I'll be there in a couple of days. Which shops should I see?

Denmark Street!!!!!!!!!

Up from Shaftsbury Avenue.

I was there a couple of weeks ago.

Guitar heaven.

There's at least 7 shops in the one street.

I think it used to be the center of music things (agents/publishers) in the swinging 60's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-09 10:08 by GravityBoy.

what kind of guitar are we talking about in this guitar-heaven on Denmark street.

Real vintage-guitars made in the 50ies, or replica?

2 1 2 0

Don't expect to find any bargains...

Here are a couple of recent threads from the Les Paul Forum which might be of interest:


LPF Denmark Street

LPF London

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Come On
what kind of guitar are we talking about in this guitar-heaven on Denmark street.

Real vintage-guitars made in the 50ies, or replica?

real.

really real.

edit
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some of them



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-09 11:40 by GravityBoy.

Yep, Tin Pan Alley (Denmark Street) is the place to go - be sure to check out Regent Sounds......where the Stones recorded their first album, but you knew that already....

There are two that stick out for vintage guitars. If you come off of Charing Cross Road, one is half way up on the right, green and yellow frontage, with sign that reads 'vintage and rare guitars'. It's great, like someones lounge that just happens to have guitars sprawled all over the place...

The other one is opposite, at 27 Denmark St, yellow and red, loads of great guitars in the street level and down in the basement.

Have fun!

_____________________________________________________

What's your favourite flavour?...........Cherry Red!!

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Manofwealthandtaste
be sure to check out Regent Sounds......where the Stones recorded their first album, but you knew that already....

Oh.. I went in there and didn't realise!

In fact I hit on Denmark Street by accidental wandering thinking "guitar shops, this is great", I had no idea of the history of the place.

Then I saw an Elton John documentary last week and it mentioned Dick James Music in Denmark Street and the penny dropped.

Tin Pan Alley indeed!

Anyway I have a happy feeling that I went in the place where the Stones made their first album.

Thanks!

The very best in my opinion is Chandler's Guitars at Kew (catch the District line to Kew Gardens station). Just up the road from Richmond (Station Hotel, Crawdaddy Club etc) and not too far from Eel Pie Island. Its where I get all my guitars serviced.

Do you plan on buying? If so be very wary of any of the gear in the Music Ground/Richard Harrison owned stores which is most of the stores on Denmark Street.

They are known for faking vintage amps, guitars, effects pedals etc etc. They have very recently pled guilty to knowingly handling and selling stolen guitars worth £170,000.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-09 16:51 by His Majesty.

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GravityBoy


Anyway I have a happy feeling that I went in the place where the Stones made their first album.

Thanks!

The studio was below where the guitar shop is. Where the studio was is now a nightclub or something, also used to be Helter Skelter book store.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-09 17:22 by His Majesty.

Thanks all!

You will find that London is not the best place to shop for vintage instruments. The Gibsons and Fenders and Martins are well marked up possibly due to their "import" status in that county. Shopping the little towns in the North Eastern US , near the old Gibson Kalamazoo, MI factory has always been rewarding for me.

That being said, you never know when a guitar will pick YOU out as it's new owner. They have minds of their own as you probably know. heh peace

You can look but you better not buy in Denmark Street.

All shops overpriced!

Yeah, that's what I was thinking when I was there in '09.

Without question, the ones on Denmark street. A few of them have high end stuff. I did not see any 58 - 59 Les Paul Sunbursts or 56 - 62 Stratocasters when I was there but they have had them over the years. If you want real deal vintage instruments and equipment, there's nothing better in all of Europe that I've seen. Get ready to PAY!

Agree there was lots of nice gear when I looked but price-wise they didn't seem competitive with reputable U.S. stores/online sellers like Gruhn, Rumble seat et. al.

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andrewm
Agree there was lots of nice gear when I looked but price-wise they didn't seem competitive with reputable U.S. stores/online sellers like Gruhn, Rumble seat et. al.

It's going to be very difficult for anyone to beat Gruhn on inventory selection or price. The Hollywood California (dare I utter the name) Guitar Center store being the exception. The chain is just so big AND with the vintage department headquartered in Los Angeles, they get tremendous volume of stuff for trade-ins.

One thing you have to remember with this subject is import and tax fee's. By the time you add in the VAT, Import and Carpet taxes a guitar from the US may actually cost MORE than just buying on Denmark street. Remember, I said may actually cost more.

