Is it better to buy bass guitar at Guitar center or musiciansfriend.com?

Question

i want to buy a fender aerodyne 4 string jazz bass. even though they're the same price at both places, which one could have extra savings or deals??? like do some guitar center stores give extra things with a purchase? same with musiciansfriend? Or will there be a really big sale soon at either one of these (before thanksgiving if possible)

Answer 1

Guitar Center and Musicians Friend is basically the same! Guitar Center owns Musicians Friend! (im a former employee of Guitar Center) Now.... if you want to do yourself a BIG favor.... dont purchase the bass at either place. Guitar Center employs no techs, and if you have to get something serviced, good luck Even under warranty, they will have YOU pay to get it shipped back to the manufacturer for any type of work. If a "local" music dealer has the same guitar, I would highly suggest purchasing it from them. If there are any issues with the set up of the guitar, it would be taken care of at the time of purchase, unlike Guitar Center. Guitar Center is geared for sales only... NO SERVICE!



Im going to enclose a link for the same guitar you are purchasing. Ive dealt with American Musical Supply for around 3 years now, have ordered both guitars and basses from them. Every guitar and bass ive ordered have arrived set up perfectly. I have had to raise string height just a touch on 2 of the basses I ordered.. but..they did arrive IN TUNE, and... calibrated perfectly. One big plus about this company... you can use your debit card.. they will debit your checking account once a month.. INTEREST FREE..for 3 months. Kind of like a pay as you play, and the minute they receive you billing information, the product is sent. On most purchases, ive ordered on a Wednesday before 4pm, and its arrived on Friday via ups. (I live in Michigan,they have a warehouse in New Jersey.) Instruments in this price range I have no problem ordering without playing. The quality control is much much higher than lets say your entry level 200 buck guitars.



Heres the link...



http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-FEN-254505-506-LIST



Nice looking bass... I just purchased the Jazz Fretless from them a few months ago.. no problems yet!



Hope this has helped, and good luck! Enjoy the bass!

Answer 2

Well in my opinion the best electric bass you can buy would be an Alembic such as the Rogue 5. But the two models you mentioned in your question sound like a good value. You may consider yourself lucky that you have narrowed it down to just two guitars to choose from, so now what I would do is go into the store and jam on each of the two models until I could make a decision because the choice now is all about personal preference. You will want to consider the look, feel & sound of the instrument of course but I also suggest you take a hard look at the construction of the two guitars. What woods were used, how resilient is the finish, etc. When you plug into an amp how noisey are those two pick-ups? Run the pots up & down, & jiggle the switches around to see if there is any static or noise in them as well. Take a look at how the neck is joined up to the body, it's a weak point in the construction of most guitars, & basses can have a lot of tension in the strings, which puts stress on the neck where it joins the body. (I prefer one piece construction) Another thing to watch for on these cheaper guitars is high points in the frets. I have seen the manufacturers compensate for flawed frets by just setting the strings higher off the frets so that the strings don't start to buzz on the upper frets as you press down on the lower ones. So watch out for that. Also don't be afraid to haggle a little with the shop. When I buy a new axe, my favorite negotiating point is to offer to buy a couple of other necessities such as a gig bag or a new strap for the guitar if I get a break on the axe as well. Another suggestion is to check out some of the consignment shops that are around. You may find a used higher end guitar for around $300 or less. My 1st electric guitar was a used Gibson Les Paul Special (Cherry Red) as well as a black face Fender Super Reverb. I bought them together back in the '60s for about $350.00. I don't have the amp anymore but today it alone would be around $2,000.00 and my Les Paul (which I won't part with) was recently appraised at about $10,000.00. So there's something to be said for buying used if you make sure that it is a quality instrument. Good Luck! ;)

Answer 3

Guitar Center will match the prices of anyone out there, as long as they are an authorized dealer. Guitar Center may have to order it for you, it's the only drawback, while musiciansfriend may have it ready to ship. However, if you buy it and don't like it, you still have to pay to ship it back, ending up paying more. Better to get something like that at a store. Not to mention if something goes wrong, do you want to deal with a person at a store or do you want to deal with random people over the phone and UPS? The price is already great, get the service and hve some fun.

Answer 4

The main benefit for Guitar Center is that you can physically go to their store, try out the instruments, and take one home with you that day.



For ordering online I've always used musiciansfriend.com. They have free shipping on orders over $99, they always have sales going on, and always have lots of great scratch-and-dent stock. They have an excellent return policy too - so there's pretty much no risk when ordering something you haven't seen before.



That's not to say guitar center doesn't as well.. but i've never given them a chance. They have a 30 day price matching policy, so you're sure to get the lowest price. I don't know about their shipping though.



If you want to get it cheaper, my recommendation is to periodically check both sites for a scratch-and-dent or b-stock bass, or perhaps maybe you'll get lucky and they're have a sellout clearance or reduce the price (they usually only do this when they're discontinuing a model though).



In short though, I can personally vouch for Musician's Friend - but you're probably equally safe going with either one.

Answer 5

Guitar Center owns Musician's Friend. Bet you didn't know that.



I always encourage my students to buy instruments in a store rather than online. You get to play them, and you can often have a trial... buy it, use it and bring it back if you don't like it.



Go to Guitar Center. I've always had good luck with them, and you can usually find someone that knows at least a little about the products. Watch for sales. They will certainly have more than one coming as the Holiday season i coming soon.



Good luck with your search.

Answer 6

Either is OK. But if you know exactly what you want, buy it online from MF. Its free shipping, and also no tax. I've saved an absolute fortune by purchasing online. If its damaged, or you simply don't like the item, you can return it in 45 days, no questions asked. In the many purchases I've made from them, I've only had one shipping mishap.



The only plus about GC is that you can try it out, and take it home that day.

Answer 7

Usually online has sales, like if it's say 300 bucks (not sure just a random price) they sometimes/usually have a thing where it's like if you buy/spend more than blank amount you don't have to pay shipping and handling. SO that could be a little nicer. But you also need to be careful for online shopping because the instrument could be damaged and you don't get to see it before you take it home, but that's not too common. So usually you can get it and not have to pay shipping and handling, PLUS you don't have to pay for gas to go out and buy the instrument.



Good luck and have fun!

Answer 8

I WILL PUT EVERY ONE ELSE'S ANSWERS TO SHAME. no, not really. guitar center and musicians friend are owned by the same parent corporation. if you do a walk-in sale at guitar center, it's highly likely you're going to get a better deal.