop will close or someone will take over who won't give a toss.

[Alastair]

Sounds like a wonderful shop Mr Punkdude, I wish there were more places like that in Glasgow.

(dont get me wrong there are a few awesome shops but none quite like that!)

[stingrayfan]

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='266617' date='Aug 20 2008, 08:59 PM']he hates my Fender keeps on telling me G & L's are better[/quote]
He's not wrong there...

[budget bassist]

[quote name='stingrayfan' post='266642' date='Aug 20 2008, 09:31 PM']He's not wrong there... [/quote]
+1! haha

Sounds like an awesome shop though, i really like smaller family owned shops that are just the one shop, no chain. The business means more to them than it does a big chain and they tend to have much better customer service.

[geilerbass]

[quote name='stylonpilson' post='266470' date='Aug 20 2008, 05:19 PM']Disagree strongly. An employee who is forced to adhere to this maxim is a very unhappy, demotivated employee. Shop assistants are not your slaves. They are people with whom you do business. Respect is a two-way street.

S.P.[/quote]

There is some truth in this. If you go into a shop and behave like a total dick, don't expect to be treated with courtesy and decency. Expect to be turfed out on your ear.

[arctan]

Going back to the start of this thread (bass cellar), at the top of >some< of these companies are people who don't play instruments, don't know a thing about them. But they do see us musos as way of making money. So, with them being greedy people but with no idea about music, they have to employ some staff. Is it any wonder they get it wrong? And end up with arrogant twits who wouldn't survive in a more switched on environment. And because they love music (not), what's the chance of them reading the stuff that's on the web about them?

There was a Hi Fi and instrument exchange shop in notting hill that was the pinnacle of bad attitude. When, a few years back, you googled them, you got one entry for the shop, and ten about how nasty the staff were.

So, society's attitude to musicians has moved on to the point where we aren't third class citizens (probably because there is serious money to be made, as opposed to better music teaching in schools), but tin pan alley (Demark St and the likes) is still stuck in the 1940's!


Reminds me of a story about a big bookshop near there. When interviewing for staff they'd ask what subjects the cadidates where interested in (they were often part time students). If they got the job they would be put in any department other than that which interested them- 'just in case they started reading the books'...
The bookshop would also dismiss staff before they had completed six months, so they couldn't go to an employment tribunal.
This explains why none of the staff could help you find a book, and, if you went back a year later, you wouldn't see the same staff.

I'm a big fan of the Bass Gallery, I get all my repairs, set-ups and spares from them- I have an idea that they actually like music, and bass guitars, and even us people who play them!

Nite All.

[lowhand_mike]

unsuprised to see there is no reply from them as yet.

[simondee]

Read this thread with much interest.

My dad bought me my second bass from Macari's in 1996. It was the closest to a 'pure' music retail experience you can get. The shop guy was achingly cool and demo'd this purple Yamaha BB1100S with some awesome riffage and slappage. We totally bought it and he was super nice, even though I was rubbish at bass at the time. It felt like buying a new bass should feel.

I bought my first Warwick from the cellar in '98 when I was 17. Paid in cash. Treated like sh1t by the nasty little bald short dude (who, it turns out, is dead according to an earlier post). At the time it was the only real place to get them apart from Wapping, and they were only really stocking the higher-end warwicks at the time.

The Gallery is probably the best, but I do feel a bit like you're getting in the way of them building amazing basses by setting up my less exotic axes because I'm a numpty when it comes to truss rods and intonation. And restringing, come to think of it.

I bought my Thumb from the excellent shop in Tonbridge. Really nice guys. Great selection of high-ish end stuff too.

I thought that maybe because that bald dude was now dead, perhaps the cellar would have got better. But no. They have some brilliant stock in there, but because of the location and the amount of kids buying Schecters and RockBasses you can understand, but not forgive, the attitude. It's emulated by that whole area though too, apart from the guy in Rose Morris who is super-nice.

I wish the Wapping shop was still open. You only got true daytrippers in there and it was a great room to try stuff out in. Plus you could go to the brilliant pub over the road afterwards with a great view of the river.

To be honest, I've had some great purchasing experiences just on the forums here. It's great to talk gear with other 'chatters face to face over a cuppa. You have to wonder how long music shops can last in their present state with communities like this and talkbass in their relative infancy and getting bigger all the time.

