Does Your Town Still Have A Guitar Shop ????

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  • SNAKEBITESNAKEBITE Frets: 1075

    Where I used to live in Burgess Hill (about 12 miles North of Brighton) you had "The Rock Shop" which seems to have gone now, I drove past it a week or so ago and it looked closed up.

    The bloke used to own A shop in Crawley "Badlands" (?) but that went years ago.

    Where I am now, in Worthing you have "We Have Sounds" in the town centre which is a great shop, recently downsized, but still good. Lots of secondhand guitars and good selection of accessories.

    Also you have "Audio House" which is out of town a bit, does audio equipment and guitars. Used to go in there too when I lived nearer.

    Anything they don't have then it's off to Brighton where you have a plethora of establishments to frequent.

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  • slackerslacker Frets: 2216
    axisus said:
    We lost Coda from Luton a few years ago, also I had the superb Machinehead in Hitchin just down the road. Well, Machinehead was great whilst Jeff Pumfrett was running it, it was never as good after he left.

    I spent a fair old whack in those shops over the years, bought loads of guitars, amps and countless strings/extras. Coda is still in Stevenage but it's just too much hassle going over there most of the time.
    I live in Stopsley coda and machine head were convenient. It was a shame coda closed  the Luton shop.

    I go to the stevenage one but not as much and not when I need a pick and strings. I stock that stuff now. 
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  • DaintyDainty Frets: 18
    crunchman said:
    In Chiswick, West London.  Nothing nearby.

    A long list of those that have closed that were reasonably local
    Chandlers
    Peter Cooks
    Unplugged
    Flying Pig
    ABC Music
    Digital Village Acton branch
    One in Hammersmith I can't remember the name of
    One in Chiswick - but it was rubbish and not missed.  That one went well before the internet.

    Those were all within 4 miles of me.  There were probably one or two more that I' forgotten.

    I do have repairers within reach.  Richmond Guitar Workshop and Monty's Guitars are both local.
    Also a Chiswickian- there was a shop under the Kew arches that shut as well.  Really miss Peter Cooks it was quality


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  • DaintyDainty Frets: 18
    If your looking for an honest reliable acoustic guitar try us. Thanks www.treeoflifeguitars.co.uk
    we are in SW London nr Hampton Court. 
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  • LewyLewy Frets: 4126
    edited July 2019
    prowla said:
    sev112 said:
    Reading we have Dawson’s and Hickies  - pretty much corporate 
    Lost Amen Corner last month (owner died )
    Apex music - nice non- corporate, some interesting used electric stock, and range of acoustics,  also drums, and other bits and pieces including amps 


    TBH, I don't know how Amen Corner survived anyway - they were hidden away and never advertised. I went there and they were paving the small car park, next time I went it was closed, and then last time it was closed down.

    There's also The Music Man in Reading (Oxford Road) who deals in s/h stuff and vinyl & CDs, and of course Cash Converters.

    It's a shame the bass shop by Twyford railway station closed down; I only happened across them in their final year.
    Without wishing to speak ill, Amen Corner would be a classic case study of why local music shops aren't surviving - very lowest common denominator stock, poor advice (not through malice but through generally being in a Bert Weedon-esque time warp) and (based on personal experience) some very shonky repairs (I got the most incompetent fret dress I've ever seen done to a Squier JV there). The kind of place where the bread and butter is Mum bringing in little Johnny's knackered Spanish (unplayable and probably bought there) to have a new string put on it. Sad, but there it is.
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  • VibetronicVibetronic Frets: 1036
    The one in Stroud closed ages ago...they opened another branch in Cheltenham and then found they couldn't keep either going. None left in Cheltenham now  - Aroundaboutsound eventually closed when the owner sadly passed away, the other two closed years ago. There's a couple in Gloucester...one is a basic but decent one (more beginner stuff), the other is a really old-school shop absolutely rammed with all sorts of interesting stuff (Aremus Sounds). Well worth a look. Best local one is Intersound in Dursley - has some nice guitars and the guys who own it are really friendly. The one nearest to me is World Guitars which is brilliant, but not really somewhere to pop in for strings and plectrums!
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  • SlopeSoarerSlopeSoarer Frets: 782
    Toms_Dad said:
    In Bolton we have HW Audio, from whom I have bought before and who also run an excellent repair service for amps. We also have Rimmer’s, a chain of shops round Lancashire. I bought my last guitar and amp there. The latter have been busy expanding their guitar section to include some new new big brands. Both have helpful and friendly staff.
    Only a small selection but there is also Booths Music in Bolton
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  • LuttiSLuttiS Frets: 2243
    I live in Colwyn Bay (that's North Wales to everyone else ;) ) - not a large town but has two guitar shops, one that's been there for years and another that only opened last year. 

