Denmark Street

Gassage

I only ever buy the very bare miniumum and the essentials from Denmark St. Like my Vibroverb

Grocer_Jack

Gassage said:

I only ever buy the very bare miniumum and the essentials from Denmark St. Like my Vibroverb

You should tell us about that Vibroverb sometime....

chris78

I often go when I’m in London to have a look round, but rarely buy as the stores are wildly overpriced and to try anything, you virtually have to beg and then sit in the middle of the store without being able to play at any volume as you’re in the middle of the store.

I find Hanks particularly up their own arse. The last time they had a guitar I was interested in, the boss was out and they wouldn’t even let me try it. It was a £2k nocaster ffs, not a stunning vintage guitar. I didn’t bother.

Notom have some wildly optimistic prices. £7k for a refin 66 tele when I was looking at vintage Teles. 

Regents just give a huge sob story about their margains if you even try and negotiate. Store is currently tiny due to work in the area.

I quite like Wunjos and got a Gretsch from there. They did a decent deal on it. 

Even worse is New King’s Road. They’ve got some great guitars but laughable prices. I played a great Nash there, but they wanted more for a second hand one than a new one so it didn’t come home

LukePalmer

 Whenever I’m in the area I always pop in to Notom.I’ve picked up a couple of gems there over the years and I find the guys in there knowledgeable and helpful.

thecolourbox

I found the guitar vault at the Hard Rock Cafe a much better way to look at nice guitars that I can't afford

Like this bad boy!!

prowla

I take a stroll down to Denmark Street every few weeks.

I bought a pedal at Wunjo but I wasn't very happy with it and they refunded me, no quibble; that's good customer service! I've bought one or two others there too.

Some of the shops do seem to be overdoing the "vintage" pricing thing, so I guess I'm not their target demographic.

I do prefer going to the shops there over the sterile chains like PMT, Dawsons & Andertons (OK, they're not a chain), though.

As for the internet effect, I've been to a Warwick dealer (Wunjo) looking for a part (a £50 brass just-a-nut) and been told to get one on the internet; it does seem a bit odd that shops will tell customers they don't want their business.

MikeP

All the vintage stuff I've seen there there in the last ten years or so has been really low grade rough,  refinished etc at mint prices. 

jeztone2

Pigalle in Paris is better for Vintage Stuff.

I think the era of Denmark St has long long gone. Wunjo seem ok. I buy the odd thing. But no one seems to do a good range of accessories. It’s like the whole place is set up to service customers who don’t gig. If I had a tenner for every time I’ve asked for something that’s out of stock or on order. I’d be a very rich man. 

Fifty9

Pigalle has a good selection but prices, particularly given the fx rate, are a bit eye watering. Shame

ToneControl

For acoustics I prefer visiting Ivor mairants and London guitar studio

axisus

London was brilliant in the 80s/90s for guitars etc. Not just Denmark street, but various other shops as well. I used to take afternoons off just to browse for a few hours - most enjoyable. Sadly it all went pear shaped. The remaining shops aren't a patch on what they were. I go to central London occasionally, I go to Denmark st, but I only visit the two sheet music shops. I don't even look in the window of the others any more.

AlbertC

I've bought guitars from both Wunjo and NoTom and overall I've no complaints.  There's a particularly guy in Wunjo who I find  insincere and too car-salesmany but apart from that I've not been disappointed with the experience.
I can't really knock them for being too expensive. If you run a shop in the West End then you're gonna have lots of operating overheads to cover (rent, rates, staff, etc). I don't know for sure but I somehow doubt anyone's making a massive fortune operating out of Denmark Street.
Considering they don't have any of these overheads, I actually think that a lot of private sellers' expectations are relatively much higher. 

borntohang

I was down there a couple of weeks back with a spare day to myself so was planning to spend most of the day browsing. Sadly I could barely make it stretch to an hour.

Regent is, as mentioned, currently tiny but spent most of my time between there and Wunjos. I do like Wunjos and the staff are great but I'm mildly put out by their constant shuffling round between stores and the current move towards cramming everything into tiny basements. Wunjo Keys, which was by far the most interesting shop on the street last time I visited, was sadly reduced to a couple of crap Yamaha synths and the odd Nord.

