Concept Music Blog

Our "real" Christmas tree!

2011-12-12T10:43:00.000+08:00

In the "old" shop we simply has no room for a Christmas tree, so when I expanded the shop 2 years ago my wife asked me asked me if that meant I was going to have have a Christmas. I said, "Yes, in fact I think we still have a really nice fake one in the store room from a few years ago". Being from Europe, she was shocked... there was no way Concept Music was going to have a fake, plastic Christmas tree no matter how "real" I assured her it looked! So... off to Wilburys in the Swan Valley we went... where you have to wander through the paddock & choose your own & then cut it down yourself. Last year we seemed to run out of time but this year the guys were keen to have the real one again so we it is... before & after!

Eskimo Joe in the House!

2011-11-18T17:36:00.000+08:00

Our good friends from Eskimo Joe where back in the store today on their way to to Nova 937 to do a private show... all good except their gear did not not make it Perth in time so they were sans-guitars! Stu & Joel are both now playing Maton acoustic guitars so we offered to lend them a couple of our guitars for the occasion... and as Concept Music has the biggest (and best!) selection of Maton guitars Perth we certainly gave them plenty to choose from! Graham & Lee were on hand to help.

Congratulations Fiona on winning a brand new Maton Diesel guitar from Concept Music!

2011-11-07T15:46:00.001+08:00

When Fiona Wedenig of Gidgegannup received an email saying “Congratulations you are a Winner!” she thought it was just another one of those annoying hoax emails. In fact Fiona said first impulse was just to just delete it! Fortunately she didn't and a few days later when she checked the email more carefully she could not believe her luck.

Fiona, who is actually a clarinettist & owns a beautiful Buffet Festival series Bb clarinet, registered for our eNewsletter last year after she came across our website while looking for a Christmas Present for her guitarist partner Han. She saw that Tommy Emmanuel was doing a Master Class for Concept Music and, knowing Han owned already a Maton M325, thought it would make a great gift. Coincidentally Fiona & Han were already familiar with the Maton Mini Series guitars and had already been considering buying one as a travel guitar to take with them when visiting friends and family at “home” in Switzerland & Holland & were hoping to find somehting small enough to go nito an overhead locker... something you can sometimes get away if you put the Mini Maton in a bag instead of a case.

Interestingly, Fiona first came to Perth from Switzerland some 7 years ago while she touring the world circuit as a Professional Kite-Surfer. “Yes, really!” Fiona says “I had a great job that meant I got paid to go to the beach every day!”. While Competing and Training in Perth she met her partner Han... and the rest, as they say, is history!

Fiona has since hung up her Kite and is now working as a Project Manager in the Aviation & Mining industry in Perth. Unluckily for Han, it looks like he won’t get to play the Maton Mini guitar very much as, just one day after receiving her new guitar, Fiona emailed Concept Music to say: “I’ve already learnt my first two chords and played until I got sore fingers... it is such a beautifully sounding instrument, I can’t tell you how excited I am!”.

Congratulations Fiona... we are excited for you too and can’t wait to hear your first song!

Hank Marvin chooses AER for his Gypsy Jazz Guitars

2011-10-25T14:48:00.003+08:00

Guitar legend Hank Marvin has been a regular at Concept Music since moving to Perth about 25 years ago and he often drops in for a chat and to check out the latest gear. In a previous interview with Hank we asked him why he decided to move to Western Australia and his acute sense of humour was quickly apparent when he immediately quipped “Actually Graham, when I got on the plane I thought I was going to Peru... but somehow we ended up landing in Perth!”

Hank was in again recently looking for amplification for his Gypsy Jazz guitars on which he prefers to use clip on microphones. After talking to Tommy Emmanuel, he decided to try the AER acoustic amps instead of an electric amplifier and the Alpha 40 turned out to be extremely well suited. Hank said: “it was difficult to get enough volume before feedback with traditional electric guitar amps. The AER allows me to achieve just the correct mix of stage volume and tone with my clip on mic on the gypsy jazz guitar in a live environment” before smiling & adding “and Tommy Emmanuel recommended it and I thought that was good enough for me!”

Tony Del Roio also chatted to Hank while we was here picking up his amp and asked him why, of all the places in the world he travels, he chooses to shop at Concept Music. Hank responded generously saying: “Concept has friendly service and staff... and a great ambience in the store when I visit. All the guys here have a genuine interest in music and musical gear... and it shows”.

