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10-23-2005, 01:45 PM
| | | | London Prices
Is it just me, or are prices for basses and bows way higher in London? How can this be? Who'd want to pay over the odds?!
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10-26-2005, 12:15 AM
| | | | Yes, you're right. But, they also seem to have the same instruments "unsaled" for years. I've seen insruments that been in the store for over 10 years, and for sure will be there for another 20 or more...
Some instruments will never be sold, if you ask me. I've seen Italian basses for about 60 000 pound that sound NOTHING. I've also been in Tokyo a couple of times, where a Japanese friend of mine one time took me to a bass store where an English seller put out an English or Italian bass for sale that costed 100 000 dollars: A Wilfer sounded like a dream compared to that instrument (and the Japanese guys at the basstore just laughed about how bad it sounded...).
I think the sellers are afraid and worried now, when you can buy a good (or very good) hungarian bass for 1/3 of the money that they are asking for the "old ones" in London. But of course, there are some really nice old basses that is uncombarable to the new ones.
And second, the really good instruments seems to be sold "by musicans to musicans". Which means much lower prices, and also instruments that has been played on and is in good playing condition right away, so you don't have to respore it for a lot of money to get it playable.
Sad story, right?
In the beginning of the 90's you could find a lot of good instrumnts for sale: quite expensive even then but not like the fantasy prices of today...
Have you been looking on the net "on the private markets"? There you can find really nice basses for much better prices. |
10-26-2005, 03:08 AM
|  | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | What specific shops are we talking about here? 
I work in London and wander about the shops, browsing whenever I can - but I have found that there are very few DBs on sale in London and you will be very lucky to actually get to try one at all!! 
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10-26-2005, 04:39 PM
| | | | If you by a copy of the magazine "Strad" or "Double Bassist", you will be aware of several shops/showrooms. Strange that you live in England and don't know about them, London and the area around is world wide known for their "bass showrooms" for a long long time: most of my collegues (orchestra/jazzplayers incl top players over the world) have been there several times during their career. And many of them have found "their instrument" there. I was there several times in 1990 - I've never seen so much instuments in one week. If I only have had money at that time - AND at that time prices was quite OK (not cheap but the basses was well worth the money). Paris is also in that category (or was anyway).
I don't know what price catergory you're into: places like Footies etc had (or have) really simple made/factory instuments, those places I'm talking about only has old/vintage instruments.
Regards HJH |
10-27-2005, 03:26 AM
| | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by HJH If you by a copy of the magazine "Strad" or "Double Bassist", you will be aware of several shops/showrooms. | I subscribe to Double Bassist and have got every issue going back several years!! Quote:
Strange that you live in England and don't know about them, London and the area around is world wide known for their "bass showrooms" for a long long time: most of my collegues (orchestra/jazzplayers incl top players over the world) have been there several times during their career.
| Well how about naming just one!! Come on - put up or shut up!!  Quote: |
And many of them have found "their instrument" there. I was there several times in 1990 - I've never seen so much instuments in one week.
| So - you're talking about 15 years ago!! 
Things change you know - in 1990 I was working in Brighton and rarely went to London - things like online shops, eBay  - etc have killed off many "bricks and mortar" shops - ever thought that what you saw 15 years ago may not be there now....  Quote: |
If I only have had money at that time - AND at that time prices was quite OK (not cheap but the basses was well worth the money). Paris is also in that category (or was anyway).
| Err are you spending all your time : "Living in the past!!!"
This is not helping anybody trying to buy a bass now!! Quote:
I don't know what price catergory you're into: places like Footies etc had (or have) really simple made/factory instuments, those places I'm talking about only has old/vintage instruments.
Regards HJH
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So - now we get to a name - you mean Footes music in Golden Square Soho...?
This is the one shop in London I have been in - several times - but they've never had more than 3 or 4 basses every time I've been there - in a small basement out the back - I was "tempted" by a new German bass at about £2,500 - but that was a choice of 1 bass I got to try, that was decent!!! 
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“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”
Charles Mingus |
10-27-2005, 09:52 AM
|  | Registered User
Vice President: Upton Bass String Instrument Co. | | Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Warwick, RI & Stonington, CT | | | London
Hi Bruce, have you tried our friends at Bridgewood & Neitzert? http://www.londonviolins.com/ |
10-27-2005, 10:23 AM
| | Banned
Owner: Ken Smith Basses, Ltd. | | Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Perkasie, PA USA | |  London Shops
The best Shops for Bass as far as I can tell are Thwaites, Contrabass Shop, Gallery Strings, Turner Violins, Healey Violins, Thomas Martin and Stefan Krattenmacher. These are all pro shops and some of them actually make Basses. They deal in Pro Basses and some in beginner stuff as well. These are NOT guitar stores at all. Goggle these names and contact them. I have had direct contact with most of them here from casual email to some actual business. There may be a few more that I missed but these are the ones than come to mind.
I love the Olde English Basses.....  |
10-27-2005, 10:54 AM
| | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by KSB - Ken Smith The best Shops for Bass as far as I can tell are Thwaites, Contrabass Shop, Gallery Strings, Turner Violins, Healey Violins, Thomas Martin and Stefan Krattenmacher. These are all pro shops and some of them actually make Basses. They deal in Pro Basses and some in beginner stuff as well. | Yes - but most, if not all of these are not actually in London, as such!!
The whole of England's not just a suburb of London!! 
__________________
“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”
Charles Mingus |
10-27-2005, 10:55 AM
| | Unprofessional TalkBass Contributor | | Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Brighton, England, UK, Europe | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by eroy | That's a new one one me - thanks for the link!
But again ...for me Stoke Newington is not really London as such..
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