How far/close do you live from a decent guitar shop?

mike_l

lasermonkey said:

Around 30 miles away from Coda.

I'm just up the road from you (Huntingdon).

Although it would be very dangerous for me (well, my wallet) if I lived closer to Coda....... 

stickyfiddle

Not less than 2000 miles, depending on where the best music shop in Eastern Europe is located. 

There's a place in Dubai but most of its stock is multiple years old.

Kebabkid

olafgarten said:

I'm very lucky, I can get to GuitarGuitar Epsom in less than 15 minutes by car (without traffic) and Andertons is around 30 minutes away. 

More or less the same here ^^ with these 2 (Andertons is 40 mins) plus there's also Guitar Village, Farnham, which is about 1hr. All open on Sundays, too.

Feline (Jonathan) and Rock Bottom in Croydon are 15 mins away.

There is a more basic shop in Sutton called.err.. Sutton Music where I can pick up strings and that's 10mins away.
 
I also work up in Central London and Guitar Guitar, Camden is 15 mins away as is Denmark St.

GAK in Brighton is about 1hr 10mins away.

Charlie Chandlers is about 40 mins away (Hampton Wick/Kingston) and I've just noticed there's another shop near him in Hampton that's run by one of the old Chandler Guitar guys. I don't know if it's new or just upped it's profile.

Mick

About 8 miles from Peach Guitars new superstore.  Looking forward to perusing that one when it opens the end of March. 

MagicPigDetective

Skipped said:

MagicPigDetective said:

How far/close do you live from a decent guitar shop?

impmann beat me to it. Can you define decent guitar shop?

One of the shops you have mentioned will not entertain trades AFAIK. I am not sure how that would even qualify them as a guitar shop, a music retailer, or anything else. Never mind a decent one.

Ok I thought I might get questioned on this. I spose its all down to personal experience and requirements. It could be due to excellent and friendly customer service, for trades, repairs etc. For the purposes of this thread though, I'm talking about gear, lots of lovely, expensive gear, most of which you cant afford, but spend an age looking at longingly dreaming of a bright future with that guitar. I just want a chance to see and try a real les paul or an sg to see if its for me; to be able to find the right one for me. Ok you can get that but with terrible service I know and that's not good. But at the moment, my expectations are so very low. Your lucky bastards being so close to so many stores.

 But I will let you decide what is your definition of decent and which is your nearest. Btw I have had good friendly service and advice when trying out guitars at Dawsons, Chester. But I've also had good service at Back Alley Music in Chester and should have included it in my opening post.

Skipped

MagicPigDetective said:

Ok I thought I might get questioned on this. I spose its all down to personal experience and requirements. It could be due to excellent and friendly customer service, for trades, repairs etc. For the purposes of this thread though, I'm talking about gear, lots of lovely, expensive gear, most of which you cant afford, but spend an age looking at longingly dreaming of a bright future with that guitar. I just want a chance to see and try a real les paul or an sg to see if its for me; to be able to find the right one for me. Ok you can get that but with terrible service I know and that's not good. But at the moment, my expectations are so very low. Your lucky bastards being so close to so many stores.

 But I will let you decide what is your definition of decent and which is your nearest. Btw I have had good friendly service and advice when trying out guitars at Dawsons, Chester. But I've also had good service at Back Alley Music in Chester and should have included it in my opening post.

OK.
It may be that we disagree about what is the absolute minimum requirement  for the term  "music retailer". (Someone that sells high end guitars to both Dentists and working guitarists.)

Forum members have suggested that Dawsons either refuse or discourage trading in your guitar for a new guitar.
Are you able to confirm that -  or otherwise -  for the Chester branch?

MagicPigDetective

Skipped said:

MagicPigDetective said:

Ok I thought I might get questioned on this. I spose its all down to personal experience and requirements. It could be due to excellent and friendly customer service, for trades, repairs etc. For the purposes of this thread though, I'm talking about gear, lots of lovely, expensive gear, most of which you cant afford, but spend an age looking at longingly dreaming of a bright future with that guitar. I just want a chance to see and try a real les paul or an sg to see if its for me; to be able to find the right one for me. Ok you can get that but with terrible service I know and that's not good. But at the moment, my expectations are so very low. Your lucky bastards being so close to so many stores.

 But I will let you decide what is your definition of decent and which is your nearest. Btw I have had good friendly service and advice when trying out guitars at Dawsons, Chester. But I've also had good service at Back Alley Music in Chester and should have included it in my opening post.