Quashing rumours that he & Graham are planning to do a Christmas album together featuring Graham on trombone, Hanks said he is currently completing a new album with his Gypsy Jazz Quartet. It has recently been mastered and will simply be called “Gypsy Jive” and is due for release very soon.

Excellent... MORE new Fender guitars!!

2011-10-04T16:25:00.002+08:00

Working at Concept Music is great! Yes, I know... there is a lot of cleaning & restringing & unpacking boxes... BUT almost every day SOME of those boxes happen to contain brand new guitars & basses from Fender! :-) Yep, you get to love the sound of that delivery truck reversing up & then seeing all those plain brown cardboard boxes you start salivate... coz even though you KNOW what's coming next you never REALLY know (I mean... they're all different, right?!). Lee has already developed that Pavlovs dog drooling look about him when he sees brown cardboard...

So... what was in those brown boxes today?! Well you'll have to come in & check them out but here's what was in one... a stunning '52 ReIssue Telecaster! Bewdiful! Come in & check them out before our crashing dollar pushes prices back up!

Visit to the Maton guitar factory

2011-07-08T09:36:00.000+08:00

Earlier this week Graham was attending a trade show in Melbourne to check out some of the lastest gear and unexpectedly had a few spare hours before his plane left so he headed out to see the lads at Maton. The factory is in Box Hill and is fantastic place to visit if you're ever over that way. Graham went for a walk around the factory with Andy from the Maton Custom Shop who showed him a couple of the latest designs he is working on... in particular Maton Custom Shop "Traditional" which is little more old school in design & will suit all those fingerpickers out there very well. It is about the same size as a Martin 000 (funny about that!). :-) Andy is holding one he is half way though making... and Graham just couldn't resist ordering it (no surprises there!). It looks like it's going to be a stunning guitar.

The guys in the "Mini" Maton section were also pleased to see Graham... especially as they told him Concept Music is one of the biggest "Mini" dealers in the country! We have sold over 80 of them since they released them only 5 years ago!

Great work Maton... keep it up.

Kim Falcon Gretsch Calendar

2011-03-18T10:50:00.000+08:00

The thoughtful people at Gretsch have just sent me this rather stunning calendar of gorgeous Gretsch gal Kim Falcon... and they had it personally autographed! I'm not sure why they thought I'd be interested but it does certainly have some stunning guitars in it so I'm sure that must be it? I have to admit that when I first saw a photo of Kim Falcon in a Gretsch catalogue I didn't realise she was real person... but she certainly is as you can see! And don't worry, if she's ever in Perth for an "In Store" you can be assured we'll let you know! I'll put the individual months up on our Facebook page.

Where did our "little man" come from?!

2011-02-16T08:39:00.002+08:00

One of my staff recently asked me "Where did the Concept Music ganster came from?". He was assuming I think that it was a generic photshop image I'd found in "word" or from an Adobe disk or something.... but the reality is that our little guy has been around since well before personal computers came into being!

I first saw him in a Japanese Music Trades magazine back in about 1975 (though exactly what he was promoting I'm not sure... the Japanese text next to him wasn't giving much away!). Nevertheless I liked him & tore the page out of the magazine & filed him in my "ideas" folder in my filing cabinet (I still have one of those!) & forgot about him.

A few years later when I decided to open Concept Musical Instruments I pulled out that file trying to think of ways I could get people to promote my "new" store for me that would be fun. Out came my little guy... "How could I use him?" It was about the time car stickers were appearing around the city saying "Mafia Staff Car" & so I had the idea of making him into a case sticker & adding the words "Keepa da hands off!" as way people might be able to (politely of course!) say "This is MY instrument... don't touch it!" and hence WANT to put it on their cases & get the Concept Music name out there in a subtle, friendly way.

31 years later, our little ganster is still there & the only change has been the recent addition of a splash of orange on his hat & platform shoes to macth our current logo. The sticker still appears on cases all over the world & he is also on our VW Caddy Van as well our free notepads &... as of last night, on the side wall of Concept Music espousing the message: "Lifes' Better When you Play!" courtesy of Drew from The Graphite Crew. And yes, we still have the stickers & they are still free any time you want one... just drop in!

