Keira-WitherKay heya all...... thanks to Bob mentioning it in a post i heard about this store ....and i was in the cresta area and actually had time between appointments...so i called Bob on friday morning and asked directions to the music store All bang and strummit...( i apologise if i mispelt the name) but it was an absolute treat ......... it's situated just behind the cresta shopping centre... well about 1km from it ........ but thanks to good directions i found this tiny shop , almost hidden away on a back street .... right let me say if you looking for your new gear and top end shred machine .... give em a miss.... but if you like me and like the exotic and even more off centre instruments and most importantly old instruments ...they the place to visit.........they specialise in second hand and vintage instruments....... and run by 2 english gents i only got to speak to the one who was friendly and not pushy, and plays a mean slide on a dobro he had there .......... but he said the shop is kind of a hobby and when the instruments got too much for his lounge his wife forced him to find alternate premises heheheheh .... and he has a great collection including a 50's jazz guitar which looks gorgeous and an original 60's fender ... now it's either a jaguar or a jazz master ......... afraid he showed it to me ..as it was in a case tucked away but i did not pay much attention you know me an electrics............. but he said it's a collectors item and off to the UK shortly the current price tag is R60 000 which he says he'll never get here for it.......... but the shop unfortunately had no nylons barre one which was a cheapie but he did say a 2nd hand ramirez had passed through there a while back......... it's a tiny shop definitely for the more eccentric guitarists........ and the vibe was pleasant and i found the guy ( i do forget his name) but he was knowledgeable about what he had......... and not shy to show the short cominging on some of his 2nd hand gear...i saw an ibanez LP studio(the one with all the knobs and switch's on the guitar) copy and he straight away said the neck had been broken and if that guitar falls one more time it'll prob break again...and he says it's basically good for a movie prop hehheheh but i enjoyed the honesty ...which is so inverse to most other music stores........ so yeah i walked out without buying anything. but i left him my card to ring me when any classical/flamenco guitars came in that were interesting......... so if you like me been in jhb for almost 2 yrs and this is my very 1st visit to this store ......... go check it out and yeah these little independant stores are fabulous and quaint , and who knows maybe someones dream instrument is lying in this store ......... JUST LET ME ADD....... I'M NOT AFFILIATED WITH OR IN ANY WAY TRYING TO PROMOTE THIS STORE .... JUST SHARING THE GEM I FOUND....... THANKS TO BOB..... peace and light keira ps anyone know of any other great stores tucked away in suburbs in jhb .......... please msg me or let me know........ i love trawling for 2nd hand instruments.......
Riaan Hey Keira how about posting the GPS coordinates for this shop...that's the only way I'll ever get there, next time I'm in Jhb...I have to pull out the peripheral brain when I'm driving there... ? Sounds like the kind of place I could spend hours in!
Bob-Dubery The shop is Allbang & Strumit. The proprietor is Ronnie Milne. He is occasionally helped out by Neil Fox who some of you may remember from TOMS or from Acme Music. Neil is also a drummer and so I suppose it's possible that some of the more ....ah.... mature members of the forum may have played with him. They're in Darrenwood Center, which is in Republic road just before the name changes to 3rd Avenue. They offer drum tuition as well.
singemonkey X-rated Bob wrote Ronnie is a drummer turned slide guitarist, so he's always keen to chew bottle neck fat. Mmmm.... bottle neck fat... *drools*
