Umanov claims it’s not hard maintaining a
store in New York City, and as for the big box
retailers, he commented, “Fortunately, our
longevity, reputation, and location have made
this not as big a problem as it is for some.
We figured out how to deal with the economy last year and are doing nicely.”
30th Street Guitars ( 30thstreetguitars.com)
has been serving the city since 1997. Owner
Matt Brewster grew up working in a music store
in Ossining, New York. A visit to his shop is like
walking into electric guitar heaven. Used and vintage Gibsons and Fenders are everywhere, and
there are lots of oddball electrics, too: Supros,
Danelectros, Silvertones, Harmonys, sparkle-cov-ered Italian kitsch, and ’60s Japanese “cheese,”
such as Teiscos and Kingstons. But Brewster also
builds his own Rust brand of relic’d, Fender-style
solidbodies that are extremely playable and
priced within reach of most guitarists. The bodies and necks are custom made for him, and he
does all the relic work himself.
Flying in the face of convention, Brewster
doesn’t advertise—and that includes in phone
books. When questioned why he decided to
start a guitar shop, he replies, “I started off
playing guitar and fixing guitars, but I realized I
wasn’t going to be a rock star. So after working
at Ossining Music Center for over 10 years and
spending about a year working for Brian Moore,
one of the employees there approached me
with the idea of opening a store. It’s tough to
maintain a store like this with the high rent. The
economy has impacted me, sales-wise, but it’s
actually been good for repairs. We get a lot of
international walk-in business. Brazil is a hot spot
for guitar sales. Those customers tell other people and they’ll buy from us. And because we’re
close to Madison Square Garden, we deal with
guitar techs that come in. We work with a lot
of big-name artists and I wouldn’t want to drop
names, but I will say that Eric Clapton came in
one day to try out guitars, because he knew he
could try things out and be left alone. This is a
place where everyone can be comfortable trying
out guitars, amps and pedals. It should be fun!”
Dan’s Chelsea Guitars ( chelseaguitars.com)
is located on the ground floor of the world
famous Chelsea Hotel at 220 West 23rd Street
in a store not much bigger than the average
Park Avenue walk-in closet. Packed into this
tiny space is an extremely interesting collection
of used and vintage guitars and amps of all
types, as well as oddball memorabilia, vintage
microphones, and other ephemera. The atmosphere is strictly “hole-in the-wall-dusty-chic,”
FEATURE
A vintage shot of the original location of Manny’s Music. Credit: David Deranian/Digital Arts & Sciences
