Music shops in London

Mark Perry · #1 02-14-2007, 12:20 PM

I'm hoping to go to London to try some 6 string basses and buy a case and stool for my DB. Anyone know the best places to try? I've heard theres an area with quite a lot of shops (very competitively priced). Near Oxford street?
Thanks for your help..

Mark Perry · #2 02-15-2007, 02:18 AM

Bump..

Toasted · #3 02-15-2007, 02:30 AM

There's "tin pan alley" - Denmark Street to you and me. There's lots of music shops there that are generally regarded as: a) cliquey b) rubbish service c) expensive.

In my experience, the best music shop in London is thebassgallery.com in Camden. Alex and Martin do a great job there.

Bruce Lindfield · #4 02-15-2007, 04:07 AM

Yup - avoid any shops near Oxford Street unless you want to be ripped off and subjected to rude staff!

vindy500 · #5 02-15-2007, 04:24 AM

what about for tourists who have zero interest in buying anything but wants to go to a shop whose highest model bass is a music man stingray

Bruce Lindfield · #6 02-15-2007, 04:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vindy500

what about for tourists who have zero interest in buying anything but wants to go to a shop whose highest model bass is a music man stingray

Yup - they will be cluttering up all the shops in Denmark Street throughout the day - which no doubt accounts for the sales staff's bad attitude!!

vindy500 · #7 02-15-2007, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

Yup - they will be cluttering up all the shops in Denmark Street throughout the day - which no doubt accounts for the sales staff's bad attitude!!

but say you were a tourist, and you wanted to talk to friendly guys

Bruce Lindfield · #8 02-15-2007, 05:01 AM

You could always try the Head Waiter at a French Restaurant!!

Dragonlord · #9 02-15-2007, 05:57 AM

Bass centre? Google it for the address and opening hours.

Bruce Lindfield · #10 02-15-2007, 05:59 AM

I like the Bass Centre best - but it is nowhere near Oxford Street - nearer to Liverpool St.

Mark Perry · #11 02-15-2007, 09:53 AM

So... theres the bass gallery, bass centre, ... What about the bass cellar?
Would i be best off avoiding the smaller shops in Denmark street then? If i can try a wide enough variety of 6ers to decide what i feel comfortable playing (i almost have decided to buy an SR506, only tried that one so far), i'll be happy. Are the gallery, centre, cellar etc. good places for DB gig bags/cases?

Bruce Lindfield · #12 02-19-2007, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Perry

So... theres the bass gallery, bass centre, ... What about the bass cellar?

Haven't been recently, but I used to work nearby and went past often - usually overpriced and the worst service I have ever experienced. Rude and surly - not wanting you to try stuff - while the shop assistants sat around and played basses themselves, while blocking your access!!

Quote:

Would i be best off avoiding the smaller shops in Denmark street then?

Bass Cellar is the only bass-specific shop in Denmark Street - the others are more general or guitar-based!

I used to go there for Argents which is good for sheet music and music books.

Quote:

If i can try a wide enough variety of 6ers to decide what i feel comfortable playing (i almost have decided to buy an SR506, only tried that one so far), i'll be happy. Are the gallery, centre, cellar etc. good places for DB gig bags/cases?

Bass Centre and Gallery should give you a few 6-string bass guitars to play - but there isn't anywhere in central London that is good for DB bags/cases - online retailers, will give you much better choice.

SirCanealot · #13 02-19-2007, 03:56 AM

There's a lady in the bass cellar who is to NO END helpful; no matter what your skill level she's insanely friendly. She's also quite hot :P
Basically, if I go in there for something and I have to talk to one of the others ones, I'm in and out as soon as possible, but she's been very helpful before and I've tried out loads of random stuff and only walked away with a set of strings or something :P

One of the other guys isn't too bad, but I've gotten some ****** service in there, too.