I don't plan on buying in London. I am two blocks from Emerald City Guitars in Seattle, and I buy a lot of stuff there (just got a '66 Vox Wyman Bass), but as I have never looked for instruments in London I thought it might be fun to do some window shopping.

elderly.com and davessguitars.com have loads of cool things on line to ogle

Dear Tele71,

Denmark Street is a pretty unremarkable street in terms of looks.

Old Dirty London Street tucked away off Charing Cross Road / Shaftsbury Avenue.

I didn't realise it's history until weeks after I had been there.

Tele, if you ever get the 872 miles down the coast to Santa Cruz, check out Sylvan Music right on Hwy 1 . The place is relatively unknown but they have a vintage room that always blows me away, 60's Gibson SG's and Fender Tele's and Strats , 50's Gibson semi-hollow bodies a boatload of superb Martin acoustics. The guy is expert at re-setting the necks of old Martins and has a great inventory of VERY playable instruments. Of course lots of the boutique top end acoustics like Santa Cruz, Larrivee and my personal favorite Goodall. Fender Champ and other black face and tweed vintage amps too. Whoo Hoo!

Just playing anything in that vintage room sets up such great sympathetic vibrations in everything hangin' on the wall it's worth the trip. peace

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Naturalust
Tele, if you ever get the 872 miles down the coast to Santa Cruz, check out Sylvan Music right on Hwy 1 . The place is relatively unknown but they have a vintage room that always blows me away, 60's Gibson SG's and Fender Tele's and Strats , 50's Gibson semi-hollow bodies a boatload of superb Martin acoustics. The guy is expert at re-setting the necks of old Martins and has a great inventory of VERY playable instruments. Of course lots of the boutique top end acoustics like Santa Cruz, Larrivee and my personal favorite Goodall. Fender Champ and other black face and tweed vintage amps too. Whoo Hoo!

Just playing anything in that vintage room sets up such great sympathetic vibrations in everything hangin' on the wall it's worth the trip. peace

Sounds great, Naturalust. Hopefully I can check it out sometime.

Right on Tele, have a great time in London

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Well I bought a red Gibson 355 1967 original (without Bigsby, original tremolo) at Angel Music in Denmark St the night of the 25th of august 2007. The day before the last show. Got IMHO a great deal and I had been looking for it for nine years.

The man selling it to me was Andy, great guy!

Recommended but yeah, the prices are way more expensive than U.S (been to L.A, Chicago and Nashville exclusively for vintage) and here in Sweden.

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MadMax
Well I bought a red Gibson 355 1967 original (without Bigsby, original tremolo) .

Very nice Max, is it a single dot inlay on the neck fret markers? just curious. Those guitars are going for over $10,000 last I checked. peace

No it's a 355 mate! Meaning block inlays, the same Keith uses but red and with the old tremolo/vibrato left, not a Bigsby. I prefer the 355's before the 335's, the more the better when it comes to 50's and 60's Gibsons!!!

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MadMax
No it's a 355 mate! Meaning block inlays, the same Keith uses but red and with the old tremolo/vibrato left, not a Bigsby. I prefer the 355's before the 335's, the more the better when it comes to 50's and 60's Gibsons!!!

Nice. Have to get me one of those big semi-hollow body Gibson electrics one of these days. In the meantime my Gibson Dept. consists of a '57 LP Jr., a '61 2-pickup Melody Maker, a '63 SG Special (Pete Townshend type), a '64 Country & Western and a '71 J 160E.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-10 05:38 by 71Tele.

Nice one Tele71! Quite an impressive Gibson collection you got there! I only got my 355 and like you a LP Junior, original 1957 sunburst single cut, both in great condition.

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CBII

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andrewm
Agree there was lots of nice gear when I looked but price-wise they didn't seem competitive with reputable U.S. stores/online sellers like Gruhn, Rumble seat et. al.

It's going to be very difficult for anyone to beat Gruhn on inventory selection or price. The Hollywood California (dare I utter the name) Guitar Center store being the exception. The chain is just so big AND with the vintage department headquartered in Los Angeles, they get tremendous volume of stuff for trade-ins.

One thing you have to remember with this subject is import and tax fee's. By the time you add in the VAT, Import and Carpet taxes a guitar from the US may actually cost MORE than just buying on Denmark street. Remember, I said may actually cost more.

True. Every one seems to forget to add the taxes. In fact, if you import a US guitar in Europe the price in the end will the same in Euro as in USD. That means 1:1 USD:Euro.