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Stores in Nor Cal that actually have inventory

imnotded

imnotded

May 31, 2015
53
34
44
Northern CA
#1
I am a relatively new bass player and am looking to upgrade my Ibanez SR705 and demote it to a backup status. I bought the 705 mainly because it played great and the music store I got it at had it used so it was a pretty good deal. I mention this because I am not beholden to Ibanez. Anyway, the few shops I have gone in have had pitiful inventories of bass guitars and only a handful of 5 string basses.

I want to go play a few and try some other guitars out but I'm just not sure where to go. The closest major city I am in is Modesto. I am not opposed to driving a bit, say Fresno to Sac to the Bay Area if I have to.

Anyone have any recommendations?
 
#3
Havent been into a Guitar center in the bay area. The modesto and sac stores had very little. Guitar Showcase also had surprising few basses when I was in there about a year ago. Only a couple of 5 strings. I thought that was a little weird considering the size of their guitar inventory. Maybe I'll check out Gelb. I have checked out Sweetwater but would really like to get some different basses in my hands to feel the differences in them. I just dont have the experience to judge a bass by looking at the specs.
 
#5
Gelb Music in Redwood City has a decent selection of boutique-y basses: Sadowsky, Mike Lull, Lakland, etc. I would also fo by Bananas At Large in San Rafael - that's the only place locally I could find a Genzler rig to try out. Mostly Fenders there but a few small vendors.

Guitar Showcase's bass selection was terrible when I went there last - maybe 2-3 years ago. Guitar Center is Guitar Center - you know what to expect there, maybe get a couple interesting used items but it's a crap shoot.

There used to be two shops, Real Guitars and Rocker Guitars, in San Francisco but I'm not sure if they're there any longer.

I'd love to hear if anyone else knows of some secret spots around here to check out...
 
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#6
Guitar Showcase has mainly Fenders and Ibanez, with a few Gibson/Hofner/Epiphones thrown in for good measure. One or two models from other manufacturers as well.
Guitar Center SJ also has lots of Fenders, but they also have Music Man, Ibanez, Mitchell, a couple of Rics, and Yamaha.
That's about it.
Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz used to carry Renaissance/Rick Turner, but they don't keep more than one in inventory any more.
 
#7
Real and Rocker are still around, you have to drop by.
I was at the GC in Concord a few weeks back, standard rate but the used Spectors were fun to play.
Gelb is the place that reliably will give you a taste of the dog in a purse basses.
You are best served driving miles to get play time instead of buying blind.
 
#9
imnotded said:
Havent been into a Guitar center in the bay area. The modesto and sac stores had very little. Guitar Showcase also had surprising few basses when I was in there about a year ago. Only a couple of 5 strings. I thought that was a little weird considering the size of their guitar inventory. Maybe I'll check out Gelb. I have checked out Sweetwater but would really like to get some different basses in my hands to feel the differences in them. I just dont have the experience to judge a bass by looking at the specs.
Click to expand...
Different guitar centers have different inventory schemes it appears. The new one in Dublin CA has next to nothing. The San Jose and San Francisco stores usually have about 50 basses in stock, with about 10 of them moderately upscale. Guitar Showcase has some really nice vintage stock from time to time. I saw basses on the wall in two distinct areas of the store. Concord CA guitar center also has a middling stock depending on when you go there, but the overall store feels a bit dumpy.
 
#10
San Mateo and Concord I'll check bc you see more interesting used stuff getting turned in. San Francisco and San Jose are a little more pedestrian, more options for guys trading or selling gear.
 
#11
Don't sleep on the Starving Musician stores in San Jose and Santa Cruz. I've gotten some good gear at both locations.

One bass also came from Haight Ashbury Music Center. I asked them to restring it before I took it home and they did the whole set-up while I noodled around on their 7/8 scale upright. That string bass sat in the store for some time so I visited it a few times when I had the chance.

Editing to add, the Elixers and the labor were thrown into the bass deal - no charge. Real solid store and a reason to visit the fabled neighborhood around the panhandle.
 
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#12
Haight Ashbury used to be way better, walls of mid to high end basses but that was the 90's.

Haunt pawn shops in the Easy Bay.
Setup a map hunt from Richmond to Alameda.
I used to find a lot back when I cared about gear.
 
