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

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  • joetelejoetele Frets: 947
    I live in a tiny little town called Risca, 9 miles north of Newport. Newport itself, as far as I know, doesn't actually have any guitar shops - they're all in Cardiff now. Risca is a very small little town along the Ebbw valley which has a few little towns, but while the rest of them might have a pub, a school and a rugby club, Risca actually has a park, a nice street full of little shops and cafes etc, as well as an Aldi and Tesco just outside the main drag, and a LIDL along the high street. And amazingly, just over 5 years ago, a new guitar shop appeared just before the car park of LIDL. It's called 'Band Box'. 

    When it first started it was very much your budget stuff, cheap guitars and amps with the odd interesting preowned item. But now Pete who runs the shop is an official Boss and Fender stockist, as well as a good number of other brands, and he's actually downscaled much of the 'cheap' stuff and stocks Mexican and American Fenders, Chinese and Japanese Ibanez, the latest Boss stuff, and is expanding his range of pedals to include more brands and more boutique stuff. 

    I don't think he makes a huge killing like a bigger shop in a bigger town, but he supplements this by working as a function musician during weekends, and he's actually got quite a few famous customers/contacts - Chris Buck always comes in to stock up when passing through as he's from a village a few miles up the road (where I used to live, in fact), and they had a competition to win a rig donated by the bassist from Thin Lizzy last year. There are always guys popping in there who have travelled from far and wide, or they'll 'pop in' on their way home as it's only about 5 miles off the M4. 

    He seems to supply a lot of working musicians and does 'web price or lower' deals for his regulars like me. I'm still pinching myself that we have a really good music shop about three quarters of a mile from my house. I can walk there in about five minutes. 

    He's got a decent guitar tech too, so it's basically an ideal solution for me. I only tend to buy stuff elsewhere if he can't order it in, or it's not the kind of thing he'd stock (like some of the really obscure pedals I like). 

    So he must be doing alright with the sheer quality of stuff he's getting in now, and the deals he gives to regulars. In five years it's really transformed. 


    MUSIC: Pale Blurs
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  • Grocer_JackGrocer_Jack Frets: 258
    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

    Twickenham- so as above.

    Peter Cook’s is especially missed - great shop. 
    CCGX is 3 miles away and that covers most of my needs. If I feel like a trip (maaan) I like Mudpie in Brighton, Wunjos in town and Guitar Village isn’t far away down the M3. 
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  • WazmeisterWazmeister Frets: 9447
    Black Country

    Very few left now, and none of any real merit. A small 'beginners' kinda shop, which is really friendly, in Sedgley.
    I tend to head to Birmingham, although Coda is 'my' shop - some 3 hours away :)

    That Wazmeister Towers ought to be a shop (to quote the wife)... "as it's got enough bloody guitars and pedals in it..."
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  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14034
    tFB Trader
    Manchester and Great Manchester - Closures from over the years

     Stock and Chapman(All Saints)

    Barrats (used to have 3 locations)

     A1 music-then Academy,then Sound Control in this location.

    Highway Music (Deansgate)

    Muir Music (Chester Road)

    Sounds Acoustic(Next door to Muir)

    Swanns(Oldham Street)

    Highams Harmony House

    Renos

    Mamelok

    Mayer Harrison (Hulme)

    Nield and Hardy (Gorton and Stockport)

    Rhythm House (Stockport)

    Music Exchange (Stockport)

    Reynolds (Salford)

    Soundland (Salford-may not be correct name)

    Tony Savile

    Gary Sharpes Shop in Ancoats (I  cannot remember the name)

    North Greater Manchester--

    Rock Island (Oldham)

    Prince Music (Oldham)

    Spectrum Sound(Bury)

    Dr Rock (Bury and Rochdale)

    Tractor Sound (Rochdale)

    Shorrock and Shorrock (Rochdale)

    Accordion Shop (Rochdale)

    Guitar Player (Rochdale)

    Beats (Rochdale)

    Twangs (Rochdale).


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  • SnagsSnags Frets: 5327
    Hertford.

    There's Hertford Guitar Studio (was going to say website is a waste of time because it never changes, but it's changed!). They're more about lessons and tuition, but have a small shop front selling random guitars, amps and consumables. Also a drop off/pick up point for getting gear to techs if you don't know them directly. Seems to be run by nice people, always friendly and interested in what I might be up to/where playing etc. when I go in.