OK.
It may be that we disagree about what is the absolute minimum requirement  for the term  "music retailer". (Someone that sells high end guitars to both Dentists and working guitarists.)

Forum members have suggested that Dawsons either refuse or discourage trading in your guitar for a new guitar.
Are you able to confirm that -  or otherwise -  for the Chester branch?

I cannot m'lud. I am one of those annoying middle agers who has picked up the guitar again after a few years off and wish to buy new. And I dont have anything to trade with! 

Dave_Mc

Sort of depends on the definition of decent- there are a few decent ones in Belfast, which is around an hour's drive away.

But none of those is anywhere near as good as the best ones in Great Britain. I don't think the ones in Dublin (more like 2 hours away, at least), while better than Belfast, are as good, either.

thumpingrug

I used to live in Poole about 10 mins from Absolute Guitars, but moved so now I'm 25 mins away. 

fretmeister

40 miles from a good bass shop.

WezV

2 minutes walk from work to The Guitar Superstore/ Pete Oakley's in Burton.  

The name made me laugh a year or two back when they where still crammed into a rather small store where you could barely get through the door... but they recently got the bigger premises next door and it's much easier to see the hidden gems.

MagicPigDetective

One for the brummies and co; I will be passing through b'ham in a couple of weeks and might have time to stop at GG or PMT. Which one should be first choice? Are they near or far from each other? Im looking for a sub 1K acoustic in particular.

Sporky

I can walk to Andertons in about half an hour.

Bellycaster

I live about 2 miles from Richtone Music, so whichever ones are further away than that.

Voxman

proggy said:

Voxman said:

Well, I'm in North London and unless I'm missing something there's nothing much near me.  Sound Garden in Barnet and Electrohill in Palmers Green, but they don't sell higher end guitars.  There is the Wembley Music Centre, but in London its not so much about distance as getting from A to B through traffic.  On a good day if the North Circular is clear you can do it in half an hour - if not, it could be an hour or even longer.  

Get yourself an Oyster Card.

I have one - but I need a car to carry stuff.  If I buy anything I want to hear it through my own gear/guitars and I can't/won't take that on the tube.

Voxman

scrumhalf said:

Another North Londoner here.

Allowing for the vagaries of the Northern Line, Sound Garden in Barnet is about 20 minutes away, Denmark Street about 35 minutes. I wouldn't go to Electrohill again, I feel that they've gone downhill since they moved. Wild Guitars in Highgate is about 20 minutes away as well, but at those prices it may as well be on the moon.

Sadly, I hear you re Electrohill.  Where abouts in North London are you @scrumhalf ? 

uncledick

simonk said:

15 minutes from the excellent Project Music and Manson's in Exeter.
Secretly I want Bill Greenhalgh's on Fore Street back... the Grace Bros. of music shops.

Exeter is well blessed with those two.  About 20 miles for me.

......and totally miss Greenhalgh's - where else can we buy sheet music for Peters & Lee's Greatest Hits?

drwiddly

About 5 minutes drive from Wildwire and 40 minutes from Leeds.

blobb

@MagicPigDetective ; I live in Welshpool (don't laugh) so same situation as you although MWM is about 15 minutes away so not quite as bad. Music Bros in Shrewsbury is ok if you can get there. You can always stop by mine if your guitar cravings get out of hand ;-) 

sm55onl

MagicPigDetective said:

One for the brummies and co; I will be passing through b'ham in a couple of weeks and might have time to stop at GG or PMT. Which one should be first choice? Are they near or far from each other? Im looking for a sub 1K acoustic in particular.

MPD, i used to live near Brum and visited both GG and PMT (not that often actually, in retrospect) but both the shops are on opposite ends of the city centre. GG is on the main Hagley Road and thus easy to get to by car or bus (from city centre itself). PMT is on the way, iirc, to the  Birmingham City football ground....easy, again, by car and bus.

I'd say that PMT is the much larger shop (the largest wall of PRS and Gibsons that i've ever witnessed).... and that's even taking into account that GG ain't small !

However, if you're actually in the city centre then the easiest guitar shop to get to is Fair Deal music (Smallbrook Queensway) just a few mins walk from the main rail station (New St.) or The Bullring shopping complex.

Also, don't forget The Little Guitar Shop in The Jewellery Quarter (there's a local train/tram station nearby)...the clue is in the name of the shop (though they may have expanded a bit, i think i remember reading somewhere).

I will caveat the above with the fact that things haven't changed in the couple of years since i last visited them all....a good, but tiring, day out ;-)