I think they're all pretty much gone and a thing of the past now. Crying shame. The music scene has changed so very much. When I was coming up, (if you were a good musician,) you got to work in clubs and bars in front of live audiences, get paid, and you'd get to play with a bunch of different players, playing all styles of music. When I was 16 I was playing with guys 20+ years older than me. It was a learning experience that kids coming up today do not have available to them. Now-a-days it's "Pay to play" if you have a band you want to showcase. Back in the day, if the club owners wanted you to play... they had to pay! There just aren't as many music venues as there used to be. There is no substitute for playing live, in front of audiences. Kids today don't have the same opportunity.

John

Well, I didn't "grow up" as a musician until I was about 30, it seems, and I feel like I'm still growing up. But what you describe sounds a little like Fork's Drum Closet here in Nashville. I've been growing up with them since moving to Nashville in '96. They've never invited me to the break room to eat and Gary & his wife don't refer to themselves as "mom & pop", but they know all the regulars and treat them really nice. Most of the guys working there have been there for years and they treat everybody the same way. I remember about 15 years ago when I finally felt like I had enough money to buy the ride cymbal of my dreams (22" K custom med ride), I had a particular sound & pitch in my head. Gary let me go in the back where they have scads of cymbals crammed into the shelves and pick through them. He had about 6 in stock, but none of them was the pitch I wanted. As I was leaving disappointed, he asked why I didn't find anything. I told him why, and he said he'd order a couple more. Well 2 weeks later I go in and he tells me to go check the back shelf. He had ordered about 15 of them and about 6 of them were the lower pitch I was looking for! So I felt privileged that I was allowed in the back, unsupervised, and I'm not one of the big cats in town (I'm a nobody, in fact). He deeply discounted a 70's Slingerland COB Krupa snare. I couldn't really afford his already reasonable asking price. He saw me about to walk out empty handed and basically kept dropping the price till I could afford it. I think I paid $135. I don't know if he still does it, but he used to give me a "cash" price a lot of times. Not sure I should divulge what that entailed. (And no, it's not what you think. Naughty!)

Anyway, Gary started his shop sort of the way you did, John. He worked at the music store next door in the "drum dept". It was literally a large closet area of the store & they just had a few drums & supplies. Eventually, they expanded the drum area to about an 8x10 room and nicknamed it Fork's Drum Closet. I think about 20 years ago now they were able to buy the building next door and expand. They have that place crammed full of gear.

The best and worst part of it, Gary has his Ludwig & Slingerland snare collection on a shelf all the way across the front room, up high, when you walk in. I think they're all 5x14 late 50's & 60's and I think he's got about 98% of all the finishes in the catalog covered. He won't sell any of them. He's told me he would trade for one he doesn't have.

In closing, I would like to say I despise all the big box "music" stores. They're a total waste of time. The ONLY time I go to guitar center is if I need a head or a pair of sticks and I don't have time to drive to Fork's.

There is a small music store in Žižkov, a part of Prague with a bad name and lots (I mean LOTS) of small, smelly music pubs and clubs. It's a family owned store, they are exclusive dealers of Istanbul Mehmet cymbals and Gretsch drums. They have slightly higher prices than the bigger stores, like czech version of GC, but I usually go to them, because I want to support a smaller business. I got my first set of real cymbals there, over the course of three years as birthday presents from my parents, all Istanbul Mehmet: 17" Sultan thin crash, 20" Traditional medium ride, 14" Turk heavy hi-hats.

I remember going there to pick the hats after two hours of sleep, heavily hung over, with my dad. They sales clerk would sit me behind a kit and bring new hats and switch them on stands for me. It was a nice experience.

That 17" crash is the best cymbal I own. Insanely turkish, beautiful.

Wow..I remember Bath music John.I used to take the subway there with my buddy George,or to Sam Ash,(before it was a chain)which was on Kings Highway at the time.Get a hot dog or a square kinish at the train station after buying a drum head or a pair of sticks ,and drooling over a red sparkle double bass set of Ludwigs with Paiste cymbals.I bought my first speed king pedal at Bath music.Those were the days my friend.Music was personal,and so were the store owners.

I also went to Mannys on 48th street and Frank Ipolitos in Manhattan,and saw Papa Jo Jones just playing ....as happy as could be.Now we mostly have "big box" chains,but some true 5 star drum shops still remain,like the Long Island Drum Center.......the one that's actually ...on Long Island.And Steve Maxwells,which should be a drummers mecca.

