How's the bass selection in your town?

[Bass Viking]

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 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.

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.

 

[meatwad]

Absolutely non existent. A 45 minute drive will arrive to some in Muscle Shoals, but an hour and a half gets me to Nashville.

 

[hondo4life]

I can go to GC and sample a Fender/Squier, Ibanez, maybe a Yamaha, and the cheapest possible models of Dean. Other than that, whatever is at thrift stores and pawn shops.

 

[Spent]

I probably own more basses than are available in any one of the local music stores (about 20). Our local city had a population of about 25,000 but we're pretty close to larger cities. One reason I find this odd is that we have three great bass manufacturers within about a 20 minute drive; Spector, MTD and Martin Keith. I actually had to special order my first Spector from a local music store (Stuart personally dropped it off). On top of that, Tony Levin lives here and you may have heard of one of our neighboring towns, Woodstock. Maybe it's just me, but I find see a lot of wasted potential.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

mostly crap on the pawn shop walls
the good ones are either over-priced or get sold fast

There's a Ibanez & Fender dealer 30 miles North & their selection is actually ok, but what I really like is that they have every model of the Rumble line, and a Bassman rig.

 

[MMiller28]

I think you'll get an overwhelming majority of responses agreeing with you. There just aren't that many shops that carry a good variety of nice basses. It all comes down to business - what % of the population is in the market for a $2,000+ bass? Very, very, very small.

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

Ratio of guitars to basses is about 100 to 1.

 

[Bodeanly]

Chicago is perfecto, but all of my basses are Jags. Only one was purchased locally.

 

[BD Jones]

There are 2.5 million people in in our greater metro area and there are TWO big stores: Sam Ash and Guitar Center. Sam Ash has the largest selection, but it has your basics: Fender/Squier, Ibanez, Yamaha, and Music Man. There are a couple of Rics, Jackson, ESP, Jacksons, Deans, Hofners, and Schecters. Out of all of the brands, they mainly focus on having a wide range of Fenders and Ibanez. Everything else is either out of most peoples price range (Rics) or the very bottom bend of the line (everything else). GC has squat. Usually it is a lot of the same model. Pawn shops and thrift stores are bare. The mom and pop stores cater mainly to guitarists. There are some local chain stores (one is actually part of the Music & Arts brand, which is also owned by GC), but they have horrible selections.

Oh, and forget about any sort of "specialty" instrument such as a fretless or medium or short scale. I've only seen the Squier VM fretless and the new Ibanez semi-hollow body fretless at Sam Ash. And there was only one of each. But, stores are only going to carry what the bass buying public recognizes. They recognize brands Fender and Ibanez. They've seen the distinctive style of Rics, Stingrays, and Hofner "Beatle" basses.

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.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

In my town there is like 3 music store with basses.

all of them sell Fender and EBMM
one have Ibanez, Yamaha, Epiphone stuff
one have Warwick, LTD/ESP
one have Spector, Peavey and Yamaha kind of stuff

You won't have something more expensive than a Warwick Thumb4 strings BO ... but you see more like in the 500/1000$ range and of course Fender and EBMM cover more than 80% of the bass selection

 

[Nashrakh]

At the nearest store (brick and mortar store in the middle of nowhere), you can only get Yamaha entry level stuff. No Fender, no Gibson, no nothing. A cheapo amp that's not for sale because it's all they have. I couldn't even get flatwound strings there.

Next best store, half an hour of driving away: still no Fender but the leading German copycats (Sandberg), prices above the Am Standards. That's all they have, plus maybe a cheap Hartke amp to test out. No other brands in sight. No flats. Seriously overpriced.

One hour of driving finally gets me the obvious brands, Squier, Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, and one lonely Rick. And a Kala U-Bass. Still no amp selection worth mentioning. No flats.

To have anything resembling a decent selection, I would have to drive about 5 hours. No wonder people just order all their stuff, though if I were looking for a pricey bass it might be worth it.

 

[Grumry]

Nashville has literally every thing in the world you could imagine if it has anything to do with music.

<3 music city

 

[Watchootognbout]

N.E.Illinois.
Basically what you said.Fender, Squier, Ibanez, Yamaha, Epiphone,ect.
That's why I don't go into music stores like I used to.
The same 'ol same 'ol.

 

[B-line]

Las Vegas is pretty barren, not much but GC and a Sam Ash, and what those chains carry.
A few independents, but nothing that would draw me to them.
Online is the way to go, or direct (Lull, Sadowsky, etc.) As far as playing a dream boutique bass in person, I can only think of a very few shops, like Bass Central, or Atlanta Bass Gallery, or the Bass Place where one could see some extra-special- sauce basses.

 

[mmbongo]

They sell basses in local stores?? Who knew???

 

[mobdirt]

Dismal

 

[alembicguy]

Nothing for 80 miles and then that sucks.

 

[mustBmtd]

Nothing really to get crapped on about. When your making an honest statement. Because that's how it is in my city. I mainly trade off through connections or just shop here or ebay.

 

[japhy4529]

Ratio of guitars to basses is about 100 to 1.

At the local SamAsh there are maybe 30 basses (mostly Ibanez, Fenders and Rics). On the other hand, there are probably 300 guitars in the store!

 

[wizerd]

Round here it's a few Fenders and Squiers, then a 50 mile drive to the nearest GC where they have, ... Fenders and Squires, Mitchels, a couple of Ibbys, and a couple of SUB4s.