    20 minutes down the road in Harlow there's https://www.giggear.co.uk/ - they used to have a shop in Hertford, but closed it and merged it with the Harlow store, which is a big warehouse affair. Decidedly less personal service, but much larger range of stock (although often with shit strings/bad setup etc. on the wall).

    And of course 20 minutes up the road the other way is Coda.

    Used to have a shop in Ware too (next town along) but that has long since converted into a "music college" (and was originally mostly piano/keyboard rather than guitar).
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  • BlackbooksBlackbooks Frets: 26
    Essex

    PMT in Romford and Giggear in Harlow are about 20 mins away. 

    Allegro Music in Chelmsford is a general music shop but has a reasonable guitar section upstairs...again this is about 20 mins away.  
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  • KevSKevS Frets: 468
    edited July 2019
    ICBM said:
    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...
    Varsity Music..Oh!! Dear!!..

    Although do you remember the guy who was shopkeeper for "The Music Shop"..
    In Grindlay Street beside the Usher Hall..He was a bit of an erm character..
    I went in to buy strings and never actually managed to do it,
    an older guy..Really bizarre,I went in quite innocently..
    Other friends experienced similar..
    It was like. a Monty Python Surrealist shop..
    i don't know if he actually managed to sell the things..
    I remember Axis Guitar ran by Davie May..
    The same premises got taken over by someone else then closed..
    I knew the bunch at Rainbow quite well..
    A more recent closure is Imported Instruments in Ocean Terminal..

    Oh!! Bandparts near the Playhouse..
    Rainbow was near that too till it moved up The Bridges....
    I can remember a couple of others,but can't remember the names..

    I bought my First instrument from Mel's Music in 1986..
    I don't think it lasted much longer than that..
    I remember Duncanson and Edwards was almost next to it,but on the corners and they used to sell
    secondhand guitars in various states..
    Or looking around Bostons in Leith Walk..
    Most of the guitars in there were probably stolen though..
    It made Cash Covertors look like it was ran by Mary Whitehouse..

    Morag from Simpsons told me it was the tram works in Shandwick Place that shut Simpsons because the customers
    couldn't get access easily,so were going elsewhere..Apparently there had been a music shop there since the 1920s.. 

    Yeah!! That's right there was a little music shop in Musselburgh too for a while..
    Opposite the locally famous Ice Cream Cafe at the far end.. 


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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413
    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

    Twickenham- so as above.

    Peter Cook’s is especially missed - great shop. 
    CCGX is 3 miles away and that covers most of my needs. If I feel like a trip (maaan) I like Mudpie in Brighton, Wunjos in town and Guitar Village isn’t far away down the M3. 


    I use CCGX.  I've got a couple of guitars on consignment sale in there at the moment.  If the traffic is bad though, it can be 40 minutes. 

    I can get to Guitar Village, Andertons, or a couple of Guitar Guitar branches within an hour or so as well.

    It's not quite the same as having Chandler's 2 miles from home though, or Digital Village (pre dodgy administration) 5 minutes walk from my office.  Being able to try out a pedal in my lunch break was good.  Or being able to cycle to Chandlers on a Saturday and have a mooch around.

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  • BeardyAndyBeardyAndy Frets: 716
    edited July 2019
    zepp76 said:
    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.
    I've only been in Southampton 5 years but the outlaws live in Shirley and I think there was a shop up the Sainsbury's end at one point but it's not there now. I too go to the Guitar Store but not tried PMT yet, Portsmouth looks close but takes bloody ages to get to!
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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    zepp76 said:
    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.
    I've only been in Southampton 5 years but the outlaws live in Shirley and I think there was a shop up the Sainsbury's end at one point but it's not there now. I too go to the Guitar Store but not tried PMT yet, Portsmouth looks close but takes bloody ages to get to!
    If you go to Portsmouth, go to The Guitar Centre and Street Level in Southsea.
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  • newi123newi123 Frets: 850
    It would also be interesting to know; of those of us that do have a guitar shop or two left, what do we use them for?

    As others have said, we have two well established ones in Swindon. Haven`t bought from one of them for years - the other I`ve used for guitar set up work regularly, and bought a 2nd hand amp there in 2018.

