Speechless.

VanzKantDanz · #1 01-28-2008, 06:32 PM

The title says it all but here's a little back story....

A month ago I called a local music shop about converting my cheap and completely unused Rogue bass into a fretless. Now according to what they say they're not just a music store but also a luthier center and you can basically get done whatever you need done to your guitar or bass or harmonica, ect, ect...
So I call up asking how much it would cost to convert the Rogue to a fretless and here's what happened:
I swear this is real and not a lie.

Me:"Hi, I was wondering how much it would cost to convert my bass to a fretless bass.
Guy on phone: "Well what do you mean?"
A little confused I explained to him that I wanted him to remove the frets on my old beginner bass, fill in the holes in the fingerboard and there by making it a fretess.
Guy: "Well that makes no sense. Why would you want me to do that?"
A little more confused: "Haven't you ever heard of a fretless bass?"
Guy: "No. That would make no sense, you wouldn't be able to tell where you're playing."
Me: "Okay so you've never heard of a fretless bass and you repair and modify guitars and basses?"
Guy: "Yes. But I really can't help you there, I've never heard of a fretless bass, sorry."
Speechless.

wdinc01 · #2 01-28-2008, 06:34 PM

Wow, that's uh...

...but you'd never be able to tell where you're playing!

El-Bob · #3 01-28-2008, 06:36 PM

...seriously?

Valerus · #4 01-28-2008, 06:39 PM

Wow. Too bad Darwinism isn't a factor in our society.

ProgRapture · #5 01-28-2008, 06:40 PM

Man, props on not being a smartass like I would have been!

TrevorOfDoom · #6 01-28-2008, 06:41 PM

let me just pick up my jaw from the floor....

wow.

just... wow.

shoot that guy.

what shop was it? we could all call asking for fretless conversion. it'll be fun! see what he says.

Valerus · #7 01-28-2008, 06:42 PM

Us Texans would have had our way with the guy.

VanzKantDanz · #8 01-28-2008, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El-Bob

...seriously?

Completely. I was shocked, but also because I found it impossible that the guy had never seen a double bass or at least seen one fretless, he's a luthier for God's sake!

TrevorOfDoom · #9 01-28-2008, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valerus

Us Texans would have had our way with the guy.

+1!!

peaveyuser · #10 01-28-2008, 06:43 PM

wow uhhhhh.

What disappoints me is he probably went over to another clerk and say

"Hey, I just had some guy ask for the oddest thing, A fretless bass!! Some people, what an idiot, how the heck would you know what to play"

wdinc01 · #11 01-28-2008, 06:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peaveyuser

"Hey, I just had some guy ask for the oddest thing, A fretless bass!! Some people, what an idiot, how the heck would you know what to play"

Haha. He probably did. And either one of two things happened.

A - "Whoa, seriously? What an idiot. Everyone knows that basses HAVE to have frets! Now let's get out our Jacksons and do some terrible shred metal!"

or B - "Yeah that's uh...um...Frank, wanna go check and see if there's gas in that tanker over there? Here's a match so you can see"

Valerus · #12 01-28-2008, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wdinc01

Haha. He probably did. And either one of two things happened.

A - "Whoa, seriously? What an idiot. Everyone knows that basses HAVE to have frets! Now let's get out our Jacksons and do some terrible shred metal!"

or B - "Yeah that's uh...um...Frank, wanna go check and see if there's gas in that tanker over there? Here's a match so you can see"

LMAO plan A!

txbasschik · #13 01-28-2008, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valerus

Us Texans would have had our way with the guy.

Right? Shoot, even Guitar Center wouldn't keep such a goober as that dude.

Honey, I think I would have had to get in my truck and go down there, just so I could have a look at the great, gibigulous goober of a luthier who doesn't know what a fretless bass is. And then laugh. Out loud. In the store.

Cherie

**Howlin' Hanson** · #14 01-28-2008, 10:12 PM

Michigan, huh? Okaaayyy...

I'd bet there's some unemployed musician (or luthier) up there who could easily replace that guy.

bassbully · #15 01-28-2008, 10:19 PM

Thanks..ok... 2nd funny on this thread today...great stuff.

bigthemat · #16 01-28-2008, 11:36 PM

I was at a local music store a while ago, hoping to try out some fretlesses. Of course they didn't have any.

One lady asked if I needed help. Yeah, any fretless basses I ask?

A what?

Fretless.

How does that work?

Like an upright, there are no frets on there...

Really, they make those?

Then when someone who actually knew a little something talked to me, he acted like a fretless was a massively expensive, magically rare instrument that only the lucky elite can find and learn how to play.

so, in other words, i feel your pain.

The Owl · #17 01-29-2008, 08:27 AM

No Luthier Left Behind, legislation that really works

vinny · #18 01-29-2008, 09:15 AM

Maybe he was pullin' yer chain, cuz' he didn't wanna do a defret. Nah, prolly not.

OtterOnBass · #19 01-29-2008, 10:01 AM

Speechless at the store

There's a little guitar shop near me that sells the brand I wanted almost exclusively. I wanted to try some out, so I went to the store. The lights were on, it was business hours, but the door was locked. I knocked and knocked...

A couple weeks later I call the store and make sure they're open, then drive out. Same situation. I go to a friend's house nearby and call, talk to the guy, tell him I'm coming, and, hurray, it's open when I get there. All the guitars are in plastic bags. Dusty plastic bags.

I wanted a 5 string. No 5-strings, "they don't sell, no one plays them" so I start looking at the 4 string and he says he can let it go for $100 off the LIST PRICE! He wants $1400 or something when they sell closer to $900. Then he says he can give me a super deal on a bass I have no interest in if I have $750 in cash. After listening politely to all the worst sales tricks in the book, ugh, I take a catalog and leave, without even touching a sealed plastic bass.

As I leave he says, if you want to come back and the door is locked... I'm in the bar next door.

It's very possible in small towns to isolate yourself from the current state of the market (fretless, 5-string, market pricing, customer service.)

RED5 · #20 01-29-2008, 11:23 AM

[quote=txbasschik;5227560]Right? Shoot, even Guitar Center wouldn't keep such a goober as that dude.

Oh yeah? I asked for a set of Half-rounds at my local GC once....The bass dept manager was called over when the clerk coudn't get his head around my request and after checking in replied, "never heard of anything like that" then returned to the bass room and slapped and popped another kid into a stunned silence. BTW? Jim D'addario is a local in these parts. We get our strings fresh! Makes ya want to order online though.