I was in Northern Virginia yesterday to meet a guy and let him try out the Darling guitar. It was one of those things where each of us drove about half the distance and Winchester, Virginia was about it, about a 3-hour run from here. A quick look around Google spotted this little shop in a strip mall not far from the highway. https://www.shenmusicstore.com/

It was a very nice day for the trip; sunny and 70°, so I got there a few minutes early and scoped it out... nice bunch working there, about like the staff at Fret Mill Music here. I introduced myself to the manager and asked if I could audition a guitar for someone there, and he said sure, it'd be fine. He'd only seen one other Alembic recently. (I gathered from the description it was a Crest bass) Not wanting to freeload on them, I bought a couple sets of strings and waited on my guy. Talked to some of the sales staff and looked at guitars.

It was fun just hanging out in a different store from the one I'm usually in, like being in the other team's locker room at halftime. With the way you you can go online and buy practically anything now, it's tough running a retail store these days. That's the game though. This place, just like ours, you can walk in, plug in a guitar and play it though... give it a full run. The sales folks play, teach, and gig on guitars, basses, drums. (I had to ask...) They can advise, actually answer a question. It's just such a different experience. And I recognize not everyone wants that... would rather just click a few buttons and pay with a code... I get it, I've done it too. But it sure is nice to see these places are still around for those of us who still like a good old-fashioned guitar store.

Anyway, if you're ever up in Northern Virginia, check out Shenandoah Music. Tell Keith I sent you.

Local music shops are great, a throwback to a different time

I love my locally-owned shop (the legendary Ax-In-Hand), even if they greatly reduced the lines they carry and got out of vintage pretty much altogether over the last 27 years.  Even closed for a few years.

Peter

I guess they were all small independent shops back in the day ... but "Park Music" in the suburbs of Minneapolis was my hang.  I was playing a Gibson Les Paul Triumph bass at the time and asked the guys there if they knew of any companies that made long scale basses with that kind of interesting approach to the electronics.  Salesman Jim Harms said "well, there's a company in California you should maybe check out". 

52 years later ... still playing Alembics.

Jimmy J

In my teens it was Steed Music in Zanesville, OH.  I recall being awed by the unbroken line of Nationals hanging just below the ceiling all the way around  the room with the cash register (it was an old house; probably that was the dining rooms.  Lessons were in the bedrooms upstairs).

Peter

I literally 'grew up' being around Fret Mill Music here in Roanoke. Ken's been in business there on the City Market since '79... actually had a business there before that at a different address, and my Ol' Man would take me down there on weekends. The store's been there for almost 50 years now though. For a short time I worked there part-time in sales... and sucked at it. These days I just do their walk-in repair work. It's just a service the store provides for customers... not a big money-making thing. They charge for my time but most of it goes to me. I like the steady supply and they get plenty of traffic.


During my weekly drop-off and pick-up trips, I get to catch up with the guys. See what's selling or sitting. Hear what their gigs are like. They help me out too by funneling a little work my way. It's just a cool little hub of activity. Always been that way. And the setting is such an icon... the building itself is a 130+ years old and has its own history on the City Market.

Although its was acoustic only, Minneapolis also had the Homestead Pickin' Parlor. It was around from about the time I arrived in the Twin Cities in 1979 or 19080 to just last year. It was THE  home of folk music in the area for many years and a place that at least once or twice a week you could go to with your instrument and find someone who wanted to play with you. Unfortunately, we all get old. The owners retired about a year ago and couldn't find anyone to take things over so now the store is but a memory. I have interesting memories about the store since over the years, I brought to the store three different people from other countries with whom I was working (Costa Rica, Armenia, and Bhutan) who spoke little English to purchase acoustic guitars that they just could not get in their home countries. In spite of the language differences, the owners made sure people got the instruments that they wanted and people had a great time trying out a dozen or more guitars before deciding what to purchase.   

The only time I've bought an instrument online was my Alembic; I figured they'd never let a dud leave the shop and I was right...I really think you should be able to try the instrument first, and acoustically; as I've said to many folks 'you can fix bad pickups, but you can't fix bad wood' if the instrument is acoustically dead, it's dead, and that is what independent local shops can help you learn and foster...I work at a instrument-forward pawnshop in Vancouver and I think this stuff is important, and I've connected many musicians with some favorite instruments...and that makes me happy...Tony

Great thread; I've enjoyed reading these posts.