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What Happened with Big Box Music Stores?

Greg Pruitt

Greg Pruitt

Apr 15, 2022
262
317
Mid-West, United States
www.indexpointholsters.com
#1
Whatever happened with Big Box music stores. I recall, seemingly not too long ago, you could buy really nice mid-level to high-level bass guitars from the Big Box music stores. Brands new like Pedulla, Zon, Modulus, Warwick, Rick, Lakeland, Fender Custom Shop, Ken Smith, etc. Yeah, some of the names I listed may no longer be in business. Now, if you see a nice mid-tier bass in the store, its used. What happened that they are no longer selling mid-tier new in the Big Box music stores?
 
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#3
two fingers said:
Demand. Period. If the demand were still there, and selling those basses at those locations were still profitable, they would still be hanging on the walls.
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This. With the seemingly endless online sources of buying “direct” why buy a greasy git off the wall someplace when you can get a fresh one delivered to your front door?
 
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#5
The music stores were where I would go to try before I buy. Can't do that any more... No way to test and see if something is worth committing to, or just to go and play with the toys. I miss that. There is one store (non-big box), but it is on the other side of the large city I live in, and even they are thin on the high-end brands I recall them having.
 
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#6
Greg Pruitt said:
The music stores were where I would go to try before I buy. Can't do that any more... No way to test and see if something is worth committing to, or just to go and play with the toys. I miss that. There is one store (non-big box), but it is on the other side of the large city I live in, and even they are thin on the high-end brands I recall them having.
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I used to work at a full-line MI dealer in the early 2000s. Customers kept coming in and complaining that we didn't have any high high-end basses. So, I went to our manager and convinced him to transfer half a dozen basses from other branches. We got it a couple of Ken Smith, a couple of high end Lakland, and a couple of Fender Custom Shop.

Guess what. EVRRYBODY wanted to PLAY them. But NOBODY wanted to BUY them.

I wish I had never gone to bat to get those basses sent in. After a few months we wound up sending most of them back, and selling a couple at a deep discount because (you guessed it) customers had scratched them up.

Unfortunately, the gospel guys were the WORST. They pretty much wanted to come in and take both Smiths into the amp room and spend lots of time teaching each other bass lines to gospel songs. What a headache! I was glad to see those basses go back into the warehouse before being shipped out. (Those two were scratched up so badly that the manager of the store we sent them to forced our store to pay the difference in the street price and what they wound up having to sell them for.)

I never mentioned high-end basses again. And I'm a bass player!
 
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#9
two fingers said:
I used to work at a full-line MI dealer in the early 2000s. Customers kept coming in and complaining that we didn't have any high high-end basses. So, I went to our manager and convinced him to transfer half a dozen basses from other branches. We got it a couple of Ken Smith, a couple of high end Lakland, and a couple of Fender Custom Shop.

Guess what. EVRRYBODY wanted to PLAY them. But NOBODY wanted to BUY them.

I wish I had never gone to bat to get those basses sent in. After a few months we wound up sending most of them back, and selling a couple at a deep discount because (you guessed it) customers had scratched them up.

Unfortunately, the gospel guys were the WORST. They pretty much wanted to come in and take both Smiths into the amp room and spend lots of time teaching each other bass lines to gospel songs. What a headache! I was glad to see those basses go back into the warehouse before being shipped out. (Those two were scratched up so badly that the manager of the store we sent them to forced our store to pay the difference in the street price and what they wound up having to sell them for.)

I never mentioned high-end basses again. And I'm a bass player!
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Wow! Sorry to hear of that sort of thing happening so brazenly. Didn't anyone ever have a "you break it you buy it" policy in place? You scratch it and you pay for the repair, etc? I never ventured into stores all that much, but I remember looking around for such policy signs and wondering why there never seemed to be any. I know there can be restocking fees on some returned merchandise. And, I mean, we are sometimes talking about expensive merchandise that one is graciously and helpfully allowed to test out, much as a car (whatever the price) at a dealership.
 
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#11
I deeply regret not having an extra $5k to buy the Tobias I found at Knut-Koupee in Minneapolis back in the day. But that's kinda how it goes. By the time I'm able to afford something like that chances are I'm ordering a new one to the specs I want!

I do certainly miss being able to try basses like that. How often do you get to say "I like this Ritter better than that Ritter"?
 
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#12
jemerpi said:
Wow! Sorry to hear of that sort of thing happening so brazenly. Didn't anyone ever have a "you break it you buy it" policy in place? You scratch it and you pay for the repair, etc? I never ventured into stores all that much, but I remember looking around for such policy signs and wondering why there never seemed to be any. I know there can be restocking fees on some returned merchandise. And, I mean, we are sometimes talking about expensive merchandise that one is graciously and helpfully allowed to test out, much as a car (whatever the price) at a dealership.
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Seems like stores today around me are more careful with the higher end basses, they are on locked hangers high up on the wall so you need to ask for help to get them down.
 
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#15
I live in a more rural region of canada. If i want to go to a store with some decient amps/cabs and maybe a few midtier bases… i need to hop on a plane.

as a result i tend to stick to proven workhorse brands like traynor that i can rent/try.

for bases… it is all special order these days. But i stick to known quantities (rics) and anything i took a sight unseen risk on (dingwall) i had plenty of high quality videos online to watch.

the pedals i want (darkglass) - need to be ordered online. String i want… often special orders.
 
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#16
Not a big box store by any means, but there was a wonderful bass-centric store, Bass Specialties, in Bensalem, PA, just outside of Philly. Glenn, the proprietor, great guy, carried mostly mid to high end basses and amps. It is where I got my Genz amps and Bergantino speakers. He would host clinics and master classes by top-tier players, usually at very low cost or free. I’m sure that Glenn wasn’t directly making any money on those. He really created a very special place for bassists. He had to close because too many people were coming in trying out gear (he really had to watch because some overly aggressive slappers especially were abusing the gear) then buying online to save what amounted to just a few dollars. Glenn provided a worthwhile service, that deserved to be paid for. I would tell everybody that it was in our own best interest to make Glenn a rich man. It is unfair and ultimately unwise to only consider the perceived upfront price and ignore the true cost of providing the service. There is no free lunch. If trying out gear before buying is important - I certainly think so - then the cost of that service should be paid for in the upfront price.


6Bass101 said:
Wonder if a business that allows musicians to try out high end gear for a fee would be viable. Kind of like those that let you drive the super expensive cars around a track.
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6Bass101 has an interesting idea about charging folks to try out gear. I wonder where the line would be for people to cross the psychological barrier of paying for the service independently of the price of the gear. I imagine it would only work for very high-end gear. I also think that some people would feel as if they didn’t have to be as careful with stuff since they were “paying for the privilege.” That could lead to a lot of cosmetic or worse damage that would then have to be depreciated.
 
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#17
As for high end bassed, I think it's about location and demand.

The GC near me on the South Side has been crap for years now.

The one on the North side isn't as good as it used to be, but always seems to have a few high end goodies.

The one in in Villa Park used to have allot in the mid 00s when I worked there. Now it's a wasteland.

Haven't been there recently, but I bet the one in the wealthy suburb of Schaumburg still has some higher end fun.

Seeing the trend?
 
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