Pilgrimage worthy music stores.

[thebeesknees22]

I've wanted to make a trek down to pitbull audio down in San Diego. I've snooped their site for years, and they always seem to have cool stuff. I'm not sure how much of their stuff is online stock vs in store stock though.

 

[StevenC]

Is Rudy's in NYC still good? (haven't been there in more than a decade now).

If you ever make it to London, we have a whole street (Denmark Street) that's full of guitar/music stores and pretty legendary for various historic reasons and pilgrimage worthy.

Denmark Street is pretty underwhelming these days. If you're an historian, sure you'll probably see a few neat things. But there's only like 2 stores with new stock and it's all no name beginner gear. Then it takes a lot of effort to convince them to let you try anything worth trying in the vintage stores.

Gibson Garage in London is absolutely worth a visit and they'll let you play anything and through a great amp.

 

[Kaura]

Quite the opposite but stay away from F-musiikki in Vantaa if you're shopping for (Fender) guitars. They market themselves as literally the biggest music store in northern Europe (floor space wise) but last time I visited they literally had like 10 Fenders/Squiers on sale despite being the official local dealer.

 

[Crungy]

Capitol Guitars in St. Paul usually has some pretty cool Jacksons, ESPs and pointys.

Is Vig's or Twin Town any good? I've never been there. Or El Diablo.

 

[mastapimp]

A lot of the shops mentioned in this thread are full of nice gear but they're also just like going to see the internet in person. Once you've gone somewhere and seen that it really is just the stack of $6000 guitars they have listed on their web site and you cant really play any of them without looking like a tire kicker it becomes way more interesting to go into stores where you don't know what you're going to see.

So for that reason I'll say Atomic Music in Beltsville MD is the best guitar shop you could possibly go to if you've already been to a lot of guitar shops in your life. They'll have some $10K vintage pieces on the wall but they'll also have rows and rows of regular people guitars and forgotten gems, tons of amps, cases with literal piles of pedals. Its an almost exclusively used shop so the inventory is constantly cycling through. If you go once every 6 months it may seem like a completely new store.

I have family in that area and I check out Atomic music every year or two. As you mentioned with the shifting inventory, it can be hit or miss. Sometimes it's a mexican strat/tele graveyard, other times they have some cool things from the past. When I'm in the mood for something new, it's definitely not the place to go, but for used gear I have brought back a couple of gems at bargain prices. I'll add that everything is negotiable which is a refreshing throwback to the old mom & pops music stores I grew up with.

For anyone that's vacationing in Honolulu, I'll recommend Dan's Guitars. Small shop, but they had an impressive selection of high end gear last time I was in Hawaii.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Is Vig's or Twin Town any good? I've never been there. Or El Diablo.

Vig has mostly Fender/Gibson boomer stuff from what I remember, and it's a pretty small shop. El Diablo mostly carries boutique boomer stuff and it's not very big. Twin Town has a lot of Gibsons/Fenders/Guilds/Gretsch/Danelectro, but they also have some other neat stuff like a Framus Custom shop Panthera and an ibby 9 string. Out of the three Twin Town has the most stuff to look at.

 

[chipchappy]

Music Emporium in Lexington, MA is a pretty cool shop full of really nice guitars, amps, and some cool pedals. They're mainly known for their acoustics and mandolins, but their electric offering is very solid.

 

[Alberto7]

Sam Ash NY

Can't believe it's closing its doors! That's where I bought my second electric guitar ever, a 2007(6?) LTD AL-600. We were living in the Middle East at the time, and I went to NYC and Montreal on this big family vacation. I contacted Sam Ash and had one of their reps (I forget his name) hold the guitar for a couple weeks while we waited to go. Got there eventually, tried it, loved it, (at the time) and hauled it all the way across the East Coast, into Canada, back to the Middle East, and eventually to Spain where I used it to play quite a few live shows with the band I had back then. All courtesy of Sam Ash NYC being cool dudes.

 

[USMarine75]

Can't believe it's closing its doors! That's where I bought my second electric guitar ever, a 2007(6?) LTD AL-600. We were living in the Middle East at the time, and I went to NYC and Montreal on this big family vacation. I contacted Sam Ash and had one of their reps (I forget his name) hold the guitar for a couple weeks while we waited to go. Got there eventually, tried it, loved it, (at the time) and hauled it all the way across the East Coast, into Canada, back to the Middle East, and eventually to Spain where I used it to play quite a few live shows with the band I had back then. All courtesy of Sam Ash NYC being cool dudes.

Yeah I was in NYC for work and stopped by there a couple times. The staff were super nice to me and I ended up coming back and buying an amp my last day there. Sad to know it won’t be there if I went back.

 

[xwmucradiox]

Drum City Guitar Land near Denver. Most of their inventory is in the warehouse and not on display, but if you check their website first, they will pull out any gear you want to check out. Lots of custom Schecters, etc. Good guys for sure.