Bass Centre near Liverpool Street is cool... Though I went in there and got £240 for an amp I later got for £180 in Virgin, so I wasn't hugely impressed with that. Havean't tried out Bass Gallery... I looked for it once, but ended up getting lost (got lost for 20 minutes finding Centre :/)... maybe one day when I have some cash to blow

Bruce Lindfield · #14 02-19-2007, 04:04 AM

You can haggle with the Bass Centre though - I got the price down on the Lakland 55-02 Deluxe I bought there!

Also - I bought things on interest-free-credit at the Bass Centre which was actually worth a huge amount to me! So it actually made some basses affordable, that wouldn't have been otherwise!

The Bass Centre have allowed me to play basses all morning - given me cups of coffee, brought basses in for me to try from other shops and given me free setups etc etc!!

Whereas the Bass Cellar have not even allowed me to play some instruments - 'you can't touch that' - although I have paid over £2,000 for instruments from other shops!

I would never buy anything from them on principle - although I might browse to see what's new - then buy elsewhere!

Mark Perry · #15 02-19-2007, 04:16 AM

begining to think i'm better off buying the sr506 in Mansons. Mansons = great service, knowledgeable (and friendly) staff, free setup for any bass/guitar you buy, £499 seems to be the standard price at any high street store (Machines posted a link to an online place for one about £60 cheaper).
I'm begining to think the extra £60 is worth it, just to know you'll be getting a decent, well set up instrument and supporting you're local music store. Anyone see any major flaws in my logic?.. It also has narrower string spacing than the majority of 6 strings, which i'm reasonably comfortable with after trying it a couple of times - i probably wont find a different (similar) bass, maybe it is a good idea to settle on that one without trying others..

Bruce Lindfield · #16 02-19-2007, 04:21 AM

Well - have a look around the shops in London, try as much as you can - but then you could buy locally, based on what you find out!

When you're looking round - tell them you intend to buy of course - but make sure you don't commit to any purchase until you have seen all you can, come back home and thought about it!

If you do want something from a London shop - phone them later, make an offer and get them to send it on to you.

Mark Perry · #17 02-19-2007, 07:29 AM

I actaully bought my DB from the bass centre, one of the staff brought it down personally (He was coming to devon anyway to see some family). So some positive experience with them already. I've got my first DB lesson tonight, so i'll ask my teacher about what kind of case / stool to buy etc...
If the bass isn't there when i finally have the money i supose i may as well go to London anyway. Shopping about around London is definately something i should do at some point, maybe when i get a decent (altough theirs nothing wrong with my current bass) 4 string? I supose there is lots of variety price and quality wise between fenders (probably get a P or J).
To be honest i'd be happy settling for the bass i have played already. I'd certainly get a decent quality of service, so not too bad an idea methinks (plus any problems will be easy to deal with). I'm also happy with the string spacing, which is narrower than most 6es. So i don't see too much reason in going for a bass with wider spacing. It will be 3 months till i have £500 (i'm on dole money at the moment, might find a job sometime before then), i do have loads of time to think about it all...

Maude · #18 02-19-2007, 05:02 PM

You can't go far wrong with Mansons, I bought my 5 string in Plymouth when it was still Mansons and they were great then, I only went in to try out some compression pedals and ended up trying some basses as well, they had some Yamahas on demo and the one I used felt like I'd been playing it for years so I bought it there and then. I had a problem with some funny fret wear which they sorted with no problems.
If Mansons have the bass you like I'd be tempted to get it from them so if it needs any little adjustments you don't have to send it back to London.

Mark Perry · #19 02-20-2007, 11:02 AM

Yeah, thats pretty much my experience with them and what i've been thinking. I haven't tried any other 6's but see no need in a bass with a wider neck - which most, if not all others will have. To me Mansons is a 15-20 minute (£4 fare)bus journey and about 10 minutes walking from the bus station. I've bought my amp and books from them, my dads bought 2 guitars - the staff know him on a first name basis now!..