calling all scottish bass players

[sdgrsr400]

It would be nice to have a board for use of the bass community, where notes could be stuck up, categories could be e.g. 'bassists wanted / available / lessons'. Cards put on the board should be only by your agreement, then dated and removed when clearly out-of-date. You do have to monitor these to avoid the board filling up with junk flyers for gigs etc.

[BarnacleBob]

[quote name='sdgrsr400' post='577060' date='Aug 21 2009, 07:54 PM']It would be nice to have a board for use of the bass community, where notes could be stuck up, categories could be e.g. 'bassists wanted / available / lessons'. Cards put on the board should be only by your agreement, then dated and removed when clearly out-of-date. You do have to monitor these to avoid the board filling up with junk flyers for gigs etc.[/quote]

i remember getting a few gigs off the board in MacCormacks music, Bath St.
they used to be the ONLY place for gibson, fender etc in west of Scotland never mind Glasgow.
Biggars for a cello and Thompsons for a Grand Piano!!!

BB

[kets]

1. Yes , of course!

2. I have to agree with the guy's who are suggesting more mid-higher end type stuf, Lakland, Sadowsky etc. There are already enough music shops with floors crammed full of no name basses, hell even Argos sells that kinda stuff! Spare parts is a really good idea and a decent stock of quality books is a must. I would also welcome a good stock of second hand stuff as well.

3. Use the shop, even though I'm in Edinburgh.

4. Depends really, spent about £500 last year. Next year could be less, impending marriage forces savings!

5. Very possibly. It's far easier to spend the money if you have something in your mitts that you really want in my experience.

How about clinics to get people through the door? If the bass centre can do it, so can you!

Best of luck with the venture, hope it works out.

[thodrik]

[quote name='jamiejames' post='574103' date='Aug 19 2009, 01:17 PM']Hi all
I am opening a bass shop in Glasgow, yup, no guitars no drums no keys, just bass stuff, everything from beginer to pro level and i would appreciate a bit of help with a few questions to help with the marketing, you can reply here or to [email protected] i guarantee you will not be contacted via your reply unless you specifically ask to be, i would be grateful for your input and suggestions
1) Do you welcome a bass specific shop in Scotland
2) What would you like to see in stock
3) Are you more likely to visit the shop or use our online service
4) Roughly how much do you spend on bass goods in a year
5) Is this likely to increase if you had a bass shop you could visit?
The shop will be for bass players and by bassplayers so please take a minute and help us to provide the best possible service and to stock the things you want to see.
cheers
jamie[/quote]

Hi, good luck with this venture.

1) I do welcome it very much, though the stuff at Guitar Guitar and CC Music is none too shabby. If you were planning something like a Scottish version of the Gallery though, that would be nice.

2) Well, DR strings would be nice, you can't really find them anywhere past the border! Its going to have to be a mix of everything, I would suggest stocking some upright bass equipment and sheet music, just to cover the whole bass spectrum. Second-hand stuff is always cool. Try stocking amps that aren't just the usual Ashdown/Ampeg fare. Also, try stocking pedals that aren't Boss.

3) Being in Glasgow, I would probably adopt the same approach as I do to Guitar Guitar now. Look online, have a look to see what is in, if I see something I fancy I phone them and check that its in, then I'll go down and try it/buy it. That requires a frequently updated site though. If it was local, I would probably drop by just to see what was in.

4. Last year was the year I finally upgraded my entire set-up (after about a 6 years of saving and waiting), which ended up costing me about £3000. Generally though, its gonna be strings, a few pedals and maybe a set up through the year, so generally in the £200-600 bracket.

5. I would probably buy more pedals/accessories if I had a greater choice. I'm pretty sure the next bass I'm going to get (financially it might take a while) is a great Jazz style bass. If you stocked stuff like Nordstrand, Modulus and the like you'd would get a sale out of me sooner or later!

Also, some kind of notice board would be cool, and clinics would be welcome. You could also offer lessons for people starting out and so on.

Oh, and make sure that the people working there have decent product knowledge. I hate asking about something only to find out that I know more about the product than the guy who is trying to sell it to me!

[Metalmoore]

1) Do you welcome a bass specific shop in Scotland
Yeah, I’m sick of the rubbish choice in Glasgow

2) What would you like to see in stock
Would like to see what guitarguitar do with the guitars but with basses i.e. lots of them from a wide choice of makes and ranging from super beginner to Pro and also unlike any shop I have been to a REAL choice of 5's 6's and maybe even 7's as McCormack’s had 1 stagg 5'er when I was looking, Merchant city had an Ibanez which sounded crap. And definitely parts as mentioned before. Also would be great to offer some more tech stuff like setups and repairs which don’t cost an arm and leg.

3) Are you more likely to visit the shop or use our online service
Definitely visit the shop, as some people have mentioned I would go in have a look play a few and research the one I liked. If the staff are friendly and maybe a free set-up I would buy there even if I lost 50 quid since al have it straight away AND very much prefer a local shop with top notch customer service

4) Roughly how much do you spend on bass goods in a year
Well I am building 2 basses, a 5 string active Fenderbird (in the end I think I am looking at about 400-600 quid) and a 4 string active jazz bass (also about 400-600 quid) And other things like strings such so in total maybe £1.3k MAX (think I’ve spent all this years wage on GAS....)

5) Is this likely to increase if you had a bass shop you could visit?
Probably...

EDIT: Sucky spelling and grammar fixed

Edited August 23, 2009 by Metalmoore

[velvetkevorkian]

That's a good point, a wider selection of stuff with more than 4 strings would be nice.

edit- thinking out loud now, can you become a dealer for custom shops so people can order through you?

Edited August 23, 2009 by velvetkevorkian

[xgsjx]

I think this would be a great idea & don't see why it wouldn't work, as long as you do have classes & stock a decent range of mid to high end basses & S/H for those who can't afford them at new prices. Keep away from the budget, as there is Merchant City (and a few others) for that stuff.

If you can get some luthiers as suppliers it would probably be a huge boost, that way folk could try the standard offered & then order a tailored instrument thru yourselves... similar in the fact that GuitarGuitar have Overwater in stock (but I don't know if they do the custom option thru them).

[razze06]

1) Do you welcome a bass specific shop in Scotland

Yes it would be great

2) What would you like to see in stock

Uncommon and interesting basses and amplification, plenty S/H, spares and parts in general, wider choice of strings makes, types and gauges. The idea of stocking some sample luthier instruments is great, being able to order through it even better. Oh and it would be grand if you did trade-ins.

3) Are you more likely to visit the shop or use our online service

I would check online to see what's in, but I need to touch and feel any serious piece of kit i might buy.

4) Roughly how much do you spend on bass goods in a year

500-1k

5) Is this likely to increase if you had a bass shop you could visit?

Unfortunately for me, yes...

Can't wait for the shop to open...