2 names from the past - EFR Guitars + London Rock Shop

guitars4you

Just been offered 2 guitars for sale and it turns out they were purchased a while ago from 2 London Dealers

So who remembers EFR Guitars - Owned/run by Max Kay - Mainly vintage guitars - Rumours said EFR stood for 'extremely f*cking rare' - Not sure if true or a myth

Then the London Rock Shop from Chalk Farm Road - I recall huge ads in the music mags of the day yet when I eventually visited the store I was amazed how small it was and how little stock it held - But they certainly new how to hype it up, especially the likes of Fostex and recording gear of the day

impmann

London Rock Shop - yup, I remember the ads. Never visited them though...

Funkfingers

The huge advertisements in the weekly music press were the equivalent of a present day Internet retailer listing stuff as available to pre-order. 

In the mid Seventies, there would be prices for Fenders in ALL SIX colours and either fingerboard wood. Upon visiting the physical shop, you could probably count the Stratocasters available for immediate purchase on the fingers of one hand … and their stock of basses on your thumbs.

maltingsaudio

Funkfingers said:

The huge advertisements in the weekly music press were the equivalent of a present day Internet retailer listing stuff as available to pre-order. 

In the mid Seventies, there would be prices for Fenders in ALL SIX colours and either fingerboard wood. Upon visiting the physical shop, you could probably count the Stratocasters available for immediate purchase on the fingers of one hand … and their stock of basses on your thumbs.

So true right up to the advent of the internet, the magazines would be full of “the largest retailer of” adverts from shops who published the manufacturers trade price list hoping you wouldn’t visit but telephone.

The best shop to see stuff and hang around in was the Soundhouse in Soho Square until it burnt down 

richardhomer

I met Max at the 1990 winter NAMM when I went with Arthur Bird from Guitar Player. He was quite a character!

Philly_Q

I remember going to the London Rock Shop, inspired by those ads of theirs, and when I saw what it actually looked like I turned round and went home.  Didn't even go in. 

EFR doesn't ring any bells at all.

guitars4you

A few comments above about the huge ads, from the press in the 70's and 80's, that were not backed up by 'stock instore' 

I'm sure EFR Guitars was on Denmark Street - I suppose an early version of Vintage and Rare, that occupied the same street a while later

springhead

maltingsaudio said:

 
The best shop to see stuff and hang around in was the Soundhouse in Soho Square until it burnt down 

Is that what happened?  I used to go there, bought a couple of things from them.  Always wondered where it went.

guitars4you

springhead said:

maltingsaudio said:

 
The best shop to see stuff and hang around in was the Soundhouse in Soho Square until it burnt down 

Is that what happened?  I used to go there, bought a couple of things from them.  Always wondered where it went.

I think you mean the Fender Sound House on Tottenham Court Road that burnt down in the 70's (can't recall the date) - many stories in the trade about this

Soho Soundhouse (tied in with Turnkey) came later and was owned and run by John Arbiter - Started at Soho Square then moved at a later date to Charring Cross Rd - He was the son of Ivor Arbiter - Ivor was the man we know via Dallas Arbiter, then CBS Arbiter, who distributed Fender, amongst other major brands, before the days of Fender running their own UK/EU distribution centre

springhead

I was thinking of the Soho Soundhouse in Soho Square.  And yes they were the Fender distributor and so carried a good stock.  Like Denmark St shops at that time (late 80's) they were always on for deals, haggling, price beating and paying cash. 

FelineGuitars

springhead said:

maltingsaudio said:

 
The best shop to see stuff and hang around in was the Soundhouse in Soho Square until it burnt down 

Is that what happened?  I used to go there, bought a couple of things from them.  Always wondered where it went.

It ended up as part of Turnkey on Charing Cross Road.

Spent a couple of weeks working there, when the shop where my workshop was based in closed down.

All the staff were on commission only salaries, so may have been overly motivated to sell you stuff, and weren't interested if you didn't look like you were likely to buy. They certainly weren't interested in any after sales service or troubleshooting as that was seen as wasted time. The guys there were nice guys but it was a bit of a dog eat dog environment as not particularly friendly for the customers.

