Madison Area Stores

[Madness]

I'm moving to Madison in a couple of weeks (!!!) from Manitowoc and was wondering what the good stores are for basses and bass related accessories. If familiar with Ward-Brodt, but thats it.

Thanks for the help!!!

[Rugaar]

Guitar Center and Good N Loud are your two other choices. Ward Brodt barely has any gear anymore.

BTW-We're planning a Madison bass gear GTG, probably in early June. Details here. Hope to see you there.

[Madness]

Thanks for the help and the notice about the GTG. Looks like a lot of fun!

[Jeramaya]

Welcome to our town, first of all. Second of all, in addition to what Rugaar said, there is a small shop on the east side of town, called Sound Logic. It doesn't have much and it's crowded as all get out, but if you live in the area, it's worth a shot, depending on what you need. And just about anything is better than Ward Brodt, including travelling to Chicago or Milwaukee...or California. Hehe.

[8guy]

Do not go to Ward Brodt, I use to run the Bass department there in the mid 80s and Mick F..........is not very smart when it comes to basses. At the time we did bring in one of the first six string Basses, That was a Heartfield. I tried to convince him to bring in Warwicks or Rics.....nope. Good music( formaly Good and Loud) does have a good selection, I bought my Hamer 4 string there. Our guitar Center is ok. I bought my Bass pod there. I hate they dont have rotosound strings. Madison takes some getting use to but in the end I think you will like it here, Just dont plan on going swiming in the lakes!!!!

[Madness]

Nope, no swimming for me, Lake Michigan taught me about that...Thanks for the info, I'm looking forward to living in a town with a GC again (moved away from Portland 5 years ago, and away from Denver 7 years ago). It may not be the best store but it's a good way to try at least 2-3 good basses in one sitting. That's too bad about Ward-Brodt, but it makes sense. Last time I was there (a couple of years ago) they had an electric upright (a crappy one at that) and that was the only bass I tried, I wound up spending all my time on a squire tele...

[Rugaar]

Check out Greg Ginter's Guitar Shop on Atwood Ave, too. It's like stumbling into some crazy guitar collector's attic. Tons of funky old vintage stuff all stacked up on top of each other and leaning in corners. Prices aren't super but you'll definitely see stuff here you won't see anywhere else in Mad.

[8guy]

Theres a few of us here on this board, lets get toghther and rant about the Brittney Zimmerman case.....In the off topic forum

[Jeramaya]

Originally Posted by Rugaar

Check out Greg Ginter's Guitar Shop on Atwood Ave, too. It's like stumbling into some crazy guitar collector's attic. Tons of funky old vintage stuff all stacked up on top of each other and leaning in corners. Prices aren't super but you'll definitely see stuff here you won't see anywhere else in Mad.

Just don't give them anything to fix. I took my Alembic in there because the input jack was shorting out. When I got it back, it didn't work at all, which was worse than when I took it in originally.

Overall, that's the one thing I have *not* found in Madison...a good repair shop that is straight with you about anything. The one exception, but they mostly deal with acoustic instruments, is Spruce Tree down on Johnson St. They're good people and know what they're doing for the acoustic stuff.

[Jeramaya]

Originally Posted by 8guy

Theres a few of us here on this board, lets get toghther and rant about the Brittney Zimmerman case.....In the off topic forum

I hear ya there. Wow...

[Rugaar]

Originally Posted by Jeramaya

Just don't give them anything to fix. I took my Alembic in there because the input jack was shorting out. When I got it back, it didn't work at all, which was worse than when I took it in originally.

Overall, that's the one thing I have *not* found in Madison...a good repair shop that is straight with you about anything. The one exception, but they mostly deal with acoustic instruments, is Spruce Tree down on Johnson St. They're good people and know what they're doing for the acoustic stuff.

Weird. My guitar player has had a couple amps fixed in there and they've done great work for good prices. Fellow TBer Pedro recently had his MM amp fixed down there, too, and I believe he's happy with the work.

But I agree that repair shop choices around here are very limited.

And Spruce Tree is awesome for acoustic stuff.

[Madness]

Would Spruce Tree be a good place for Acoustic repairs?

[Jeramaya]

The best place for acoustic repairs, etc.