Electro Music - another store closure

guitars4you

Just heard that Electro Music in Doncaster has called it a day - In the day this was a big store - good customer loyalty - big presence in the South Yorks area - Both guitars, pa, drums etc - Stockist of major brands - Sad times 

iseverynamegone

First went in to electro in 1983 and was a regular customer until the late 90s as I lived just round the corner.  At that time we also had Smedelys , Wizard? and the much maligned Music Ground of course. 

For the last 10years when I called in there on trips back to the hometown it was very sad, like a terminally ill pet which you couldn’t bring yourself to take for that last trip to the vet.  The stock was very old and mostly of the last turkey in the shop variety. 

Sad to see it finally go and sorry for the guys, but I’ve been expecting it for a for a decade.

guitars4you

iseverynamegone said:

First went in to electro in 1983 and was a regular customer until the late 90s as I lived just round the corner.  At that time we also had Smedelys , Wizard? and the much maligned Music Ground of course. 

For the last 10years when I called in there on trips back to the hometown it was very sad, like a terminally ill pet which you couldn’t bring yourself to take for that last trip to the vet.  The stock was very old and mostly of the last turkey in the shop variety. 

Sad to see it finally go and sorry for the guys, but I’ve been expecting it for a for a decade.

that about sums up what I've heard for a while - Had a big reputation in the day and Pod working the guitar floor

DefaultM

Called them up once about a trade in on some pedals. They said to bring them in so I drove the 30 miles only for them to laugh at me when I got there. Just 2 blokes behind the counter doing what seemed like a routine, taking the piss and refusing to give me a price in favour of making inside jokes to each other.

They were electro harmonix pedals so I've no idea what the issue was. One of the weirdest shop experiences of my life. I never went back. 

riffpowers

DefaultM said:

Called them up once about a trade in on some pedals. They said to bring them in so I drove the 30 miles only for them to laugh at me when I got there. Just 2 blokes behind the counter doing what seemed like a routine, taking the piss and refusing to give me a price in favour of making inside jokes to each other.

They were electro harmonix pedals so I've no idea what the issue was. One of the weirdest shop experiences of my life. I never went back. 

I had a similar experience and went to wizard guitars instead.

Musicman20

It's a huge shame, I agree. Back in the late 90s I used them for bass gear and guitar gear, then still carried on using them for bass gear when I was in a busy band.

However, when I started buying lightweight high powered bass amps, by that time (2007?) they had gone WAY downhill. I was treated terribly by the same bass guy that had took at least £3k-4k off me in the past.

'Are you actually going to buy anything?' - said purely because the shop was closing in 20 mins. I had literally just arrived.

They got no more business from me.

But they did have a good era, and they were nice people most the time, so I wish them luck for the future.  

grungebob

Being from Grimsby these guys where my local music store (about 45 miles away). Late 90’s was a great shop but like others have said over the past 18 years the stock has become stale, over priced and dirty. 
 Bought some great guitars from them at good prices but I haven’t been in there for the past three years 

Musicman20

grungebob said:

Being from Grimsby these guys where my local music store (about 45 miles away). Late 90’s was a great shop but like others have said over the past 18 years the stock has become stale, over priced and dirty. 
 Bought some great guitars from them at good prices but I haven’t been in there for the past three years 

Aye, same - born in GY and stayed there for a while (although im in Manc now). Often pop back.

Off to see my mates band play the Bargefest - assume you might know about it hahah!

Nitefly

Nick's Guitars (in Wetherby?) too: http://www.nicksguitars.com/

He's blaming Currency issues and CITES problems.

dwheeldo

Used to go there in the late 90s / early 2000s as a teen. Growing up in Lincolnshire, it was the first place I'd been that sold 'proper' gear and had an amp room where you could turn it up LOUD!

Pity they clearly went downhill in subsequent years.

normula1

I bought my Lionheart and Boogie Studio 22+ from Electro. Not been back in years though. Pod works at Richtone these days.

SimpleSimon

Same as above, they didnt move with the times and full of over priced lower end stuff. Any idea if Stuart (Palmer) is calling it a day? Would be a real shame......

guitars4you

SimpleSimon said:

Same as above, they didnt move with the times and full of over priced lower end stuff. Any idea if Stuart (Palmer) is calling it a day? Would be a real shame......

My friend called him today for an update on the whole closure issue - Don't think he actually works there as such - But dare say he still does repair work - I'll get an update asap on it

jpfamps

It's a pretty savage trading environment out there at the moment; MI gear is at the sharp end of discretionary spending.