It actually taught me a LOT about exactly how I DIDN"T want my own business to be.

springhead

Yes whenever you asked for a discount or to match someone else's price the reply was always "are you buying today?".  Then you'd get some attention.

guitars4you

springhead said:

I was thinking of the Soho Soundhouse in Soho Square.  And yes they were the Fender distributor and so carried a good stock.  

Slightly distorted - Soho Soundhouse was owned by John Arbiter - Son

CBS Fender were the distributors for Fender and was owned by Ivor Arbiter - Dad

The Soho Sq  building for Soho Soundhouse was  part of the CBS record industries office

So yes a very convenient tie in that suited all concerned

Kittyfrisk

Any relation to Dickie Arbiter?
Just wondering if the Queen has a stash of vintage Fenders 

Doctorfunk

In the late 70s we were regulars at EFR Guitars. Max Kay used to trade from his house in Walthamstow I think, offering sensibly priced old guitars via ads in the Melody Maker. Extremely F'ing Rare they weren't just affordable to us at the time.

Jalapeno

FelineGuitars said:

springhead said:

maltingsaudio said:

 
The best shop to see stuff and hang around in was the Soundhouse in Soho Square until it burnt down 

Is that what happened?  I used to go there, bought a couple of things from them.  Always wondered where it went.

It ended up as part of Turnkey on Charing Cross Road.

Spent a couple of weeks working there, when the shop where my workshop was based in closed down.

All the staff were on commission only salaries, so may have been overly motivated to sell you stuff, and weren't interested if you didn't look like you were likely to buy. They certainly weren't interested in any after sales service or troubleshooting as that was seen as wasted time. The guys there were nice guys but it was a bit of a dog eat dog environment as not particularly friendly for the customers.

It actually taught me a LOT about exactly how I DIDN"T want my own business to be.

Explains a lot - they carried a lot of sexy tech stuff, but it was an unpleasant shop - the short chap with glasses, very pale, and persecuted look in his eyes was about the only helpful assistant (and a nice guy) - wasn't you was it ?

scrumhalf

Ah, The London Rock Shop.

Passed it many, many times. Went in a couple of times, underwhelmed by both the stock and the staff.

Johnnyseven

I remember the Rock Stop shop on Charing Cross Road just round the corner from Denmark Street. It only closed a couple of years ago. Tiny shop, not much in there.

Grocer_Jack

Johnnyseven said:

I remember the Rock Stop shop on Charing Cross Road just round the corner from Denmark Street. It only closed a couple of years ago. Tiny shop, not much in there.

Had the worst costumer service imaginable. I used to look in there once in a while to see if there was anything of interest used. 

The pricing was ‘interesting’ - at one time they had a selection of Way Huge pedals at around £200 each when the street price (including just round the corner at Westside) was around £90-120 depending on which pedal. 

PhilKing

I used to manage one of the shops that ran full back page ads in the 70's, JSG in Bingley (later became Spectre Sound).  Everything we advertised was in stock, usually we had more than one of each colour too.  The only time you might miss out was if we had a secondhand item that got sold in the store.

The reason we had to do that was because a lot of the manufacturers wouldn't supply us as we were selling at discount.  We had to source a lot of the stuff from the US to get it.

guitars4you

PhilKing said:

I used to manage one of the shops that ran full back page ads in the 70's, JSG in Bingley (later became Spectre Sound).  Everything we advertised was in stock, usually we had more than one of each colour too.  The only time you might miss out was if we had a secondhand item that got sold in the store.

The reason we had to do that was because a lot of the manufacturers wouldn't supply us as we were selling at discount.  We had to source a lot of the stuff from the US to get it.

I think we've touched base before - I recall a visit to JSG and yes full of stock - And yes JSG had a big reputation in the day - Recall a late night shopping experience as well 

But many of the London dealers, in the 70's and 80's,  did not back up their ads stock listing