Best and Worst Bass Shops

[Murph_Orpheus]

What are the bass centre like for ordering online?

[leonshelley01]

When I ordered a wah from the Bass Centre online which was shown as in stock, it took 7 weeks to recieve it. They never contacted me at any point, returned calls when promised and constantly tried to foist me off with "it will be the beginning of next week".

I've always had excellent results buying from Coda Music in Luton and Stevenage. Great prices, happy to let you try whatever you want and happy to order in anything not currently in stock.

[Stag]

+1 for PMT in Norwich. Always been good for me. Cookes is good as well but they never seem to have the stuff I want... although they now have a yummy 70's Precision at the moment.

[Toddy]

Re Doncaster Area,,, unless Ive missed a trick Music Ground shut in Donny donkeys years ago

Cant fault Dave and the Electromusic boys tho,,, always been exellent in my experiance..

[The Dark Lord]

I regularly buy stuff from MB Music and think they're brilliant. Martin, the owner is a really nice guy, gives loads of advice and price matches (and often beats) the big guys.

He has a shop in Bognor on the south coast which is stacked to the rafters with quality kit. I don't mean Stagg etc which is the usual local shop fair ... his walls are coverered with Fenders, Musicmans, Laklands, PRS etc and he stocks Ashdowns, GKs, AER etc.

And ........ he's a bass player in a local band.

Try his online shop [url="http://www.guitarandampshop.co.uk"]http://www.guitarandampshop.co.uk[/url] (he shifts a lot of gear that way) ..... or give him a call.

A proper music shop which should be supported.

Edited June 7, 2012 by The Dark Lord

[simonc61]

I've been ringing quite a few lately asking for advice in my amp head search - the worst by far was Bass Merchant. The neanderthal I spoke to could hardly be bothered to talk to me, and had to look up what a Hartke LH500 was ffs. The best, and probably most helpful has been Gary at Promenade music - just wish that shop was nearer. Mansons are always helpful as long as you pick a day when it's not too busy and there's somebody who knows their stuff (Ralph or Adrian) in the bass department. Bassdirect also seem very helpful and I'd love to visit that shop if it was nearer. Having said all that I've gone with DV247 as they've price-matched for me and I get the 4 year warranty. Excellent customer service too.

[steve-bbb]

have jusr scanned the entire thread and cant see mention of it yet so apologies if its already there somewhere but the whole issue here is really that the shop, or more specifically it's service, is only as good as it's sales staff

there seem to be quite a few posts above with conflicting/contradicting posts on the same retailers so it might be safe to presume that either different shop staff were dealing or you caught them on an off day!

[WalMan]

I was going to say You might want to give these chaps a call - [url="http://www.guitarandampshop.co.uk/acatalog/Electric_Bass_Guitar.html"]Bognor Guitar & Amp[/url] - and then realised when I looked at their home page that they are MB Music!!

Just down the road from me and they do a lot of business on 'tinternet - shop is always full of boxes waiting to go. Can't really comment otherwise as I have only used them for smaller items like strings and just call in, but they always have a range of basses on the wall & do stock Lakland, but a nice guy who has been there for a few years so if they have it and you can get a good deal I would not say no

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1339072688' post='1683225']
... there seem to be quite a few posts above with conflicting/contradicting posts on the same retailers so it might be safe to presume that either different shop staff were dealing or you caught them on an off day!
[/quote]
Yes, there are several retailers praised highly here who I have had very poor experiences with and vice versa.

[markstuk]

It's clearly a combination of stock, staff and pricing. Plus good afterservice (hard to judge beforehand though)..

I've found Mark at Bass Direct very helpful although I've bought embarrassingly little from him - my experience of the Bass Cellar was as laughable as most other folk have experienced.. Bizarrely I had a good experience in my local music shop (The Music Ground in Stratford upon Avon) which I've previously not had a great deal of time for.. Once again it was a sensible member of staff (Thanks Emily) who turned me around.,.,

[dave_bass5]

Ive had both the very best, and very poor service from the Bass Centre in the past. One great, stand out member of staff and one bloke who wasn't really in to the whole service with a smile routine, so yes, its not just the shop itself.

