Guitar shops in Edinburgh?

MattBanshee

I'm off to Edinburgh tomorrow for a long weekend away; nothing planned except wandering around and seeing the sights :-) Therefore, there'll have to be some mandatory guitar shop visiting. Anyone got any recommendations? Cheers!

stimpsonslostson

Here's the main ones:

GuitarGuitar is obviously good, but not central- it's near the zoo on Corstorphine Rd. 

RedDog is my usual go to shop- it's in the grassmarket so quite handy. They have lots of nice things & really good staff. 

Scayles is smaller but decent. They have plenty of nice acoustic guitars (Martin, Sigma etc). 

A wildcard is Live Music Shop- it's a sister to Scayles & has some cool second hand & commission sale gear. 

I'm probably forgetting something, but that should keep you entertained. 

PS- the city is quite spread out & there's much more to it than the Old Town. I'd suggest getting a 24hr ticket for an open top bus that'll let you see the New Town etc. You can get on &off for 24hrs. 
The Botanical Gardens are great on a nice day & are not far from Scran & Scallie- Tom Kitchins gastropub. (Which is great, but hard to get a table at). 

pintspiller

Reddog and Scayles is where I browse when there.

ICBM

The only other one I can think of is Rikki's at the foot of Leith Walk, but it's a shadow of what it used to be - it's no longer in the bigger part of the shop, that's something else now. I can't see it being there much longer to be honest. Sadly probably not worth the trip if you're not down that way anyway.

Moe_Zambeek

My favourite in Edinburgh is Guitarguitar, they're the most likely to have interesting and / or high end stuff in. If I go browsing, it's there.

Live music is ok for used stuff but of course it's hit or miss depending on what they have in at the time, and the Internet has kind of limited the fun. Scayles is a solid bread and butter kind of place, nothing of interest to me really so I don't usually bother. Having a budget focus is fine but they generally have a really boring selection (compared to Merchant city in Glasgow, also budget focused but an excellent range of interesting stuff). Scayles are like the last remnants of the 90s to my mind.

Red dog is odd, I find it dark, cramped and - maybe because I'm not a regular - the staff are a bit weird. Not a great place to try stuff and overall I think the place just has a weird vibe; much of the good stuff on their website is down south as well. 

Much as I hate to admit it, Glasgow is now better than Edinburgh for shops, with Guitarguitar, their acoustic and digital stores, Merchant city, Strung out, CC music etc. Course that doesn't help the OP unless they fancy a day trip on the train!

UnclePsychosis

Unless you live somewhere where there aren't any decent guitar shops at all I wouldn't bother. There are much, much better things to do in Edinburgh than go guitar browsing. 

Gagaryn

ICBM said:

The only other one I can think of is Rikki's at the foot of Leith Walk, but it's a shadow of what it used to be - it's no longer in the bigger part of the shop, that's something else now. I can't see it being there much longer to be honest. Sadly probably not worth the trip if you're not down that way anyway.

Yip - Rikki is "winding down" - shame really but inevitable I suppose, very few wee shops like his survive.

If you are down that way you will get to pass the legendary AV and pub sport specialist - Borlands, TV and Darts.

pintspiller

 @Moe_Zambeek +1 Glasgow is more guitarist-heaven of the two. I love Edinburgh though, 

Chris_J

Reddog had a bit of a refit not that long ago and is a bit brighter and more open. Some nice gear in there, though, nowhere near the selection of high end gear that guitarguitar has. 

Reddog is on the grassmarket, so handy being central for pubs, restaurants etc

Dave_Mc

UnclePsychosis said:

Unless you live somewhere where there aren't any decent guitar shops at all I wouldn't bother. There are much, much better things to do in Edinburgh than go guitar browsing. 

I remember thinking (haven't been in a while) that Edinburgh's guitar shops were pretty good (especially GuitarGuitar) so I guess that tells you how good the guitar shops are in NI.

That being said I've been to Edinburgh several times (so I don't need to see it all every time I'm there) and it's a lovely city- I'd totally agree if you haven't been before that wasting time in guitar shops is probably not the best use of your time.

MattBanshee

Popped into Red Dog as we were passing whilst wandering around the old town. They had effects pedals with midges inside.

ICBM

We're all forgetting Varsity Music, too...

Has anyone been in there in the last twenty years?

