What was your favorite music store as a kid?

Tom E

Member
Mine was The Music Nook in Milford Ma. It was run by a wonderful man named Ron Pagnini. When I was 12 (in 1966) and lusting for drums I would go in and just stare at all the shiney sparkley drums and guitars. Mr Pag never chased kids out of the store for lingering, he'd just let you wander around and look and always engaged you in a conversation about music and gear. The best part was that every year Mr Pag would give me the Ludwig, Rogers, Gretsch and Slingerland catalogs for my very own and I wore those books out. It would be many years before I actually owned a Big-4 kit (eventually all of them) but the memories of Mr Pag never left me. Decades later when Ron Jr. took over the store I made it a point to go in and buy a kit from him as a tribute to a very nice and nurturing man. Great memories!!
 
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Music Unlimited because it was right behind my house, then Discount Music Center because they carried major brands. Now MU is long shut down and DMC specializes in DJ equipment.
 
1966 I was in 5th grade and I began taking the bus to downtown San Diego to play pinball at Funland and ogle all the fine instruments at Thearle Music Co. They were big into pianos and piano lessons (hosting annual recitals at Balboa Park), but also sold orchestra instruments (trombone, violin, etc.), records (both LP and 45), Ludwig drums, and Zildjian cymbals. I never bought anything from them though; I spent all my coin on pinball.

The store photos are from c.1920 & c.1950. Before my time, but they were in the same location until they closed in 1987.

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There's no way I'm sticking to just "when I was a kid" on this thread....

When I was a kid, the nearest music shops were a 40 minute drive away; in the days before my friends or I owned a car, that was an insurmountable distance. There were three drum shops in that town: The mall shop full of beginner gear, the dusty old store with random gear marked way up (I remember $500 for a set of rototoms - in 1988); and the third was Advance Music, the actual place to go with variety, selection and knowledgeable staff.

I ended up mail ordering a fair amount of gear and buying used. The main store I purchased from was Thoroughbred Music in Florida because they had the nicest, most complete catalog.

When I joined the Army and got stationed in Monterey, I spent many an hour in Abinante Music on Alvarado Street downtown. That's where I bought my K Custom for nearly a whole month's pay. That place got bought out a long time ago and now it's junk and beginner stuff and piano music on racks.

When I got stationed at Fort Lewis near Seattle, I ended up living in Olympia where I discovered Music 6000, which was my go-to store for years; it's where I traded in a bunch of the gear I'd accumulated over the years for a new set of Yamaha Stage Customs. It's also where I bought the Z-MAC pair that was my main hi-hats for years and years, and the steel piccolo that I eventually traded for my Ludwig Standard aluminium snare. Later on I discovered Donn Bennett's and made regular pilgrimages there; it's where I bought most of the parts to finish restoring my Ludwig Standards. RIP to a legendary place.

Guitar Center started getting big and was actually decent for a while around the time I moved to California; the shops in Gilroy and San Jose were closest to me and I bought I don't know how much gear there, at least three cymbals and my Roc n Soc throne which is still going strong almost 20 years later.

I spent a couple of years in Anchorage, Alaska, where Mammoth Music was the only serious music store on the block.

My current hometown drum shop, where they treat me like family, is Avalon Music in Wenatchee, WA.
 
This is so sad. I was never in a musical instrument store until I had enough $$$ to buy myself drums at 16. We had a piano. The musical instrument store was never needed.

I would see drums in the mall. I remember a music store in one of them and just staring at this ugly brown 70s kit and thinking how cool it was just sitting there.

In NY I would visit The Only Guitar Shop quite frequently. They are out of business.

In AR I would visit Sigler Music mostly, and Ben Jack's Arkansas Music if needed. Neither place exists anymore.

So to answer the actual question, my favorite music store as a kid was Strawberries.

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For me it was Steve's Music Store on Rideau Street in Ottawa, Canada. It's still there, too.

As a teen back in the 1980's, I viewed Steve's as a conduit from total anonymity to rock stardom. My musical friends and I could not afford the Les Paul guitars, Marshall amps or Tama drums on display there but if we ever got our hands on gear like that, we thought we would set the world on fire.
 
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Rhythm and Music in Zwolle (Netherlands). Sadly it doesn't exist anymore. They transitioned into a music school, think a decade ago or so. It was a dedicated drumstore and had great gear. Also had a great relation with the owner and since i was a regular they threw in some extra stuff once every while (free pair of sticks) or a small discount. Had some Aquarian heads on order, but had to call a few times on the status of my order and after the fifth call i gave up. Sadly never heard from them again. But i digress...

It was 50 min drive from where i lived at the time, but it was the only dedicated drum store i knew of and was worth the trip. Most of the time i went with public transportation and took me a hour or so. Needed some new cymbals and my dad spotted an add in a newspaper i think and on a Saturday decided to visit. Went home with a set of Paiste Alpha 14" medium hats and a 16" Power Crash. Few weeks later needed some new heads and they turned me on to Aquarian heads. Never heard of that brand at the time, but trusted them and gave them a spin. Also when i needed new sticks i visited there and played Ayotte sticks for quite some time.

They also had a few Ayotte kits and that's where my love for those kits started. They had a lot cymbals lying around and a year later or so i wanted to upgrade my cymbals and they recommended Turkish Cymbals. Deal was 20% starting a week later or so, but they gave me the discount anyway since they knew we were not from around. Picked up a set of Moderate cymbals and sold of my Paistes after that. Remember vividly that the Sabian 16" Pro crash i had really didn't blend in when i got home, so after a few weeks i wanted to replace it. Took a trip and spent an afternoon picking out cymbals to try. Didn't find a crash that sounded great with my set from the cymbal racks, so delved into the piles of cymbals below the racks and found a 17" Classic thin crash that sounded absolutely amazing! Eventually got more Turkish Cymbals models in my setup, but after cracking so many i traded them all in for Meinl Classics a year or two later. That was one of my last visits since i went back to school and was on a tight budget after that.

