laTeST - Music & Sound Retailer

that maybe I had overlooked a
more heavily populated used section,
but I found nothing. Trying
to look extra clueless, I hoped to
attract a Daddy’s employee who
could steer me in the right direction.
After five minutes of circling
without being approached by the
staff, I stealthily snuck out the
front door.
Based on my Daddy’s experience,
I think I can say my covert
operative skills are well-honed, as
nobody came up to me. Daddy’s
has a tremendous reputation. It
has won a barrelful of awards
from this magazine. I probably
got too impatient by walking
out after only five minutes. In
retrospect, I could have flagged
someone down. But I didn’t feel
I had to.
Guitar Center
1255 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02215
The Boston Guitar Center
recently changed locations and
now resides in the Boston neighborhood
of Kenmore, resting
comfortably in the shadow of the
legendary Fenway Park. Baseball
takes over Boston from early
April until late October if the
team is good enough. GC’s new
location might not be of much
interest to most Red Sox fans,
but it is a mere two-minute walk
from House of Blues Boston,
one of the biggest and busiest
Based on my Daddy’s experience,
I think I can say my covert operative
skills are well-honed, as
nobody came up to me. Daddy’s
has a tremendous reputation. It
has won a barrelful of awards
from this magazine. I probably got
too impatient by walking out after
only five minutes. In retrospect,
I could have flagged someone
down. But I didn’t feel I had to.
venues for live music in the city.
Considering there are almost 300
shows a year at Boston HOB, the
traffic from touring bands alone
probably helps keep this Guitar
Center afloat.
When I first entered the Boston
Guitar Center, I was struck by
how similar it was to every other
Guitar Center on the planet. The
bass section of this Guitar Center
immediately impressed me,
mainly due to the sheer volume
of the selection. Bass sections
are often a distant second to their
six-string counterparts in terms
of the amount of instruments
for sale, but it looks as if this GC
went out of its way to make the
guitars chunkier and meaner.
All types of brands lined the
walls: Fender, Music Man, Ibanez
and Schechter, just to name a
few—and they covered the full
spectrum, from cheap starter
axes to top-notch pro gear.
An employee came over and
offered to help me within my
first two minutes of looking, and
was friendly and helpful without
being pushy. When I told him I
was just looking, he graciously
backed off, but let me know his
name and where to find him if I
had any questions.
My favorite find at GC was a
brand new Geddy Lee signature
Fender Jazz Bass, with an industry-standard
price tag of $990.
Some of the used basses at this
particular Guitar Center were
on the lower side of the quality
ladder, but they were priced as
such and, therefore, seemed
more than fair (including a
small, generic looking Yamaha
for only $59! Great price for a
beginner bass, especially at a big
chain store.)
Overall, Guitar Center seemed
to have basses for every level of
player, but beginners and intermediates
will most likely have
more fun because the amount of
gear they have to root through
seems more diverse than the
guitars aimed at seasoned players.
And though my interaction
with the staff was limited, they
were upfront and visible at first,
but not breathing down your
neck to make a commission.
Guitar Stop
1760 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
For my final target, I moved
deep undercover, going all the
way to Cambridge, Boston’s
sister city across the Charles
River. Home to academic institutions
like Harvard and MIT,
Cambridge houses some of the
state’s most elite minds, and
some of its greatest indie music
spots, as well. Often known for
its artist-friendly vibes, Cambridge
caters more to smaller
venues and mom and pop music
stores, as opposed to Boston
music juggernauts like House of
Blues or Guitar Center.
Guitar Stop is a small, family-owned
music retailer that’s
been around since the early
1960s. Keeping in tune with
Cambridge’s liberal feel, the
store is split equally between
acoustic guitars for folkies and
electric guitars for those who
like a little power in their music.
When I entered the store, it
was laid back, complete with a
long-haired dude jamming away
on an acoustic and chatting with
the woman behind the counter,
and a nice store dog that came
up and greeted me almost as
quickly as the proprietor.
The selection of basses at
Guitar Stop was small, but, in
fairness, the store itself is tiny.
I felt the amount of basses on
display was more than adequate
when considering the lack of
physical space available to house
all the equipment Guitar Stop
has to offer.
There were only two used
basses available, but the 2007
Fender American Precision I
saw was handsome and reasonably
priced at $1,275. The newer
models were either Fender or
38 April 2010