Went to Indianapolis GC today

[LifeIsBass]

Lately I've been GAS-ing for a Peavey Cirrus so I went into the Indy GC hoping that they'd have one for me to try out and amazingly they did (a used one). Killer bass but the price of $750 was a little high considering its condition and lack of a hard shell case.

A few other interesting things I noticed:

They had a Benavente singlecut chambered body 5 string. Wooden knobs, PU covers, the works. I think it was $2500.

Pedulla Thunderbass 5. I think this one was $2500 as well. The setup was ridiculous on this one. Action was so high that it was almost unplayable.

Pedulla Rapture 5. I'm thinking it was either $1600 or $1800. Either way, the price was too high compared to what they go for on ebay. Awesome boutique Jazz! Had that Jazz type of tone but a little warmer and beefier. Best "Jazz" I've ever played even though the setup was quite poor on it as well. I could see one of these in my future.

Fender Victor Bailey 5. Only spent a few seconds with this. I could tell immediately that it wasn't my cup 'o tea. Seems like it was around $1600.

Roscoe fretless 6
I didn't play this bass because I was in a hurry but it looked friggin' awesome. It had the coolest looking fingerboard I've ever seen (multiple colors, streaks). $2000

I was surprised also to see that the Indy GC now has a few Markbass amps. They had the LMII, FI, a 12" combo, a 210 cab, and I believe it was a 15" cab.

Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know in case you're looking to try any of these out. It's not often you see this many quality basses in one GC.

[scottice]

I never see that many "quality" bases at my local GC. Maybe one or two.
They did just get a fat shipment of MarkBass in though. Jeez... almost $900 for the portable MiniMark combo?

[Dr. Cheese]

I don't live more than four hours from Indy, and I go through there at least twice a year. Off and on, I hear about incredible finds at Indy GCs. Which one has the most basses because I would like to make a runover there the next time I have a spare $1,000 or so.

[coreyfyfe]

consider yourself lucky. of the 5 guitar centers ive been to around here (boston, danvers, natick, n.attleboro, and warwick) i have rarely seen anything worth a second look. the attleboro store will occasionally have some nice vintage basses, and there was once a nice old warwick streamer in natick. thats about the best ive ever seen.

[FL Knifemaker]

I never see much high end stuff at my GC. They've had a Warwick Katana there for months. It plays great but I would no longer consider it new and they won't BUDGE on the price.

[TehRoflCopter]

Originally Posted by coreyfyfe

consider yourself lucky. of the 5 guitar centers ive been to around here (boston, danvers, natick, n.attleboro, and warwick) i have rarely seen anything worth a second look. the attleboro store will occasionally have some nice vintage basses, and there was once a nice old warwick streamer in natick. thats about the best ive ever seen.

+1.

I saw a Sadowsky once in the Boston GC, and maybe a Pedulla or two. That's about it. Boston Guitar Works is where it's at. Boo-teeek action all day.

[fenderhutz]

It must have came out in the Guitar Center managers weekly not to budge on prices anymore.

I used to get good deals.

[coreyfyfe]

BGW is ok, its about 2 miles from my parents house so i go there often. they have a nice b15 right now (still has the original 2 prong cord) but ive never been impressed by their bass/guitar selection. although, ive only asked to play something behind the counter once or twice. as far as amps and pedals they cant be beat (at least locally).

i remember that the boston GC had (probably still has) a used Zon 5 string with a hugely bowed neck. i asked a salesman to get it down for me, and he was like dont even bother dude, the neck is way out and theres no truss rod.

begs the question why would they take it in if it was bowed like that? or what did they do to throw it out so far?

[Flintc]

The GCs near me (Nashville and Birmingham) have had the occasional Pedulla or Modulus Flea (no Quantums), but they're rare. Generally these stores are for bottom feeders. Last time I visited one, the best-sounding bass I could find was an Epi Thunderbird! A year ago, one GC had a single 6-string (an Ibanez), since then, none. As bad as Sam Ash. If you've got $200 to spend, go nuts. If you've got $2000, go elsewhere.

[SpectorBass308]

Originally Posted by fenderhutz

It must have came out in the Guitar Center managers weekly not to budge on prices anymore.

I used to get good deals.

