Dumb music store moments.

[Dr Eagle]

I went to that one when I was there. I think you are correct about it being a dumping ground.

By the airport, right.  I used to have an apartment a mile of so from the one in Kirkland.  And I used to go to the one in Seattle from time to time. 

[TBird1958]

By the airport, right.  I used to have an apartment a mile of so from the one in Kirkland.  And I used to go to the one in Seattle from time to time. 

Yes, and I live a bit south of Sea-Tac now. My parents house, in Kirkland is about a mile or north of the GC there - Very small world at times 

[Grog]

There was a notorious music and pawn store in south Minneapolis, when you walked in the door there was a bin full of tootsie rolls and the owner would try to get you to take some, his sales technique for trying to make people comfortable. It was on my route home from work so I would occasionally stop in for strings or accessories.

You must have passed close to High Tech Consignments along that route. I traded a couple guitars for a near mint 1968 EB-2DC there. I went toe to toe with the salesman fifteen minutes past closing time before he gave in. The nieghborhood was rapidly changing after dark. That store was bought by Play It Again Sports, and became the first of the Music-Go-Round chain.

[Dave W]

I was in there a few times, never bought anything major.

I also remember the time Chad put "no tootsie rolls, ever" in his regular Strib ad. Someone was mighty peeved about that.

[Grog]

Encore Music had another store in St Paul, not too far away from Aabe's other store. Chad bought it from the widow of the origional owner if I recall correctly.

[Dave W]

Yeah, Chad didn't keep the St. Paul Encore open long. Maybe a couple of years.

Back to Aabe's: I remember the sting set up by KSTP that caught him red-handed ripping off their setup customer. That must have been the last straw that caused Minneapolis to yank his license. At that time his St. Paul store was fairly new. After a while it became Midway Music, supposedly owned by the guy who had managed it for him. I figured he was still pulling the strings, but then I heard he got out of the business after an angry customer beat him up. It wouldn't surprise me.

[eb2]

Two quick ones:

I went to a now-closed music shop in South Minneapolis, and they had a fairly clean 1983 P-bass. I picked it up and the strings were a half inch off the neck.  Just a nightmare.  You could fret at about F# and it was done for up beyond.  They had it marked at $350, but they said the truss rod was broken as they couldn't straighten it out and had been trying for days.  I got it for $300 I think, and took it home.  Then I took a wrench to the then revolutionary BiFlex truss rod, and straightened it out.  The idiots had been putting a bow into the neck as they had no idea how to work the truss rod.  (Secret Fender Identity revealed) I still play it regularly.

I walked into a Boston shop to find A) a just in that morning 67 Telecaster and B) a guy asking to see it. The store manager had put it up high - it being a real Fender and all - and in pulling it down he dropped it to the ground from maybe 8 ft.  The body cracked straight through right then.  The manager said "OH SHIT!"  At the exact same time I and the other guy both said "How much do you want for it now?" The other guy got it as he was the one who asked for it, and he paid $150.  We both laughed outside.  I was happy for him, and got to know him pretty well after.  He glued it up - you couldn't see the line - and sold it later for stoopid money.

I went into Aabes a couple of times on Lyndale I think, near the bad Cub.  All Music-Go-Round crap.  I hit the University in St Paul place once.  Same junk. I thought Aabes made money booking wedding bands.

But enough of Mpls. I am heading to Texas this week.  Sun and maybe better guitars and basses.

[Grog]

B-Sharp Music is always the store that comes to mind for problems. You'd call them to see if they had something, they'd say they did, jump in the car and drive to see it and "it just sold". Old man Lopez would at least be straight forward, he'd say "If I can take you for everything you've got, I'll do it. If I can't, I'll take that too." They had a big banner over the cash register, "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash". Buying from them was always a headache.... One time the kid pretended to call his Gibson Rep to ask a question I had, I know he had nobody on the phone.

[Dr Eagle]

Yes, and I live a bit south of Sea-Tac now. My parents house, in Kirkland is about a mile or north of the GC there - Very small world at times 

I actually lived in Juanita Bay, stayed during the week and flew home most weekends. When I first lived there the GC in Kirkland (Totem Lake) was a Musicians Friend store before GC bought them.  It switched over to GC while I was there.

[TBird1958]

Ah yes Juanita! What years did you live up here?
When we first moved out there from Seattle in 1966 the freeway ended about 2 miles north of Totem Lake, we did our grocery shopping in Juanita, it was very quaint at the time. When those stores were Musician's Friend they were so much better than GC at both locations. In Seattle at least, they are worse than Walwart, just choke full of cheap crap. - I don't even like to buy strings from them, A Sharp in Renton or BassNW for me please!
 

[Dr Eagle]

I used to work for McCaw Cellular, which was bought by AT&T to become AT&T wireless.  Their HQ was at Carillon point in Kirkland.  I worked there in the Seattle area in 1996 thru 1998.  I totally agree about the MF vs GC, it kind of ruined it for me when GC bought it I liked it soooooooooooo much better as the Musicians Friend store.  Actually both of my Thunderbird's have come from GC but I don't shop there very much.  I usually get stuff off the catalogs as we don't have the kind of store like Bass NW or The Bass Place in Scottsdale (another place I have lived while working out of town) here in the Sacramento area.

[TBird1958]

I remember when what became Carillon Pt was a company that serviced Porta Potties 
Kirkland sire has changed, it was sleepy in the '70s, now it's more like the snooty suburb with a bad city council that allowed runaway developement........oh well.
I loved visiting MF, after the takeover ( I'd actually call it rape) not so much - For the most part it's completely forgettable crap.

[Dave W]

B-Sharp Music is always the store that comes to mind for problems. You'd call them to see if they had something, they'd say they did, jump in the car and drive to see it and "it just sold". Old man Lopez would at least be straight forward, he'd say "If I can take you for everything you've got, I'll do it. If I can't, I'll take that too." They had a big banner over the cash register, "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash". Buying from them was always a headache.... One time the kid pretended to call his Gibson Rep to ask a question I had, I know he had nobody on the phone.

Back in the day (about 40 years ago), Jim Lopez couldn't be beat, because he discounted heavily while other stores were still trying to sell everything at list price. After he got out of it (at least actively) it got to be almost impossible to buy anything from them. Last time I was there was about 15 years ago, just trying to buy a few picks, and it was still a hassle.

[Grog]

I worked with a gal who was the daughter of the original owners. It was her parents that gave the Beatles the Ric 12 string when they played here in the sixties. I remember now, how much many of the other store owners despised B-Sharp for how cheap they would sell stuff. I got a pretty good deal on a Peavey Bass amp in about 1975. It was the first amp I had that could handle my 1967 EB-2.

[Dave W]

More Aabe's memories: Sean (was that his name?) had Gibson but not Fender, so he carried Fernandes and he would tell customers that Leo Fender had gone to Japan in 1947 and stolen all his ideas from Fernandes! No kidding, I heard him do this more than once.

Then there was the I-Team sting. One of their team took a guitar to be consigned with him for $700. The consignment contract stated that payment would be made within a few days of a sale. I think it was 7 days. Another team member came by the very next day and bought it for $700, but weeks went by and he never contacted the seller or sent a check for the net amount. When she came back to ask if it had been sold, he told her he had just sold it but he had to reduce the price to $500. And they had all this on hidden camera. Once they broadcast it, that was all the excuse the city needed to get rid of him.