    I am still guilty of buying strings from Amazon.........
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    edited July 2019
    prowla said:
    zepp76 said:
    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.
    I've only been in Southampton 5 years but the outlaws live in Shirley and I think there was a shop up the Sainsbury's end at one point but it's not there now. I too go to the Guitar Store but not tried PMT yet, Portsmouth looks close but takes bloody ages to get to!
    If you go to Portsmouth, go to The Guitar Centre and Street Level in Southsea.
    I've never heard of Street Level?  Been to Guitar Centre, bought my first electric in PJ Walker in Portsmouth when it was open.  Bought a G&L in K&S in Gosport now also gone.  chichester shop as mentioned by @fuengi I got my silverface champ in there recently.  There is another music shop in chichester which is more for woodwind etc but has guitars.

    Being on the south coast we have a decent spread although some driving required, the portsmouth ones mentioed above plus Southampton shop/s then within an hour we have andertons, absolute music, guitar village, guitar guitar, the smaller ones in reading and just about brighton.
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  • sev112sev112 Frets: 2739
    Lewy said:
    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.
    Tend to disagree on the main point,  as they did survive, and only because the owner died did his family shut it down.   Yes, they didn’t do fenders and Gibsons and had eclectic stock, yes they did start off the little johnnys, and sell strings etc.  Ok you got a duff repair, but so did lots of people on here from apparently competent “techs”.  And being old fashioned means there isn’t any money being spent on posh decorating and branding and marketing.  Please do enjoy having nonBert Weedon advice from the Saturday guy at Dawson’s ;)

    i was sorry to see it go, I spent a lot of time over the years chatting with the guys there
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  • OilCityPickupsOilCityPickups Frets: 9986
    tFB Trader
    proggy said:
    I live in the borough of Camden, so I've got Guitar Guitar Camden Town and Denmark Street.
    Living in Leyton E10 I think my closest proper guitar shop is also Guitar Guitar Camden Town! We used to have 'Holiday Music' in Leytonstone, but that went online only as 'Strings Direct' and moved out of town.
    Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
    Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups  ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message  

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  • sev112sev112 Frets: 2739
    proggy said:
    I live in the borough of Camden, so I've got Guitar Guitar Camden Town and Denmark Street.
    Living in Leyton E10 I think my closest proper guitar shop is also Guitar Guitar Camden Town! We used to have 'Holiday Music' in Leytonstone, but that went online only as 'Strings Direct' and moved out of town.
    When did Allan Gordon disappear? Last thing I got from them was 1985 though ;(

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  • jeztone2jeztone2 Frets: 2160
    edited July 2019
    Nottingham has a PMT which is usually pretty quiet.
    I bought my Helix from there & the odd pedal.

    we also have Nottingham Guitar Centre, which I am convinced is owned by a lottery winner. I cannot see how he can turn a profit. The majority of his stock seems to be sourced from that auction house in Bath. So most private sales would be way cheaper. Then the workshop has a slower turnaround than anywhere I’ve seen, so I just get on the train and go to Tim Marten in London if I need anything doing. I was quoted three weeks for a set up once. So now I don’t even go in there. 

    Hot-Rox gets a lot of my custom. 

    Music Inn, I’ve not been in it since about 1993

    The most impressive place Ive seen recently is RichTone. I went in on a Wednesday and it was really busy. Friendly and stuff was well priced. 
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  • StevepageStevepage Frets: 3038
    axisus said:
    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
    I could be moving there myself in the next few months
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  • Grocer_JackGrocer_Jack Frets: 258
    crunchman said:


    I use CCGX.  I've got a couple of guitars on consignment sale in there at the moment.  If the traffic is bad though, it can be 40 minutes. 

    I can get to Guitar Village, Andertons, or a couple of Guitar Guitar branches within an hour or so as well.

    It's not quite the same as having Chandler's 2 miles from home though, or Digital Village (pre dodgy administration) 5 minutes walk from my office.  Being able to try out a pedal in my lunch break was good.  Or being able to cycle to Chandlers on a Saturday and have a mooch around.

    Ooh which are your guitars in Charlie’s?

    i used to like Chandler’s in Kew too - until they sold a couple of guitars for me. Very poor experience. 
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  • slackerslacker Frets: 2216
    Stevepage said:
    axisus said:
    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
    I could be moving there myself in the next few months
    It's a nice area. 
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11413

    Ooh which are your guitars in Charlie’s?


    There is a PRS S2 Singlecut Satin and one of the low end Martins.  Can't see them on the website at the moment.  Don't know if they have sold or whether they have been a bit slow to get them up.
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