Several reps I've spoken to have commented on how many shops have shut down.

In light of the recent price fixing investigation, I expect it may not get any better if there is a price war between online retailers.

From my personal perspective, hopefully guitarists will keep breaking stuff.......

richardhomer

What with the stocking requirements of the ‘Big Two’ - and the multiple online options people have for selling used gear, ‘ordinary’ music retail must be really tough these days.

I love small specialists like @guitars4you and @ampguitars - long may they continue. Honesty, integrity, exceptional product knowledge - and really caring about the customer will hopefully always win out.

guitars4you

SimpleSimon said:

Same as above, they didnt move with the times and full of over priced lower end stuff. Any idea if Stuart (Palmer) is calling it a day? Would be a real shame......

Stuart is working independently in a building next door to what was Electro Music - so any existing repairs taken in by Electro that Stuart has are safe - apparently he is continuing as is with guitar repairs etc

grungebob

Musicman20 said:

grungebob said:

Being from Grimsby these guys where my local music store (about 45 miles away). Late 90’s was a great shop but like others have said over the past 18 years the stock has become stale, over priced and dirty. 
 Bought some great guitars from them at good prices but I haven’t been in there for the past three years 

Aye, same - born in GY and stayed there for a while (although im in Manc now). Often pop back.

Off to see my mates band play the Bargefest - assume you might know about it hahah!

Yes mate a few mates bands played it last year. This years the last ever one apparently. 

bigfuzz

bought my first 'proper' valve amp from here when I was in my teens, very sad to see it go! 

jf122

riffpowers said:

DefaultM said:

Called them up once about a trade in on some pedals. They said to bring them in so I drove the 30 miles only for them to laugh at me when I got there. Just 2 blokes behind the counter doing what seemed like a routine, taking the piss and refusing to give me a price in favour of making inside jokes to each other.

They were electro harmonix pedals so I've no idea what the issue was. One of the weirdest shop experiences of my life. I never went back. 

I had a similar experience and went to wizard guitars instead.

Music Ground were the same. Arrogant bunch of arseholes unless you were from a famous band or spending £5k on a guitar. That type of customer service seemed to be quite prevalent  in guitar shops in the 90s/early 00s. I still can’t walk into a guitar shop now without feeling slightly on edge, although customer service standards have improved.

borntohang

riffpowers said:

DefaultM said:

Called them up once about a trade in on some pedals. They said to bring them in so I drove the 30 miles only for them to laugh at me when I got there. Just 2 blokes behind the counter doing what seemed like a routine, taking the piss and refusing to give me a price in favour of making inside jokes to each other.

They were electro harmonix pedals so I've no idea what the issue was. One of the weirdest shop experiences of my life. I never went back. 

I had a similar experience and went to wizard guitars instead.

Funny you should mention that because the Welsh Wizard himself had a reputation for intermittently terrible customer service in town for a long time...  Certainly been a few times when I've gone in to try some gear out and had to endure a ten minute lecture on people using him as a try-before-you-buy-online until I either showed him the cash right there or walked out. The new crew who have taken over the Sheffield store since he packed it in are nice though.

@defaultm I can imagine who those guys were. Not all the staff were all helpful all the time.

Electro was my first introduction to a real store and I spent a lot of Saturdays in there watching people talk shop as a teenager, but has been on a sad decline for quite a while. Pete is good people and bent over backwards for me right up till the end, but even then I've been turned away for such basics as 250K pots or strings that aren't 9s and 10s because they just didn't have the inventory in.

Pod is over at Richtone and makes a point of coming over to say hi when I'm in - can't recommend them enough even though they're always busy.

SimpleSimon

guitars4you said:

SimpleSimon said:

Same as above, they didnt move with the times and full of over priced lower end stuff. Any idea if Stuart (Palmer) is calling it a day? Would be a real shame......

Stuart is working independently in a building next door to what was Electro Music - so any existing repairs taken in by Electro that Stuart has are safe - apparently he is continuing as is with guitar repairs etc

Thanks Mark, i always associate Stuart and the shop but your right i think he has seperate premises next door. Ive always dealt with him direct as i didnt want the shop staff fettling my stuff half arsed having witnessed one of them setting someones guitar up on a saturday afternoon whilst also dashing about serving customers. Stuarts a professional and does some sterling work - in his words 'glueing bits of wood together'....!