About
History
Bass Alien was originally started in 2012 to fill the gap I saw in the bass guitar market. The gear we wanted was not found in local music stores or even online.
Local music shops carry almost exclusively entry-level beginner gear, and online was either more of the same, or just ultra high-end luthier dealers.
There was a big gap in the ‘mid-grade and up’ choices in the bass market. Plus no one offered the variety of choices we wanted to see. So, Bass Alien was born.
Why the name “Bass Alien” ?
In short, because I love basses and I love aliens. To be specific, I love sci-fi movies like the ‘Alien’ franchise and stuff like that. I collected Lego’s ‘Alien Conquest’ line before it was discontinued, and other nerdy stuff like that!
Full credit goes to my wife for thinking of the name. I wanted something short and that sort of rhymed or sounded good – the A in Bass and Alien are the same. Once she said it, I started thinking all sorts of ideas for logos and apparel, and got excited.
2014 – Shutting It Down
In 2014 I decided to shut it down due to personal reasons. The business became so successful (thanks to you) that I faced a very tough decision. Either quit my day job and go ALL IN on Bass Alien, or keep the day job and shut down the business.
As much as I loved Bass Alien, to go all in meant having to invest a lot more money to open a retail storefront, a warehouse, and hire several employees. I was living in a high-crime neighborhood at the time, and to move to a safer place would mean selling our house at a loss. In short, it was not the right time.
The good news is we got out of the bad neighborhood… but it took years to recover financially.
2019 – Missing the Alien
Around 2017, I started traveling a lot for work but still couldn’t stop thinking about Bass Alien.
In 2019, I stopped traveling as much and started thinking about how to bring back the business I loved so much. It’s a tough business, so you really have to love it. I used to say I would not do retail ever again because of the high cost of inventory, shipping issues, the labor-intensive nature of it, and more. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it (or talking about it… just ask my wife) and missed the creative aspects of it
Unfortunately, after Bass Alien shut down in 2014, several other great bass guitar stores also shut down, leaving fewer options than before in local and online stores, with hard-to-use websites, and limited bass gear options. There was still a demand.
2022 – Bringing It Back
In 2022, with my wife’s encouragement, I decided to bring back Bass Alien. We did various polls to see what YOU wanted. We do all of this to serve our bass community, after all. Turns out bass parts, pickups, apparel, and more are in high demand, in addition to great bass gear that gives you G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome).
I spent months rebuilding the website from scratch, better than ever before, and have big plans to grow organically to be a “bass haven destination”. Just like before, we’re starting off online, but hope to have a storefront in the future.
We operate out of Batavia, Illinois.
If you’re in the area and want to try before you buy, no problem. we have great relationships with local music shops where I can meet you so you can try out the gear first until we have a storefront.
Challenges, Patience, and Gratitude
It will take a while to build inventory due to all the supply-chain issues and manufacturing delays, which is another reason we figured to start sooner rather than later.
We aim to be THE BEST BASS GUITAR STORE IN THE GALAXY by providing great customer service, an amazing rewards points program to reward loyal customers, and a wide variety of quality music gear, especially the stuff that’s hard to find anywhere else.
Join us in making this the best bass store around, and let us know anything you’d like to see on the site or in the store. We are nothing without you, our great customers and amazing musicians.
Just email me anytime with your thoughts on how to improve: mike (at) bassalien (dot com)
Thank you!!!
-Mike Kramer
Owner, Bass Alien