Moe_Zambeek

ICBM said:

We're all forgetting Varsity Music, too...

Has anyone been in there in the last twenty years?

I think that's a mafia front. How else could it survive with no visible paying customers?

stimpsonslostson

Moe_Zambeek said:

ICBM said:

We're all forgetting Varsity Music, too...

Has anyone been in there in the last twenty years?

I think that's a mafia front. How else could it survive with no visible paying customers?

I went in a couple of years ago... They GENUINELY didn't seem to want to sell me anything, not in the slightly apathetic way you sometimes get, but it seemed that I was really putting them out by offering money in exchange for their goods. I left & didn't return. 

ICBM

Moe_Zambeek said:

I think that's a mafia front. How else could it survive with no visible paying customers?

You aren't far off, I think. The owner is a property landlord.

Blueingreen

Somewhat disagree that Glasgow is better for browsing.  Purely in terms of range, especially of higher end stuff, Guitar Guitar is head and shoulders above anything else in either city.  While the Guitar Guitar in Glasgow is bigger and has a better choice, the Edinburgh branch is more welcoming and you have much less of a sense of the sales people coldly calculating their chances of seeing your wallet.

AuldReekie

ICBM said:

Moe_Zambeek said:

I think that's a mafia front. How else could it survive with no visible paying customers?

You aren't far off, I think. The owner is a property landlord.

ICBM said:

Moe_Zambeek said:

I think that's a mafia front. How else could it survive with no visible paying customers?

You aren't far off, I think. The owner is a property landlord.

I know someone who rented a flat off him and he was not an easy man to get a rent receipt from..............

AuldReekie

Blueingreen said:

Somewhat disagree that Glasgow is better for browsing.  Purely in terms of range, especially of higher end stuff, Guitar Guitar is head and shoulders above anything else in either city.  While the Guitar Guitar in Glasgow is bigger and has a better choice, the Edinburgh branch is more welcoming and you have much less of a sense of the sales people coldly calculating their chances of seeing your wallet.

Certainly, my dealings with Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh have been very positive and the manager Chris, is an all round good guy

UnclePsychosis

Dave_Mc said:

UnclePsychosis said:

Unless you live somewhere where there aren't any decent guitar shops at all I wouldn't bother. There are much, much better things to do in Edinburgh than go guitar browsing. 

I remember thinking (haven't been in a while) that Edinburgh's guitar shops were pretty good (especially GuitarGuitar) so I guess that tells you how good the guitar shops are in NI.

That being said I've been to Edinburgh several times (so I don't need to see it all every time I'm there) and it's a lovely city- I'd totally agree if you haven't been before that wasting time in guitar shops is probably not the best use of your time.

Its not that Edinburgh guitar shops aren't any good---they're probably better than average---its just that Edinburgh is one of the world's greatest cities so there are so many better things to do. 

Cabicular

AuldReekie said:

Blueingreen said:

Somewhat disagree that Glasgow is better for browsing.  Purely in terms of range, especially of higher end stuff, Guitar Guitar is head and shoulders above anything else in either city.  While the Guitar Guitar in Glasgow is bigger and has a better choice, the Edinburgh branch is more welcoming and you have much less of a sense of the sales people coldly calculating their chances of seeing your wallet.

Certainly, my dealings with Guitar Guitar in Edinburgh have been very positive and the manager Chris, is an all round good guy

Yeah Chris is a good guy and has always done me a deal in the past
They sometimes have some quite interesting secondhand stock as well. They had a lovely 60s gold top  a few years ago that really made me examine the bank account

GoldenEraGuitars

Dave_Mc said:

UnclePsychosis said:

Unless you live somewhere where there aren't any decent guitar shops at all I wouldn't bother. There are much, much better things to do in Edinburgh than go guitar browsing. 

I remember thinking (haven't been in a while) that Edinburgh's guitar shops were pretty good (especially GuitarGuitar) so I guess that tells you how good the guitar shops are in NI.

That being said I've been to Edinburgh several times (so I don't need to see it all every time I'm there) and it's a lovely city- I'd totally agree if you haven't been before that wasting time in guitar shops is probably not the best use of your time.

The music shops here in NI are awful. I've bought two guitars since I moved here 17 years ago... both from the Belfast Guitar Emporium (which was amazing then it shut!)