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How's the bass selection in your town?

#61
Locally, Fender (regular and some Custom Shop), Musicman, Spector, Sanberg, Rickenbacker, G&L, Gibson...and the other usual suspects - Ibanez, Dean, Schecter, ESP... The store is Alto Music which was the first real music shop I ever went to. Now they have 3 locations and their inventory and selection rivals any big box store out there.

Or, I can hop on the train into Manhattan and play a Fodera or Sadowsky at Sam Ash on 34th if I like.
 
#63
Saw no representation from the 3rd world so let me just chip in. Here in Accra we have a shop that officially carries Squier guitars and Fender combos, one that has entry level Ibanez guitars and Laney combos, and one that has ESP LTDs and Hartley combos. All at almost twice the US price! I blame high shipping and customs duty costs. One other shop has SX, dunno if genuine. There used to be an official Peavey outlet but they went out of business years ago. There's supposed to be official Yamaha but dunno where.
Other than these there are a ton of fakes like "Fendar" and "Givson". And also Asian cheaper guitars ranging in quality from Shine (Korean I think) to Sunsmile.
Most bassists therefore rely on friends and family travelling down to Ghana for their basses. Or you get lucky with people who import used goods.

Curious note - 90% of bassists here prefer 5ers or 6ers. So that's what you see a lot of, even the fakes and cheapos.
 
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#64
jefff100 said:
Another often overlooked local gem (depending on your perspective) is NJ Guitar & Bass. Small Shop (very small). Amazingly huge selection of guitars and at least 25% of his inventory is bass related, so nothing to sneeze at. He's got everything from $100. beaters to Sadowsky, Dingwall and F-bass, Warwick, Music Man, Fender, Ibanez etc. Downside is that his selection is so huge...the place is small....it gets cramped in there.
But there's something to be said for carrying the inventory he does in this day and age. He's got a web presence, if you're within driving distance or can catch a train....it's an option.
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Yes, that place is cool. When I was getting serious about good instruments, I made the drive from Philly, and it was worth the trip. I wish he dealt more on price, but he does have great stuff and seems to care about it.

He also comes to the semi-annual Philly area guitar shows, where one can sometimes find very cool, unusual basses. I once found a small builder who made archtop fretless fivers, of all things. They were really good too.
 
#64
BD Jones said:
It's also funny you mentioned Warwick. I took my Warwick RB Starbass into Sam Ash a few months ago to see if I could find a gig bag to fit it. You have to check it in at the front desk so they can tag it and make sure you aren't stealing the instrument on the way out. The guy at the front desk had no idea what the brand was. In fact, no one knew what the brand was. One guy even said, "Oh, it's one of those kit basses", referring to Warmoth.
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Warmoth, Warwick, Warrior, Warlock (BC Rich) - it's all the same to them!
 
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#65
Bass Viking said:
In another thread I posted that I thought many bassists haven't played enough different brands to know what they really like, due to limited availability in local stores. I got in some hot water for that :D but I still stand by my statement. In my own city of 1 million people, the selection is not great. It's mainly Fender, Squier, Ibanez, Yamaha, Epiphone, etc. There's nothing wrong with these brands but it's the tip of the iceberg.

Brands I used to see, like Warwick, Lakeland, and G & L, have disappeared. You seldom see even a Gibson bass. You do come across a few Rickenbackers, Musicman, and the occasional Fender Custom Shop. Boutique? Forget it! Not even the Canadian stuff like Dingwall or F bass.

I currently own 11 basses. Only 2 were purchased in Ottawa stores. 2 I bought used and the rest I ordered from the USA. Even Club Bass in Toronto has reduced the number of bass brands they carry and changed their name to Club Bass & Guitar. :eek:

The store where I bought my Taylor guitar has a fantastic selection of acoustics and electric guitars, with high end Gibson, Fender, PRS, Taylor, Martin, Collings, Suhr. As for basses: Last time I was there they had 5. :(
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My local Guitar Center has between 80 and 90 basses.
Sure, I know, not much of a selection but...
 
#68
Xandrell said:
Atlanta GC used to have a good selection of everything and lot's of customers. Now when I go in there I'm about the only one in there. They have a pretty decent selection of guitars and amps including a high end room. The bass selection isn't real bad but the bass amp selection is. I don't know what the Mark Bass thing is all about but it's irritating.
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jasonmatthews said:
In Atlanta we have the Atlanta Bass Gallery, which is basically like bass heaven. Least expensive thing in there is probably a Fender American Standard J-Bass. All the high end stuff is there. Constantly rotating. Incredible.
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Atlanta bass gallery is fantastic. Jim has done a great job over the last few years at broadening the range of gear they sell. He has stuff for beginner and high end boutique stuff. Better to buy a lower end Ibanez or fender from him as it has proper set up.
 
#70
there are several fairly well equipped stores within 10 minutes of my house. i can think of 3 off the top of my head - loaded with your usual stuff, and some high end stuff. some fine violin / upright bass shops as well.

45 minute train ride and i'm in manhattan. also my local craigslist usually offers some boutique/less common items for retail stores to offer.

so, my selection pretty much could not be better. there's still plenty of stuff i havent played, tried, or owned, but ive tried an awful lot of stuff.
 
#72
Lefty's have it REAL BAD when it comes to store available basses. 4 pawn shops with in 20 miles, and there were 2 LH basses. 1 was a 'junior' bass, the other was fender knockoff... don't remember the name of it. It had seen its best days long before I got there. 2 local guitar shops.... two lefty basses... a Fender, and a Squier. Plenty of RH stuff.

Next stop is 60 miles away, a Guitar Center... They had a few in stock. Ultimately though,
the real selection is online for south paws. Both mine were ordered online, and the one comin'
is an online purchase too.
 
#74
McFly said:
Lefty's have it REAL BAD when it comes to store available basses. 4 pawn shops with in 20 miles, and there were 2 LH basses. 1 was a 'junior' bass, the other was fender knockoff... don't remember the name of it. It had seen its best days long before I got there. 2 local guitar shops.... two lefty basses... a Fender, and a Squier. Plenty of RH stuff.

Next stop is 60 miles away, a Guitar Center... They had a few in stock. Ultimately though,
the real selection is online for south paws. Both mine were ordered online, and the one comin'
is an online purchase too.
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GIBrat51 said:
I'm a lefty; so, the selection is pretty much non-existent. Unless one of the GC's has a "starter kit" Squier that I missed... and, my Alembic won't let one of those in the house, anyway...:whistle:
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I acknowledge your pain. I too am a lefty but the only thing I do right-handed is play bass. I really dodged a bullet there!
 
#75
This is actually a sizable problem for me at the moment, as I'm interested in a 6 string bass, but not sure if my hands are large enough to play one comfortably. There are two stores (worth going to) within 30 miles of me, and it's all Fender, Ibanez, and Yamaha. I've never even seen a Warwick, Lakland, G&L, or Spector in person. But thank god they have 9 string guitars..
 
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#78
Like many posts here my city is the same ole same ole. I am 30 minutes from Boston though so that is a good hub for more variety. Still I think it is mainly an economic thing as what store could afford to keep several $2000+ bass on a shelf? Lucky we bass players have the internet!
 

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