tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post7194165220207918011..comments2023-08-14T11:44:27.299-04:00Comments on Jeremiah's<br> Vanishing New York: Rudy's Music StopJeremiah Mosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11791516443125872364noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-9900185906671572702015-08-20T07:05:53.154-04:002015-08-20T07:05:53.154-04:00Oldest NYC trick in the book...happens in old Ital...Oldest NYC trick in the book...happens in old Italy too.L' Americanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14332552976545524033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-61485187004823967782015-07-09T14:53:47.243-04:002015-07-09T14:53:47.243-04:00You needed to be in The Associated Musicians of Gr...You needed to be in The Associated Musicians of Greater New York, American Federation of Musicians Local 802, as I am, to get good prices on 48th.<br /><br />Rudy also has a store in Soho.<br /><br />Truth is when Rock died, so did 48th street.....Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18195713762153624962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-27889489475316425922015-07-08T17:56:09.194-04:002015-07-08T17:56:09.194-04:00Began playing woodwinds and guitar in the late 195...Began playing woodwinds and guitar in the late 1950s and put myself through college playing session gigs in the city. Fully a quarter of my current collection of 400+ guitars and basses came from shops on 'the Street', including Rudy's. I always enjoyed combing the shops for rarities over the years, along with meeting and discussing gear with other musicians from everywhere, something that will be missed. Buying an instrument is a personal exercise that cannot be done online. RIP Music Row, gone the same way as Radio Row four and a half decades earlier.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-37308669392247966982015-07-08T07:57:55.433-04:002015-07-08T07:57:55.433-04:00Lived in NYC in 1980s-90s; in Austin, TX since lat...Lived in NYC in 1980s-90s; in Austin, TX since late '90s. Used to go up to Music Row to see "what was there," but the prices were too steep for me. Sham Ass - I mean, Sam Ash - in particular seemed like a place where pros would go and get preferential treatment; that it was oriented to players who were above a certain line, professionally or financially - but maybe I was just a deadbeat indie rocker.<br /><br />Anyone in NYC who claims that "nobody buys guitars anymore" should see Austin, TX, where everyone seems to play guitar and nothing else, and the overabundance of broke musicians means that the pawn shops are flooded with decent electrics marked-down, or talked-down, to $100-$200, and as little as $1,000 in cash could possibly outfit a four-piece rock band.<br /><br />But get this: though I live in Git-ar Town, with pawn shops and cool guitar stores like South Austin Music going strong, I buy my guitars, mics and other small gear (including picks and strings) mail-order via Musician's Friend - because of the prices, and not having to put up with snooty or hard-selling jerks - I mean, clerks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-91453542306270194222015-07-08T01:53:35.369-04:002015-07-08T01:53:35.369-04:00Sam Ash once sold me a synthesizer as new. Somethi...Sam Ash once sold me a synthesizer as new. Something I had tagged in the store. They told me it wasn't in stock right now but it would be coming in shortly. 2 days later I get a call telling me it had arrived. It was all packed up so I didn't wanna bother to unwrap it and check it out. When I got home, the first thing I did was look under the high 'C' key and what did I find...the very tag I applied. Walterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06416518509228779720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-88495484320631184532015-07-07T14:02:52.345-04:002015-07-07T14:02:52.345-04:00Just passed Mary Ann's on 8th & it looks c...Just passed Mary Ann's on 8th & it looks closed & gone. Sniff.swinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03276005410251241067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-33097516429824309152015-07-07T13:13:25.432-04:002015-07-07T13:13:25.432-04:00People can hate all they want but Rudy and Alex an...People can hate all they want but Rudy and Alex and Henry across the street were always helpful, patient and gracious. Anyone who complains ablaut customer service and prices is welcome to go to Guitar Center ( which is partially owned by Bain Capital and Ares Management.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11319456102398137524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-76590309638828352042015-07-07T12:15:46.176-04:002015-07-07T12:15:46.176-04:0048th Street was like a fantasy land when I was a k...48th Street was like a fantasy land when I was a kid. Just looking at the stuff in the window at We Buy Guitars was enough to blow my mind. And then I'd check out the beautiful custom basses at Rudy's, and go across the street to Manny's and look at all the signed pictures and check out the amps. And then maybe go around the corner to the Metropole or head over to Show World. Make a day of it! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-45694630105536477652015-07-07T12:06:17.219-04:002015-07-07T12:06:17.219-04:00I can't remember how many hours I spent on tha...I can't remember how many hours I spent on that block. But it's in the thousands. I've outlived most of the friends I met there.Wessays (tm)https://www.blogger.com/profile/18293360412624189347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-35969040587166161272015-07-07T11:02:00.096-04:002015-07-07T11:02:00.096-04:00A friend of mine who owns 10+ guitars sez:
"N...A friend of mine who owns 10+ guitars sez:<br />"No one buys guitars at Rudy's because they're fucking dickheads there"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-82483915052717992982015-07-07T10:59:52.635-04:002015-07-07T10:59:52.635-04:0048th Street was a regular haunt of mine, back in t...48th Street was a regular haunt of mine, back in the day, before I left. Back then, in the 80s, both sides of the street were lined with stores, resellers, and upstairs you had makers of every kind of instrument, not to mention make repairs, an art in itself. RIP 48th Street, you had 80 good years though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-43229973062121577372015-07-07T10:43:10.428-04:002015-07-07T10:43:10.428-04:00It would be absolutely zero exaggeration for me to...It would be absolutely zero exaggeration for me to say that every one of the 50 best books I ever read were books I had no intention of purchasing when I walked into the store; experiencing the culture of the store and like minded lovers of books is what expands your horizons and opens you up to being introduced to things you love. This cannot take place on Amazon or on your fucking iPhone. The reason I bring up books is that the same exact thing holds true for record shops, sheet music stores, and musical instrument shops. The interaction with PEOPLE are the crucial element in all of them, and too few consumers even realize what they're missing. You learn nothing, experience nothing, and never meet some of the best friends you will ever have by not going into the store.<br /><br />Do people these days really choose to purchase instruments online instead of going into the store, feeling them in their hands, listening to the sound in person, and talking with the guy who has been playing and selling them for 30+ years? Or are they the same brand of scum that go into the bookstore, find something interesting, and then open their phones to amazon and order them online?JAZnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-27791567012089113082015-07-07T09:50:44.870-04:002015-07-07T09:50:44.870-04:00Who needs things like music and culture when you h...Who needs things like music and culture when you have the M&M store?jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-683382864156505640.post-77195359550777364312015-07-07T09:49:14.752-04:002015-07-07T09:49:14.752-04:00What has happened to Music Row is a bit sad, but I...What has happened to Music Row is a bit sad, but I admit that I never actually bought anything at any of those stores. They were OK for researching what was out there, but the prices were always about 20% higher than any instrument/equipment store out of the city, and the service became increasingly less-informed (and more negligent) over the decades.<br /><br />And if a seller can't offer competitive pricing or competitive service, how are they to survive?Scouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07860208585189661470noreply@blogger.com