Hanks had some nice stuff on the bottom floor but not worth the trip up the stairs. No.Toms looked good but way out of my price range so I didn't fancy fighting for space on a Saturday morning.I think the constant Crossrail shuffle is hitting them all pretty hard to be honest.

In the end I spent most of my afternoon wandering round the British Museum - pro tip is to avoid the huge queues by using the back entrance on Montague Street which saved me at least half an hour of shuffling stuck in a line of tourists on the Great Russell frontage.

coffeehouse

I was actually there on Saturday just gone for the first time ever. My wife and I were in London for a film premier evening and stayed the whole weekend. I happened upon Denmark street purely by accident. I wasn't impressed, plenty of cheap - mid range guitars, a few things of interest, not much. The overheads must be enoumous, so I guess they have to fucus on what sells, rather than what's interesting to a guitar nut like me. I'm lucky in that my guitar business is based inside my other (much larger) company so has very few over heads, hence I buy / sell mostly what I love...

Matt_McG

Last time I went to Denmark Street to buy, I came away having bought nothing. I was shopping for an octave/harmony pedal, and was planning to buy there and then. Literally couldn't hear myself, even when I physically crouched down in front of the amp with my head against the speaker, because of some teenager playing Wonderwall on an out of tune guitar, through a HRD with the treble set to "pain".

I'm a pretty decent player, but I wouldn't have the brass neck to play as loud as that kid, anywhere in public, and if I did, I'd bloody tune the guitar, and I would expect to be told to turn it down.

I asked the guy if he could ask them to turn down, and was told that I should just buy the pedal (even though I couldn't hear it), and if I didn't like it, I could bring it back.

That said, I had decent service when trying some guitars in Maccari's recently. I didn't buy, but they made some helpful suggestions, let me try some things, and were friendly. I'd go back, if they had what I wanted.

steveh

I've lived in London since 1979 and it's always been overpriced rubbish.

Quickly realised that I was better off elsewhere: There was a place in Croydon I used to go (no doubt long gone) and The Acoustic Music Centre, Wapping, definitely long gone. Ivor Mairants ain't bad for the odd acoustic. I still use the London Guitar Studio which is great  but nylon only.

springhead

Matt_McG said:

Last time I went to Denmark Street to buy, I came away having bought nothing. I was shopping for an octave/harmony pedal, and was planning to buy there and then. Literally couldn't hear myself, even when I physically crouched down in front of the amp with my head against the speaker, because of some teenager playing Wonderwall on an out of tune guitar, through a HRD with the treble set to "pain".

I'm a pretty decent player, but I wouldn't have the brass neck to play as loud as that kid, anywhere in public, and if I did, I'd bloody tune the guitar, and I would expect to be told to turn it down.

I asked the guy if he could ask them to turn down, and was told that I should just buy the pedal (even though I couldn't hear it), and if I didn't like it, I could bring it back.

That said, I had decent service when trying some guitars in Maccari's recently. I didn't buy, but they made some helpful suggestions, let me try some things, and were friendly. I'd go back, if they had what I wanted.

Maccari's have always been a little bit apart from the Denmark St shops, not just due to their location down the road.  I've bought stuff from them over the years and always had a decent experience in there.

Jalapeno

I think the sniffy-too-cool-for-school brigade is a thing of the past these days. Most are a lot friendlier (a trend led by Wunjo IMHO). 

Got a boutique pedal (can't recall which shop exactly, might have been Wunjo electric) recently, and he did a web search and knocked off £50 without me even asking ... I will go back there. But other stores were really chatty & friendly.

kt66

Macaris and Ivor Mairants are my go to shops

LesbianWithAGun

I've bought guitars on Denmark Street.
Most notably both of my Gibson Les Pauls and my Fender Stratocaster.
I love Denmark Street.

Also, it's a great place to pick up my favourite guitar strap; Bear Straps,
https://www.bearstraps.com/