Steve B

I grew up in a small country town. No music store. Back in the late 60's the place I took lessons was a small city not far from us a town away. On lesson day my mom dropped me off right after school and came back after she picked up dad at the train station. So I had a good 3-4 hours to hang there with 30 min for my lesson. Of course I asked if it was ok I stay and they were fine with it. We'd talk drums and music. Gave me a folding chair to sit in and coffee or soda to drink. I used to watch them repair dented horns and other damaged instruments. I was free to demo anything in the store except items in the display window. Did this once a week for almost 3 years. These guys were all old jazz swing band guys. If things were slow the other drum teacher would give me a pair of sticks and a pad he'd show me things to help rudiment speed and endurance between his lessons. That was a bonus. Years later his son took over the store and sadly they closed a few years ago. Same location all those years. Great place and such a blast to hang there.

Steve I was fortunate to buy my new Slingerlands at Franks shop in NYC. My Dad worked in the city for 30 years and found it in the yellow pages. A little cymbal on the door with PPC painted in red letters then up the stairs to the most awesome drum shop I ever saw! I didn't know Papa Joe gave lessons there till years later. Every so often me and my friends would skip school and take the train into NYC. Spend the day at all the music stores. Great times! I wasn't into school just playing drums and being in a band. LOL.

The 60' 70's store that I hung out at was Mavin's Music in Hurstville, suburban Sydney. The owner was an ex jazz guitarist named Morrie Mavin, He was like a father figure to many of the local kids forming bands etc, he did reasonable deals and would lend gear to guys to try out etc.. did trades and had a great reputation for his integrity. He would sometimes finance deals out of his own pocket. The store was a hang out on Saturdays and had a great vibe. It was mainly at the time a small guitar shop but there usually five or six kits set up. He had some great teachers and Don Sleishman of Sleishman Drums was his one time drum guru. The notice board always had a wanted player list and he would sometimes recommend or direct guys to gigs.. He set me up with my second band who would turn out to be lifelong buddy's in fact more like family. He built the business up to a point that he could no longer handle due to his health and after a few changes of ownership it was taken over by a franchise chain called the "Guitar Factory".. It was a great store and he inspired and motivated many young people towards musicianship...

Cheers

John

Geez, the Long Island Drum Center over on Old Country Road! (Old Country Road is a complete misnomer! It's an 8 lane boulevard!) I have bought, sold and traded so much stuff with Dennis (the owner,) over the years it isn't funny. Phil is the one who does all the drum repairs and I believe he's a guitar tech too. Great store, good people. Dennis is a tough price negotiator, but I always used to know which items I could chew him down on. If it had -dust- on it, I knew I could get it for half what he was asking. LOL

The subway was how I got to Bath music and man do I miss that little rat-hole, jam packed music store. I started going there when I was 16/17 and was a loyal customer for almost 40 years. That's where the title of the thread comes from... I literally grew up in that music store. Phil was like a second father to me, I loved that old man and Mary too. The day I closed my music store in Queens, (97th St. Jamaica Ave.) I held a public auction in order to convert the stores inventory back into much needed cash. At one point during the auction I looked outside and Phil was standing there wiping tears away from his eyes. I ran out to greet him and all he kept saying was, "Johnny, I didn't know it was your store that was closing up!" He saw the ad for a music store auction and had come to buy for his store, Bath. When he saw that it was my place he just broke down. That's the kind of people I'm talking about. I guess maybe it was an experience unique to New York city. We were lucky to grow up in such a time for music and musicians. New York was 'music central' back in the day.

longjohn - Your music store sounds just like Bath music! Good times....

groovesonly and all of you... you guys are making this a great read and the kind of thread I hoped would develop. Thank you all for sharing your stories. I eat stuff like that right up.

John

John,if that was your store on 97 and Jamaica,then we met at one time or another My grandad lived behind the 103 precinct,so I used to walk up to the avenue all the time when visiting him.John McLoughlin also had a place on Suptin Blvd,where I used to go sometimes,and I met Billy Cobham there....Wow....this is a great thread.

Steve B

Steve - Do you remember the wedding hall on 97th st. The Manor? My store was just off the corner of 97th St. opposite the Manor. There was a really cool rehearsal studio two blocks south of me on 95th St. called, Nightwing Studios. Did you ever play there? I spent buku time in that place and I was close friends with Terry Donelly the owner. She was quite the fox too! My store was called 'Flashback Music' and featured vintage drums, guitars, basses and tube amplifiers. I had a small but loyal customer base. A lot of local collectors used to buy from me. Man, you had to see some of the drum kits that came through my little shop! Blow your mind.

John

PS - You're going to like this... three of the cops from the 103rd used to live in my store! They'd set the radio down, pick up a guitar and play. I had to ask them to please get the f'k out sometimes because they were scaring away customers. People were afraid to come into the store because they didn't know if I was being busted, or what was going on. Some long hair kid would peep in the door, see two or three cops sitting there and then they'd remember that joint they had in their pocket, turn around and walk away hoping nobody had noticed them. :p

Chicago had a few, franks drum shop, biascoes, and a others, and i will say the bygone era makes me feel nostalgic thinking on it , and also very old, LOL. BTW am i the only one or did the drums section have a very cool smell to it....?