Another Awesome night with Tommy Emmanuel

2010-12-24T09:29:00.000+08:00

What was billed as a 1 1/2 hour "Ultimate Master Class" turned into a marathon 2 1/2 hour Concert come Lesson as Tommy positively and enthusiastically responsed to repeated & seemingly endless requests to play tune after tune after tune last night! Each time his performance was prefaced by a short but detailed & honest explanation of the particular piece requested... where he was when he wrote it & and why he played in that particular style. His explanations were full of detail and humour and his generosity and honesty seemed boundless. The 50 attendees who each invested $99 to spend time learning from Tommy Emmanuel were spell bound as he clearly demonstrated just why he has become known as one of the most lauded guitar playes in the world today!

It was a privilge to host this event on behalf of Tommy.

Winner of Fender USA Stratocaster...

2010-11-24T10:22:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Raff McGriff of Kalamunda who won a brand new Fender USA Stratocaster just for signing up for our eNewsletter on our new website! An understandably excited Raff said “I am humbled, astounded & privileged & can already feel the funk dripping off this baby!!” adding “this will be a welcome addition to my growing collection!”. Tony took a break from his obvious Mo-Vember commitments to present the guitar to Raff in store last Friday.

Our next give-away is one of the incredibly popular Maton Diesel" Mini guitars so don't miss out on you chance to win & sign up today!!

Tommy's Back in Town!

2010-11-19T17:36:00.001+08:00

Yes, the master blaster of acoustic guitar is back in Perth with his brother Phil for a 50th Anniversary Tour at Burswood Theatre on the 20th December! And this year we are very happy to announce that, despite his incredibly busy schedule (which sees him playing over 300 Concerts per year all around the world!) he arrives into Perth the day before his Concert & he will be giving one only acoustic guitar Ultimate Master Class at Concept Music on the evening of Sunday 19th December! The cost is only $99 for the 1 1/2 hour session with Tommy and numbers are strictly limited to 50 people! If you are a "finger picker" you wont want to miss this great opportunity!

What a difference a year makes!

2010-11-19T08:44:00.001+08:00

It is hard to believe it is almost 12 months since Concept Music opened its "new" expanded store here at 246 Cambridge Street, Wembley. This time last year we were up to our eyeballs in cabinet makers, builders, painters, plasterers & electricians rushing to get our renovation finished in time for Christmas! And here we are 12 months later... it certainly has made a huge difference having the extra space & the feed-back from you, our customers, have given us continues to be oustanding. There are so many "favourite" bits in the new store but the Retro entry lounge, Acoustic Room, and "Wall" (of electric guitars) are certainly stand outs! Also Concept was a finalist in the "Best Presented Store" category at the annual AMA (Australian Music Association) Awards Dinner in Melbourne ealier this year so were pretty happy all round! If you haven't been it yet... drop in soon. We think you'll like it!

Australian Music Association Convention

2010-10-28T17:02:00.000+08:00

Every year the Australian Music Associaton (AMA) runs a Trade Convention at which there is always an awards dinner and some fantastic acts. This year it was in Melbourne at the new Convention Centre and Graham & Tony went to check out all the latest gear & see what bargains were to be had (it's a tough gig but someone has to do it!).

After some 12 or so years on the Executive Committee of the AMA (the organisers of the Convention), Graham resigned late last year so that he could focus fully on the renovations and expansion of Concept Music. For a start this meant that Graham was able to relinquish his regular role as MC of the Annual Awards Dinner & relax for a change but also it seems that his focus on the renovations paid off... as Concept Music was a finalist in the much coveted "Best Presented Store" category. While Concept Music didn't take out the ultimate prize of Best Store this year it was gratifying to receive so many nominations. Maybe next year methinks?

And yes, a good time was definitely had by all!

ABC Inventors Grand Final

2010-09-06T12:57:00.000+08:00

Due to his many years experience and standing in the industry, our fearless leader Graham Hoskins is often asked for his comments and opinion on all sorts of matters musical. In particular this year Graham was asked several times by the ABC to consult as an Industry Expert on several "new" music innovations and inventions for the popular TV show "The New Inventors" (actually, shouldn't all inventions be new?! But I guess that's why they're asking... to make sure they are!). As a result of that, Graham has now been invited to attend the 2010 Grand Final and After Party in Sydney later this month. It will be interesting to see if any of the inventions Graham assessed are in the grand final. "Watch this space" for the result!

Our 30 Anniversary Fender Bash... a night with a difference!