This is surprisingly common in the e-commerce era and with people wanting untouched new instruments. There is an EBMM dealer in Connecticut that has a ton of stuff online and seems like it would be a really cool shop. I stopped in on a road trip and it was primarily a band instrument lessons business with a few $100 guitars on the wall. I asked about an EBMM I saw on their site and the clerk said he had to call the owner first before he could show me anything.

 

[will_shred]

I wanna shout out my hometown music stores, because they all rule!

Sound Source

Bernunzios uptown music

Northfield Music

House of Guitars

 

[MFB]

Music Emporium in Lexington, MA is a pretty cool shop full of really nice guitars, amps, and some cool pedals. They're mainly known for their acoustics and mandolins, but their electric offering is very solid.

They're about 10 mins from my apartment, I'm terrified to even go in and knock something while I buy strings, since the majority of their inventory is as much - if not more - than my rent.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

I totally understand a place that doesn't have inventory space or prioritizes online sales but at least for me, having to ask or make an appt to see/ play a specific guitar, amp, pedal, etc... starts to kill my interest. Granted, I've never purchased anything super high-dollar but I dunno... many times I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for and plenty of times I've bought things that I never would've considered until getting it in my hands.

 

[xwmucradiox]

I totally understand a place that doesn't have inventory space or prioritizes online sales but at least for me, having to ask or make an appt to see/ play a specific guitar, amp, pedal, etc... starts to kill my interest. Granted, I've never purchased anything super high-dollar but I dunno... many times I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for and plenty of times I've bought things that I never would've considered until getting it in my hands.

Agree 100%

I think for some folks this is seen as concierge service and having the store to themselves is a luxury but if you're a regular person it just says "don't come here unless you're ready to make it worth our time."

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Agree 100%

I think for some folks this is seen as concierge service and having the store to themselves is a luxury but if you're a regular person it just says "don't come here unless you're ready to make it worth our time."

There used to be a little mom and pop shop where I live. I only bought one guitar there because whenever I wanted to try out something, the guy would hover around me like a bee on a flower. Not high-end instruments... mostly used and run of the mill stuff. But he always put off this vibe like he didn't want me to try stuff out... only buy. Real turn-off and maybe part of the reason there was never much traffic in there idk.

 

[DEUCE SLUICE]

I feel like CME should be on your list if you wind up near Chicago. Cream City Music if you're in WI.

Definitely CME and Cream City.

Distinctive in MKE is great too.

The Milwaukee area stealthily has some great stores. The Dave's in MKE is very nice.

You know which one is my favorite, though? The Music-Go-Round in Greenfield. This place has SO much stuff, old and new, cheap and expensive, random and oddball. I love it so much.

 

[Kyle Jordan]

Excellent. Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. I’ll post a bigger, updated list later tonight or tomorrow when I have time.

 

[soul_lip_mike]

A lot of the shops mentioned in this thread are full of nice gear but they're also just like going to see the internet in person. Once you've gone somewhere and seen that it really is just the stack of $6000 guitars they have listed on their web site and you cant really play any of them without looking like a tire kicker it becomes way more interesting to go into stores where you don't know what you're going to see.

So for that reason I'll say Atomic Music in Beltsville MD is the best guitar shop you could possibly go to if you've already been to a lot of guitar shops in your life. They'll have some $10K vintage pieces on the wall but they'll also have rows and rows of regular people guitars and forgotten gems, tons of amps, cases with literal piles of pedals. Its an almost exclusively used shop so the inventory is constantly cycling through. If you go once every 6 months it may seem like a completely new store.

Can confirm. I used to go there all the time when I was a student at UMD. I actually snagged Misha's Jackson Custom Shop bulb dinky from Atomic that he used on the recording of P2 from Atomic. I'm not sure if Misha still drops stuff there on consignment or now he just lists his stuff for insane prices on reverb.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

The Milwaukee area stealthily has some great stores. The Dave's in MKE is very nice.

You know which one is my favorite, though? The Music-Go-Round in Greenfield. This place has SO much stuff, old and new, cheap and expensive, random and oddball. I love it so much.

I miss old MGR Greenfield, back before it had the new standalone building. It's basically a sea of Squires and LTDs with everything over $1500 hanging out of reach now. It's still a cool store, and the staff are nice, but it felt like the smaller store had more screwball stuff and better deals.

I like the Kenosha location better these days. It's smaller, and a bit more out of the way, but still has those "maybe I'll find a Japanese Fernandes for $200" vibes. Since it's further from the city pricing is better and there's less foot traffic so you don't have to jump as fast on deals.

 

[Krauthammer]

Fargo, ND may be a bit out of the way, but if you are in the area for whatever reason, Flatland Guitar is an excellent store. Not the biggest store, but the inventory is absolutely stacked. All sorts of boutique pedals. The staff there are super polite and know their stuff. http://www.flatlandguitar.com/