Retailers Chime in on the State of the Bass Guitar Market

Well this one was really all over the place – MI dealers who participated in this survey were in agreement on … almost nothing related to the bass market. While, overall, folks report that low end instruments are what’s selling, it certainly felt like for every dealer who stated with conviction that inexpensive basses are where it’s at in 2015 and upscale sales are “dead,” there was an opposing viewpoint asserting that high end model basses are the hot sellers this year. Are sales up, down, or level compared to last spring? The replies amount to a whole lot of “eh?” with a virtual three-way split amongst those retailers polled (although, to put a positive spin on it, the “Up” replies were slightly in the majority).

Bass sales seem to be very much dependent on where you’re selling, to whom your selling, and – as is always vital – how you’re selling.

Read on and dive into the murky waters of this schizophrenic market…

Compared to this time in 2014, sales of bass guitars in your store are:

Up: 35.2%
Down: 32.2%
Level: 32.6%

“I think people are saving more now for schooling, and there don't seem to be as many bands in the area as last year, also.”

Allen Fike
Fikes Music Ltd.
Clarion, Pa.

“All guitar sales are down in my family store. The guitar market has been so flooded with guitars that now they are not selling, even at below cost.”

Rodney Lindner
Lindner Music
Watertown, S.D.

The bulk of bass guitars sold in your store are:

Electric solidbody basses: 88.4%
Electric hollowbody basses: 2.3%
Acoustic (or acoustic-electric) basses: 9.3%

With respect to basses, what price points are doing best for your operation?

Low: 51.2%
Intermediate: 34.8%
High end: 14%

“High end are doing okay. The bread-and-butter $400 to $600 basses are dead.”

Mike Speno
Speno Music
Auburn, N.Y.

What brands of basses are the strongest sellers for your store in 2015, thusfar?

Fender: 39.5%
Ibanez: 34.9%
G&L: 14%
Yamaha: 14%
Schecter: 9.3%
Epiphone: 9.3%
Music Man: 9.3%
Cort: 7%
Dean: 7%
Peavey: 7%
Warwick: 4.7%
Sadowsky: 2.3%
ESP: 2.3%
Godin: 2.3%
NS Designs: 2.2%
Hofner: 2%
Rickenbacker: 2%
Ken Smith: 2%
Spector: 2%

What bass amps are the strongest sellers for you?

Fender: 16.3%
Peavey: 11.8%
Ampeg: 11.6%
Kustom: 7%
Hartke: 6.9%
Eden: 4.7%
Gallien-Krueger: 2.4%
Aguilar: 2.3%
Phil Jones: 2.3%
“Other”: 34.7%

What brand of bass strings is doing best for your store?

Ernie Ball: 53.5%
D’Addario: 39.5%
DR: 18.6%
GHS: 11.6%
Dean Markley: 4.7%
Elixer: 4.6%
Fender: 4%
Rotosound: 2.3%
Hartke: 2%
SIT: 2%
Thomastik: 1%

What larger trends have you been noticing with respect to the bass guitar market?

“There are less 6-string players, and some 5-string players are going back to 4-string. Also, more passive basses are being sold, and more players playing flatwound strings.”

Jay Jacus
New Jersey Guitar & Bass Center
Edison, N.J.

“The ratio of guitar to bass guitar sales is about the same [as usual] – percentage wise, seven to one. The overall price is lower, per unit, by 15 percent.”

Dionne Hauke
Ziggie’s Music
Phoenix, Ariz.

“Cheap rules and packs sell best.”

Paul Lewis
Lewis Music Store
Kissimmee, Fla.

“Anybody in this city can get a new bass at 10 percent over cost at this point – often they are sold at cost just to get them off the books. There is more gear for sale than there are people to spend money on it and the customers know it.”

Rusty Olson
Rockhaus
Milwaukee, Wis.

“More bass players are looking for pedals.”

Tom Dube
Dube’s Music
Freeport, Maine

“It’s flat after the downtrend of the past two years.”

Parker Daniels
Springfield Music
Kansas city, Kan.

“I’m seeing a bit more interest in the bass market in the past year.”

Bryan Loy
Paradise Music
Franklin, N.C.

“There are more sales on the web, customers save the sales tax – same story and getting old.”

Reese Marin
Bellevue American Music
Bellevue, Wash.

“People know it's possible to have big sound, big power in a tiny package and they're less inclined to purchase big rigs, even when they're priced right.”

Jeff Simons
Watermelon Music
Davis, Calif.

“There are less entry-level buyers, probably due to Amazon, and more people looking for step-up instruments.”

Creedence McNabb
Boothe Brothers Music
Spanish Fork, Utah

“Vintage is ‘in.’”

D. Law
Crossroads Music
Sierra Madre, Calif.

“The low end is dropping off, the high end is increasing. Hand-built U.S.-made product is the best seller.”

John Files
Bass Emporium
Austin, Texas

“Usually the cheaper the better, especially for guitarists who were ‘elected’ to play bass.”

Mark Scrufari
Coconut Grove
Kailua, Hawaii