2010-09-06T11:40:00.000+08:00

Having just eclipsed the 30 years in business milestone, we thought we might celebrate by having a VIP Fender night featuring the amazing talents of Melbourne guitarist James Ryan. A number of Concept Music "multi Fender" owners were there to watch, listen & enjoy some nice wines & finger foods. Something guests were not expecting though was another "feature act" we had arranged.... an exclusively designed body painting I commissioned a friend of mine, Suzanne Mykolajenko of "Whereforart" Body Painting, to do for us. Starting with the blank canvas, of a naked model, Suzanne spent nearly 3 hours to finish & result, as you see, was quite spectacular & it was actually remarkably hard to tell those jeans & top were not real... even standing next to her! It was very enjoyable night & there was certainly plenty for everyone to talk about for some time to come!

"Clarisax Feast" organised by the Clarinet & Saxophone Association of WA

2010-07-07T13:42:00.005+08:00

Recently the Clarinet & Saxophone Society of WA (CASSWA) ran their 2nd Annual "ClariSax Feast" at UWA & once again it was an incredibly popular day with registrations numbering over 100 & well up on last year inaugral event. Concept Music was at the "Feast" with a vast array of instruments & accessories for delegates to try & and also joined forces with Rovner to donate a brand new Rovner Platinum Series ligature valued at $159 as a prize. The winning ticket was drawn last Friday at Concept Music in Wembley by Allan Meyer who is the Principal Clarinetist with WASO (West Australian Symphony Orchestra). Allan also took the opportunity to test some of the new Yamaha wooden clarinets for us... & he was especially impressed with the CX & 650 Series of instruments commenting particularly on their fine keywork. The lucky & very deserving winner of the Rovner ligature was Adrian Galante who is a very fine young player from Sorrento. Congratulations Adrian! If you are a clarinet or sax player why not sign up & join CASSWA today?!

Boxes boxes boxes....

2010-06-28T16:22:00.000+08:00

Delivery trucks pulling up out the front are a constant source of excitement when you work in a music shop! Today it was some new gear from Blackstar which included some new models we haven't seen before as well as a 12" extension cab (finally!). We're not exactly sure what there is that is so exciting in the manual that Charles is reading but hey... maybe he's just checking out the ohmage - could that be exciting?!

Tomorrow we are expecting a big shipment of new Fender gear! Bring it on!!

Is this the best Martin guitar ever?!

2010-06-17T11:48:00.002+08:00

That would be a huge call (& would be a debatable claim anyway!) but it is most certainly of the finest & most exciting Martin acoustic guitars we've had come through the shop in a long time. At almost $6000 it sounds like a lot of money for a guitar (and it isa lot of money actually!) but if you could say that a guitar for that price was "value for money" then we reckon this is it!

It is one of the very first of the new Martin Performance Series guitars to come in to Australia & it's a ripper... built of solid East Indian rosewood back & sides with a solid Sitka spruce top, solid wood binding (ovangkol), and pearl rosette. Check out some more photo's on our website or go to Martin's special website to hear a clip. Yummy!

Careful, fake guitars really do exist...

2010-06-10T19:13:00.003+08:00

I sometimes wonder if people think we are just scaremongering when we tell warn them to "be careful out there" buying gear off the internet... especially from people they don't know... but we see so many "dodgy" instruments we cannot stress enough that fake gear really does exist and you really DO have to be careful! And the more popular the gear... the more likely you are to come across a fake: copies of the classic Shure SM58 mike are very common place but at Concept Music we have also had personal experience with counterfeit Daddario strings, Yamaha flutes and trumpets, pickups... and yes, guitars as well of course.

Here are some photo's of what appeared to be a Fender Custom Shop Telecaster guitar that came in recently for us to have a look at. We were asked to "check the electronics... 'coz it's making a kinda buzzing sound". Did it ever... & when we pulled it apart we could see why. Not only were the pickups fake, the pots tiny & wiring thin & unshielded... on closer inspection we noticed the neck, despite having a beautiful Logo on the front and the Custom Shop authentification decal on the back it was (not so obviously) a VERY cheap copy.

So... how CAN you tell a "fake"? Well, without taking a giutar apart it can very hard. On this the external "alarm bells" were the truss rod access is wrong, also it had an unusual laminated maple fretboard on a maple neck (you can just see the 'maple on maple' lamination just behind where the truss rod is accessed) and also the maple in the neck also looks very cheap and has many grain faults.. something you would never see on genuine Fender (or even a Squier for that matter!) but overall... easily good enough to fool someone who wasn't expecting to see a fake or if you only had photo's to go by. Hmmm.

