Which guitar shops do you miss?

LooseMoose

For me it was Machinehead in Hitchin before Jeff sold it (and the new owner ruined it) and Musical Exchanges in Birmingham which had all the grubby second hand gear in those alcoves. Picked up an Eggle Berlin for £400 on my 17th Birthday there

Fortheloveofguitar

LooseMoose said:

For me it was Machinehead in Hitchin before Jeff sold it (and the new owner ruined it) and Musical Exchanges in Birmingham which had all the grubby second hand gear in those alcoves. Picked up an Eggle Berlin for £400 on my 17th Birthday there

Musical exchanges was a great shop

JookyChap

Yeah, another one for Musical Exchanges, not really seen a shop like that since.

pintspiller

Band Centre, Portadown. One of those shops used by pros and wannabes. I preferred it to those that only sold student instruments and strings. The owner ran it into the ground as he didn't want to share it with his ex-wife after the divorce. Bastard

mrleon83

Musical exchange all day long loved it there ....

Parker

Mansons (Plymouth and the older shop that was kooky and crammed with gear!). Swag Music in Plymouth, ABC in Exeter (which was a Musical Exchanges for a short time too), All the shops that once frequented St Michaels Hill in Bristol.  
 

Maynehead

All of the shops on Denmark street. It's just a sad empty shell of a place now...

Voxman

DV247 in Barnet

57Deluxe

* Bell Music Surbitton - it was always such a thrill to cycle over to visit it when I was 15

* John King Sounds Kingston - my first Fender came from there and I would love to have had the presence of mind and confidence to have had a good root round, but when you were young in the 70s, music shops saw you as a nuisance and not a potential...

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/8cff61_a5fda722e671643910140499dfa519d6.jpg/v1/fill/w_496,h_337,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/8cff61_a5fda722e671643910140499dfa519d6.jpg

oh and yes the previous incarnation of DV247 - who remembers the thrill of the Monday night B stock further price reductions??!

Strat54

Ah yes, Musical Exchanges....went there quite often despite living 100 miles from it. Bought some late 80's Schecters from there new. Great shop. A1 in Manchester was like that...dusty, but interesting. I hate todays sterile shops...they all look the damn same, even the privately owned ones like Reidys....its like secondhand is a dirty word at these places too. 

xSkarloey

Yes Musical Exchanges was great. The slightly edgy walk through the concrete, piss-smelling underpasses round the back of Snow Hill was worth if for my much younger self. 



Peter Cooks in Hanwell. Alladin's cave masquerading as two suburban semis. Also their acoustic only offshoot 'Unplugged'. 

richardhomer

Guitar Player in Rochdale, Tone World in Manchester

bingefeller

Marcus Music in Belfast.  They used to have a good selection of guitars, amps, videos, books etc, but the owner was an ignorant wanker and didn't help the demise of the shop.  They had a guy working there called Gordon, not sure where he works now, but he was a complete gentleman, great player and knew a lot about guitars.  

ThorpyFX

Oxford guitar gallery

impmann

Wing Music in Sidcup

Allbang and Strummits in London

Andy's Guitar Workshop on Denmark Street circa 1989

lasermonkey

The Drum and Guitar Centre and the Cambridge Rock shop, both, unsurprisingly, in Cambridge.
 The D&G often had some great stuff in there and always well priced. My '73 Ric 4001 came from there, cost £299!. I also bought a 70s Sigma DM10 for £150 and a silverface Bassman 135 and 4x12 pyramid cab for £399, amongst other things.
 The Cambridge Rock shop eventually became Music Village and then Digital Village, where things went downhill rapidly. Back in the day, I found most of the staff friendly and helpful. Two guys in particular- Steve and Duncan were great to deal with.

Moe_Zambeek

Strat54 said:

...its like secondhand is a dirty word at these places too. 

eBay and the Internet killed off second hand gear in shops. Why trade in when it was so easy to sell yourself.

guitars4you

impmann said:

Wing Music in Sidcup

Allbang and Strummits in London

Andy's Guitar Workshop on Denmark Street circa 1989

crikey - your going back a bit - I first met Barry from Wing when he handled UK sales of Rickenbacker - Then Jon Gold from Allbang when he handled Hamer in the days of Steve Stevens etc - Jon did very well for himself with a senior role at Fender

As a retailer I'm not going to add any names from the past, but I o think the most over ratted store I ever visited was the London Rock Shop in Kentish Town - massive hype and very little substance - Ed Jones I recall

IvisonGuitars

LooseMoose said:

For me it was Machinehead in Hitchin before Jeff sold it (and the new owner ruined it) and Musical Exchanges in Birmingham which had all the grubby second hand gear in those alcoves. Picked up an Eggle Berlin for £400 on my 17th Birthday there

Yup, Musical Exchanges was a mecca for a 12 year old just starting out playing, the walls of Gibsons and Fenders and those little tunnels at the back full of old Marshall valve heads JMP's, JCM800's all for £200, they couldn't give them away, 1954 Goldtop £800....if only I knew then what I know now...

Sassafras

All shops that fell to online box-shifters. Every town used to have at least a couple of music shops. Now, I have to drive miles to get to a proper shop.

Philly_Q

I don't miss many shops, because in my youth I was the kind of person music shop assistants would either ignore or look down their noses at contemptuously.

Allbang & Strummit was OK - although I still slightly resent the fact that my guarantee of "free picks for life" became just a pipe dream after no more than a couple of years. 

And I remember Jeff telling me off for complaining about a guitar I bought at Machinehead.

Roka's (later Rockers) was very good for parts and spares, in the pre-internet days.