Cool guitar shops in L.A.

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jack Luminous
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Jack Luminous
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So I'm going to California three weeks this august, and 10 days in Los Angeles. Gathering money right now to buy a cool guitar over there. Which guitar shops would you advise to visit ? Time will be kinda limited because I won't convince my significant other to spend 10 full days roaming guitar shops around the city so I guess a well thought-out selection would be nice !! :ROFLMAO:

Never been there before so I'm a bit overwhelmed by the various offerings... Where would you go first ? :unsure:
 
When I did a similar trip 10 years ago, my first stop was actually Tone Merchants (Dave Friedmans store/amp cave)…spent several hours jamming there and also got to chat with Dave. Was an absolute blast!!! Slash happened to be rehearsing across the street so extra bonus cool points lol!!

I’m sure others will have better ideas!
 
Hollywood GC and Sam Ash, across the street from each other. Two of the best LA spots believe it or not, some incredible gear comes through those shops.

Norm's is worth a visit just to check out all the cool stuff they have, but beware it's not for the faint of wallet.
 
I still mourn the departure of Black Market Music. Truly, the greatest guitar shop ever. LA, SF and NYC, the LA and SF stores were glorious. A warehouse in SF stacked to the roof with vintage Marshall’s, Fender, Vox, Gibson and everything else imaginable. Prices were amazing. I would see Japanese buyers going in there with one of those huge carts they have at Home Depot and buy 50 guitars at a time.

I got so many good deals there. My friend would buy up all the super strats as they were super undesirable in the early 2000s. He got a lot of great guitars for next to nothing. He was from Oklahoma and had a thick accent and was always saying how one day these super strats would be worth a lot of money and I thought he was nuts. He had early 80s USA charvels, early ESP kamikazes, etc.

If you go to guitar center Hollywood, there are quite a few guitar shops in the vicinity.

Bro, not sure, but the MIGHTY CARVIN PRO AHOP once stood across from guitar center!!
 
Truetone for electric, McCabes for acoustic.

Hollywood Guitar Center and Norms.

Then call it done.
 
Thanks a lot for all the tips ! I'll try to fit everything in two days !
 
mooncobra said:
I still mourn the departure of Black Market Music. Truly, the greatest guitar shop ever. LA, SF and NYC, the LA and SF stores were glorious. A warehouse in SF stacked to the roof with vintage Marshall’s, Fender, Vox, Gibson and everything else imaginable. Prices were amazing. I would see Japanese buyers going in there with one of those huge carts they have at Home Depot and buy 50 guitars at a time.

I got so many good deals there. My friend would buy up all the super strats as they were super undesirable in the early 2000s. He got a lot of great guitars for next to nothing. He was from Oklahoma and had a thick accent and was always saying how one day these super strats would be worth a lot of money and I thought he was nuts. He had early 80s USA charvels, early ESP kamikazes, etc.

If you go to guitar center Hollywood, there are quite a few guitar shops in the vicinity.

Bro, not sure, but the MIGHTY CARVIN PRO AHOP once stood across from guitar center!
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Bought and sold a lot of great gear at Black Market...Really miss that place.
 
mooncobra said:
LA, SF and NYC, the LA and SF stores were glorious. A warehouse in SF stacked to the roof with vintage Marshall’s, Fender, Vox, Gibson and everything else imaginable. Prices were amazing. I
Click to expand...

If you have other pointers for SF, I'll take them too, I'll be 6 days over there.
 
firegate said:
Hollywood GC and Sam Ash, across the street from each other. Two of the best LA spots believe it or not, some incredible gear comes through those shops.

Norm's is worth a visit just to check out all the cool stuff they have, but beware it's not for the faint of wallet.
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Yeah great call. And until they permanently closed a while back, you had Mesa Boogie Hollywood right across the street.
 
Any first hand experience with Lovies Guitars in Thousand Oaks ? I'm often eyeing their stock... Another question : is haggling/bargaining over used gear in shops OK or frowned upon ? I'm not talking about agressive low-balling at all but maybe 10% rebate if paid in cash etc. I don't know at all the local habits and customs.
 
