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Bizarre Bass Shopping Experience

#43
Matt O said:
There was a store in my area that had a very cranky owner, the older he got the less he seemed to want to sell stuff. If you asked him can I play that bass? Sometimes he'd just say "no" and walk away. He eventually went out of business. Can't say that his store is missed.
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I knew a guy who ran a restaurant like that. One of the last things he ever said to me involved asking for an omelette with cheese. He exclaimed that he would definitely not do that, because, "Do you know how hard it is to get cheese off a skillet?".

He died soon after. Karma is a bitch!
 
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#44
Killed_by_Death said:
I knew a guy who ran a restaurant like that. One of the last things he ever said to me involved asking for an omelette with cheese. He exclaimed that he would definitely not do that, because, "Do you know how hard it is to get cheese off a skillet?".

He died soon after. Karma is a bitch!
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He deserved to die because he didn't want to make you a cheese omelet? That makes sense.
 
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#51
Two true and somewhat relevant stories from the living freakshow that is South Florida: I had a similar experience with the owner of a small bike shop who wouldn't let me test ride a bike. It wasn't a particularly expensive bike, and I offered to leave my ID and credit card, but he claimed his insurance didn't allow him to give test rides :rolleyes:

Another very weird incident happened via a Craigslist ad for a "brand new in the box" guitar amp that I went to look at (a Fender Pro Junior at a fair discount.) Naturally I wanted to take a look at it, but the kid wouldn't let me open the box until I handed him the cash. He said it wouldn't be worth as much if the box was opened and I didn't buy it :roflmao: I backed away from that dude very quickly, and I still wonder what was really in the box.
 
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#52
Bugeyed Earl said:
Two true and somewhat relevant stories from the living freakshow that is South Florida: I had a similar experience with the owner of a small bike shop who wouldn't let me test ride a bike. It wasn't a particularly expensive bike, and I offered to leave my ID and credit card, but he claimed his insurance didn't allow him to give test rides :rolleyes:
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Hmm, I guess I have been fairly lucky. Back in the early '80s, when I lived in Columbus, I took a bicycle ride (wearing cut-off jeans and a t-shirt) to the Alfa Romeo dealer on Broad Street to check out the new GTV6 they had there. After a short talk with the sales guy I left my tricked out Raleigh Super Course TT leaning on a wall and he tossed me the keys to go out and have fun with the car! :bassist:
 
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#53
Buying an instrument that is showroom-perfect is absolute horsepucky. I would point out to the a$$hat that instruments costing 10-20x as much are being tried out in violin shops every day, everywhere. These instruments ($10-$20k new) are played numerous times before a match with a player can begin. Sure, a G&L bass is a mass-produced tool, but one that a player has to connect with before committing.
The paranoia/distrust was could be due to a bad experience with damaged goods.

Do any of you have shopping experiences from Veneman's Music Emporium when P.J. Rubal was there? Talk about service!! I was in college, shopping with a friend- we were both on the fence about whether or not we would be purchasing. Just looking. Despite this, he surrounded us with 5-6 basses (2 Spectors, Modulii, etc.) to compare and hung out to answer questions and talk bass. He was not hovering like a vulture, but was hoping to make a match.
He made a sale that day.
 
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#54
Baird6869 said:
Maybe the "idiot" part of idiot savant. Unless the OP is 13 and wearing a sandpaper jacket, what kind of idiot would not let a potential customer try a bass hanging on his wall.... even when supervised?

A Long & McQuade (Canada's biggest music retailer) near me has 5-6 Foderas, a Smith, Dingwalls and tons of MIA Fenders and EBMM basses that are in reach or will be handed to a player that wants to try them. Again, Dan the manager (great dude and TBer) may not let the teenager with the studded belt and wristbands immediately play the $11,000 Custom Fodera he has in a display case, but I highly doubt many other people would be told they had to buy a bass before playing it.

Idiotic. I wouldn't buy a Squier Affinity from a retail store without trying it first.
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I wouldn't buy Squier affinity at all. But that custom Fodera would be nicely inspected by me before the purchase.
 
#55
Killed_by_Death said:
My nearest G&L dealer was kind of weird too. The shop itself was over a tire mart. You wouldn't even feckin' know they were there, except for a small sign.

I was a little pissed when I found out he had just sold a L-2000 for only $850 (xMas deal) & I had just bought an ASAT for over $1,000.
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... Sorry but that's on you for not negotiating right. Sales happen when they happen, they aren't forever... Can't expect them to retroactively honor sales and discounts. Plus something as simple as one being a premier color and one being a standard color can account for a price difference like that. One could have a quartersawn neck while the other doesn't, or a tinted gloss neck vs a satin un-tinted neck... What if that L-2000 had been sitting there a lot longer than the ASAT? You don't know all the variables. Bottom line... Sounds like someone else negotiated better than you did. That's not the store's fault. Sounds like you still got a hell of a deal... And is it so bad that you managed to allow the local shop to still make a small profit? At $1,000 on a USA G&L, they may have not even broken even on that deal. They certainly didn't make a killing off you.

I love when the same person (not saying you're doing this, but it happens) that complains about local mom and pop guitar shops closing down all over the country also complains when they do what they can to try to hold some semblance of decent profit margins while trying to compete with the big box stores. Can't always have it both ways. It's like all the people that complain about Wal-Mart taking over, but will still go shop there. When small dealers have to sell instruments at break-even to compete, Guitar Center wins...
 
#56
I have always thought paying new price for a flood model is ridiculous.There is always a little shop wear, any bass hanging on a wall at a shop has some wear if you look it over fine toothed. I have only bought 1 off the wall "new" bass, the rest were ordered online. The new off the wall was a Deluxe P special, those MIM ones in 2006, i paid $450 which I think was under what they were new at the time, but sure enough it has some little dings in the clear coat, those angle in the light to see ones with some faint other examples of wear. It was my 2nd bass ever. The rest have been used unless buying new was cheaper then used, like getting a 4003 for $1080 new a few years ago or a gibson T bird for $825 and a highway 1 P and J for $440 each.
 
#58
Killed_by_Death said:
I don't know what the frack you're talking about. I bought my G&L from Guitar Center.
I found out about the G&L dealer a few days later.
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Ah... even worse. That sucks.

I misread and thought you were saying you bought your G&L from the local guy and then got upset with the same local guy for selling another bass for less. Sorry to hear you gave GC your money when it could've gone to the local guy. Now I think I understand what you were saying better.
 
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