Gear4Music equipment

[TheGreek]

Just been browsing on Gumtree and there's a quite nice looking red semi acoustic bass by Gear4Music for not a lot.

I've seen loads of their gear for not a lot. I accept its probably entry level gear - similar to HB - but the difference in build quality can't be so wide that HB are regarded highly while G4M has seemingly no following. 

 

Does anybody have any experience of G4M gear?

[TheGreek]

Can't copy and paste from Gumtree using my phone. 

Edited October 12, 2023 by TheGreek

[Lozz196]

Well Tony James used one of their basses in Generation Sex, if it’s good enough to play Glastonbury it must be ok.

Edited October 12, 2023 by Lozz196

[binky_bass]

Personal opinion is that the really cheap G4M instruments aren't particularly great. Had a few cheapies over the years and the build quality is a bit lacking. HB do a far better job for a similar price IMHO. 

[Rexel Matador]

I gigged one once when the one bass I'd brought with me didn't make any sound when I plugged in. In a ridiculous stroke of luck the singer just happened to have it in his van. It sounded absolutely fine and could have been a perfectly nice bass with a proper set up. Nice  shoreline gold-ish finish too, which you don't often see. Was a while ago though so I have no idea if they still do that colour!

 

[fleabag]

Cant speak for instruments, as i've never bought a bass off 'em, but the double padded case i did buy is absolutely mustard

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

A lot of their stuff seems to end up in cash converters for some reason

[Owen]

1 hour ago, fleabag said:

Cant speak for instruments, as i've never bought a bass off 'em, but the double padded case i did buy is absolutely mustard

I think we need a link. 

[Norris]

The lights I bought from them have been great 

[Waddo Soqable]

It's likely a bit of a lottery but I've had a few things from them that were fairly good, including a 6 string active bass that was imho excellent. 

[fleabag]

4 hours ago, Owen said:

I think we need a link. 

 

Put the jazz ciggy down and look at their website.  Jeeeeeeeez, the yoof of today  get lazier every year

[barkin]

14 hours ago, TheGreek said:

 

Does anybody have any experience of G4M gear?

I've got one of their 12 string acoustic guitars. 

I returned the first one, which they swapped with no fuss. 

 

The replacement's OK. 

[PaulWarning]

I once bought a lefty electro acoustic off them, sent the first one back, ridiculously high action, second one was just the same, gave up and got my money back, good returns system though

[neepheid]

My amp for the past 12 years has been a Red Sub BT5110 (G4M's amp brand), the only thing that's gone wrong with it in that time was the headphone socket needed replacing.  Make of that what you will, it's just one instance of one product they sold which has worked out fantastically for me.

 

I bought a G4M bass once, unfortunately it had been damaged in transit.  I sent it back without issue but didn't get a replacement, I just went off the idea of it in the interim and got a refund.  It was pretty cheap feeling, but it was pretty cheap, so can't really complain!

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I have quite a few of their sub-zero  mini guitar effects . I also purchased the small metal flight case / pedalboard to accommodate them complete with daisy chain transformer . 

They look really cool , and  are very good quality for not much dosh. 
They do sell them as packs for genre of music you may like , or separate . All good . 
I have a  sub -zero 4 channel midi interface also . That's good also .

 

I find the service from G4M top notch , and they use DPD which are good in my area 🤞

[kodiakblair]

Bought one of their LA Select P-basses, 2nd hand £20 🙂

Nice wee bass, took about 10 minutes to set up.

 

Followed that with a RedSub fanned fret. Again bought 2nd hand. Another nice bass, perfect way to see if multiscale is your thing.

One complaint, would have preferred a wider spacing between the 2 soapbars.

 

Last was yet another LA Select P-bass. Pushed the boat out on this, £160 split new delivered; came with a serviceable gig bag 🙂

 

Blocks & binding, toasted neck, Peavey shape peghead. Tidy 👍

[Newfoundfreedom]

I've had one of their semi acoustic basses for years. They used to be branded sub zero, but they're still selling essentially the same bass and just keep changing the colours and renaming it (well if it's good enough for Fender)  usually after different cities in the USA.  

I bought it as B stock for about 100 quid but couldn't find a single thing wrong with it. After several years the electronics have gone a bit shoddy, and it's very flat and woody sounding, but other than that it's a nice enough looking thing and perfectly playable. 

[Grahambythesea]

There always seems to be a steady stream of their stuff being sold cheap on eBay because it was damaged presumably in transit to the shop. 

[binky_bass]

Search "RRP Damage Guitar" in eBay and you'll find most of their damaged stock. 

[gjones]

The stage monitors in my local music bar are Gear4Music\Subzero and they're pretty loud and clear.

[kodiakblair]

22 minutes ago, Grahambythesea said:

because it was damaged presumably in transit to the shop. 

Pal of mine lives in Kenya. To avoid any return problems he sometimes gets stuff delivered to me, I give it the once over then if it passes forward it on.

 

Boxes contained an Ovation style acoustic bass, somehow it was unscathed 😮

 

[jonno1981]

They’re pretty savvy on internet advertising. If you do a generic google search “I want to buy a bass”, they always turn up high or first. 

Product is very cheap, checkout is fairly easy, lots of models/colours to choose from. 
 

Schools buy a lot of them as well. I’ve never played a good one! But they are often in a sorry state when they turn up secondhand. 

[tauzero]

I've got the 4-port MIDI interface. I also got their Extreme Electric Guitar Bag (£20) for my headless 6-string which has a long top horn - fits nicely. Unfortunately, Mrs Zero has hidden it, so I may need to buy another one (counterproductive on her part, as she keeps moaning about the number of cases and bags that I have knocking around). I've bought a few other things off them but not any other G4M/SubZero stuff.

[chriswareham]

I've got one of their smallish powered monitors (their Sub Zero brand). It's used on stage to monitor a drum machine after too many bad experiences with no drums in the venue's own monitors. No frills device, solidly made and clear sounding.

 

They're also my go too for guitar cases, both padded and rigid ones. The cheapest ones are so-so, but the ones they describe as "premium" are still very affordable and excellent quality.

 

Been tempted by that semi-acoustic pictured above, but it's kind of spoiled for me by the headstock which doesn't seem to suit the body. Oh, and I thought all semi-acoustic basses sounded "woody", perhaps with an overtone of piano like sustain with new roundwound strings on.

[casapete]

Mentioned these before, but the best case I’ve ever used is the ‘Bass guitar foam case’ by G4M.

I bought two of these, and in over 10 years of use on the road all over the UK I’m still just using the

first one! Light but very strong, mine originally cost around £30/35. They’re now £49.99 but

even at that still very good value for money IMO.