Guitar Nerds Anonymous

Heck yeah. I'm still SE1.

Ah that was going to be my question! Thanks for the offer, logistics might be a pain though as I’m rarely in London any more. Up on the 9th but no idea when again after.
Never used much verb on guitars actually but loving the trashy space echo spring!

I propose a pedal swap meet. With Beer. At Scooter Caffe. Soon.

I'm no expert but a mate from uni is making a living as a luthier now and I recently asked where I should take ~£600 for an acoustic guitar and he said the brands coming out of the Godin factory are a good bet: Simon and Patrick, Seagull etc. I'd love to get him to build me one but I daren't even ask...

http://www.swannellguitars.co.uk/about.html

My mate Lucy has a Simon & Patrick dreadnought which sounds great. Very warm, tonnes of bass. Not much in the way of poke. Nice strummer. I've played some nice Seagull stuff too although that headstock is a deal-breaker for me!

I still can't get on with my Guild M120 something about the feel and sound just never clicked for me. I'd sell it except that I've ruined the resale value by sanding back the finish. At the moment it lives in a folky open tuning. Might try some monster strings on it to compensate for the super-flappy open Bb tuning.

I've heard this too, some great stuff coming out of canada.

I bought an early 80s japan made Takamine a couple of years ago for a good price from ebay, some nice aged solid wood, plays lovely. I think it might be a Taylor/Martin lawsuit thing (?) but its worn in beautifully, and is the same age as me!

I'm looking at all sorts of lovely guitars at the moment, then having to stop and remind myself that I'm a bloody awful player with a long track record of not playing enough or taking it seriously enough to improve. I've played for 20+ years and there are 10 year old kids better than me.

I walked through Denmark Street this morning after a meeting and gawped at the 60's vintage Strats. I'd have to sell a kidney but it might just be worth it.

I walked through Denmark Street this morning

Is Andys still there these days ?
I had some great repairs done there.

I think its gone.

I did a week's work experience in Andy's when I was about 14. 'Moved to London' for the week, from school in Bedford, to stay with my brother and hang around guitar shops all day, being given a huge list of random tasks on Denmark St and beyond. It was excellent. #csb

csb indeed - what decade was this ?

Oh, only 2006 or so.

Felt like the shop, and the street, was still relevant then, but I guess it was only a matter of time before online markets took their toll. I wish I'd have been a little older and more adventurous, because I bet there were a whole host of incredible stories from the people I met.

it was only a matter of time before online markets took their toll

and the rents probably.

Very true.

For all of the wonderful instruments they had, I don't remember selling a single guitar in that week either.

I used to go there when I was a teenager down to London for the day, and gawp at everything on sale. It's radically different now, and this was only ~20 years ago. If you go now Crossrail has basically knocked down everything from the back of the shops to Centre Point. Lots of the shops on the street are now cafes and other things like that. There's a really glossy, airy new guitar shop at one end that looks like it's been done to fulfil some "cultural significance" planning criteria or something. There's maybe three or four old guitar shops left. It's a real shame. I've known London for a while and seen a few places change quite a lot, but Denmark Street will be completely gone soon after Crossrail fully opens I think.

I think even then a lot of it was an illusion - multiple shops owned/run by the same people and used prices aimed at collectors over players.
I liked Rock Stop just round the corner on Charing Cross road though - some interesting stuff, sensible prices and willing to do a deal on new bits.

Fair. Probably true.

So... 50s and 60s Fenders are insane money, but 70s seem much, much less so. For obvious reasons including lower quality and higher production. But is there something around a few grand that would make a sound investment but also be fun to have around in the meantime? Just asking for a friend...

Not that Mrs Sparky would ever let me do something so stupid.

Oh absolutely. There was definitely an element of 'keeping up with the Joneses' and the competitiveness between the shops seem to far outweigh the regard for the customer. I was explicitly asked to trawl round all of the other shops on the street to make sure Andy's prices were the 'best' on set models of guitar, despite the figures in question obviously still being far higher than anywhere else.

Any famous customers while you were there?

Still love going to Denmark Street tho. I've had really good service there recently. Which is REALLY surprising.

Shaun Williamson came in to look for a guitar for his son, which was hilarious for a fan of Extras, and he was a lovely guy. And Ray Toro from My Chemical Romance stopped by briefly. I imagine there were many more (there was a studio which shared the alleyway with the shop) but as a teenage metalhead my wider knowledge was a bit lacking, so probably wouldn't have recognised as many people as I would now.

Did have an old boy in a leather jacket come in and ask if we had any 1951 Les Pauls (yes, I fell for it) and was introduced to him as a Tin Pan Alley 'legend' but never learnt his name sadly.

Niche guitar geek jokez

I think even then a lot of it was an illusion - multiple shops owned/run by the same people and used prices aimed at collectors over players.

Yes this - by the mid 1980's the whole 'tin pan alley'' thing had become a bit of a parody.
Like Camden Lock I suppose ?