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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14032
    tFB Trader
    Dainty said:
    I have a guitar shop that specialise in quality acoustic guitars. The Fender, Marshall, Gibson dealerships are no longer possible to maintain and offer ZERO margin. I sell Martin, Larrivee, Guild USA, Furch, Lakewood and many other quality brands that don’t support the trash from China that all the big manufacturers  make us take. Not taking anything away from the big brands but the Far East soulless cheap range is just not what this is about! Thanks for reading.

    www.treeoflifeguitars.co.uk

    Dainty 
    As a fellow independent, I agree that some specialization is required, to attract a wider audience than just that on your door step

    Nice with acoustic guitars that you are not dependent on the Fender/Gibson dealership and can support the Martin dealership with quality 'boutique' models - Good luck
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14032
    tFB Trader
    Surprised how many of you are near a good store like GG, Peach, Andertons etc etc

    I'm surprised we have not had more replies along the lines that I live in Harrogate, Yeovil, Hunslet or Kilmarnock etc etc and we have no guitar/music shop now - Our last shop closed 12 months ago 

    Even many of the old traditional family orientated stores, that are far more general stockists, have now closed - The shop that had a selection of brass + woodwind along side guitars etc - Some of the big names in the past like McCormacks in Glasgow, Kitchens in Leeds, Eddie Moors in Bournemouth, Greenall's Exeter etc have closed down long ago
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  • JAYJOJAYJO Frets: 1526
    Alnico said:
    Liverpool.

    We've got Dawsons in the city centre which is quite a cool shop and the staff are great.
    We've also got Curly Music / Pro Tone who sell used gear and they're great too, I've known them since my teens in the 80's.
    I think Rimmer Music is still open but I honestly don't know, I don't think I've ever been in there. As far as I remember it's on West Derby Road on the way into Tuebrook, which is nowhere near the city centre.

    There's Harmonics Music in Crosby, roughly 7 miles north of the City and then I think the next closest is Sound Affects in Ormskirk, which is about 45 minutes drive from here and they are excellent.

    There may or may not be a Music shop in Southport, I don't know.
    I haven't been there since the 90's.
    There was a Rimmer Music shop n Southport but i dont think ive been there for about 10 years. It was on the bridge opposite the station by the Motorbike shop not far from harveys i think lol my memory has had its day.
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  • JonathangusJonathangus Frets: 4436
    sev112 said:
    Reading we have Dawson’s and Hickies  - pretty much corporate 
    Lost Amen Corner last month (owner died :( )
    Apex music - nice non- corporate, some interesting used electric stock, and range of acoustics,  also drums, and other bits and pieces including amps 


    Is Hickie's corporate?  They're an independent that's been there since 1864!  Their main thing is pianos, though.

    For a brief while there was Guitarworks in the town centre.  And there was Hamer's on the Oxford Road, although they closed years ago.
    Trading feedback | How to embed images using Imgur

    As for "when am I ready?"  You'll never be ready.  It works in reverse, you become ready by doing it.  - pmbomb


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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    edited July 2019
    I live in Stopsley ...
    That's where I live as well! (actually slightly outside technically speaking) Best bit of Luton. Let's face it, there are plenty of bad bits
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  • StefBStefB Frets: 2331
    edited July 2019
    I live in Kendal, Cumbria, a town with a population of around 30,000, and the most recent music shop (Mad Monks) closed 3 or 4 years ago through lack of use. 

