I'm Sorry, Sir...I Don't Play Bass..

[stacker]

They know nothing of the true Gods.

 

[bassjnky1]

In my experience I go into the bass section and here comes a guitar player acting like he knows it all about bass. He still wants a sale.
It's amazing what BS can come out of their mouths.

 

[two fingers]

It's simple market forces really. Nothing more. It's not oersonal. It's business.

For every Nass player who walks into a store like that there are a hundred (or more) guitar players. I used to work at one for several years. I know first hand.

If I ran a muffin store that carried mostly regular muffins, preferred by the masses, I would have all or mostly employees who know regular muffins.....how to bake them, what goes into them, etc. Even if I did sell the occasional gluten free sugar free high fructose corn syrup free all natural organic muffin, I would make sure we barely knew enough to make them. I wouldn't hire a full-time dietician/nutritionist toare sure we could answer any possible questions about them. I would stick them at the end of the counter for the occasional hippie who happens to stop by.

Again, I worked in the industry for almost a decade. Other than beginner packs you won't sell NEARLY the number of basses to warrant an on sight expert on staff at all times. It ain't personal. It's math.

That being said, I took it upon MYSELF to learn as much as I could about every product line we carried. But that's the exception, not the rule.

 

[MrLenny1]

Guitars sell more than basses.
Go to a music store and ask for a dedicated bass teacher, not a guitar/bass teacher.
Odds are you won't find one.
Everybody wants to play geetar or at least try to.

 

[bassbenj]

IME, bass players tend to be smarter than most musicians. As such we tend to avoid such horrific jobs like selling guitars.

Well, around here most stores have a decent bass player. GC has decent bass staff and sometimes Sam Ash (When GC opened up down the street from Sam Ash they hired all the most knowledgeable staff away from Sam Ash). This is both good and bad. Yeah it's great you can go in there and talk bass with someone who does not have to use both hands to find his own butt. On the other hand when I bought my used USA G&L L2500 fretless at GC ($600!), I whined about the broken switches and loose pots trying for an even further discount. No dice. He just looks me in the eye and says the bass is worth it and if I don't buy it someone else will quickly snap it up, which of course was exactly correct and we both knew it. Obviously I never had any intention of NOT buying it! And we both knew that too! Games like that are so much more fun when the sales associate is clueless!

Now the mom and pop guitar store where I bought my Alembic is owned by an ex-hippy guitarist who tries mightily to be knowledgeable about bass, but like you say, he'll talk half a day about guitar stuff but start talking bass and he runs down pretty fast. If you start talking about "6 strings" even though he knows I play bass he always thinks you are talking about guitars and perks up and comes to life again. But this is just the world. Guitars are far more popular than basses (which why guitarists are a dime a dozen and bassists are in demand). Kids in school all want to be guitar heroes. Didn't we all try guitar first and then fail and switch to bass because it was easier? I know I did. (didn't turn out to be easier, though)

 

[Matt O]

I recently had a refreshingly ridiculous conversation about a bass with a guitar guy at a major big box musical instrument retail store chain. Rhymes with "Sitar Renter".

Me (pointing at Epiphone Newport on vintage wall): may I play that?

Guitdude: It's a lefty but it's strung backwards, you a lefty?

Me: I'm pretty sure it's a righty

Guitdude: No man, look where the thing for your thumb is

Me: That's a tug bar, your fingers go under it when you pluck with your thumb.

Guitdude: Dude. What?

Me (pointing at Epiphone Newport on vintage wall): may I play that?

 

[MobileHolmes]

I recently had a refreshingly ridiculous conversation about a bass with a guitar guy at a major big box musical instrument retail store chain. Rhymes with "Sitar Renter".

Me (pointing at Epiphone Newport on vintage wall): may I play that?

Guitdude: It's a lefty but it's strung backwards, you a lefty?

Me: I'm pretty sure it's a righty

Guitdude: No man, look where the thing for your thumb is

Me: That's a tug bar, your fingers go under it when you pluck with your thumb.

Guitdude: Dude. What?

Me (pointing at Epiphone Newport on vintage wall): may I play that?

View attachment 924657

I have an olympic guitar of the same era. Would love a matching bass

 

[/\/\3phist0]

I recently had a refreshingly ridiculous conversation about a bass with a guitar guy at a major big box musical instrument retail store chain. Rhymes with "Sitar Renter".

Me (pointing at Epiphone Newport on vintage wall): may I play that?

Guitdude: It's a lefty but it's strung backwards, you a lefty?

Me: I'm pretty sure it's a righty

Guitdude: No man, look where the thing for your thumb is

Me: That's a tug bar, your fingers go under it when you pluck with your thumb.

Guitdude: Dude. What?

Me (pointing at Epiphone Newport on vintage wall): may I play that?

