Tin Pan Alley aka Denmark street

IceCreamMan

so I was in London recently and went along to Denmark street which was known as Tin pan alley b ack in the day. Lots of rich musical history there and all the british muso's who were anyone would of hung out there in the early days but I digress.

I went specifically to check out guitars and specifically left handed guitars as pickings are generally slim for lefties in ZA. Well, I did get to walk around and check all things musical and I have to say that its cool to have a number of shops all close together so its easy to go from one to another without schlepping distances. I saw some lovely left handed guitars but prices were high for us rand bearing aspirational guitarists so ended up buying nothing. Did see a lovely left 57 reissue strat but was a lil dear so left it behind. Prices in the UK are not better than here, in fact our pricing is probably cheaper but there is more choice there. each shop there probably has a list of collectors that they approach before putting it on general display so the stuff that gets to the shop is essentially run of the mill kind of stuff.

Ultimately Denmark street is probably not worth it if you going shopping but if you enjoy the history of it etc its a lekker visit. However with all the construction going on around it its possible it wont be there forever.

Squonk

Didn't do that much for me other than the History. Just to think that The Stones and The Kinks etc walked down that street.

Didn't have much cash when I was there but got a complimentary plectrum from Hanks Acoustics! ?

Couple of better shops that I went to were Andertons in Guildford and Guitar Village in Farnham!

Shibbibilybob

Denmark street used to be awesome 10 years ago.
I did a gap year in London in 2005 and spent a long time on that street (I even worked at Soho Soundhouse/ Turnkey Music which was a block away).

Back then there used to be a Virgin megastore at Tottenham Court Road tube station, and under that was a giant instrument store but I don't recall the name.

This shop used to have upwards of 30 Gibsons, 30 Fenders and 30 PRSs at any given time. Not much in terms of high end guitars of other brands, though usually they had a few Gretschs, several Schecters and so on.

They were also a Roland agent and had everything Roland that you can imagine.

I dunno if it's now closed, but there used to be a shop that dealt exclusively in left handed guitars.

Vintage and Rare always had a great treat (including one all maple custom shop strat that was made for Nigel Pulsford of Bush...I came within seconds of buying it, but the certificate of authenticity was at the Bath store, so I decided to come back when it was in London...guitar sold that afternoon).

Man, Denmark street used to be a great place to buy gear and just to visit.

IceCreamMan

the whole Tottenham court road tube station area is under construction and the construction extends to pretty much the corner of Denmark street as well. I cannot recall seeing the Virgin mega store but there is the old HMV down the road on oxford road although not as huge as it was in the 80's. Def no only left handed guitar shop.

The beauty of Denmark street was the history and like a kid one could go with high expectations in the old days, these days not so much sadly, the allure these days is in the history of the place, not really the music shops. If you out for a bargain you will be sorely disappointed. I guess that's progress as sad as it is.

Did listen to some music at St Giles just down the way and had a coffee there too. that was cool

IceCreamMan

I live in Guildford now and am a regular at andertons although I don’t spend much the guys are warm and friendly. The sound booths are awesome and all space is cleverly utilized. Great store and great selection of gear although not too much lefty guitars but they can get they always tell me.

V8

IceCreamMan That's where you ended up! Wouldn't mind popping into Anderton's me'self - mainly for the vibe (and to get SR300 bass at 1/3 of the local cost :face_with_rolling_eyes: ). I like that they also do a fair bit of nd hand gear, some cool stuff floating around?

IceCreamMan

V8 space is at a premium in uk especially in towns like Guildford where store rentals must be high so they have to use space wisely and andertons certainly do that. The sound booths are small but cleverly done and there are 4or 5 of them. When I first went in I was surprised how small the store actually is but it’s damn cleverly laid out and incredibly popular place. Must be around 10 staff guys always walking round always jovial and they know their stuff. As there is a music academy close by the store is always busy.
There is second hand stuff, picked up a tangle wood strat for 40 pounds which I used as interim til my stuff got here and off loaded it again. Andertons also supports local music an I met Gus g at one of their evenings.
Andertons also have an awesome range of Gibson guitars, dayum when I was there the other day they had a Gibson for around 8000 pounds, I was too scared to touch it ?

Gumtree and eBay one can find anything and everything here. Someone, somewhere is selling exactly what you need no matter how obscure.

If there is ever anything you ous want me to check out there just let me know. Happy to go look, really like the place so will be there often just to look. To date I have spent very little there but the welcome is always awesome.

V8

IceCreamMan Gumtree and eBay one can find anything and everything here. Someone, somewhere is selling exactly what you need no matter how obscure

Shipping is cheap and the selection is huge...I'd be jealous, but I think I've overcome the GAS bug....for now anyways! ?

IceCreamMan If there is ever anything you ous want me to check out there just let me know. Happy to go look, really like the place so will be there often just to look.

Cool thanks ICM! I might just take you up on that - it would have to be fairly special to get me to poke ya. I've a few mates scattered around those isles, one or two even play guitar! But I've yet to abuse the privilege of their kindness. I generally try the local is lekker route, so many local fellows doing cool stuff.