MORE Ukuleles!

2010-06-01T15:15:00.001+08:00

If someone had told me a few years ago we'd be selling ukuleles for $500 and $600 I would have laughed... but there you go - who ever knows what "the next big thing" is going to be?! Concept has always sold a lot of $25 cheapy coloured ukes but the market has seems to have exploded since the Concert for George DVD hit the shelves a few years ago. Now we stock a huge range incluind Kala, Ohana & Mahalo & they are increasingly being sought out & recognised as a "real" musical instrument... AND they are SO much FUN! It's hard not to smile whenever someone comes in & starts to strum on one!

They call him Bruce! Bruce Egnater that is...

2010-05-05T11:44:00.000+08:00

There's always some funky new model of something coming on the market & while Egnater amps are not exactly "new" (in fact Bruce has been making amps for over 30 years!) the new Tweaker models are. They are an ultra compact and amazingly versatile little 15 watt all-tube amp that offers unique & seemingly endless tonal variations via the on-board “Tweaker” selector switches. They use a pair of 6V6 power tubes & sound is incredible! And at around $1200 for the combo, the price is great too.

Bruce Egnater is currently on a National Tour of Australia & dropped in to Concept Music with his right hand man Gustavo for a chat & to check out the local music store scene. Tony and I thought it was a good time to test out the new "retro lounge" at Concept!

"Yeah Baby!" Our new Lounge Suite

2010-03-19T09:53:00.000+08:00

I found this very funky old "retro" lounge suite on Gum Tree... it is exactly what we've been looking for to complete the entry to the new shop & it looks perfect! Drop in for a cuppa!

The latest Guild guitars are made in the USA.

2010-02-25T18:51:00.000+08:00

The rennaisance of Guild guitars the past few years since Fender took them over has been a credit to the guys in the USA. Guild recently moved to a new facility in New Hartford, Connecticut and are one of the very few makers in the world to still use genuine nitrocellulose lacquer ~ you really can feel & hear the difference from the more commonly used polyutherane. Shane couldn't take his hands off this latest one that came in & we are still amazed at just how good they are getting with every shipment seeming to get better than the last! The ever popular Guild D55 is a classic and at around $4,500 is a great investment.

A stunning new arrival... a brand new Fender 1964 Relic Telecaster!

2010-02-25T18:32:00.000+08:00

While some people still struggle with the concept ('scuse the pun!) of a Fender "Relic" guitar, they really are incredible instruments & they play & feel like an genuinely old hand worn in guitar! This 1964 reissue Telecaster that Charles is playing is a stunner... aged beautfully it pays like a dream & with the woods Fender have selected, it rings like a bell acoustically & rips it up when you plug it in. We are expanding our range of Fender Custom Shop guitars all the time & many of the one's we have were hand picked. This one is $7,400 but it is a whole lotta guitar for the money... and a good $20,000 cheaper than if you found a "real" '64 in this condition!

The new Mark Bass Mo Mark... it really is revolutionary!

2009-12-12T11:03:00.000+08:00

Wow! This an amazing new concept (excuse the pun!) from the incredibly popular Mark Bass people called "MoMark" . It's a bit hard to explain here, but basically it's modular system for bass players that allows you to mix & match a whole range of pre-amp & EQ's & build your own bass amp! You can also compare them through any combination of speaker cabs... at the push of a button! Tony & I saw a proto-type of this set up a few months ago in the Eastern States & were blown away... like nearly all great ideas, we were left wondering "why didn't somebody think of this before?!" Concept Music is the ONLY place in Perth you can try this new MoMark system up so grab your bass & come on down & plug it in!

A new Bass guitar section as well

2009-12-12T09:48:00.000+08:00

With our renovations we knew we definitely needed more space for our bass guitars... bass gear has always had a strong focus for Concept Music & our customers tell us we have the best bass selection in Perth & the are a wehad it in was bursting at the seams. So now they have twice as much area & are right at the front of the shop giving them even more prominence. If you're looking for bass gear, we reckon we've got it covered! Come in & see Tony... our bass guru.

Our new Service Centre is flat out as well

2009-12-07T10:50:00.000+08:00

We do a lot of restrings here as well as minor repairs so when we renovated, something high on our wish list, was new service area where we could inspect & restring more comfortably and a bit more professionally! I love the colours here but more important, I love having somewhere to put the guitars while we are inspecting them with customers as well as a "real" workbench.