    Prior to that there was The Sound of Music, which was terrible.  In fact most of the stock was that shit that it was affectionately known locally as The Smell of Music.  The odd other independent operated from the '70s to '90s, but the nearest decent shop now is Promenade Music in Morecambe, a 30 minute drive away.  Quite well stocked with the usual brands, but nothing wow factor.
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  • AlnicoAlnico Frets: 4616
    JAYJO said:
    Alnico said:
    Liverpool.

    We've got Dawsons in the city centre which is quite a cool shop and the staff are great.
    We've also got Curly Music / Pro Tone who sell used gear and they're great too, I've known them since my teens in the 80's.
    I think Rimmer Music is still open but I honestly don't know, I don't think I've ever been in there. As far as I remember it's on West Derby Road on the way into Tuebrook, which is nowhere near the city centre.

    There's Harmonics Music in Crosby, roughly 7 miles north of the City and then I think the next closest is Sound Affects in Ormskirk, which is about 45 minutes drive from here and they are excellent.

    There may or may not be a Music shop in Southport, I don't know.
    I haven't been there since the 90's.
    There was a Rimmer Music shop n Southport but i dont think ive been there for about 10 years. It was on the bridge opposite the station by the Motorbike shop not far from harveys i think lol my memory has had its day.
    It was.
    It might still be there, I've no idea.
    Used to be next door to the Harley Davidson Dealer, almost opposite Southport Superbikes.
    I remember it and the black/maple Strat they had in the window seemingly permanently.

    'Frets old and New' is still very sorely missed around here.
    THAT place was an institution.
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  • I live in Sunderland. There are no shops that stock new guitars. However, there is one shop that buys and sells 2nd hand guitars/basses/amps. He's really more a guitar tech than a salesman to be honest, I suspect the majority of his income is from repairs, set-ups and modifications as he's the "go to" guy for all the gigging musos in the area. Visit on a Monday evening and there'll generally be a stack of battle-scarred guitars/basses queueing up to be fixed after being wounded on the weekend gigging circuit!

    He does get some weird and wonderful things for sale though. He often picks up obscure, battered old obscure 70s/80s guitars and basses at auctions and car boot sales and then fixes them and gives them a new lease of life. Harry Seven would be in his element!

    I think his survival has come down to combining forces and sharing the premises with his mate Willy's Drum Shop. He does basically the exact same sort of thing with drums.

    https://www.facebook.com/Riff-Raff-Guitars-Sunderland-995023967190730/?ti=as
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71957
    gringopig said:
    In Edinburgh there used to be:

    Gordon Simpson's
    Sound Control
    Scayles
    Live Music
    Varsity Music
    Rikki's Music 
    Grant's
    Monkey Business

    and probably others I have forgotten
    Rainbow Music, Mev Taylor's - which was last seen sharing a shop with Drum Central - and going back a long way, Axis Guitars and before that Mel's Music. And Guitarville in Portobello, briefly.

    Guitar Guitar is good, but it's still a bit shocking that it and Scayles are really the only proper guitar shops left in a capital city of over half a million people. Varsity Music doesn't really count, and I'm surprised Rikki's is still (barely) there...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • BeardyAndyBeardyAndy Frets: 716
    We've got a couple in Southampton but surprisingly few given the catchment, if you want to compare a good range of guitars or amps in 1 store you've really got to drive all the way to Guildford or Brighton.
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  • zepp76zepp76 Frets: 2534
    We've got a couple in Southampton but surprisingly few given the catchment, if you want to compare a good range of guitars or amps in 1 store you've really got to drive all the way to Guildford or Brighton.
    I live in Southampton too, is Frets in Shirley still going? I haven't been up there for years! I mainly use the guitar store down by the train station or a trip out to PMT in Portsmouth could be on the cards.
    Tomorrow will be a good day.
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  • ChuckManualChuckManual Frets: 692
    merlin said:
    I live in Brighton and there is a plethora (but never enough) music instruments shops here...

    GAK
    Brighton Guitars
    Mudpie Music
    Badlands Guitars
    Hobgoblin
    The Acoustic Music Co

    to name a few ....  

    I love Mudpie. It has (and has always had) the most eclectic stock of any guitar shop within 50 miles of me.
    Not much of the gear, even less idea.
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