Saturday, July 30, 2005

Tailors to a worldwide clientele

I needed to pick up something to do some work on a guitar today, so took a drive over to the venerable old Huelsing's music on Watson. Sadly, the owner has closed the doors for good. So I was sitting in my car in the empty parking lot, thinking where to go, and Guitar Center out near Crestwood Plaza pops into my head as the obvious choice. But there had to be someplace closer...

That's when I remembered Eddie's Guitars on Manchester in the heart of old town Maplewood. A short drive down Arsenal to Southwest to Manchester and I'd be there.

Eddie's Guitars caters to a high-end clientele. His buyers tend to be collectors as much as players. They have a private area in the back of the store which features exotic, custom built amps.

The owner mentioned that many of their buyers travel from Europe to shop their selection. They carry models of both guitars and amps unavailable to most dealers, including Guitar Center.

A photo on the wall reveals an interesting piece of St. Louis history. Eddie's Guitars roots go back to the corner of Tower Grove and Manchester, in the same building that has houses an on-again, off-again community pottery center. Tower Grove Music was in that spot way back in the mid-1960s.

RB

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

too bad the guys that work there are some of the rudest people you'll ever meet. Just got hung up on by one of the employees there asking about a amp cabinet. Will never go there, won't even consider it any more.

Rick Bonasch said...

You are right. This is a very old post, and I've been back there a number of times. The people are rude. Frankly, I don't understand it. It has the worst vibe for a music store I've ever seen.

My recommendation for a good local place, that also caters to a worldwide clientele, is Killer Vintage on Ivanhoe.