Edited June 7, 2012 by dave_bass5

[neepheid]

I have never been in what I would describe as a "bass shop". All we get up here are music shops (read: mostly guitars) with the tiniest of nods to the fact that basses (and bassists) exist.

[TheGreek]

Though not strictly a "Bass shop" I recently had quite a positive experience at my "local" [b]Coda Music [/b]in Stevenage, Herts.

Like so many have said, it's down to staff service, my previous experience at this store was less than good - I felt that my custom was not welcomed and that I should just stop wasting the assistant's time.

On my recent visit I spoke to the manager who I found helpful, knowledgeable and articulate. Clearly has been in the game for many years, we were discussing Pangborns, Jaydees as well as Musicman 'Rays (which they had many, including the Ltd Edition with gold hardwear). Helpful discussion on strings - he's had difficulty shifting DR strings so they won't be stocking these in future - seems to be a big fan of EBs as they sell quite a lot.

On the walls?? - MM/ Fenders (MIA as well as MIM and MIJ) and a good selection of used basses - [url="http://www.coda-music.com/secondhand-c-170.html"]http://www.coda-music.com/secondhand-c-170.html[/url]

I was made a reasonable offer for my Crafter acoustic and my Ibanez ATK400 though I didn't take these up as there wasn't anything I wanted to trade for.

[dbass]

Mark @ Bass Direct is definitely the best dedicated bass shop I have been too. I've bought pretty much all my gear from him now and he always does me a great deal and looks after me very well.

Not really had too many bad dealings with music shops. Some of the more generic ones are always a bit "meh" like the old Academy of Sound, Sound Control, etc but nothing I would ever really complain about.

[chrismuzz]

PMT Northampton are definitely the worst. They try to sell you damaged gear that you don't even like in the first place, while telling you that your favoured brands are crap and their staff are quite happy to make up cock and bull stories to try and look cool

[steve-bbb]

recent phone call to one of the denmark street shops

me: ive got an original 70s colorsound tonebender im looking to sell or trade
shop: you need to speak to X hes the man who deals with effects but i know hes got plenty of colorsounds
me: really? not reissues, original 70s?
shop: yeah hes got a couple of hundred of them

[kendall]

I ordered a bass from GAK and it arrived very promptly. No issues there.

I went into Guitarguitar in Edgebaston on the weekend to buy a new pedal. i was given the bass of my choice and amp to try it out, plenty of time and space to play around, good advice and not at all pushy. The guys were friendly, knowledgeable and it was like dealing with a friend rather than a sales person. I compared this to an experience I had in Back Alley Music Chester where I found the staff disinterested and a bit patronising.

[simonc61]

I bought a Gator rack case from Thomman yesterday, never having ordered from them before. Mightily impressed with their service - not only were around £30 cheaper than many UK dealers, but they also text me at 10pm last night to say it had been despatched. Highly recommend them. DV247 also excellent and will price match anything, though even they were reluctant to price match a Hartke VXL bass attack with Thomann. They did though, albeit with the mailing cost added on.

[Mornats]

Several from me, fortunately all good:

J.G. Windows - Metro Centre, Gateshead: Bought my first bass after not playing for 17 years from them. Guy was really helpful and sympathetic to me explaining that I wanted to try one for feel but could he play it for me so I could hear its sound. Didn't make me feel embarrassed by it at all, gave me a good deal, chucked in some stuff and when I went in next, got a bigger discount on a Uke and gave me a free Dean Guitars keyring. Champion as us Geordies say.

Music Room, Bristol: Bought my Overwater from them. They let me play 3 of them, let me sit there for around 45 mins playing it through an amp. Just left me be, didn't rush me but were there when I needed them for something.

