Looking for Great Independent Music Stores

[bassknowledge]

Hey All, I travel extensively for work and I am always on the hunt for new music stores to visit while on the road. This summer and through the fall I will be traveling well over 10K miles (in a big white van) and would appreciate any and all of your recommendations. My journey will take me from Northern California through the Northwest over to Mid-west down the Eastern coast into Florida and then back through the Southern route back to California.

I especially love swap and consignment shops and also those out of the way shops that are owned by people who love instruments and musicians. I am a player and collector and always on the hunt so point me to your favorite shops. Please include name of the store, website, and any other pertinent info.

I will start it off with a couple of great shops here in Nor Cal. The first is Guitar Showcase in San Jose. An awesome shop with an amazing vintage collection, and well run swap shop.

http://www.guitarshowcase.com/

The other one is Subway Guitars in Berkeley. This place is a Berkeley legend and run by the amazing Fatdog, the owner. They have a great collection. Be warned, this is a quirky place but very very cool. Website is terrible but it does have the address.

http://www.fatdawg.com/

Look forward to hearing from you.

Michael

[Marginal Tom]

When you reach the Midwest, try Guitars to the Stars in Collinsville, IL, about 10 miles east of St. Louis. It's all vintage guitars and basses (mostly guitars), but he has a stage set up so you can try anything that catches your eye.

[bongomania]

In your area, check out 101 Records in North Beach. They have two locations--one is all CD's and crap, the other is all musical instruments, tchotchkes, memorabilia, and a basement full of vinyl LP's.

[Phalex]

Elderly Instruments in Lansing MI.

[Nedmundo]

This thread could turn into a cool national registry of great music shops, so I'll play. My favorites in the Philly area are:

1. Bass Specialties in Bensalem, PA, www.bassspecialties.com. Glenn is great, and has one of the best bass selections you'll find anywhere, period.

2. West Chester Music in West Chester, PA, www.westchestermusicstore.com. For a guitar-centric shop, the bass selection is excellent, and they're cool guys.

3. New Jersey Guitar and Bass Center in Edison, NJ (a few minutes off Exit 10 NJT), www.newjerseyguitarandbasscenter.com. Jay has loads of interesting stuff, including lots of good used basses.

4. Middletown Music in Middletown, DE, www.middletownmusic.com. It's mostly Fender and Music Man, or at least it was last time I stopped by, but they have a good selection.

5. If you're in Philly proper, try Cintioli's in Northeast Philly, which is a wild place with all the instruments hanging down from hooks attached to the ceiling. They regularly have unusual models you won't easily find elsewhere. Totally old school Philly. www.cintiolimusiconline.com

6. Also in Philly is Bluebond Guitars on 4th between Lombard and South. It's mostly used/consignment, and sometimes they have great instruments. I saw a '66 P in there once, and 1970's Fenders and Rics aren't unusual.

7. In the Fishtown neighborhood (of Rocky fame), you'll find DiPinto Guitars' company shop, which often has interesting used basses like old Gibsons. The DiPinto models are great, and because it's the company shop you can find one-off custom models. Very cool. www.dipintoguitars.com

[Against Will]

For MD/DC,

Atomic Music outside of DC in Rockville or Beltsville, MD is a great resource for used, vintage and unique basses, guitars, drums, keys and effects. The Beltsville location is the better of the two IMO, its one big room packed full of amps and guitars. The bass selection is more modest but still pretty good. The repair department is also top notch, I had my Grabber's neck shimmed. They had it done within a week and cost about $60, not bad for good work. A lot of my friends who play music shop and get their stuff fixed at Atomic.

Outside of Baltimore, you have two Guitar Centers, which are fine, but IME the staff tends to be a little pushy. A better alternative would be Bill's Music House in Catonsville. They have a very good selection of new and used instruments across the board. The bass selection tends to be dominated by Fenders, but you can usually find some interesting used stuff. The staff is pleasant and helpful and the prices are pretty good, even by GC standards. The repair department is also very good, one nice touch that I liked is that they'll send you an e-mail notification when your stuff is ready to pickup.

[whitedk57]

Grandma's in Albuquerque...

http://www.grandmas.com/


Strings In Bristol VA


"Strings" is not a big store by any stretch, but I was treated very nicely even though I was just looking around. They carry Lindy Fralin and Lane Poor, so that can't be bad.

[bassknowledge]

Wow, thanks to all for posting these great stores. Can't wait to stop by and tell em that TalkBass sent me. Keep em coming.

[251]

Originally Posted by bassknowledge

Hey All, I travel extensively for work and I am always on the hunt for new music stores to visit while on the road.

<snip>

Look forward to hearing from you.

Michael

Mr Music on Harvard Street in the Allston/Brighton section of Boston MA

http://www.coolguitars.com/

[hdracer]

If you are in the Twin City's area you should check out these

Willies:http://www.williesguitars.com/

My Music Store: http://www.my-music-store.com/redesign/

American Guitar & Band: http://www.americanguitarandband.com/

I know that there are a few more, I will post them when I think of them.

[Bob C]

I second Willie's in St Paul, MN. Friendly, knowledgeable staff. Some vintage guitars and some higher end bass amps that GC might not carry (Aguilar, Bag End, EA, Ashdown).

They do repairs and mods too.

[O-evetS]

The Great Great House of Guitars in Rochester,NY. If you are a collector you'll crap yer pants. www.houseofguitars.com

[Pilgrim]

Spotlight Music at Harmony & College avenues in Fort Collins, CO 60 miles north of Denver.

Great people, big store with lots of inventory. Well worth the stop.

http://www.spotlightmusicstore.com/

[CaptainWampum]

If you're in Seattle, the places to check out are Trading Musician and Bass Northwest. Great stores. Trading Musician generally has an incredible effects pedal selection.

Here are the sites.

http://tradingmusician.com/

http://bassnw.com/

[TheBasicBassist]

Mandolin Brothers in Staten Island, New York. George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Paul Simon, among others have all purchased (vintage) gear from there.

[Joe Gress]

Wax Trax in Denver is pretty neat. http://www.waxtraxrecords.com/ It's divided up into two stores, Wax Trax 1 and Wax Trax 2. 1 is all cd's, and 2 is all Vinyl. They are about half a block from each other as there are other stores between them.

[dalkowski]

Originally Posted by 251

Mr Music on Harvard Street in the Allston/Brighton section of Boston MA

http://www.coolguitars.com/

+1 on Mr. Music. Bought all but one of my basses there. My old stomping grounds. While you're there, hit Steve's Kitchen (2 doors to the left) for good, cheap breakfast.

Cambridge Music in Porter Square, too.

[skwee]

Willie's American Guitars in St. Paul;
http://www.williesguitars.com/

I didn't end up buying my bass there (prices were a little steep), but the staff was knowledgeable (really quite helpful for MN), the place was quiet enough to try some things out, and their acoustic guitar room has some really amazing vintage gems.

[Unrepresented]

I dug The Starving Musician last time I was in Berkeley, and plan to hit it up next time I'm up there, mostly for their effects pedal selection.

[LowDown Hal]

Originally Posted by Phalex

Elderly Instruments in Lansing MI.

Also in Michigan is Motor City Guitars, in the NW suburbs of Detroit.
http://www.motorcityguitar.com/index.php