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Trying basses at guitar center sucks

Y

Yup

Mar 20, 2019
155
146
#1
Went to guitar center yesterday and tried multiple basses. I was comparing p basses but I couldn't even tell which one I liked the feel of better because the strings were *no kidding* half an inch off the fretboard. It was like this for all the basses except for the vinterta series p basses because of their extra thick necks. How do they let this happen? It's really frustrating when you want to see how a bass feels and it is set up like that. Why can't guitar center maintain their demo basses? I feel like they would sell so much more if their instruments were set up halfway decent. :rollno::crying::rage:
 
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#5
Well, we all do things like this differently, but.. to me, how poorly the instrument is set up has absolutely nothing to do with how it "feels". Plays and sounds, yes - but in a store, that is totally irrelevant to my possibly purchasing a particular instrument. That ain't my amp I'm playing thru; even if the bass was set up perfectly to factory specs, it ain't my set up; and if I bought the thing, those factory strings would go in the garbage as fast as I could get them off the bass; so, who cares how it sounds... Playing a bass in a store - any store - for me, is merely an electronics function check; nothing more... How the bass hangs on a strap; how the neck feels in my hand (and if I have to hold the thing up); and how easy the controls are to reach and work? That, to me, is how a bass feels. And, even though I'm a lefty, I can find out what I need to know - even if the bass isn't a lefty. And, in a Guitar Center, I can pretty much guarantee you they aren't...:cool:
 
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#6
GIBrat51 said:
Well, we all do things like this differently, but.. to me, how poorly the instrument is set up has absolutely nothing to do with how it "feels". Plays and sounds, yes - but in a store, that is totally irrelevant to my possibly purchasing a particular instrument. That ain't my amp I'm playing thru; even if the bass was set up perfectly to factory specs, it ain't my set up; and if I bought the thing, those factory strings would go in the garbage as fast as I could get them off the bass.. Playing a bass in a store - any store - for me, is merely an electronics function check; nothing more... How the bass hangs on a strap; how the neck feels in my hand (and if I have to hold the thing up); and how easy the controls are to reach and work? That, to me, is how a bass feels. And, even though I'm a lefty, I can find out what I need to know - even if the bass isn't a lefty. And, in a Guitar Center, I can pretty much guarantee you they aren't...:cool:
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Yeah that makes sense. It's really frustrating thought when you pick a bass up and you just know it would be a really well playing bass if it wasn't set up like donkey:roflmao::roflmao:
 
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#8
GIBrat51 said:
Well, we all do things like this differently, but.. to me, how poorly the instrument is set up has absolutely nothing to do with how it "feels". Plays and sounds, yes - but in a store, that is totally irrelevant to my possibly purchasing a particular instrument. That ain't my amp I'm playing thru; even if the bass was set up perfectly to factory specs, it ain't my set up; and if I bought the thing, those factory strings would go in the garbage as fast as I could get them off the bass; so, who cares how it sounds... Playing a bass in a store - any store - for me, is merely an electronics function check; nothing more... How the bass hangs on a strap; how the neck feels in my hand (and if I have to hold the thing up); and how easy the controls are to reach and work? That, to me, is how a bass feels. And, even though I'm a lefty, I can find out what I need to know - even if the bass isn't a lefty. And, in a Guitar Center, I can pretty much guarantee you they aren't...:cool:
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I disagree. If a bass is poorly setup, it can be hard to tell if it can be setup to play well.
 
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#11
I had the same thought. I just bought a bass from GC which doesn’t happen often. Either I buy a bass in store because it connects with me or I buy online because I don’t want to deal with floor wear. Most of the basses are terribly set up so they don’t appeal to me. This happened to be a good deal on a new bass which is the only reason I didn’t just pull up sweetwater and buy it from them.
 
#14
Music stores cannot possibly set up all of their instruments in a manner which will satisfy everyone. Some people like low action and some don't. If they set up all basses with low action, there would be just as many people complaining that it should be higher. My problem with GC is that they do not have many basses in stock and the vast majority of what they do have are low to moderately priced models. I can't remember the last time I saw an American Fender at GC or anything comparable.
 
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#15
Kmonk said:
Music stores cannot possibly set up all of their instruments in a manner which will satisfy everyone. Some people like low action and some don't. If they set up all basses with low action, there would be just as many people complaining that it should be higher. My problem with GC is that they do not have many basses in stock and the vast majority of what they do have are low to moderately priced models. I can't remember the last time I saw an American Fender at GC or anything comparable.
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I'm not asking for perfection, but when instruments are literally unplayable, there is no excuse.
 
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#16
Kmonk said:
Music stores cannot possibly set up all of their instruments in a manner which will satisfy everyone. Some people like low action and some don't. If they set up all basses with low action, there would be just as many people complaining that it should be higher. My problem with GC is that they do not have many basses in stock and the vast majority of what they do have are low to moderately priced models. I can't remember the last time I saw an American Fender at GC or anything comparable.
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I understand that but it shouldn't be already extremely high. Fender has specifications to how their basses should be set up and it is most definitely not 1/2 inch off the board
 
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