My only gripe about independent music stores

[mrniceguy715]

There isnt a single good one in my city! There are several maybe a few dozen. None of them give a crap about bass period all they carry is squire and ibenez. Only strings you will get are fender, ernie ball, or maybe some D'adarrio. The have a horrid selection of amplification with tons of over priced under powered combos.

That was a sweeping gerneralization there are a few exceptions. Norman music center has a good selection of higer end bass gear and a well educated staff. Red Dirt Brothers in Yukon, OK are some of the coolest guys you will meet, and I almost got them carrying Lakland. But every other shop I have been in have had poor selection and poor service. All I wanted was a fresh set of Lakland steels or DR Lo Riders. Went to serveral of the shops many had never heard of Lakland another instead of offereing to special order me the DR when I had cash in hand decided to bash my choice in strings. Stating they broke on his guitar often. I told him I have played DR for 4 years and every set was spot on, he replys by spreading rumors on manufaturing processess. I told him thanks for your time but I will take my money somewhere else.

Maybe I have high standards. Maybe I cant see paying 30-40 percent more for a bass from a jerk with no people skills just to put a few bucks in the local economy. I went to Bass Emporium now that was a great shop. Got to play from budget all the way up 4k basses. Some locals want a dang signature to let you try an American Fender.

Ahhh screw it I will keep shopping online unless I am out of town.....

and end rant!

[Jonyak]

there isn't a single guitar store within 100 kilometers of me that stocks anything resembleing a good selection of bass strings.

[PSPookie]

Reading this reminds me how lucky I am to live within driving distance of Atlanta Bass Gallery. Heck, I work close enough that I can swing by at lunch ifi I get the urge.

[nutso42]

Our closest music store has nothing in the way of basses but crappy P-bass rip-offs.




However, the selection of bass strings is fantastic. I still can't figure that one out.

[blendermassacre]

Here in kc you have to choose. Do you want a store with basses or do yo want a store with amps? Funky munkey music carries g & l and some lakland (like 1 at a time) and then cheap ibanez stuff. They do carry eden amps but the only cab in the store was an eden 2x10. Guitarsource carries orange and mesa and the new hartke hydrive stuff, but had 6 new basses. Two g&l 2ks, different colors. 2 matching spectors. A third different spector, and a $250 jay turser p bass. The basses don't even hang on the wall. They have this 6 foot pseudo wall that is 9 or 10 feet long that they hang on.

[spade2you]

I used to swear by my local music stores, but became willing to shop online after a few incidents. I once took in a bass to get the action lowered because I simply couldn't figure out anything that worked. They charged me, but RAISED the action. When I told him I needed the action low so I could play in the upper register, he informed me that if I'm doing my job, I should never touch these frets.

Another employee basically blacklisted me as a musician because I have a reputation for being a shredder, which boggles me because I really don't feel that owning a fretless and a 6 string makes someone technical. He also enjoyed pointing out that my active basses sound sterile. Unfortunately for me, my scene is very cliquey and enjoys stupid rumors like this. He basically made it impossible for me to get a gig. Normally, I'm not a snitch, but I respected his boss and we're still friends. It is never wise for a salesperson to eliminate your need for gear.

[EricF]

The OP's story rings all too true.

There was a local music store that had been around for decades. A few other stores had come and gone over the years, but this one remained soild. They carried a reasonable stock of Fender guitars and a few basses, but would happily order anything you wanted. Then Guitar Center opened their doors not far away. The owner and employees at the local shop became bitter and way less helpful. Even when I was willing to spend a little more money to support the little guy, I had a hard time doing it when the service was worse than the sales-morons at GC. Eventually, the local shop couldn't sustain any more and closed their doors. Sure, GC is mostly to blame for their demise (and at least 2 other shops in the surrounding cities), but they shot themselves a second time by not giving people a reason to continue supporting them.

[peabody]

I live in La Crosse, WI which is a city of about 50,000. I am lucky enough to have one of the coolest independents around, Dave's Guitar Shop (www.davesguitar.com) While they are a little more guitar centered (aren't they all), their bass selection is still pretty good. I know they are one of the top retailers for both Gibson and Fender. Lucky me...

[mrniceguy715]

In the oklahoma city metro there are prob about 30 or better and out of all of them I can't recommend any but norman music center to a bassist. That is only because the have more than five basses at a time.

[bassman03]

The "local" guitar store I go to (20 minutes away) will have mostly no name brands, but will occasionally catch a pretty good gem. What's weird is that the guy is a guitar genius and could do what Dark Horse does to basses, except on guitars also. His bass section that he has is really not much, and his amp section over all is even less. He's got some pretty cool stories. His band from the '70s played with AC/DC, Kiss, and one other well known band, all one time.

[blendermassacre]

Originally Posted by bassman03

The "local" guitar store I go to (20 minutes away) will have mostly no name brands, but will occasionally catch a pretty good gem. What's weird is that the guy is a guitar genius and could do what Dark Horse does to basses, except on guitars also. His bass section that he has is really not much, and his amp section over all is even less. He's got some pretty cool stories. His band from the '70s played with AC/DC, Kiss, and one other well known band, all one time.

just fyi, darkhorse does guitars too...

[thumpbass1]

We are fairly lucky in the Omaha Nebraska region with Lidgett's Music across the river in Council Bluffs Iowa, and our local Deitze music stores of one in Omaha and one in Bellevue, but the parent store is in Lincoln Nebraska. The biggest store in Omaha is Russo's Guitar Center, not associated with GC in any fashion. Seems that it's perfectly legal to use the term 'guitar center' in the name of the buisness as it has some sort generic use precedent, or something like that. I'm no lawyer, but that's what I heard. They carry pretty much what you'd expect from a corporate GC, except for the brands that the corporate GC has exclusive to them. They don't do Gibson or Epiphone either. You gotta' go to Dietze for those brands.

We can get Warwicks, Fender's, Ricky's, Ernie Ball, and Ibanez, Epi's, and pretty much everything common, but no one is carrying Lakland, Sadowsky, or anything truly botique that I'm aware of in terms of bass gear. We used to be able to see a few Pedullas and Alembics come and go over the years, but I haven't seen any local retailers carrying them anymore. I guess it's okay here in general, as far as selection goes.

[MakiSupaStar]

I have a few local shops that do a great job with set up as well as repairs and orders on acoustic instruments. We have quite a variety around here. I'm pretty lucky I guess. Of course, we have the GC and Sam Ash, but we also have access to other shops. Some of them are luthiers that make different types of instruments, although you have to speak Spanish or Vietnamese. I had a great time cruising shops and swap meets in Santa Ana when I was looking to purchase a Guitarron.

[flipper_gv]

well, in montreal we have Italmelodie, which is independant and has the biggest bass selection in Canada!!

[bassman03]

Originally Posted by blendermassacre

just fyi, darkhorse does guitars too...

Yeah, i know, but he's known here for his basses that he does.