Good Stores in San Francisco

[Energy]

Hi,

I will be in San Francisco/CA in September for a few days. I want to use the occasion to stop by a music store and sniffle around a bit.

Can anyone provide me one or more adresses of music stores in S.F.?

Thanks!

[baba]

Travel south for a 1/2 hour or so to Gelb in Redwood City. They are the best bass store in the SF Bay area.

If you want to check out mainstream gear at a premium price you can go to Haight Ashbury Music on Haight St.

Guitar Center is on Mission, near Van Ness. They are a huge chain in USA akin to Walmart-For-Music-Gear. One stop shopping for mainstream gear at generally good to cheap prices. Leave your soul at the door.

I haven't lived there in years so I don't know what smaller boutiques are still around or new.

[Energy]

Thanks, baba!

I know Guitar Center. I was in the store in north Chicago a while ago.

[pierce]

the guitar center here is considered "the most tech. advanced gc" in the chain...what that means for bass players is a big NADA. they have a lot of popular gear, and lotes-behringer-equipment-o-ye!

gelb is a great music store, with a lot of high end gear (f bass, accugroove), but its a drive. not a long one, but you will need a car.

there is rocker guitars also. they have musicman, g&l, orange, and ashdown, and are full service. i dont like thier attitude their, but its ok. (just not extremely fiendly) it on howard, between 9th and 10th

real guitars/gary brower... used gear, high prices, quite a few gems in the mix. may or may not be worth your time, but its only 2 blocks from rocker. (lafayette st. near mission)

there is starvin musician, and blue note in berkeley, so you will have to take bart, or drive there. blue note is just a local shop. starvin musican is online.

if you are looking for extremely high end (ritter, bass lab, etc.) there is a place up in the north section of the east bay (actually, i think closer to sacremento). i dont know the name, but its been mentioned on this forum. i think basswhore has dealt with them. they require an appt, and a serious desire to purchase.

if you can only see one place, i would say gelb. (if the scheduling is right, and we can agree that it would be best not to talk of religion, its possible that we could go down to gelb together. scheduling may be the difficult part, however. just send me a pm, and we will see how it pans out.)

[Energy]

Originally Posted by pierce

if you are looking for extremely high end (ritter, bass lab, etc.)

HAHA!
Why should I fly all the way to California to look for Ritter Basses, when I live just a 45 minutes drive from Jens Ritter's hometown?

I'm interested mainly in Fenders, some Ibanez models they do not sell here in Europe (for whatever reason ) and for Levy's straps, which I presume should be a little cheaper in the States than here in Germany.

Since I want to also drive and hike through the parks, I think i'll stop by Gelb on my way back to S.F. Thanks for the hint.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Energy

HAHA!
Why should I fly all the way to California to look for Ritter Basses, when I live just a 45 minutes drive from Jens Ritter's hometown?

I'm interested mainly in Fenders, some Ibanez models they do not sell here in Europe (for whatever reason ) and for Levy's straps, which I presume should be a little cheaper in the States than here in Germany.

Since I want to also drive and hike through the parks, I think i'll stop by Gelb on my way back to S.F. Thanks for the hint.

actually, that shop carries more than ritter, but its all i could think of last night. i think he actually has jerzy's, and alembics, etc.

yeah, def go to gelb, but if your looking for ibanez and fender, gc is your place. also, pick up a guardian and a sf weekly. those will be your best guides for happenings around the city.


have fun; bring a sweater and shorts

[Wally Malone]

I agree with baba regarding Gelb Music. I did a gig in San Francisco on Tuesday and stopped at Gelb on my way home. Where else can you play Sadowskys, Lulls and F Basses.

Wally