Found some other music stores more closely to where i lived and those had what i wanted anyway (Remo heads) and after that i discovered Thomann.de...

But i still cherish the memories of picking out cymbals and gear there and drool over the Ayotte kits they had setup. Almost 20 years ago now, time flies!
 
For me it was a shop long since gone called ‘Gloucester Music’

Me and my best mate used to go there for hours, the staff got to know us and were really cool. My mate used to spend hours downstairs playing on the guitars and I used to spend hours upstairs playing the drums when customers weren’t in. This was before either of us had our own gear, so it was really good of the shop guys to be so cool to two young lads. We then used to go grab some pizza and talk about all the gear we‘d played with whilst looking over various Guitar and Drum catalog the guys in the shop had given us.

The ‘drum guy‘ there was, Mark, the drummer from the band EMF and eventually he sold me my first kit, a Pearl Export, that I drooled over for months. Really cool guy.

Great shop that really encouraged the flame in two young boys, who are both still playing some 27 years later.

Walked past the building yesterday and was sad it’s no longer there.
 
Dave Phillips Music & Sound in Phillipsburg NJ
It wasn't the biggest store around but they had a great selection, very friendly staff, and if it wasn't for this store I can confidently tell you my friends and I wouldn't have been able to restock on sticks, heads, strings, picks, etc when we were just starting out.

 
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Growing up in Phoenix in the sixties, there were only a handful of stores that carried drums. Lederman Music, Arizona Music Center, and Bill's Records come to mind. Bill's carried drums and guitars, and I also took lessons at their Chris-Town location, where they had lesson rooms upstairs off the main entrance ('court of fountains'?)

But my first lessons were taken at Skaggs Music on 35th Ave near Camelback (around the corner from Patty Ann's, for those who lived there then!) Forrest Skaggs had taught Duane Eddy and Al Casey (Wrecking Crew) guitar back in the day, and his little shop had some basic drum gear and supplies. I remember a Trixon Speedfire bass drum on the shelf for some reason, not sure it would have been new in 1965 when I started lessons. I also took accordion lessons there from Skaggs himself. I coulda been "Weird Bermuda" Schwartz if I'd stuck with it!
 
we had Peaches for mainstream music records and tapes

Record and Tape outlet was where we got all of the non mainstream metal and punk, as well as patches, buttons etc. It was a sad, sad day when that place closed down

Magnolia Thunderpussy was the real "underground" place on Ohio States campus that sold overseas stuff, local music, big time alternative stuff (like bluegrass, electronica, rockabilly, noise, spoken word etc before it was popular); Magnolia's was THE place for true punk stuff: zines, buttons, patches, studded leather etc. It was run by local punx and rockers. It is still around, and now that vinyl came back, is doing well again. I didn't think it would survive the digitization of music and gentrification of Ohio States main drag.


Buzzards Nest was also another great place for metal and punk; t shirts and memorabilia etc.... but was not as "underground" as Magnolia's. Buzzards Nest is where you camped out to get front row tickets for shows. I spent many a night camped out in front of that place to get good seats. <-- great memories for sure

for instruments, it was Van's or Coyle Music, or The String Shoppe for used

and drums has always been Columbus Pro Percussion
 
I only mentioned instrument shops, for music my dad and I always went to The Wall (chain record shop that eventually turned into FYE). We would visit small independent shops but our local mall had The Wall and they offered lifetime guarantee on all cassettes and CDs. It was a monthly thing for my dad and I to go to The Wall and grab a random album, or something he preordered and was very excited about picking up, then we would go to a nearby drive through such as burger king or taco bell to grab some food and sodas and sit in the parking lot listening to and discussing the album, munching on junk food, looking at the album booklet, talking life, etc. It was a great time and some of my fondest memories of my Dad who unfortunately passed away in his mid 30s. I grew up in the 90s with very young open minded parents so my childhood experiences were very different then the norm but still awesome.
 
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I only mentioned instrument shops, for music my dad and I always went to The Wall (chain record shop that eventually turned into FYE). We would visit small independent shops but our local mall had The Wall and they offered lifetime guarantee on all cassettes and CDs. It was a monthly thing for my dad and I to go to The Wall and grab a random album, or something he preordered and was very excited about picking up, then we would go to a nearby drive through such as burger king or taco bell to grab some food and sodas and sit in the psrking lot listening to and discussing the album, munching on junk food, looking at the album booklet, talking life, etc. It was a great time and some of my fondest memories of my Dad who unfortunately passed away in his mid 30s. I grew up in the 90s with very young open minded parents so my childhood experiences were very different then the norm but still awesome.

THAT sounds like a great time!

I did the same with my dad - not as regularly though - but we had to do it at home, using the big/good stereo system.
 
Elkhart, IN. I don't remember the name of the place but I bought my first set of hi hats there (which I still own) and took a handful of drum lessons. Frankly, the place was overpriced and could not compete with larger retailers. They failed decades ago. No tears shed.
 
about the foggiest memory of all
but I do remember the Slingerland 5A-O sticks..I got there
and still have them. Don't recall a drum or instrument in the store.
maybe a bugle on the wall
The building small storefront is still there
 
Sam Ash Hempstead NY long gone

Matthews Music Roosevelt field mall Garden City NY long gone

Long Island Drum Center Hicksville NY still in business.
 
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