Just back from Feline...

Voxman

Bigsby said:

Voxman said:

Very cool guitars and pics!

 I bought my very first three guitars from Arcade Music in Tally-ho North Finchley, I used to live in Sandringham Gardens off Summers Lane..were you a local North Finchley boy too? 

Ha! The Guild was the only one I bought there (my first two came from the Bell catalogue), but I did visit quite often for bits and pieces. There was a guitar store in Barnet too - can't remember the name, and it may have opened a few years later - I bought my next guitar in there, a Yamaha SG700. 

My family had moved to Whetstone - and there wasn't much going on there, so I spent a lot of time in North Finchley or Barnet.  I remember the Torrington in North Finchley was a good place for gigs.

The Torrington.. played there loads of times and was in the house band there for a while. My mum used to live in Whetstone, my eldest daughter just bought a lovely flat there where the old B&Q used to be, and our first flat was in High Barnet, and first house in East Barnet.

Small world !!

And the music shop in Barnet was originally Guitar Village up by the HR Owens showroom, that then became Digital Village and then moved and became DV247 at the corner of Barnet High Street and St Albans Road. 

I've been trying to remember the name of the guy who owned Arcade Music. Modest stature, beard, very proper and quietly spoken, usually wearing a tweed jacket, shirt and tie...can see his face but can't remember his name. Most of the better guitars and amps were upstairs as I recall. No Gibson's or Fenders, but I remember playing a nice CSL thin line Tele there that I couldn't afford, and I bought my Shaftesbury Les Paul Custom from there with case for £65 that I put a deposit on and he put away for me and I paid off in instalments until I could finally take it home.

Dominic

Voxman said:

Very cool guitars and pics!

 I bought my very first three guitars from Arcade Music in Tally-ho North Finchley, I used to live in Sandringham Gardens off Summers Lane..were you a local North Finchley boy too? 

Local Boy here ........live in Hadley Wood...looking at the thread above I can go back further than that................
I was Saturday Boy in ESS in High Barnet / Hadley Highstone before it became Guitar Village ...got my Hamer when I worked there.The Senior salesman was a Whetstone lad ,Gavin Mortimer,who became the PRS distributor (Headline Music ?? )
I was at Woodhouse for a while and used to go into the arcade at Lunchtime to look at the guitars.
Went to many Torrington gigs......it was great venue ;I remember seeing Elkie Brookes and Vinegar Joe there in the 70s and also Kokomo and Jim Mullen when he played a tele.He was a great player then and a well respected Jazzer now.
 Strangely I was just looking today at the buildings they have just released on the old Band Q site.

Bigsby

Voxman said:

Bigsby said:

Voxman said:

Very cool guitars and pics!

 I bought my very first three guitars from Arcade Music in Tally-ho North Finchley, I used to live in Sandringham Gardens off Summers Lane..were you a local North Finchley boy too? 

Ha! The Guild was the only one I bought there (my first two came from the Bell catalogue), but I did visit quite often for bits and pieces. There was a guitar store in Barnet too - can't remember the name, and it may have opened a few years later - I bought my next guitar in there, a Yamaha SG700. 

My family had moved to Whetstone - and there wasn't much going on there, so I spent a lot of time in North Finchley or Barnet.  I remember the Torrington in North Finchley was a good place for gigs.

The Torrington.. played there loads of times and was in the house band there for a while. My mum used to live in Whetstone, my eldest daughter just bought a lovely flat there where the old B&Q used to be, and our first flat was in High Barnet, and first house in East Barnet.

Small world !!

And the music shop in Barnet was originally Guitar Village up by the HR Owens showroom, that then became Digital Village and then moved and became DV247 at the corner of Barnet High Street and St Albans Road. 

I've been trying to remember the name of the guy who owned Arcade Music. Modest stature, beard, very proper and quietly spoken, usually wearing a tweed jacket, shirt and tie...can see his face but can't remember his name. Most of the better guitars and amps were upstairs as I recall. No Gibson's or Fenders, but I remember playing a nice CSL thin line Tele there that I couldn't afford, and I bought my Shaftesbury Les Paul Custom from there with case for £65 that I put a deposit on and he put away for me and I paid off in instalments until I could finally take it home.

Wow, this is quite a memory test... Did B&Q replace the old art deco timber merchant's building, or the Blue Anchor pub? I seem to remember both became big DIY stores. I think the Barnet guitar store may well have been ESS when I knew it. I worked in a little metalworks close by, fondly known as Harry's Joint, as I went through college. 

But I clearly remember the owner of Arcade, it was him who took the order and deposit on the Guild, and he also served me when I came in to collect it. Great description - I can picture him now! Can't help with the name though...

Voxman

Yes it was ESS, I'd forgotten that..but we are talking well over 40 yrs ago!  And I went to Woodhouse too!