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Store with best bass selection in the US

#22
Here in LA the only place with an interesting selection of basses is Amp Shop & Bass Exchange in North Hollywood. Sometimes they have some gems. Their amp selection leaves a little to be desired since they signed on with Form Factor.
Some good pedals and guitars as well.
The Russian guy that works there is a little aggressive as a salesman.
 
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#25
jthisdell said:
I went to Jive Sound once a few years ago and it is a really good shop, some quality basses and amps there. The owner is a web designer by day and he does not like to spend his off hours on web design so beware that his website, while not bad, is not up to date as to what he actually has in stock. If coming from out of town I would recommend emailing or calling first.
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And the hours are very limited. If you’re making a long trip to visit, if probably go elsewhere. Chicago Music Exchange looks interesting.
 
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#26
If you visit Gelb in Redwood City, you might also want to visit Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto. Not known for basses, but the largest selection of acoustic guitars around (many Taylors, Martins, Collings, etc.). Occasionally they have a few basses and I was lucky enough to score a used Sadowsky NYC and just missed a used Alembic.
 
#28
I was in Chicago and not looking for an instrument.
Stopped in at CME just for fun.... and bought a bass
Highly recommended

Headed to Chuck Levin's tomorrow and will report back
Usually just some run of the mill Fenders, a few Spector's, and some other "stuff"
OTOH, it's been 6 months since I was looking at basses there
 
#29
slowjam98 said:
There’s a shop in Phoenix, AZ called The Bass Place. They have the worst hours and they’re on the complete opposite side of town. I’ve never been.
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I have purchased 4 basses from The Bass Place, Dennis, the owner is nothing less than a gentleman and has never let me "walk away" without the bass I was after...online only, never in person but he is awesome and I buy my basses online only from him.
Rock on.
 
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#32
NoSlapForYou said:
The Seattle one would be perfect. I moved out to California earlier this year and have been looking for an excuse to visit the Pacific NW, which is the only area of the continental US I haven't visited. Maybe I'll even hop over to Vancouver while I'm at it.
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I haven't been to the new Seattle location, but I visited the old one a couple of years ago and was very impressed. There are a few other decent shops in Seattle too, and it is a great place to visit. If you can manage to time your trip to catch the yearly TB GTG up there, all the better. The last few have had a bigger and more interesting selection of basses and amps than any store I've encountered, and it wasn't even close.
 
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#34
Bass Place is in Peoria, AZ and located in weird shopping center near Sun City. Not to hard to find. Dennis (owner) and Randy are great. Bass San Diego is wonderful. Just plain wonderful. BSD is a little harder to find but is whole levels of nicer location from Bass Place. Have not been to the Seattle store but plan to go there as the most local to me. I am planning a trip to Chicago sometime but am afraid of what I might find. I am a sucker for beautiful tops. On basses.
 
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#35
Mark_70 said:
Planet Bass in Minneapolis (Maple Grove) has some fantastic gear...
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Does anyone know if Planet Bass is still open? I'll be out in Minneapolis this weekend, but their website and facebook page seem to be pretty dormant, and Contact Us says they're by appointment only. Does anyone know of any other quality music shops in Minneapolis? I'm not sure what I'm after or if I'd even buy anything, so I don't want to waste anyone's time... I'd rather find an open shop that I can wander in for a bit, you know?

Scarey Larry said:
Bass Place is in Peoria, AZ and located in weird shopping center near Sun City. Not to hard to find. Dennis (owner) and Randy are great.
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Some friends and I had a different experience with Dennis/Bass Place. Maybe he was just having an off day, but we called to make an appointment during a road trip, and he wasn't going to meet with us unless we made a commitment that we were actually going to buy something (and he wasn't friendly about asking, either). He let us in because one one of the guys mentioned a G&L on Bass Place's website, but the attitude immediately lost sales from two of us.

5sg.
 
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#39
alanloomis1980 said:
House of Guitars, Rochester NY. Not Bass-specific, but tons of inventory. I really like the amp room :bassist:
I do believe @godofthunder59 can tell you more.
Link Removed
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I grew up in the neighborhood, so I am very familiar with HOG. My avatar was snapped there about 10 years ago. I don't think their bass inventory is quite what it used to be. They usually have a bunch of Fenders, Ibanez, and a handful of other random brands/models. Maybe 40-50 basses total. Yes, there is some variety, but not in vast quantities and color options. They do have a selection of vintage models out on display, but it's out of reach and partly considered their own family collection. All that being said, it's an awesome place to visit, and you may even find a cool bass there. It's like a living museum, and it's usually a total disaster area (though efforts have been made to tidy up lately). I've always found their pricing to be flexible, although I think they refer a lot to the interwebs these days when quoting a price. If you scout around near the front counter, there's a Jetglo 4003 with Geddy's autograph on it -- but I was told it's not for sale. If you'd had the pleasure of going to NAMM and perused the Fender exhibit, you'd see a lot of little white tags on the rare custom shop guitars that say "Reserved for House of Guitars." They are certainly worth talking to if you are looking for something unique and specific. Legend has it that they have thousands of guitar and basses in the basement warehouse, although I've never been able to confirm that with my own eyes.

There's a shop across town in Rochester (Fairport) called Fab Gear. Andy Babiuk is the owner, and he worked for a couple decades at HOG starting in the 80's. He's a cool cat, nd one of the most knowledgeable experts on guitar history you'll ever meet. His shop is small and there are not many basses in inventory, but he has exceptional personal relationships with many manufacturers. His inventory is cream of the crop. He will occasionally get exclusive editions from Rickenbacker. If I ever wanted to order something brand new from Fender or Rick, he'd be my guy.

In the Detroit area, Motor City Guitars in the northern burbs has an inventory of about 200 basses. Many are in the low to mid price range, and there are more brands that I can list. Their premium stuff would be USA models from Fender, G&L, Rick, and Gibson. Plenty of new and used -- both guitars and amps. Good selection of pedals too.
 
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#40
jnuts1 said:
i'll also say the Bass Club Chicago and the Bassment in the Chicago Music Exchange.
both are very high end places. not going to find any squiers in there.
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I still kick myself for not doing a tour of the Chicago shops while lived in Iowa... There are also other shops around there with Laklands and G&Ls etc that could be interesting (depending on what one finds locally at home).

LoTone said:
How about Gruhn Guitars in Nashville? Gruhn Guitars
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Nashville is another city where I found tons of bass gear. Gruhn, the Low End, Carter, Corner music...
 

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