Can't believe I liked it

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 6:49 am

I have been toying with the idea of getting a Hofner Icon, so I stopped into Sam Ash yesterday to see if they had one in stock. They did not, instead they had the Brownsville beatle bass copy. Also of course, made in China.

Took it down, plugged it in, it was a cool sounding, easy to play instrument. Gotta believe it's about the same quality as the Hofner. $169, no case. Can't beat that. I am considering it.

j_gary · Post by **j_gary** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 7:33 am

Jeez, that is cheap.

I'd buy a Hofner case for $169 and save for the real thing.

Aw heck, for that money, if you did not like it you could give it to the boy.

My girlfriend is made of the same material as Cindy Crawford, but not quite the same.

(Running, ducking, crashing and banging) She is an excellent reader though.

jnbass · Post by **jnbass** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:06 am

hope she didn't read that!

j_gary · Post by **j_gary** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 8:19 am

I'll be typing with one hand applying ice with the other for a while.

Country girls can punch hard.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:31 am

I was at the Dayton Guitar Center this morning checking out a GK 700RB I and picked up an Epiphone Hofner copy. It was one of "I didnt want put it down" moments. Seemed to be quite nice, didnt see the price though.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:31 pm

I tried the Epiphone copy at our GC but the action (like all their basses) was way up in the air so it wasn't a fair trial.

cheyenne · Post by **cheyenne** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:08 pm

I agree John,,, you gotta wonder how much sales would increase if they would just take the time to set them up a little.

This one however was set up quite nice.

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:39 pm

Set the basses up a little?!? HA!!!
A few days ago, I was in a GC, there was this beautiful Michael Kelly 5 string fretless Dragonfly. Not only was it missing the G string, the D string was wound on the G string tuner

and there was some minor damage on the face of the body. Without all the string tension and being poorly setup, the bass was unplayable since the strings pretty much just layed against the fingerboard.

The four strings that were on it seemed to be at or close to pitch.
I spoke to a salesman, showed him the flaws of the bass and asked him if he would make me a deal on it. He said he'd see what he could do. He disappeared, I waited quite a while, never saw him again. Unfortunately there were few salesmen there that day and none that I recognized.

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:02 am

Gary... that's really the idea..it's for the boy...with all his hard rock aspirations, he is also a Beatle nut.

j_gary · Post by **j_gary** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 12:48 pm

Good boy he is!

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:28 pm

Joey, I also tried the MK at our GC. 4 Stringer - the action was a tad over 5/16" and I just put t down and walked away. I know the asst. manager and have mentioned just such to him, that even doing a quick setup on the bassed would sell more. He said the guy he had doing them quit and no one else is doing it. Maybe a morning job for me..... hmmm... Will work for bass cabs!

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 7:37 pm

Being the store setup guy is a great idea, John. Though I have the feeling the guys at this particular GC would look at me funny and ask, "What's wrong with our setups?"

firstbassman · Post by **firstbassman** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:12 am

I guess it’s all a matter of expectations. Plus, I must lead a charmed instrument-buying life.

When I walk into a GC, I (used to) expect nothing. My idea was to shop, buy, take home and either setup myself or have my tech do it. With hundreds and hundreds of instruments on the wall and on the floor, I never expected that each one was going to be set up perfectly. (And, after all, instruments ordered online are in sealed boxes. They haven’t been touched since the factory either.)

As it turns out, my experiences at my local GC (in Virginia) have been quite different it seems from what others have gone through at other locations around the US. (I’m sure our friends in Australia and the UK couldn’t care less about this.) Anyway, when I shop now at the Center, the Guitar Manager pulls some instruments for me, checks them out, and leads me to a private room. Works for me. [The fact that I have spent a considerable amount of money there over the last two years may have something to do with it.]

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:27 am

Mark, your last sentence is the most telling. I get personal attention when I go in too. I don't worry about having setups done for me as I only try other basses to see what they are all about, not for purchase. Mostly I am curious about a model I had just read about.