View attachment 924657

 

[bassbenj]

If you guys want to know what bass store heaven would be like, I can give you a glimpse only sadly it's not a bass store. It's a drum store. Dig. Owned by a drummer of some repute. ALL the the staff playing, gigging drummers (many are also the teachers for the lessons department). I know them, they know me, they know ALL the drummers in town. No better hang and you can talk about the latest ANYTHING and come out knowing more than when you went in. And Double Dig. They hold massive drum clinics with top name artists. Cripes Victor Wooten even showed up at one to jam with a drummer...bass and drums at a drum clinic? How cool is that? Big name artists from California and I'm talking BIG name here, just go on and on raving about the store, the staff, the clinics and the whole local scene. They swear on their grandmother's grave they've NEVER seen anything like it back home on the left coast! And cover the stage with drool telling us how lucky we all are to have a store like this. And I have no reason whatever to think they are kidding us. The only downside is there is not a bass store to match it.

PS. Significant personal highlight: Called on stage and playing Conga drums with Sheila E at one of their monster clinics! Life is good.

 

[twinjet]

I don't know about anyone else's experiences but I find it rather odd that just about any store that I go into that sells basses where I live ( including chains) know almost nothing about them.

Seems like all the employees everywhere play guitar..and will be happy to give you their opinions on these.

And it doesn't matter which employee you talk to....be it the old longtime "salts" or the new shredder hotshot.

But step into the bass department and they disappear in droves.

All kinds of basses hanging on up on the walls....but start trying to talk to anybody about them and they mumble a few generic responses and then it's quickly off to serve another customer.

Talking about shortscales is a waste of time also...they know not of which you speak.

They give the cursory nod to basses by stocking a few sets of longscale strings in standard gauge...aaaand that's it.

Even my luthier/tech, who is one of THE best around and does excellent work, seems miffed when we start talking basses.
He knows the wiring and set up like the back of his hand and is very good....guitars he could talk about all day...but basses not so much.

I have never yet been to a store that sells basses in this area and found a bassplayer working there.

What's your experience?

My local shop staffs a bassist, two drummers and three guitarists. They're all pretty good.

Seems proportionate to me.

 

[kleinenenten]

I recently had a refreshingly ridiculous conversation about a bass with a guitar guy at a major big box musical instrument retail store chain. Rhymes with "Sitar Renter".

Me (pointing at Epiphone Newport on vintage wall): may I play that?

Guitdude: It's a lefty but it's strung backwards, you a lefty?

Me: I'm pretty sure it's a righty

Guitdude: No man, look where the thing for your thumb is

Me: That's a tug bar, your fingers go under it when you pluck with your thumb.

Guitdude: Dude. What?

Me (pointing at Epiphone Newport on vintage wall): may I play that?

View attachment 924657

And I've just learned something. Never knew that's what those were. I always wondered why they'd put a thumb rest on the bottom! Thanks!

 

[sevan]

ive ordered "C" string and seller asked for its thickness.. then he offered me a thin g string. he beleived that 30mm G string would be tuned as C if needed. yes he was a guitar player...

 

[bikeplate]

That's why we have TB

 

[triode6L6a]

If that's the place on one of the main drags, in "downtown" Monterey, I've been there. 5-6 years ago they had this AMAZING Alembic 4 string signature bass they would let me play when I visited your beautiful city. If I had 10K in my pocket it would have been MINE.

Yep, that's the place. I haven't been in awhile, but John always had some bodaciously nice, and expensive, bass gear on hand.

 

[Aidenn7]

ive ordered "C" string and seller asked for its thickness.. then he offered me a thin g string. he beleived that 30mm G string would be tuned as C if needed. yes he was a guitar player...

my bass playing buddy didn't even know what a C string was.. lol

 

[JakobT]

A "bass department"? What's that?

 

[wvbass]

IME, bass players tend to be smarter than most musicians. As such we tend to avoid such horrific jobs like selling guitars.

Are you kidding? Selling guitars is on my "dream job" list! Unfortunately, it isn't on my "dream paycheck" list...

ive ordered "C" string and seller asked for its thickness.. then he offered me a thin g string. he beleived that 30mm G string would be tuned as C if needed. yes he was a guitar player...

That is a pretty big string you got there. Decimal Lives Matter!

 

[bassestkkm]

All my bass sales knowledge has come from here haha

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Any store try to bull**** by telling you the right thing to make you buy. The consumer is way more knowledgeable than any employee.

I was looking to buy a Warwick Thumb BO6 not so long ago and it was jarring all the answers I got and all the people that knew nothing about the instrument or almost mock me because I want 6 strings. On top of being lefty.

So I don't care anymore, if I really have to deal with a store I go there with something I know and buy it no need for their opinion

 

[Nev375]

A "bass department"? What's that?

The back corner by the employee bathroom where the 2 squier P-basses, the Ibanez Soundgear and the random other 2 basses hang.