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Post subject: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 9:00 am
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Well every so often I visit Hames Music in Gaffney, SC. Over the past 20 years this has been my favorite independently owned music store to visit between Charlotte and Atlanta. They hardly ever have any used instruments out. I hadn't been in there in over a year. I was looking for a Blacktop P-Bass in the White Chrome Pearl. No luck on that quest as there were no Blacktop basses at all.

I checked out what they had for about an hour.

Hames Music has a modern looking two story building near the giant water tank shaped and painted to look like a peach which is called "The Peachoid" and sits right beside I-85 on the Southbound side. The Peachoid has been in one music related film that I know of which was called "Bandwagon" and that film is worth a view if only to see how fast things happen in the real world of music.

Hames Music is obviously downsizing. A few years ago the basses and guitars were on the second floor of the building. Dozens and dozens of new basses. Rows of cabs, heads and combos lined the wall and spread into the floor to the open staircase to down stairs. Now everything is on the ground floor and they had maybe 12 basses on display total. They were my favorite Ampeg dealer, but while they had an Ampeg cardboard standup, I didn't see a single Ampeg anything! They had some Fender cabs, but no Fender heads that I saw or Fender combos either. No TV's at all. What they had the most of were heads and cabs by Orange and SWR and a row of the little Orange Crush combos. My friend who went with me is a keyboard player. They were disappointed in the KB selection too as most were home and amateur/beginner stuff with built in speakers. They had one decent KB workstation. One.

They had an Orange Tiny Terror head setup for demoing basses so I used it. Great little head. Better than the Mark Bass Little Mark. It was set flat and I left it there. They had both a 50's P and Roadworn 50's P. I tried both. They sounded completely different which came as a complete surprise to me. The 50's P played and sounded far BETTER than the pricier Roadrash edition. Shock of shocks! I'd never played the poly 50's and nitro Roadrash version side by side before. They also had several MIM standards which I didn't try as I know what they do. They had an active MIM P-Special which I didn't try either since I know what they sound like too and I wasn't looking for one. I tried the 50's Squire single coil P they had in the LP Blue and it sounded and played really good just like the ones I've tried before. I keep thinking I'll find a dud one but haven't yet out of the 4 I've tried. Finally since they had one of the new 34" Squier Jaguar basses with the P/J setup and active EQ in the see through red color I picked it up last. Holy cats! That was the find of the day. The ONLY thing I don't like about it is it has a lot of knobs and it would be hard to duplicate a tone repeatedly which is the same thing I found objectionable about the Fender Jag Bass. But for the money, I say again...HOLY CATS!
It was loud and proud. Played great. Frets and neck were aces.

I was going to Gaffney to see a seasoned player named Jeff Gates play at the Gaffney Peach Festival going on this weekend. Mr. Gates was longtime member of the legendary Carolinas band named Nantucket. He has a solo album project going with the CD release party in August and gigs with a 3 piece band now. He's an amazing blues type Strat player. His bassist and drummer were top notch and he does most of the singing. He is one of the strongest and most intense players I've seen lately and I really enjoyed it. Before he even started I saw he was playing a sunburst Squier Stratocaster! But in his hands it sounded fantastic and he could make it do amazing stuff. I forgot all about it being a Squier because he could play the slop out of it and did for his full set.

Outcome of this visit to Gaffney, SC and Hames Music:
1. It isn't the axe, it's the player (in this case Jeff Gates.)
2. Independent dealers are getting creamed by the economy. Instruments that seem to be selling are the VERY low end basses (which seem to have improved tremendously in quality) and the VERY expensive ones which they were pretty much sold out on. The mid line stuff doesn't seem to be moving much as the Fender Standards they had on display obviously had been there for a while based on the 2009 serials.
3. The Orange Tiny Terror is worth the price. Very nice little head.
4. The Squier Jaguar 34 inch P/J is worth a look and stupid cheap. I wouldn't have to do anything to it to gig with it but change the strings to my string of choice. EQ board performs great and delivers the versatile active P/J tones similar to the way the more expensive MIM Fender active P-Bass Special does, but the controls are not as intuitive on the Squier Jaguar.
5. The clerk knew about Blacktop guitars but not about Blacktop basses.