[Rich]

[quote name='BassBomber414' post='266590' date='Aug 20 2008, 08:17 PM']I've worked in sales and these Bass Cellar guys are simply clueless.Sales are made on goodwill built up over years.Customers NEVER forget good service and generate more custom down through the years.Kids given a good play of the gear today could be buying their grandchildren instruments in the future from a favourite shop.
If I was selling instruments my priority would be to , be friendly ,get the thing in their hands, make them feel relaxed, put the kettle on, compliment their playing and offer any advice they wanted.I would make everyone entering the shop feel welcome, money or not.There is always tomorrow's sale or a mate's.[/quote]
+1 to all this... and to "[i]Sales are made on goodwill built up over years[/i]", I would add "[i][b]but a bad reputation can be generated in seconds and last a lifetime[/b][/i]".

[quote name='simondee' post='267128' date='Aug 21 2008, 03:23 PM']I wish the Wapping shop was still open. You only got true daytrippers in there and it was a great room to try stuff out in. Plus you could go to the brilliant pub over the road afterwards with a great view of the river.[/quote]Oh god yes, BCWapping was wonderful. I remember those mid 80s days... endless free coffee on tap, no hassle, lots of fabulous gear to try, and never anyone breathing down your neck or demanding to know if you're going to buy that Wal before they'd let you try it.
And the pub was great too... sitting by the river with a pint, reading through the millions of brochures you'd picked up, or gazing fondly at your latest purchase...
*long, wistful sigh*
[quote]To be honest, I've had some great purchasing experiences just on the forums here. It's great to talk gear with other 'chatters face to face over a cuppa. You have to wonder how long music shops can last in their present state with communities like this and talkbass in their relative infancy and getting bigger all the time.[/quote]+1. There will always be room for the friendly, helpful music shop I think, but from the comments here, they seem to be increasingly thin on the ground. Tragic.

[geilerbass]

[quote name='simondee' post='267128' date='Aug 21 2008, 03:23 PM']I bought my first Warwick from the cellar in '98 when I was 17. Paid in cash. Treated like sh1t by the nasty little bald short dude (who, it turns out, is dead according to an earlier post).[/quote]

I heard from someone who worked at the PA centre (also owned by the same group) that the bald guy literally dropped dead in the shop one day.

[geilerbass]

[quote name='lowhand_mike' post='267125' date='Aug 21 2008, 03:21 PM']unsuprised to see there is no reply from them as yet.[/quote]

Somehow, I don't think there is going to be.

[simondee]

[quote name='geilerbass' post='267150' date='Aug 21 2008, 03:43 PM']I heard from someone who worked at the PA centre (also owned by the same group) that the bald guy literally dropped dead in the shop one day.[/quote]

Wow. I always thought he was the owner since he wielded the magical powers of The Calculator of Pricing.

*mutters something inappropriate about karma under breath*

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='simondee' post='267156' date='Aug 21 2008, 03:46 PM']Wow. I always thought he was the owner since he wielded the magical powers of The Calculator of Pricing.[/quote]

The Calculator of Pricing is one of the ancient books of lore, filled with words too dangerous to be read aloud. We are deep into Terry Pratchett territory here. It's ineffable, that's what it is.

Did this guy wear a ring with mystical writing that only appears when you chuck it in the fire?

[rjb]

[quote name='Protium' post='266572' date='Aug 20 2008, 07:49 PM']Music Ground on Oxford Road, Manchester is rubbish too.[/quote]

I found them to be great actually. Bought a mint SH bass (Thumb NT) there recently and they were really helpful. It was a busy Saturday so they set up a practice room in the basement for me to try the bass.

I had gone in just to browse, but came out with a £900 bass. I could have searched the web for a cheaper option for sure, but they gave me loads of time to make my decision, so I was happy to pay a shop price.

I think there is alot of truth to the argument that age makes a difference, though. I'm not [b]that[/b] old (31! ) but I can see how they might assume I have more money to spend than your average 16 year old....

Edited August 21, 2008 by rjb

[budget bassist]

That is true, but still, you wouldn't treat them like dirt and in return you'd expect the same back. If i was being treated like crap by a customer for no reason i'd do the same back and fair play to anyone that does, but the 'staff', and i use that word VERY loosely, in the bass cellar treat everyone like dirt as soon as they walk through the door, and in my book that's not on.

Edited August 21, 2008 by budget bassist