The big chain in my area is Daddy's Junky Music. I don't have to go much further with that. I always visit a friends shop in Syracuse where the guitars are on display on hangers. They only ask that they take them down but you can play all the Ovations, Taks, Takomas, Alvarezeseses you can stand all day long. He also has some good electrics but his is a new instrument market and he caters to the local working musician. The local highend used instrument people have such a high opinion of the instruments they sell that it is hard to play their stuff and they know I'm not gonna buy the Stromberg or the Prairie State they have for Umpty thousand dollars. I go to a couple of shops in Rochester where I can play a pre war Gibson Jumbo or a new Larrivee when I wish. But saddly for every Jeri, Rick, Jed, and me there are there are hundreds of pre adult crash and burn guitarists out there who wear shredder belt buckles and wool hats over their ears in August and all they wanna play like is Dave Mathews ( Gimme that Martin..). I don't blame the shops for being careful with their stock but I deeply am saddened by the Walmartization of America and especially seeing it in the music shops is disheartening. An annual trip to East Lansing is revitalizing. In fact I think I'll take Greg and head off to Rochester and visit Bernie Lehmann. Don
|