Gear in the Chilterns

[Ajoten]

Hmm. So Guitar Slinger in Berkhamstead has closed down, Percy Prior/Rainbow Bridge in Wycombe has closed down, Perfect Pitch in Chesham and Rosehill in Beaconsfield sell only budget brands, and Kingfisher Music in Loudwater and Planet Guitars in Flackwell Heath both stock a mere 4 basses of varying qualities.

Do I have to travel for a couple of hours to find shops with a reasonable selection of basses? How come people on this forum have Spectors, Stati, Moduli, Ricks, G&Ls? Are you all taking punts on online purchases? Take lots of holidays in the US?

Where does one go when one lives in Bucks? I know I could get to London, where I might have more success (as long as I don't mind the extortionate prices and rude staff). And even then Sound Control has closed down and Andy's didn't have any basses last time I looked.

[Musky]

The Gallery in Camden. No rude staff and will price match if you ask.

[bassace]

PMT in Oxford. Nice people and a short run up the M40

[Golchen]

It's about 25 miles, but Coda music in Luton has basses - quite a lot of Warwicks.

[Platypus]

[quote name='Golchen' post='321840' date='Nov 4 2008, 02:51 PM']It's about 25 miles, but Coda music in Luton has basses - quite a lot of Warwicks.[/quote]

If your going to Luton, you may as well get over to Hithin - Machinehead have some nice basses and amps

[url="http://machinehead.co.uk/index.php/cPath/22?osCsid=48ubvjd08j21srtgu9230j1cb4"]http://machinehead.co.uk/index.php/cPath/2...1srtgu9230j1cb4[/url]

Edited November 4, 2008 by Platypus

[Bigwan]

You're having a laugh aren't you! You're within 30 miles of London! If I find a really crap Fender in any shop within 50 miles then I'm doing well... dry your eyes...

Seriously, I have had the same problem. I've started buying bits and pieces from here that I've always wanted to try. If I like it, I keep it (rare). If not I sell it on at the price it cost me, or trade it for something else of equal value. It costs me shipping each time but that's nothing compared to a travel to the nearest GOOD bass establishment (Camden again - and it's a LOT further for me than for you!). There are 3 rules you need to adhere to though -
1). Don't buy anything nobody else will be interested in or you'll be stuck with it if you don't like it.
2). Don't try to sell something for more than you bought it for the previous week - that just annoys people.
3). If you're shipping things PACK THEM WELL! Something broken in transit will ruin your run (and probably ruin someone elses day too)!

For example Here's a recent spree experiment I had. I started by buying a;
1). Lakland Bob Glaub - liked it, but not enough to keep it so I traded it, plus some cash, a few weeks later for;
2). Fender Roscoe Beck V - a great bass. The chain should have stopped there, but i was GASing for a Stingray 4 (and it sounded similar to my Lakland JO4) so traded it with cash my way for;
3). Musicman Stingray - another bass I liked, but it didn't fit with my band so again it had to go. Sold it on added a little cash and bought;
4). Musicman Bongo 5HH - a really corking bass, but it's very 'ACTIVE' and I'm considering letting it go and going for another passive 5 string.

Other than shipping, this little experiment cost me £100 in total on top of the first purchase by the time everything was evened out and that was over the space of 3-4 months.

This is the sort of thing I have to resort to. Luckily I haven't had any lemons. All the above basses are top notch, just didn't fit my particular bill at the time.

[R,5,R,5...]

A shop near me in Amersham has a flying V Spongebob ukulele. I don't know if that is something that might interest you.

[Telebass]

Seen those - no bottom end...

[Ajoten]

[quote name='R,5,R,5...' post='321982' date='Nov 4 2008, 05:30 PM']A shop near me in Amersham has a flying V Spongebob ukulele. I don't know if that is something that might interest you.[/quote]

Gah! Now if only it had been an In The Night Garden one.

Thanks for suggestions though.

[Guest]

[quote name='Bigwan' post='321927' date='Nov 4 2008, 04:33 PM']You're having a laugh aren't you! You're within 30 miles of London! If I find a really crap Fender in any shop within 50 miles then I'm doing well... dry your eyes...

Seriously, I have had the same problem. I've started buying bits and pieces from here that I've always wanted to try. If I like it, I keep it (rare). If not I sell it on at the price it cost me, or trade it for something else of equal value. It costs me shipping each time but that's nothing compared to a travel to the nearest GOOD bass establishment (Camden again - and it's a LOT further for me than for you!). There are 3 rules you need to adhere to though -
1). Don't buy anything nobody else will be interested in or you'll be stuck with it if you don't like it.
2). Don't try to sell something for more than you bought it for the previous week - that just annoys people.
3). If you're shipping things PACK THEM WELL! Something broken in transit will ruin your run (and probably ruin someone elses day too)!

For example Here's a recent spree experiment I had. I started by buying a;
1). Lakland Bob Glaub - liked it, but not enough to keep it so I traded it, plus some cash, a few weeks later for;
2). Fender Roscoe Beck V - a great bass. The chain should have stopped there, but i was GASing for a Stingray 4 (and it sounded similar to my Lakland JO4) so traded it with cash my way for;
3). Musicman Stingray - another bass I liked, but it didn't fit with my band so again it had to go. Sold it on added a little cash and bought;
4). Musicman Bongo 5HH - a really corking bass, but it's very 'ACTIVE' and I'm considering letting it go and going for another passive 5 string.

Other than shipping, this little experiment cost me £100 in total on top of the first purchase by the time everything was evened out and that was over the space of 3-4 months.

This is the sort of thing I have to resort to. Luckily I haven't had any lemons. All the above basses are top notch, just didn't fit my particular bill at the time.[/quote]

Great advise! I too through the forum have owned loads of high end basses,amps and effects and if you do your home work before trading or buying it won't cost very much at all after the initial outlay.

Three cheers for basschat!!!!

Edited November 5, 2008 by steve-norris

[simondee]

Dude I grew up in Berkhamsted and now live near Wendover.

Used to buy gear in London, and now I buy gear on here! woo!

[budget bassist]

Some of the shops round here sell some decent basses actually, fenders, G&Ls, warwicks, some nice yammys, ltds, bolins! etc etc, we actually have it pretty good here!

I think i only bought one of my basses from a shop though (my tobias), my musicman came off ebay, my fender came from this forum and so did the G&L i had and half of my other musicman came from here and the neck off ebay. They don't call me budget bassist for nowt

Edited November 5, 2008 by budget bassist

[MacDaddy]

[quote name='Ajoten' post='321816' date='Nov 4 2008, 02:26 PM']I know I could get to London, where I might have more success (as long as I don't mind the extortionate prices and rude staff). And even then Sound Control has closed down and Andy's didn't have any basses last time I looked.

[/quote]
If you are referring to Andy's Guitars, owned by Andy Preston, he went bankrupt (again, which is why the shop's trading name kept changing from Andy's Drum Centre, Andy Guitar Centre, Andy's Guitars, etc). He ripped me off for £500.00 on a Fender Bassman Amp the shop was selling for me. He's a liar, cheat, and scum, but that's for another thread.