When I was growing up in Birmingham (UK) in the seventies It was actually a golden time for musicians although I never realised it at the time. We didn’t have a massive choice of shops like they had in London but there were several small independents who mainly stocked second-hand gear. Musical Exchanges was the one I remember and I was always in there annoying the owners. If you wanted new gear there was only really one place to go - Woodruffes but even that was still an independent. I can’t remember now but I think the owner had some connection to Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi’s brother maybe? Anyway if you spent any length of time in there you’d usually see a local rock god walking in. I bought my first Stratocaster there and paid extra for the maple neck!! I sold my extensive collection of early sixties Marvel comics to get it. I think they raised about £600 and I still had to chip in a bit more. The strat is long gone but I’d rather still have the comic collection, these days it would be worth a lot more. I can’t think of a single second-hand guitar shop in Brum now. I suppose eBay has killed off the need for them but its a great shame . Where do kids go to dream of rock stardom on a Saturday morning these days? On the flip side we are better served today for new guitar shops than we ever were in the Seventies. Off the top of my head I can think of GuitarGuitar, PMT and Fairdeal Music. None of them are as big as places you get in the states like Sweetwater but between them you can find most things. I’d still like to be able to rummage through a shop with a pile of old Marshall, Hiwatt and Sound City valve amps though! Those were definitely THE days.
+1 from me for BassDirect. Bought my Spector from Mark recently. Top class service. Bought online without trying because of this covid nonsense but it arrived next day, perfectly set up.
Mark always has an interesting selection of basses that few others seem to stock. Currently lusting after one of his Mensinger Cazpars
That is, however, also a dangerous thing… on account of the lusting… 
I ended up going back and paying the extra 4% 
(earnest loud applause)
It turns out to have been a good move because they kicked back four times that in in-store credit 
Musical Excuses! (As Brummie musos called it when equipment sent for repair never came back for weeks on end …)
Under the railway arches at/near Snow Hill viaduct. My dad bought me my first drumkit (a Premier Club in piano black) from there when I was a spotty 13-y-o.
I vaguely remember Woodroffes too, but only the impressive shopfront window. I think maybe I was too intimidated by the high-end gear to ever go inside.
Lol, yes probably. I never actually bought anything from musical 'excuses, I was just an annoying fourteen year old with no money. Before they moved to Snow Hill they had a shop on Broad Street. That was back in the day when Broad Street had things like Antique Shops, cafes and music shops, not just wall to wall bars
TO GEDDY LEE: AN APOLOGY (sort of)
Dear Geddy,
It’s uncomfortable to admit, but in the past I have said some unkind things about you and Rush. While I have never denigrated your indisputable ability on the bass, I have described your voice as that of an Irish Banshee, or the modern-day equivalent of Medusa. That Rush is the perfect soundtrack for Dungeons & Dragons, rendering it a fantastic form of birth control. For all those things, I am sincerely sorry.*
Because today, when I stopped into Middle-C Music, my local music store, to buy a new guitar strap and some picks, invoking your name gave me extra credibility with the dudes in the shop. Asking to try the Warwick 5-string Streamer and Fender Jazz bass had gotten me off to a good start. But as we were discussing different types of music and who played what kind of bass, the bass-playing employee’s face lit up when I mentioned that you, in fact, play a Fender Jazz. He gave me his card, wrote down some music recommendations and said to please let him know if there was anything I thought the shop needed or that I would like to see.
Women don’t always have this kind of experience in music stores. Being able to reference bassists and the instruments they play elevated my shopping experience to a level I didn’t think was possible. I have to give you proper credit for that. And I loved playing that Fender Jazz. It felt so natural in my hands. I suspect that sometime in the next year, you and I might have something in common: the type of bass we play.
Best,
Kristine
*None of those things are wrong; I’m just sorry that they are true.
OK I hope it’s obvious that my note is a bit tongue-in-cheek. The guys in this shop would have been friendly and helpful regardless, but it was great to speak in person to another bass player, and he was happy to share info and experiences. Plus he plugged the basses into a monster Warwick amp - thinkin’ they don’t get too many bass players in the shop. 
Awesome, love stories like that!
No one generally finds this experience at Guitar Centers. They seem to not care if anyone buys anything. I love smaller music shops.
They only seem to care if you buy the extended service plan 
Some employees are downright pushy about that one, or try to be super “convincing,” to me at least. I believe I’ve read more than once that they get a little extra on their check for every one of those they sell. One guy tried to gesture vaguely at all the controls of a bass once, and I’m like “I can read the value of components and can solder” XD
One guy even tried to get me to commit fraud on getting a damaged instrument repaired/replaced by buying it damaged, getting the service plan that covers accidental damage, and saying I dropped it. He even offered tips on how/where to damage it further o.O
I pretty much only use GC for used gear deals if I happen across them these days. Thankfully I have a store nearby that is not them that carries a better selection to boot. They carry brands/models that GC simply doesn’t, too.
Vulfpeck was one of his recommendations:
And that is sad. 
It’s funny, but at the ukulele jam/learning sessions I run, at least 80% of the attendees are women.
I find women are more attentive and are more willing to pay attention and practice. 
My most trusted musical advisor is a very young man, Andrew Martin of Martin’s Music in Alexander City AL. He is probably the best “mechanic” I have ever met. He can do anything and is also the first tech I have had that actually wanted me to play for him, while doing a set-up on my Jazz bass. He wanted to see how I fretted and plucked and adjusted everything to the lowest action possible without buzzing based on my playing style. He can do anything from a neck re-set on an old Martin acoustic, refrets and electronics on all vintage instruments. He is also one helluva guitar and bass player. He is my go-to on a lot of things. He sold me my Jazz bass at a great price, and my Eden Amp and Ashdown cab for about half of what the market asked for. Plus, he is probably in his early 20’s and has already built up quite the reputation in our area with seasoned pro players that bring him their instruments for a little “TLC”.
I don’t get these guys. They basically assemble riffs and motifs from Motown and others and pile them all in a song. It surely makes them catchy and sounds good, but its like a cheap version of old tunes. I just like the originals much better.
I like watching Joe Dart, he cracks me up.
That guy has developed some serious neck muscle the way he follows the beat.