PMT, Bristol: Been in loads of times and must have played every bass in there. Guys were happy for me to tire-kick as I even stated that I wasn't buying but just looking to see what was suited for me in the future. One of them did ask me not to just pull the basses off the walls without asking first. Fair enough, that's around £10k of instruments I'd handled before he wandered over! He was nice about it mind. Never really hovered around too much but weren't far away. When I bought my Ashdown amp they were great. Let me try 4-5 amps/combos, gave me a choice of any bass to try them with (Fender MIM Precision which was distinctly average btw and not a patch on the Squire one...), tried desperately to price match even though they were as cheap as everywhere online anyway and helped me into the car with the amp too. Always been decent chaps to chat to as well.

Absolute Guitars, Backwell (near Bristol - www.absolute-guitars.co.uk): wandered in as they're just down the road from me and Chris let me try out their Spector's, from the £500 to the £1500 ones. Grabbed me some basses that were behind a wall of boxes (they'd just taken a big delivery) and generally just left me to it. I really need to buy some stuff from him as he's a small local retailer trying to compete online with the big guys. Just a shame they didn't have the amp I wanted

Out of them all, Music Room was perhaps the most average in terms of what you'd expect from a shop but they're mainly a sheet music/piano/keyboard/other instrument shop than a guitar shop but still, absolutely no complaints from me.

Oh, DV247. There's a shop in Bristol and the guys have always been pretty decent. Let me try out a few of their active monitors, ordered some headphones in for me to try (which I didn't as they weren't quite what I was after). Ordered online from them too and also had stuff ordered in to the shop.

Thomann: I've ordered a couple of times. Once to buy a set of monitors and again to get my studio headphones. Delivery took 2 days both times, was kept up to date and it all felt like a nice personal service.

So I've been pretty pleased all round.

[Lozz196]

Another vote for Coda Music (both Stevenage & Luton) - until I joined Basschat, they used to end up with a lot of my cash, and were always great to deal with.

[mep]

[quote name='TDM' timestamp='1252162484' post='590753']
GAK can be very slow. If you want to buy from them I suggest you call them up first and make sure they have a bass physically in stock.
[/quote]

I have ordered an Orange Crush PIX 20LDX guitar amp for our sons birthday next week. They emailed me today to say they do not have any in stock untill the end of next week! Not many places seem to keep these in stock so I'll stick with them, although I run the risk of it not being here in time! They seem to have good feedback from what I can gather.

[risingson]

Never seen this thread before.

Best - Bass Gallery, although the reception I got there the first time I went (and subsequently bought an entire Eden rig) was a little cold, the other times have been great. Really great in fact. And I'd buy there again. Mark from Bass Direct has always been outstanding to deal with as well.

Worst - too many. Dawsons are top of my most disliked list (no disrespect to my friend Ste here!). The Liverpool guys are no good and haven't been for years.

[Jones_Stuff]

Worst: Bass Cellar. Horrible place. Disgraceful customer service. They give bassists a bad name.

Best: Second hand from BC users

Edited June 13, 2012 by Jones_Stuff

[Protium]

[quote name='kendall' timestamp='1339143437' post='1684180']
Back Alley Music Chester where I found the staff disinterested and a bit patronising.
[/quote]

Depends who's working in there, the older guys are generally pretty cool and let you play stuff. It's the younger bunch who just treat it like band practice and are generally not arsed.

[GarethFlatlands]

[quote name='TDM' timestamp='1266098276' post='744354']
Best: Electro Music in Doncaster

Worst: Wizard Guitars, Sheffield - I have nothing good to say at all about these guys.
[/quote]

I agree, Electro has always been really good for customer service, even if their stock has dwindled quite a lot. As for Wizard, the markup in there is ridiculous and always put me off trying anything out. I've been in twice for last minute strings and picks, and it's 15 minutes walk from my house.

Try Real Time music on Broadfield Rd, Sheffield if you can. Only been in once knowing exactly what I wanted but they have a good selection and the staff were helpful.