Minneapolis git stores

[minndogs]

I have had the best treatment at Twin Town.
They give you any guitar you want to try, let you go to a room where there are several amps and - leave you alone for as long as you like.
No pressure what so ever.
Recommended pre amp that they don't even carry and have been great when I have called them on the phone.
Also - prices have been very, very fair.

No - I don't work there :)

I live in the MPLS area and visit many of the local stores including Willie's.

[SMPTE]

+1 on Twin Town.

In the southern suburbs I like to go to LaVonne's in Savage, even as annoying as I am they let me play on their gear :) Great repair work too.

[collinsman]

LaVonne's is good, also for vintage stuff ' Willey's Guitar (s?), Groth music is ok I guess...

[Telemaniac]

I was in Minneapolis last year, only had a few days at the Microsoft Partner conference, and no car, so I went to Guitar Center. Brilliant service, really pleasant staff. I only bought a pickup in the end but they let me noodle around on a bunch of Teles and Ibanezes, no pressure selling.

I guess not typical of GCs elsewhere . . . .

[Mr. Sparkle]

Twin-Town is a great shop. Andrew has basically dedicated his life to keeping a guitar shop in the same space where Benedicts was in the '80s and '90s. I'm really happy that he was able to expand into the space next door as well. Great gear, great staff.

[rand z]

i resided in the twin cities for 7 years back in the late 80's early 90's, and there was a great music scene and lots of great stores.

willies (nate's) was really cool, and you can run into some pretty good pickers on any given visit ( i ran into anson thunderburgh). the podium is great for acoustics, and theres lots of other good stores downtown and in the suburbs.

i met a lot of great players and really miss the "scene"; but i dont miss the cold and long winters!

i have many great memories of whiskey junction, medina ballroom, blues saloon, st anthony east, dibbos, popeys, lalleys on 10, lord fletchers, maplewood bowl, catballoo, chanhassen bowl, chaska belle and many, many others.

yeah, i miss the cities...

rand z tropicalsoul.net

[collinsman]

Originally Posted by rand z

i resided in the twin cities for 7 years back in the late 80's early 90's, and there was a great music scene and lots of great stores.

willies (nate's) was really cool, and you can run into some pretty good pickers on any given visit ( i ran into anson thunderburgh). the podium is great for acoustics, and theres lots of other good stores downtown and in the suburbs.

i met a lot of great players and really miss the "scene"; but i dont miss the cold and long winters!

i have many great memories of whiskey junction, medina ballroom, blues saloon, st anthony east, dibbos, popeys, lalleys on 10, lord fletchers, maplewood bowl, catballoo, chanhassen bowl, chaska belle and many, many others.

yeah, i miss the cities...

rand z tropicalsoul.net

...and don't forget the ' Cabooze " ' Fine Line'....

[kludge]

Willie's, Twin Town, Encore, The Podium, American Guitar Boutique, Music Go Rounds, even a pretty decent Guitar Center in Edina! It's a great town for buying guitars.

[Brewboy]

I'm in Central MN. I gotta get down and check out some of these shops. I'm looking for a bargain used 62RI strat. I have to plan a shopping day soon.

[Marky D.]

Central & Lowry..

Those guys were characters! The building burned down a couple years ago..

How about Pete's Guitars? Pete was kind of cranky but he had a nice staff. In the early 80s you could get a tweed/ brownface amps there for $300.

[kludge]

Yeah, B Sharp and Pete's are losses (Pete died a while back).

And the very first place I'd look for a specific Fender like a '62RI is Willie's. They ALWAYS have a good selection. Second place I'd look is Encore Music, which has a terrific vintage Fender selection as well. And use the search page for Music Go Round, just in case.

[Mr. Sparkle]

RIP Pete Allenov. Great guy.

B-Sharp is coming back. I heard the kid is opening up a store just a couple blocks away. Remember all those killer band photos they had? Did they go up in flames?

[collinsman]

Originally Posted by Marky D.

Central & Lowry..

Those guys were characters! The building burned down a couple years ago..

How about Pete's Guitars? Pete was kind of cranky but he had a nice staff. In the early 80s you could get a tweed/ brownface amps there for $300.

Pete got killed in an auto accident coming back from a Johnny Lang concert about five yrs ago.

[Poppatwang]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sparkle

RIP Pete Allenov. Great guy.

B-Sharp is coming back. I heard the kid is opening up a store just a couple blocks away. Remember all those killer band photos they had? Did they go up in flames?

All the photos went poof! The kid confronted some guy sifting thru the rubble
shortly after and was attacked. I believe the cops arrived in time to nab the guy.
I bought one of my teles there. I negotiated a price. In the time it took to walk
a block to the ATM & back the price went up $20. It always seemed to be
buyer beware there.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Originally Posted by Poppatwang

All the photos went poof! The kid confronted some guy sifting thru the rubble
shortly after and was attacked. I believe the cops arrived in time to nab the guy.
I bought one of my teles there. I negotiated a price. In the time it took to walk
a block to the ATM & back the price went up $20. It always seemed to be
buyer beware there.

It wasn't called B-Sharp for nothin'! When I was a teenager I used to wash the owner, Stan Lupisio's Cadillac. he was a cross between the Godfather and Phil Spector.

Too bad about those photos, there were some gems in there.

[collinsman]

Originally Posted by Poppatwang

All the photos went poof! The kid confronted some guy sifting thru the rubble
shortly after and was attacked. I believe the cops arrived in time to nab the guy.
I bought one of my teles there. I negotiated a price. In the time it took to walk
a block to the ATM & back the price went up $20. It always seemed to be
buyer beware there.

