Dover Delaware guitar shops?

[Guinness]

Greetings all,

Looks like I'll be moving to the Dover area this coming Jan/Feb; any good guitar/amp shops you know of?

Google map shows a few, but you never know if the shops are reputable or not. I keep meaning to go through my last copy of Vintage Guitar, and make a list of the shops advertised in that area, but thats going to be time consuming and thanks to the short-notice move I haven't had much of that lately.

Thanks!

~Randy

[cmatthes]

Sadly, not much around the Dover area. Very little in the way of anything vintage in the entire state, actually.

I haven't lived there in a while, but when I did, Earle Teat music was a really good shop. Lots of Gibson and Fender to choose from and they were more than fair to deal with. Not too far away is Camden, DE (really, on the Dover line) - try B&B Music there. They used to be primarily band instruments and Ovation/Yamaha guitars when I was growing up, but they've expanded considerably since then and also bought up the old Thompson Music shop in Lewes, DE (just north of Rehoboth Beach).

Apart from that, not sure there's much. It is a small state though, so you can get to Wilmington, Philly, DC or Baltimore in not much time at all. Much better vintage markets in the surrounding area. You're also a quick train ride from NYC, so that's always a plus.

The beauty about living in DE is NO SALES TAX!!

[tweeddeluxe]

You might also try Seaford Music in Seaford DE. About 30 mins from Dover on Rte. 13 South. Small shop but lots of PRS & Gypsum; also G&L and a fair number of used guitars and amps. The owner is a nice guy and their prices are competitive.

[cmatthes]

Oops! Forgot about Seaford Music. I believe Dave Jarrell who used to work at Thompson/B&B might work there (still?). Great guy to deal with.

[serialsteve]

Originally Posted by cmatthes

Oops! Forgot about Seaford Music. I believe Dave Jarrell who used to work at Thompson/B&B might work there (still?). Great guy to deal with.

Um, dude, we know Jarrell from high school. Yes. Good guy and yes, there ain't much in Delaware (and really never was that much!), but it can be a great place to live.

[EZchair Picker]

IMO, Earl Teats is about the best in the state. The store has lots of fender and gibson with a decent mix of others thrown in for good measure. They've always had the best selection of any of the stores in Delaware whenever I've stopped in. Down the road, B&B carries Mesa, Crate, PRS and a couple others. As stated, seaford music is the local G&L dealer. If you head north, you can catch Middletown music which is a fender dealer with a few others mixed in, and if you head up to the Wilmington area, there's Accent music which is a Gibson, Vox, Peavey, Schecter, ESP dealer.

You can drive the whole state from top to bottom in a couple hours, so it's not like any of the music stores are really that far outta reach.

[hamish5178]

I've never been to Earl Teat but I've heard good things. Middletown music is probably 35 minutes north of Dover and they have tons of Fenders, last time I went in they had a Joe Strummer and a J Mascis. . . There's also a nice small used/vintage shop near me if you're interested.

But on a more serious note, I'm seventeen now, I moved from Texas to Dover when I was nine and lived there for one year. I now live about 45 minutes north of dover in the college town of Newark.

Here's my advice, if there is any way you can avoid living in Dover, do so. It is completely devoid of any culture, especially music-wise. There are zero good restaurants, and the schools aren't great if you have kids. There's a free-way, a mall, and a bunch of government buildings, that's about it. I don't mean to poop all over Dover if you want/have to live there; but there are lots of nice places close-by if you don't mind a short commute.

-Alex

[serialsteve]

I grew up south of Dover (Milford and Rehoboth). I GREATLY preferred living there to doing just about anything in Dover, but Dover had the only malls growing up, so we kinda had to go there. Don't know anything about the music scene outside of Rehoboth/Dewey in the 80s/early 90s.

Got my first good guitar from Earle Teat Music in 1982. A brand new shiny Gibson Les Paul Custom. Unfortunately, I really wanted a Standard...

[Tim Armstrong]

I'm about an hour south of Dover, just south of the Maryland-Delaware line in Ocean Pines, Maryland. Dover seems like a pretty quiet place (except when NASCAR is in town!), but you'll only be about 35-40 miles north of Lewes/Rehoboth, and there are a lot of great restaurants, beaches, and things to do down there. If you don't mind a half-hour commute, you might even look at getting a place in Milton (home of the Dogfish Head brewery, and pretty darn close to the beach towns).

You'll have to come catch the Mood Swingers!

Cheers, Tim

[Guinness]

Thanks guys!

We will probably end up living on base, which appears to be a few miles south of Dover. With the grace of God my wife might find a job working at the local college... Don't mind driving though; especially for a good guitar (or motorcycle) shop ;)

I'll keep y'all posted

BTW, lookin' forward to catching the Mood Swingers :)

~Randy