Carefull, the GC hippies will come after you exclaming millions of reasons why you are already getting a good deal in the first place.

[LifeIsBass]

Originally Posted by Dr. Cheese

I don't live more than four hours from Indy, and I go through there at least twice a year. Off and on, I hear about incredible finds at Indy GCs. Which one has the most basses because I would like to make a runover there the next time I have a spare $1,000 or so.

It's the one on the north side, near Castleton Square mall. The only other GC is in Greenwood (Indy suburb, south side). I didn't go to the Greenwood store. I've never seen much more than the typical Fenders, Musicmans, and Ibanezes there.

[3flowoj]

The Indy GC is not your normal GC. The first time I visited there, they had a Carl Thompson that Les Claypool had gigged a few times on, it was incredible to play, action was exisite. Right next to it was the 4th Ken Smith ever made. It was from the late '70s and had some far effect built in to the preamp. Then they had a VERY exotic Alembic bass of some sort, I believe it was a Mark King bass, but it was insane. The price was over $6000 if I remember correctly. It went on and on. I ended up buying an Ampeg SVP preamp and poweramp rig that day that had all of the tubes replaced with NOS red label RCA's. I talked to the manager to find out what the deal was, and found that he was a bassist, and his goal as a store manager was to have the best bass selection of any GC in the world. He went to auctions, estate sales, etc. to find bass gear. Highly recommend shopping at this GC.

[bobbykokinos]

The guitar center in Indy has been hit or miss for me.. I live about 10-15mins from there.. Sometimes they have great stuff, sometimes not so much.. One thing that has been consistent is the fact that the majority of the basses I would have any interest in are either way over priced for what they are or horribly setup..There use to be a time were everything was setup great..

Cudos to them for bringing some nice gear in. They would push more of it out though if they'd price them more competitively and set them up properly I think. I'd even be in favor of them putting these higher dollar instruments in an area where you have to ask to play it. At many GCs, I've seen some beautiful basses being beaten on or they are selling as "new" but have dings and usage which obviously came from some punks abusing them in the store.

[coreyfyfe]

Originally Posted by bobbykokinos

One thing that has been consistent is the fact that the majority of the basses I would have any interest in are either way over priced for what they are or horribly setup..There use to be a time were everything was setup great

++++1

boston had that Zon with the wicked bow, they used to have a pedulla that was so poorly set up you couldnt play lower the E and B strings between the nut and the 5th fret. The attleboro store has a late 60's EBO with an open headstock that was broken off and repaired and has replacement tuners selling for $1200.

[birdxofxprey]

i live about 3 miles from the indy guitar center and go there 2-3 times a week. they move a lot of used stuff in there (except that pedulla with the crazy stup - it's been there a long time...).

i think that GC has been there a long time and developed a bit of a following among some people. they go through employees faster than basses, so i'm not sure what attracts people other than their constantly shifting inventory.

as for markbass stuff, they just recently started pushing that about 2 months ago - before that, i never saw any of it in there.

i don't know if it's worse for me or for them that i live so close. i really exploit their 30 day exchange policy - in the last 18 months, i bet i've temporarily owned 18 of their basses (a few of which are in there now), and none of the 5 basses i have now are GC basses.

as for the greenwood GC (on the south side of indy) - it's not nearly as good as the one in castleton (north side). the greenwood store just opened up a couple years ago and their stock of used gear is usually pretty thin. their employees tend to be less experienced as well.

hope to see some of you at the indy GC, i usually wear my TB hat when i go there.

[Nighthawk551]

There's hardly anything good in the Terre Haute GC. However, the Indy GC is my candy store . I might have to head up to Indy to check out those Pedullas and the Benavente!

[bluestarbass]

GC and Sam Ash have magnet stores where all their high end stuff goes. Like at Sam Ash if they get a really rare or expensive guitar on trade it get shipped off to mannys in new york. Indy GC is the GC where all the high end basses are shipped I was always told. Ive played 3 CT's there, and a bunch of other high end stuff. It is one of the better GC's ive been to but its still GC. I live about 4 minutes from it so I stop in all the time. I still get some kid telling me how the new line 6 amp is the best.

[Stuggi]

The line6-kids seem to be a pretty common breed, we have 'em here in Finland too