The all new Concept Music... 99% Finished!

2009-12-07T10:43:00.000+08:00

Phew... well, JUST in time for Christmas the totally new Concept Music is just about finished! And I'm not sure which we bit I like the best?! Certainly the Acoustic Room (or "Studio" as someone called it last week) must be right up there & it certainly is lovely... very much like "home". It's nice to have somewhere to sit down & close the doors in private & just play & listen.... very happy with it.

Hey check this out... it's a great way try a new mike!

2009-12-03T18:18:00.002+08:00

There are heaps of things we have seen over the past few years at various Trade Shows & Exhibitions that we've said "Wow... wouldn't THAT be great... if only we had more room?!". And this is one of the best... it's a demo setup for trying microphones. Our good friends at AKG have set this up so you can listen to the different mikes & compare them & choose the mike best suited to your voice. It is now a permanent installation at Concept Music & it's really smple to use: just put on the headphones, choose a mike & say: "Check 1, 2!" (or is that "shhhheck schheck... scheckkk... ...one, choo... one choo.... shheck... "?!) & you're away. You'll be amazed how much difference you can hear. And if Joe Cocker uses 'em... well, you know they're going to be impressive! Joe actually uses an AKG D5 which, at only $289 RRP is an incredible mike. Tell us you saw it on our Blog and you can get one for $220 as an special introductory offer. And yes... you CAN leave your hat on when you're trying them.

We wish you Merry (real!) Christmas!

2009-12-01T10:20:00.000+08:00

My partner Anke was aghast when I said I was going to pull out my old plastic Christmas tree from the storeage shed this year... "You cant have a FAKE Christmas tree!" she quoth! I did explain that is a very NICE plastic Christmas tree but that was simply unacceptable (in Germany at least!) I was told.

And so it came to be that there we were at 9am last Sunday morning, saw in hand, wandering around the Christmas Tree Farm in the Swan Valley to choose a perfect "real" live Christmas tree for the very first Christmas for Concpet in our new shop! And of course, having a traditional Christmas tree meant that we had to have traditional decorations as well! When you come in you'll be amazed... it's SO beautiful (and yes, I admit, so much nicer than the old plastic one from the shed!) with real chillies, real slices of lemon, real walnuts.... a REAL tree! Lot's of Ho Ho Ho there! Danke Anke! :-)

"All the world's a Stage!"

2009-12-01T10:00:00.000+08:00

Well that's what they say... and it must certainly be true of the Music Industry! I had a small stage in my old shop in Murray St & loved having it there to do displays as well as hold clinics & demonstrations so it was a concept (excuse the pun!) I was keen to re introduce into the "new" shop here now that we have more space. So on Sunday my good freind Sebastian & my son Tim came in to help me tick that box of my all too extensive "To Do" list before my target finish date of December 1st! And we made it.... just! Just a coat of paint to go!

Getting closer!

2009-11-26T13:52:00.000+08:00

Well, we've now got nearly all the old guitars back up on the wall which has really started to make it feel like "home" again. We've got all the strings back up as well... so we ARE getting there (Graham repeats to himself over & over again). The new Stage STILL isn't finished but we DO now have the timber for it... oh well. Slowly but surely...

Acoustic guitars finally up on the wall....

2009-11-24T14:11:00.000+08:00

The deadline I've given myself to get everything finished is December 1st so that means I only have 1 week to go to get all teh sections of the shop happening... a week to biuld a new stage, repaint the old showcases, finish off the lighting, hang all my old guitars.... connect up a new computer terminal...

Hmm... I think I'd better & go & get stuck back in! Today I've pretty much got the acoustic section finished & just have some touching up & edge strips to put in... slowly slowly.

Ukelele's are us!

2009-11-24T14:06:00.000+08:00

Apart from not wanting to get into an argument over "What IS the correct spelling of Ukulele?" (The Americans seem to use ukulele & the Brits ukelele... but even makers & dictionaries seem vary on this one!) the one thing I CAN say is... BOY, do we have ukeleles! And instead of being hidden away above the front door now they're taking pride of place next to stairs right near the new counter. Uke's start at $25 for a brightly coloured Mahalo (the only "cheapie" we've found that will actually tune up & play!) but they go right up to $500 & $600 for some stunning top end models by Kala & Ohana as wel;l as Martin (yes, Martin make ukes' as well!).