Jack Luminous said:
If you have other pointers for SF, I'll take them too, I'll be 6 days over there.
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The city itself is kind of a mess these days, but there are some cool spots in the greater bay area. Bananas in Santa Rosa, Guitar Showcase in San Jose, Danville Music in the east bay, Gryphon near Stanford.
 
gtrwun said:
If your actually going into the city…
A. Be careful.
B. Do not leave ANYTHING of value unattended in your car.
The places mentioned above are solid options.
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Ha I recently read some online New York Post article about 'zombie apocalypse' caused by drugs in SF. Pretty scary. At the same time, a good friend of mine working in big tech going over there very often told me there was nothing to worry about and business as usual. So I guess I'll have to see by myself what's happening...
 
Jack Luminous said:
Ha I recently read some online New York Post article about 'zombie apocalypse' caused by drugs in SF. Pretty scary. At the same time, a good friend of mine working in big tech going over there very often told me there was nothing to worry about and business as usual. So I guess I'll have to see by myself what's happening...
Click to expand...
It's not as bad as you might think it is from watching tv/hearing about it...but it was not too long ago. In 2021, the nice hotels like the St Francis and Fairmont were literally boarded up with plywood and made guests enter through the back. Not the case any longer, it's back to being a functioning city.

But that being said, don't EVER leave anything visible in a parked car. Not even sunglasses or an empty bag. It will get broken into without fail.
 
Jack Luminous said:
So I'm going to California three weeks this august, and 10 days in Los Angeles. Gathering money right now to buy a cool guitar over there. Which guitar shops would you advise to visit ? Time will be kinda limited because I won't convince my significant other to spend 10 full days roaming guitar shops around the city so I guess a well thought-out selection would be nice !! :ROFLMAO:

Never been there before so I'm a bit overwhelmed by the various offerings... Where would you go first ? :unsure:
Click to expand...

You should mention what type of guitars you like playing or the type you have an interest in checking out as well since someone on here might know specific shops that carry them in the LA area.

Also, check the "used" inventory for some of the local and surrounding GC's and Sam Ash's since you could check them out in person :)
 
If you go to Norm's, Ventura Music and Imperial Vintage Guitars in in
the general area:

* Norm's (Norman's) Rare Guitars: https://goo.gl/maps/6ENa4V6NU2z2AnKX8
* Ventura Music: https://goo.gl/maps/XjEEFtBznELf3XGQ6
* Imperial Vintage Guitars: https://goo.gl/maps/w5uWeCzkFJmGXzgRA
* L.A. Vintage Gear: https://goo.gl/maps/RQUbqGevwg1HWPKq7

These are across the street from each other, and the GC is worth checking out
for the vintage guitars/amps section:

* GC Hollywood: https://goo.gl/maps/xxF3TaZWfZyC5Mwx9
* Sam Ash Hollywood: https://goo.gl/maps/c6N6pW8u3F4fF3UWA

* Truetone Music: https://goo.gl/maps/3icPXqJtXbXeMqBr5

* Amp Shop/Bass Exchange: https://goo.gl/maps/YebEfA9cqmwCvYaDA

Not a regular store front, but it's where Dave Friedman does his thing:
* Tone Merchants: https://goo.gl/maps/khXY6Dq9cz2neyZq9
 
Thanks a lot for the detailed list. Great info ! As for the type of guitars I'm interested in, I guess I like a lot of things. I'm open to any good deal I will come across. More specifically, I'd really like to find a reasonably priced vintage B.C. Rich but I know that's a long shot. I'd also like a nice 336/339. A Les Paul Axcess... Maybe a nice vintage L50 archtop. If I stumble on a cheap used recent Harmony models made in Kalamazoo Heritage factory, why not ? A B-bender Telecaster ? an early 90s 4 string Stingray bass... etc. etc.
 
Jack Luminous said:
Thanks a lot for the detailed list. Great info ! As for the type of guitars I'm interested in, I guess I like a lot of things. I'm open to any good deal I will come across. More specifically, I'd really like to find a reasonably priced vintage B.C. Rich but I know that's a long shot. I'd also like a nice 336/339. A Les Paul Axcess... Maybe a nice vintage L50 archtop. If I stumble on a cheap used recent Harmony models made in Kalamazoo Heritage factory, why not ? A B-bender Telecaster ? an early 90s 4 string Stingray bass... etc. etc.
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Minus the bc rich, sounds like you need to visit Nashville instead lol 😂
 
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