Good Places to buy Fender Bass guitars in New York.

I don't know man. New York is a pretty small town. Do they even have a Fender dealer there?

 

I will assume that you speaking about Manhattan when you refer to NY. Fender Basses can be bought at number of retailers. 48th street you will find Sam Ashe and Rudys, Guitar Center is short walk.
As far Fenders, you should have your pick of a couple of hundred in a few square block area. Big stores like guitar center and Sam Ashe stock lots of instruments.

 

Matt Umanov guitars on Bleecker Street usually has a nice selection of both new and vintage Fenders. It's a cool place to browse in general.

30th Street guitars will have some nice vintage ones as well.

 

New:
Big chain stores:
Guitar Center - 14th Street
Sam Ash - 48th Street
Independant stores:
Ludlow St. Guitars - Ludlow Street
Matt Umanov Guitars - Bleecker St.
Used:
All of the above, plus:
Carmine Street Guitars - Carmine Street
30th Street Guitars - 30th st.
Rogue Music - 30th St.
East Village Music - East 3rd St.
Chelsea Guitars - 23rd St.
Rivington Guitars - East... 4th St.? I can't remember.

That's what I've got off the top of my head.

 

This...

NYC is pretty big, so specifics would help greatly. NY state is significantly larger, so if you're going to Buffalo suggesting things in Manhattan is a complete waste.

Guitar Center - 14th Street
Sam Ash - 48th Street
Matt Umanov Guitars - Bleecker St.
30th Street Guitars - 30th st

These are the places I would recommend for Fender stuff. Umanov and 30th Street have a decent amount of used and vintage basses. Although they will be more expensive than GC and Sam Ash.

Rivington was recommended above. Personally I wouldn't bother, but it's a cool store as they have some nice stuff. They are crazy overpriced, and aren't really interested in selling the stuff they do have. I went in there the other day. They've got a GK 800RB sitting in the corner. It's marked at $700 and marked as a 2004 model (it's much older than that). Just for fun, I asked if I could play it and the salesman told me it wasn't really for sale since it's the only bass amp they have in the store. Maybe they priced it so it wouldn't sell? I dunno...

 

If you are interested in vintage/used, DO NOT MISS 30th St. Guitars for an ever-changing bunch of Fender basses. They're kept upstairs - in a separate section where you can usually be undisturbed and plunk away to your heart's content. Last time I was there they had a vintage V4 w/a 2x15 cab amp set up for demoing basses, too.

 

They still do. It's been there forever.

 

Gee, look how cute you are...

 

Adding to the above:

First off, I do not know what you consider reasonable prices, but in general instruments are relatively expensive in NY, and you really need to play each and everyone of them carefully to determine if they are worth the money to you -too many musicians around looking for an axe, retailers trying to rip off a tourist, and not enough good instruments.

I'd skip Rivington guitars too-they do represent the overpriced-don't-care vintage end of the spectrum that gives NY music retailers a bad name. Chelsea guitars is no more, as far I have seen, and I wasn't too impressed either.

For quality instruments I'd add Rudy's on 48th st - at least they are not selling turkeys, and they have a separate bass room there, where you can find items that are not necesarily shown online on their site. For example, a few weeks ago I saw a 'player' 70ties jazz bass with some changed parts that played really good and I thought wasn't priced too ridiculous. I almost snapped up a very good G&L L-2000 with some changed parts from the 80ties that they asked 800 and change for.

You also might take the L train into Brooklyn, get off at 1st stop Bedford Ave, and check out Main Drag Music (decent people, always a bunch of 2nd hand fenders around) and, while you're in the nabe, might as well check out Southside Guitars. Main Drag's selection is kept pretty current online, go check out their site to get an idea.

Good luck!

 

Holy crap! I left Rudy's off my list! A big oversight on my part. Sorry. It was early....

I mentioned Rivington because I have actually seen a couple of good deals there. It's rare, but it does happen. I do agree, however, that they don't really care.

Chelsea is another shop I don't think very highly of, but again, I have scored good deals there from time to time. It's just the luck of the draw. Last I checked they weren't gone, they had just moved a few doors down to a smaller storefront, but that was a few months ago. They could have perished since then.

In general, NYC is very much a "buyer beware" kind of town when it comes to vintage instruments. Selection tends to be sketchy, there are a lot of 'parts' instruments and prices are high. I've found that to be the case at the Brooklyn shops as well. You're most likely to get an instrument that's 100% straight from 30th St, Umanov and Rudy's - and you'll pay accordingly. When the stars align, though, there are good deals to be had here.

 

Prices will not be a concern, as much as a New York shop has to pay crazy rent, Australians get butt raped over gear prices, it will break your heart to learn what they pay.

I sold a Fender to an Aussie once, he informed me on their gear prices, so what I thought was a good deal became an unbelievable deal to him.

 

That doesn't mean it's okay for them to get ripped off though...

 

Keep an eye out on Talkbass for someone selling a Fender in the NY area. Safer than a pawn shop and less expensive than the higher end places.. Make the deal, and pick up in person when you're over here. Networking opportunity also!

 

Gee, look how crabby you are... Personally, I'd rather be a failed comedian than a successful dink

 

Some good advice here ^^. I always hit the guitar stores when I'm in NYC, and very very rarely do I see a good deal anywhere. Rudy's is good to browse, but just too pricey. Surprisingly, the only place where I've found decent deals in the last several years has been GC, and even then it's hit or miss. Mostly miss.

Remember that the NYC sales tax is close to 9%!!

If I were coming in from Australia, here's what I'd do - I'd browse the GC used gear site and purchase there. I'd then have the guitar(s) shipped to a NYC location - or somewhere within easy traveling distance of NYC with lower sales taxes - and pick it up there. You can play it before you buy it, and if the guitar isn't as described, you can get your dough back on the spot.

 

True what people say about Rivington guitars, but I actually traded in for a very nice '73 Jazz and did ok - before the sales tax anyway!