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 9:09 am
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I forgot to point out that at 630 PM when Jeff Gates went on at this outdoor gig it was raining, which might be why he pulled out the Squier, even though he was playing on a covered stage. Maybe he would have played it anyway. Dunno...but he did play amazing.


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 11:46 am
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Wondering what the difference was between the '50s and Roadworn Ps? Was the '50s as light?


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:14 pm
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IT IS THE PLAYER NOT THE BASS,When I first started playing I hung out at a local Mom and Pop store(but not owned by either)its where I cut me teeth in playing and fixing them and I remember a few vintage basses came in on consignment and on my way in I stopped in the backroom for a cup of Java and suddenly I heard someone playing a bass and I was blown away by its tone so I sat there and was daydreaming while listening of which vintage bass was being worked so I finshed my coffee and proceeded to go into the actual store.
I came around the corner and there was my bass teacher(10 lessons)unplugging a 159.00$ Hammer Slammer(hamer slammer..?)I stopped dead in my tracks as he put the bass back on the wall and told the man standing there that he will gladly return the bass for a refund but was'nt convinced the bass sounded like S^#T but would take it back regaurdless because he valued his bizness.
I wish I could have taken a pic of the dudes face while watching this cat butter up the bass better than a piece of cooking lard and my face as well cause I was slacked jawed almost the same,BUT I was'nt the one dressed like Sid Vicious who had every accessory known to man to be sure EVERYONE on the planet know he played guitar except having a tattoo on his forehead that read "I play bass".
So YES I believe a good musician can make a crappy_______play great but never heard a great _______make a crappy musician sound good(insert instrument of choice where applicable),great comment about the Squier Strat it's so true.

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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:41 pm
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Lawsuitbass (nice handle, btw :) ), I'm gigging tonight (I'm on guitar, my main instrument) with one the Sacramento area's top blues bass players. He plays one of the blue '50s Squiers that BrotherDave loves, even has the Seymour Duncan QP single coil. Got it used for $90(!). Sounds great!

He plays through a GC Acoustic 200W head he got for a backup, and ended up liking it more. His whole rig would be considered beginner-level equipment by some, but he's a first-call guy I've played some major shows with - IT'S THE PLAYER, NOT THE BASS is sooooo true!


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 3:14 pm
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LawDaddy wrote:
Wondering what the difference was between the '50s and Roadworn Ps? Was the '50s as light?
Pretty much the same. Sure there was finish gone but no much. M9ight have made an ounce difference but I could not tell any.


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2011 5:45 pm
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Good story brotherdave, while it's sad to see the things we always enjoyed fading away, there's still the memories and war stories.


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:33 am
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Went by Hames Music agian, or where it used to be. They closed. Sad.


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 2:54 pm
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I have a 50's P and a Roadworn P. The Roadworn is lighter and maybe sounds a little better. They are what I consider the best Mexican basses. I put old 7o's Dimarzios in both of them so they sound alot alike to begin wiff. Bro Dave-- are you a pilot?


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 3:12 pm
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No I am not a pilot. Spaceman maybe though.

Anyway, of the Roadworn 50's and the 50's I tried, both in Fiesta Red, I liked the Roadworn least. If it was heavier it could not have been by much. I liked the tone of the non-Roadworn better. Of course there is differences in all instruments. No two alike, yadda yadda.


