• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Destination bass stores

#61
Flaked Beans said:
Come on guys, we all know Guitar Center is the best!
Guitar-Center.jpg
Click to expand...
https://www.walmart.com/c/kp/bass-guitars

They have a better selection than GC
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5fingerfrenzy and Flaked Beans
#66
I am not sure if by traveling you meant worldwide. But if you ever come to Tokyo, it will be an eye opener. I would not want to single out one particular shop but the guitar shop area around Ochanomizu station is a good starting point. There is an ESP Custom shop there as well that stocks all their brands, which is a lot more than what people usually associate with them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nephilymbass
#70
Slareman said it first. The Gallery in Camden. Scott Devine used to drive down to London from Leeds just to visit it. That's a drive of about four to five hours. It really is a spectacular place while also being a comfortable size. Scott even held some podcast interviews there a few months ago and took the opportunity to double it as an SBL meetup.
 
#76
Wafl said:
Can you think of a bass-heavy retail store so good that you would consider a long drive, or even a plane trip, to visit? Where the selection is the best, and the owner is, if not at great-guy status, at least attentive? Anywhere in the world.



I will be traveling a bit in the next few years.
Click to expand...
Long drive? What, like an hour? The Amp Shop\ Bass Exchange in North Hollywood is pretty cool. Its really the only place with any interesting bass equipment in almost all of Los Angeles county.
2 hour drive? There better be something else there, I'm not driving that on the off chance a shop might have something I'd like to play.
Fly? @$*& that. I don't even want to fly to visit family let alone just shop for a bass. Plus, its not like there is an easy way to bring it back. When the Warwick showroom was in NYC there was a small chance that I might have been able to visit it if I ever took a vacation to NYC. Now that its in Nashville, they might have well closed it. I'll never get to see it.
When I visited Paris on vacation I popped into a shop that had some decent basses. Nice place, but I sure AF wouldn't fly there just for that.
I haven't been to Chicago in a few years and I didn't know about Chicago Music at the time. If I go there to visit family again, I will probably check it out if I remember.
Bass Central looks cool but I have no reason to go to Florida.
 
#78
socialleper said:
Long drive? What, like an hour? The Amp Shop\ Bass Exchange in North Hollywood is pretty cool. Its really the only place with any interesting bass equipment in almost all of Los Angeles county.
Click to expand...

I know this isnt a review board here but these jerks sold me an amp with major issues and wouldnt accept responsibility when I brought it back the next day. I wont step foot in that joint ever again.

Customer service thhhhhppppptttt :rollno:
 
#79
Mind Eroded said:
House of guitars in Rochester, NY. It's literally a house stocked with vintage/used as well as new basses and guitars from floor to ceiling. Guitars just stacked one on top of the other. I can spend hours in there each time. Friendly staff too.
Click to expand...

I was just there for Gov't Mule! Dang it! I could have purchased yet another thing to tick the wife off!!!

This thread is trouble.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mind Eroded
#80
With the advent of this internet thingy (I'm sure it's a fad), it's amazing to me that destination bass shops still remain in business.
Fortunately, the "brick and mortar" of most of these shops are in low overhead locations that still make the economics work.
To me, bass shops are what you visit when you're already in a certain city. I would never think of a fly-in just to visit a store, but I guess I'm kinda spoiled.

These are the places I have either shopped while on business travel, or frequent online. I'm sure I'll miss some. Left to right as you go across the country.

WA:
The Bass Shop, Seattle
Guitarworks/Mike Lull Bass (manufacturer), Bellevue

CA:
Gelb, SF
Bassmods, Sacramento
Bass and Beyond, Sacramento
Bass Exchange, Woodland Hills
Normans Rare Guitars, Tarzana
Wilkins Custom Guitars, LA
Mesa Boogie Hollywood, LA
Guitar Center Hollywood, LA (only one I would ever go to shop for a bass)
Bass Strings Online, Chattsworth
Nordstrand, Redlands (pickups and luthier extraordinaire)
FMI, Pasadena (for double basses)
Lemur, San Juan Capistrano (for double basses)
Bass San Diego, SD

AZ:
The Bass Place, Peoria

TX:
The Guitar Sanctuary

OK:
Guitar House, Tulsa

IL:
Bass Club Chicago, Chicago
Chicago Music Exchange, Chicago
Lakland (manufacturer), Chicago
Midlothian, Orland Park

IN:
Sweetwater, Fort Wayne

TN:
Low End Bass Shop, Murfessboro
Gruhn, Nashville
Corner Music, Nashville
Carters Vintage, Nashville

GA:
Atlanta Bass Gallery, ATL

FL:
Bass Central, Orlando area

VA:
Rocket Music, Blacksburg

DC:
Jive Sound, DC

NY:
Sadowsky (manufacturer), Long Island City
Fodera (manufacturer), Brooklyn
Aguilar (manufacturer), NYC
MTD (manufactuer), Kingston
Spector (manufactuer), Saugerties

CT:
Upton Bass (double bass manufacturer), Mystic

MA:
Bergantino (manufacturer), Whitinsville
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Wafl and Gizmot

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back