Drums... we have drums!

2009-11-20T09:13:00.000+08:00

Since moving here from Wembley 8 years ago we have never had enough space to display drums... we have always hgad a few kits in stock but they've always ended up jammed in between the keyboards & guitar packs somewhere... but NOW!!!! Our first shipment of Yamaha Stage Custom & Tour Custom kits arrived last week & we finally got to unpack them... awesome! Some of their electric kits arrive next week too.

Anyone for a $10 slightly used guitar stand?!

2009-11-20T09:08:00.000+08:00

I had to buy nearly 100 guitar stands so we had somewhere to put all our guitars while the shop was being painted & carpeted but now that most of them are back on the walls & have been rehung, we've got stands coming out of our ears! So if you're looking for a "pracically brand new, only used once on a Sunday, pre-assembled & slightly dusty guitar stand" for 10 bucks... we got 'em... in fact we got dozens & dozens of 'em!! If you want to grab one I'm selling them off at around half price so $10 of $19.95.

Wallpaper in the entry...

2009-11-17T08:20:00.000+08:00

I've mentioned before that part of our brief to the designers was to make sure we maintained a relaxed, friendly vibe in the store but also to make it look cool & interesting. We really liked the dark grey idea for the walls & ended up going with a bit of an ebony & ivory feel between the 2 sides of the shop with the bottom (old) half of the shop taking on a darker, more moody rock feeling for the ebony side & the new top section being the fresher "ivory" feel. And to make sure it wasn't like a cave when you walk in with all the charcoal colour, Clare suggested we liven it up a bit with this brightly striped wallapper on the entry wall (where the old counter used to be). I loved it as soon as I saw it & even though it had to imported from Scandanavia (?!) we ordered it in & waited patiently till it could go up... which it did yesterday. And WOW, what an effect! It's a bit hard to look at on the screen but it's kinda retro & VERY & cool. Just what we wanted.

New carpet is down... at last!

2009-11-17T08:07:00.000+08:00

Getting the old section of the shop recarpeted was definitely one of the bigger logisitical exercises we have had to undertake... & of course shifting EVERY guitar & amp & showcase OFF the floor on Saturday evening meant just one thing on Monday morning... yep, it all had to go back again! All the guys really got stuck in & it started to look pretty presentable very quickly actually... they did an awesome job. It is the same carpet as the "new" part of the shop & is quite dark but now everythng matches & it definitely has a nice feel & look to it... not to mention a much better SMELL for that matter! We're getting there... can't wait till it's all finished... it seems to be taking forever so thanks for your patience!

Acoustic Room (continued!):

2009-11-17T07:55:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I think I caught a glimpse of light at the end of our renovation tunnel with at least one room in the shop is pretty much finished now. Stuart came in to hang the wallpaper in the acoustic room & in our entry wall.... & what a difference! It really looks excellent... definitely give the room a more relaxed & "home" vibe & I think it has just also changed acoustics slightly as well... I can see many, many customers getting lost in there... & me for that matter!

New carpets today... I hope!

2009-11-15T08:29:00.001+08:00

It was a very, very busy day yesterday (Saturday) so we didn't get much chance to clear the floor in the old part of the shop ready for the carpet layers to come in this morniong (Sunday). It was a big job as we had to remove literally everything off the floor: the old counters.... the display boxes in the front window... every single guitar & bass amplifier... the boys all mucked in though & we had it done by around 6:30pm. Now.... we just wait for the carpet layers to turn up.... & as it is 8:30am & they were supposed to be here at 8:00am... I'm just hoping there are 1/2 hour late because it's Sunday & they had to go & get the carpet from the warehouse? Hmm... And where did we put everything off the floor? Anywhere it would bloody well fit!

Our Brass & Woodwind instruments have a home at last!

2009-11-12T13:45:00.001+08:00

Being a trombone player, I'm almost embarrassed to admit I've never had a purpose built showcase for our trumpets, trombones & saxophones... not any more! How good do the Alto saxes look now?! Interestingly, the slat wall hangers I bought to display the saxes & trombones are made in the USA by a company called Stringswing, and, while it was nice to have something not made in China for change, would you believe they have a different sized slat wall slot in the USA than here in Australia... which I thought was bizarre in this increasingly monocultured world we're living in?! The only solution was for me to get out my angle grinder (any excuse Gra!) & grind about 5mm off the top each hanger of every hanger so they would fit in the slots! A bit of work but a great effect in the end.

