There have been a rash of very sad threads lately about local music/synth stores closing down.
I feel incredibly lucky to live in a city that has an outstanding synth-focused store, with obviously passionate management and employees, and anything that I plan to buy that they sell, I buy from them.
I know that they ship as well, so hey, if you live in the US, don’t have a local you can support…consider ordering from them, and support a small brick-and-mortar business.
Do you have a local? Please link to it here! It’s so great having a place you can go to to check out gear and chat with people who share your interest.
I am sad that we in Berlin, which is a pretty big city have only one store that sells electronic music gear and they sell more higher end stuff so it’s not possible for me to buy from them because I can only buy stuff that costs less than €500
But still, I find it important to support your local stores. If you can I bought my ukulele at a guitar store that is super nice and I like going to a store looking at things in general.
Definitely not. Perfect Circuit still exists in Burbank. I went to Robotspeak in San Francisco maybe a year ago and it looks like it’s still open. None of these places existed 20 years ago. Synths were just a department in the guitar shop.
Control Voltage rules.
I have a sparkley Control Voltage sticker on the back of my weed whacker harness and on the weed whacker itself i have a sticker from a sex toy compay that Is two fingers with a face on them and the logo Feels So Good.
Its a joke because weed whacking does not feel good at all.
But Control Voltage is good. It makes me feel good to support them.
Ive bought loooots of gear from them.
My local music shop shut down ages ago because the wanker that owns the shop unit jacked the rent up so much.
The next town along has a music shop, no one ever in there, if you want new strings or heads or sticks, they might have what you want in stock… bloody useless. As for synths or anything remotely interesting. Forget it.
Drive 2 and a half hours south theres a big music shop, bloody massive. To be honest its gone downhill. I wouldn’t buy anything from there now.
Drive 5-6 hours south and you hit Sydeny, theres a couple of reasonable gear shops. Again, I probably wouldn’t buy from them now.
There’s a decent shop interstate, called foundsound. They have lots of cool stuff, and are pretty helpful.
To be honest though, the undeground second hand market is just way better. The shops prices are fucked due to rents and and distributors and shipping.
…what’s ur control voltage is our schneiders laden…
and sure, no local music gear dealer can really compete with online stores if it comes down to naked prices…
but i will be always willing to pay a few bux more at the LOCAL MUSIC SHOP…!!!
since PRICE is NOT EVERYTHING…but costumer service, human contacts, personal tech talk while twiddeling around with the gear u like to consider to become part of ur sonic ballpark, DEFENITLY IS…priceless.
I buy from Rubadub and Signal Sounds in Glasgow, and I think they’re both great. Definitely lucky to have them on my doorstep.
I’ve noticed Rubadub’s list prices seem a bit less competitive than they used to be, but I’ve found that they will often price match with other UK stores or offer a reduction over the phone. Even if they can’t offer the lowest price, I’ll generally buy from them because when I’ve needed to return things, they haven’t made it a hassle for me. That, in my opinion, is worth paying a bit extra for.
Bastions of snobbery, trading on the image that they’re the moral choice compared to the larger retailers; when the reality is that they’re both selling luxury goods and doing their bestest to get into your wallet. I have yet to see this idea of independent community spirit in the real world, instead what I’ve witnessed is wannabe rockstars and nerd kings working behind the counter basking in the adoration of their devotees hanging about the front counter. I’ve had better customer service from the major retailers.
I used to go to the Guitar Center on 14th in Union Square. Legit celebrities shopped there like normal people and were treated like normal humans. They also treated others like normal humans.
I would think this has less to do with that and more about access to getting hands on in person access. It really sucks always spending time watching videos for new gear.
Unfortunately my local shop is not local enough to visit but scarily any product is an uber delivery away.
Plus they’re cool knowledgeable people accessible via phone, so that’s a win.
Just to be clear, I meant the people working the counter when referring to wannabe rockstars. Have also personally known plenty of wannabes not working retail and they were just as insufferable.
Was meant to be slightly tongue in cheek as there are decent types too but I do think it’s worth addressing the idea that “local retailer is the more moral choice”.
I like Perfect Circuit and Detroit Modular. Perfect Circuit was the only place that had the new Jomox Alphabase MK2 in stock outside of buying from Europe and ships fast. I got it in few days after placing the order.
If I’m sacrificing my money to the dark gods of the capitalist system either way, might as well do it where I can see the people who are taking it and be able to crack a joke with them or nerd out about new gear. To each their own
Sadly, none of my local record shops sell the type of music I’m into these days (Batida / Batucada / Outernational). So its Bandcamp all the way more or less for me