#14
somebrains said:
Haight Ashbury used to be way better, walls of mid to high end basses but that was the 90's.
Click to expand...
If I'm not mistaken, the owner of Haight Ashbury now owns Gelb. Historically, Gelb has been an awesome store for bass. 3 of my 5 basses are from there, and I have bought others as well as amps and cabs. That said, I haven't been there in a couple of years. Both Kevin (the previous owner) and Ed focused a lot on great bass gear. Both are gone now, but their online reviews are still good (usually the first place people complain when things go wrong). I believe many of the other long-time employees are still there, and I've always gotten great service.
 
#15
Indeed, it was about a decade back @somebrains when I got my final four stringer at H/A. There it is, gathering dust on a stand as a living room decoration. Good call on the prawn shops. Shopping the dingy little stores, I found an Aria Pro 2 U70 "Urchin" as my one and only plain old regular electric guitar. Nothing plain about it! I don't even know what all the switches are supposed to do.
 
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#18
I grew up in the South Bay, lived most of my adult life in the East Bay, with a short stint in Sacramento. Sac has very little worth your time; the Bay Area is where the selection is at. My suggestions:
  • Guitar Center Emeryville - I like their inventory better than Concord. My go-to Guitar Center location, and the best large store in the Bay Area for bass inventory IMO.
  • Bananas at Large - My personal favorite for the North Bay based on customer service alone, decent selection.
  • Guitar Center San Jose - usually pretty good, large inventory similar to Emeryville.
  • Starving Musician - the Santa Clara location is the best of the three for basses. But for effects and used amps, you want the Berkeley location.
  • Guitar Showcase - usually a decent selection, better for collector items. They used to have a nice range of left-handed stuff too, although that has shrunk over time.
  • Haight Ashbury Music / Gelb - owned by the same people now. I haven't been to Gelb (Peninsula), but Haight Ashbury (SF) seems to have a decent inventory. I tried out the entire Mesa Subway line there (which NO ONE in the Bay Area stocks in full, surprisingly).
 
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#19
John B jr said:
Indeed, it was about a decade back @somebrains when I got my final four stringer at H/A. There it is, gathering dust on a stand as a living room decoration. Good call on the prawn shops. Shopping the dingy little stores, I found an Aria Pro 2 U70 "Urchin" as my one and only plain old regular electric guitar. Nothing plain about it! I don't even know what all the switches are supposed to do.
Click to expand...

I used to haunt HA bc they'd have Spectors, a wall of Warwicks before MEC pickups and bolt on necks, tons of random just stuff. They were floor to ceiling with Rickenbacker's in the window. You would literally trip over gear in that stores heyday. Walls were full, and the floor had walkways btw sections. There was this gothy Jewish chick living above Balazzo Taqueria that would flash the dudes working and they'd send up Coronitas and tacos. I mean, why not kick it and watch Akira? If you played baseball in San Francisco, you're a couple blocks away from your game. Why not get loaded?

For Mesa you have to go to Cotati or Santa Rosa. Stores up there always had a relationship with Mesa. I noticed guys from stores up there are in the YouTube videos from the more recent lines.

Bananas used to be the place for SWR, they carried everything.
Bass brands seems to have trimmed down but it's worth it just to hop off 580.

I like GC in Concord bc the booty there can smell my 2hrs away ness. Always some chick in a velvet outfit just ho'ing it. So many strippers on Broadway from around there. I gotta go to Stockton again, I mean man there's something about having something on the side 3 area codes away. Chicks think you're an alien or something.

You have to hit Subway in Berkeley bc Fattie has been off his rocker since I was in middle school. Back then he was selling guitars made from toilet seats.

Tall Toad in Petaluma used to be the hunters spot but the Internet changed it all. It wasn't picked over bc it was so far out of the way, and most of Sonoma County didn't deal in used gear. Definitely go to Petaluma, the girls want to leave that town desperately. They might even consider Modesto something to do on the weekend. It's also crazy hippy farm country, so getting laid isn't hard.

Hit Real Guitars just for the experience. Black Market Music is long gone. It's the closest thing to a pile of gear on the floor I can think of.
 
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