Visited Thomann to try out bass guitars
Just wanted to share a few words after my visit to Treppendorf, mainly listing some observations
- Went around like 4 different road closures, crazy roadworks going on
- Very friendly staff, some also able to help in other languages like Spanish. Also perfect balance in that they were not pushy but helped when needed. Apart from a few questions, I preferred to be left by myself.
- Amazing selection of everything. I tried some of the drum kits but then mostly went through several bass guitars in the budget range (because that's where I feel at home)
- Spent about 3 hours there in total
- I think I saved Thomann a bunch of shipping fees as several Harley Bentons I tried were not to my personal taste after seeing them up close. Many had the issue of being quite on the heavy side, some others didn't feel as nimble as I prefer.
- That said, JB-40FL, B-550 Progressive, JB-62SB and MB4-SB I found interesting and very competitive for different reasons (yes, some of these were heavy too, but were otherwise of interest).
- On the slightly more pricier models I simply was more attracted to Sires than the Bentons.
- They also had one of the Bass the World -models there, at 700 EUR IIRC. It didn't feel quite right in my hands although I do appreciate it will find its audience.
- A few other "deluxe" Bentons were quite alright but since I didn't note them down, I probably simply didn't get my perfect match. Everything should feel right in the upper range, including paint etc. ; I give more slack to the cheaper models. One of the wood colored Bentons for example felt really good but I don't see myself playing it because of the colour.
- T-bone headset at 32 EUR seems like a good deal, though I didn't check the specs but they had a good fit and sounded great with the samples.
- Acoustic guitars seemed to be of high quality (as far as I can tell from my experience). Didn't really spend time with the electric guitars, but walls were stacked with them so highly recommended visit for guitarists to get inspired.
With fewer and fewer brick and mortar stores these days, I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to better understand which models might be right for me. I will now need to make some space in my den and then figure out what I should order first. Bought only some small stuff while there.