I signed up as a Talkbass member this morning, and it's fitting that my first thread give thanks to Ed Gaffert at Bass Central for his excellent, patient help yesterday.
I came in with only $900-$1000 to spend on a new rig, knowing I'd probably end up with a Hartke cab, and probably a Hartke head as well. I was painfully aware that my budget for an entire rig might be consumed by the pick guard and control knobs of some of the basses on their walls.
They paired me with Ed Gaffert, who asked what kinds of sounds I wanted, at what volume. Though we initially agreed one of the Hartke cabs was my best bet, I spied an older Aguilar 4x10 cabinet on consignment. It was at a perfect price, boasted much higher quality than I would have expected to afford, and a slimmer cabinet, to boot.
Ed pointed me toward the new Gallien-Krueger MB500 head, and despite my misgivings toward this tiny piece, he ran through its features and soon had me excited about its possibilities.
He even took time to ransack their entire stack of used cabs, just to pull down a 1x15 to demonstrate how the MB500 would sound when used to run a stack - at my request. A less patient man would have run me out of there, methinks!
I walked out of there very happy with my Aguilar find, and happy with the amp he recommended. He helped me carry everything to my truck, after giving me a cool Bass Central shirt, and a detailed receipt (P.S. ... printing the "before" prices was good "I got a deal" ammo when showing this receipt to the wife later!)
Better yet, when I got my new rig home, it sounded even better in my living room, with both of my basses. I spent many fun, somewhat earsplitting hours mining for tones and appreciating the apparent headroom of this rig. (Can't wait to take it out in the clubs!)
I'm really just scratching the surface of the time Ed spent with me... like the compressor I tried and eventually decided against. There was zero sales pressure and zero sense of "would you get out of here so I can sell something big?!?" Mr. Felton took time for a few kind words my way, and bade me enjoy my re-entry into bassdom.
I felt like a valued customer, despite my paltry budget, and I really look forward to returning to Bass Central for future purchases - hopefully bigger ones!
And no, I didn't invoke the rumored Talkbass discount... I wasn't a member until this morning, just a two-week lurker - and fair is fair. I do give Talkbass credit for "reminding" me that a world class bass store is within two hours' drive of my home.
(My second thread, and second "THANK YOU," is going to be in the Bass Guitar/Amps forum. I had been lurking there for the past two weeks, trying to catch up on the recent developments in bass amplification!)
Thanks to Ed Gaffert for helping me pick an Aguilar cabinet and a GK MB-500! 