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:55 am
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Location: malaga Spain
Hi all,It is sad to hear instrument dealers are going under, It`s pretty much the same in Spain,Our Fender agent in Spain is surviving by diversifying inso much that he sells Brass and more traditional gear such as Violins, Cellos, Woodwind as well as having all the Fender Range Bass and Guitars as well as boutique hand made Basses etc etc,Many Musos here are increasingly using Thomann GmBh (Germany) via internet for their gear as their prices can undercut any local dealerships by bulk purchasing, I will not use them prefering to give the locals my business,Thomann are now planning to spread there marketing to having warehouses in ALL the major european countries very soon, I feel that buying gear via the interweb does not give you the chance to "Try before you buy" and as you all know that each instrument is unique and even the same guitars from the same factory built on the same day wil not play the same...So what do others think of the future of local dealers ? I know you have GC and others in the States etc so what sre they like to deal with ? A very interesting thread by Brother Dave....Regards Peter


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:09 pm
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Like a musician's Wal-Mart, Guitar Center has a huge selection that is larger than almost anyone else. Sam Ash gives them good competition in the selection department though. The nearest Guitar Center is the only one I've dealt with and it is somewhat of a hassle to negotiate with them because if you want something at less than marked price then they have to find the manager. You are in the same manager negotiation situation if you want to do a trade and then they will offer you about 50% of what your item is worth. The local one has a puzzlingly small bass string selection, for example they carry ONE set of flats. They have around 250 different guitar string sets, but only 9 bass string sets counting five-string sets and they don't carry any of the strings I like.

Almost without exception peripheral accessories, such as cables, strings, straps, gig bags, strings, etc costs more than you can obtain an item of similar quality, if not the exact same item, on line elsewhere.

G.C. is a good place to see and try something you are unfamiliar with in person though. That is how I found a mini-combo amp I bought. I never would have bought that little amp if I had not tried it first.

The setups on most of the instruments on display seem to be the factory setups. They do have techs, but they don't seem very "busy." People as a rule don't bring their instruments to G.C. for setups either.

For some reason, probably the manager's discretion, the GC nearby often will have decent used AMPS at very reasonable prices but the used basses are not as reasonable.

Finding someone who is actually knowledgeable about bass questions is hit or miss, mostly miss. Almost anyone there is helpful and will gladly get the high end basses down from their out of reach perch, but usually they can't tell you much about it other than what it costs. Sometimes I'll ask them questions which I already know the answer to just to see if they know anything at all about the instrument. It is a fun little game of mine at G.C. I try to not play it twice with the same person. Many of the staff are musicians, some classically trained or perhaps have music degrees, but few seem to actually know a lot about basses. They are not a bass specialty shop though so you can't reasonably expect every floor worker to know details on every bass.

A few pluses in their favor is they are the only real world dealer in the USA for the popularly priced Acoustic brand bass amps that I know about since their parent company owns the Acoustic amp brand. They usually have some basses in stock by Fender, Musicman, Ibanez, Yamaha, Schecter, Dean, Peavey and others. They always have later hours than any mom & pop store and the well lighted parking lot gives me the feeling that I'm not going to get mugged on the way to the car.

My heart goes out to the people who work at Sam Ash or G.C. Both are very noisy environments, much noisier than any other shops. There are often tryouts going on simultaneously in the bass, percussion and electric guitar sections. Would drive me nuts.


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:16 pm
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Amen to all you said about Guitar Center. I'm just glad I have pretty much all i need in the way of gear. Little incidentals like cords, stands, cables etc., I'll just order from Sweetwater. I broke my #1 rule recently and bought a Stratocaster through an online store. I wasn't disappointed.

I still have two small stores very close to me, they're just scratching to get buy as they can't carry the major brands.

It's sad,


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:53 pm
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Another thing I like about the nearby GC, which is about 65 minutes away, is that there is a place called THE SOUTH 21 DRIVE-IN about half a mile up the road from the store....and they have a fried chicken special on Saturday. That is some great fried chicken too! Not as good to some people as PRICE'S CHICKEN COOP, but I like it better. I've always wanted to go in there and order, "Four fried chickens and a Coke."


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Post subject: Re: Went to Hames Music in Gaffney, SC Again
Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2012 5:51 am
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Agree that the online competition is cutthroat. Same with the little local Fender dealer. They used to charge way over the online prices on Fender basses. One thing they were also doing is stockpiling instruments and selling them after the next price increase. They got wise and now price match, but they don't stock many higher end basses, just the entry level stuff.


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