That was a strange sort of place, they'd give you one price over the phone and when you got there it went up 30%, but in their defence, i got a pretty good deal a a new blonde MIA tele about fifteen yrs ago.

[Dirt]

I bought an amp at B-Sharp in the late 70's.

I don't know where Twin Town is. I've been to Willie's a few times. Cool stuff, but usually out of my price range. I got a few effects from LaVonne's before they moved to Savage. (Dates me, I guess. It was in the early 80's.)

I'm in central MN, too. I used to work at Bridge of Harmony in Brainerd, so I get most of the stuff I need there. Some of the guys there are like family.

Before it was BOH it was Cervin's Musicland. Pretty crazy, it was all the music stuff, (guitars, amps, etc.) and also refrigerators, washers & dryers.

My best,
Dirt
BuddyEmmons.com

[jas468]

B sharp - that is where the guitar in my avatar was bought, only then it was a solid color. I thought the flashy owner's name was Jim Lopez, I may be hazy on this.
I recall the conversation: "How much is that guitar?" Reply: "How much do you have?"

I also recall Suneson's on Lake Street(for Gibsons), Clem's Pedal Steel Emporium up the street and the late Knut Koupee store, I spent many a happy hour in there.

Great memories -- haven't been back to the Cities in over 20 years.

[BlackASATClassic]

I remember B Sharp! In '76 my dad bought me my first Srat there. I remember the warranty card had the serial number cut off. I also ordered a Deluxe Reverb and waited for months for it to come in. Finally I settled for a Peavey Deuce.

I wish I could get that Strat back today.. It was black with a maple neck..

I kinda remember Pete's guitar..where was that located?

Here's one for the Minneapolis ol' timers: Remember Chuck Orr's shop? What ever happened to him?

[goldtopper]

Pete's was at University and like Prior. I bought a lot of guitars there. Pete could be cranky, but when he wasn't busy, he was a hell of a nice guy. He took my upstairs to his really high end area once. I saw guitars up there that I didn't know existed. He had a neat coffee table that had a black les paul custom set between the panes. Many notables shopped there (unlike me)- Keef, Billy G, Dylan- you name it, if they were in town, hang around Pete's and they'd be by sooner or later.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Knut Koupee back in about '82-'84...wow. I remember walking in a seeing a '54 LP Goldtop for $400 with a Dakota Red '64 Strat right next to it. Excellent shop.

[collinsman]

[quote=goldtopper]Pete's was at University and like Prior. I bought a lot of guitars there. Pete could be cranky, but when he wasn't busy, he was a hell of a nice guy. He took my upstairs to his really high end area once. I saw guitars up there that I didn't know existed. He had a neat coffee table that had a black les paul custom set between the panes. Many notables shopped there (unlike me)- Keef, Billy G, Dylan- you name it, if they were in town, hang around Pete's and they'd be by sooner or later.[/QUO

I know George Harrison was there shortly before Pete's death and bought a tele and some Hawaiian guitar.

[goldtopper]

I think Harrison initially had interest in keeping Pete's open after Pete piled his car on hwy 100 and died. There were strong rumors flying around but nothing ever happened.
I went in there one day and bought something or other and Jeff Loven was behind the counter. I had just spent a bit of dough and was feeling entitled to ask something stupid. We were talking about all of the celebrities he gets to meet and said the stones were there the day before and Keef had given them a bottle of Rebel Yell that was sitting behind the counter. I asked for a pull off of the autographed bottle and I couldn't believe when Jeff cracked open the bottle and did a shot with me. Closest I'll ever get to Keef, but it was coool!

[collinsman]

Originally Posted by goldtopper

I think Harrison initially had interest in keeping Pete's open after Pete piled his car on hwy 100 and died. There were strong rumors flying around but nothing ever happened.
I went in there one day and bought something or other and Jeff Loven was behind the counter. I had just spent a bit of dough and was feeling entitled to ask something stupid. We were talking about all of the celebrities he gets to meet and said the stones were there the day before and Keef had given them a bottle of Rebel Yell that was sitting behind the counter. I asked for a pull off of the autographed bottle and I couldn't believe when Jeff cracked open the bottle and did a shot with me. Closest I'll ever get to Keef, but it was coool!

Funny..

[Poppatwang]

Originally Posted by BlackASATClassic

Remember Chuck Orr's shop? What ever happened to him?

Chuck gave up on the guitar biz & went into cabinet making. Used to work
his retail shop when he was downtown. He must have moved seven times
around the city before he threw in the towel.

Chuck was quite a character & story teller. He let me have free run of the
shop for years after I quit his employ. Lost track of him a long time ago.

[Brewboy]

goldtopper,
Any idea what Jeff Loven is up to now? Warmed up for his band Obsession back in the day.

[Mr. Sparkle]

Hey--anyone up for a Minneapolis TDPRI git-together? Or are we all, as Minnesotans, too shy?

[Brewboy]

I've been thinkin' the same thing Mr. Sparkle.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I know a sweet venue I could probably get for us.

[Poppatwang]

I'm game

[Mr. Sparkle]

Originally Posted by Poppatwang

I'm game

Yes, but are you recovered?

[goldtopper]

Originally Posted by Brewboy

goldtopper,
Any idea what Jeff Loven is up to now? Warmed up for his band Obsession back in the day.

I see his name now and again in City Pages. I googled him and I see he's doing the one man band deal. There's a picture of him with like 3 guitars around his neck.
He looks quite different-heck, don't we all!- he used to be this tall skinny 80's hair-dude. Now he looks like Frampton.

[Poppatwang]

Originally Posted by Mr. Sparkle

Yes, but are you recovered?

I should be able to play in a couple weeks.