Billy Sheehan Clinic...

2009-11-12T13:32:00.000+08:00

Last night I worked back hanging up some more shop fittings & guitars while the boys went to a Bass Clinic with Bass guitar legend Billy Sheehan... around 200 bass players turned out at the WAAPA Auditorium to see & hear him & we were pleased to hear his message to "get out there & play with other musicians!". It turns out we have the only Billy Sheehan "Attitude II" Signature Series Bass in Perth, so Yamaha asked us to take it along just in case Billy needed it. He didn't but he did agree to sign it after the show! Well done Tony! Great value at a bit under $3000.... I wonder who the lucky new owner will be?!

That's wasn't a concrete saw Karl... THIS is a concrete saw!

2009-11-10T07:25:00.002+08:00

I'm constantly amazed at the number of niche businesses out there... & how people got into them - I mean, who ever left school saying "I want to be concrete cutter when I finish Year 12?!". Thankfully, someone did! You might remember Karl my Electrician using a small circular saw sized cutter to put some slots in the concrete floor on the new section of the shop (for our headphone listening post & keyboards), well we decided it was such a great idea I asked him to do some more in the old shop befre the new carpets go in on Sunday. As it was a much longer cut so Karl called in the professionals & in they came with a rather more substational but noisier (& much faster!) machine that was hooked up to his ute & he proceeded to cut in another 16 metre channel in the floor so we put in another 5 power points in the floor for our bass amps, electronic drums, effects & guitar amps. Interesting job... sort of!

Somewhere to sit...

2009-11-08T17:20:00.006+08:00

It look long enough but we have finally taken delivery of a new ottoman for the acoustic room. And it isn't as wide as I had remembered but it's the perfect height for sitting on while you try out a few guitars... & the colours are great against the slate coloured Formica flooring. The acoustic room is nearly finished now with just some wallpaper & a few more guitar hangers to put up... & oh yeah, & take the masking tape off the glass doors! Oops.. my bad! Totally forgot all about it. I'll put it on my list.

Come in soon & have a nice quiet sit in there... it's lovely.

It's Sunday... so of course we're painting - again!

2009-11-08T17:09:00.000+08:00

"Are we there yet, are we there yet?!" No, not quite... but we're definitely getting closer! Justin from PaintKing was here on the dot of 7:30am to start on the last section of the shop to get painted. Well... the last BIG section anyway... there's a lot of little touch ups to be done as well as 2 walls of wallpapering to go... but we're certainly getting closer. And what a difference a fresh coat of paint makes! Today we finished painting the new bass section in matching domino black... and the amp room we painted in... & you guessed "chartreusse" is back! You can just see it on the right hand side of this photo. It is very fresh looking after the washed concrete grey colour we've endured the past few years (it seemed like a good idea at the time!). Now we also need to find time to rehang all the old guitars which will be a bit fiddly but fun.

And while shuffling all the stock around to make room for painting wasn't too big a job, next Saturday will be a different story. They're coming to recarpet the "old" part of the shop next Sunday morning so everything has to come off the floor! We can't wait to see the new carpet go down though... while there's loads & loads of little stuff still to do, the carpets are the last really BIG job logistically (he says hopefully!).

Slowly slowly...

2009-11-05T16:32:00.001+08:00

It was very dusty dirty day in the shop today with electricians & cabinet makers drilling, planing, jigsawing & hammering all day so our apologies if you were in the shop today & felt like you had walked into a construction zone instead of a music shop (but it will all be over soon I promise!). Today we also got our old Fender Custom Shop sign out of the amp room (where you probably never even noticed it?!) & rehung it outside the amp room... where it looks much better! Sunday the painters will be back & then next week the electrician is coming back to put in some new power points in the floor of the old shop & there's still a bit of cabinetry to go in & the new carpet but we're definitely getting there... at least I think we are!

Our new Service Centre

2009-11-05T16:22:00.000+08:00

Well it's not quite operational yet but you get the picture so feel free to rush in & be one of the first to have your guitar serviced in our new service centre! Hopefully by the time you get here we'll have some of our strings & leads hung up in there. This second photo below is the cabinet work being done for our new recoding display... plenty of room to hear those Studio Monitors at ear level & plenty of cable access so they can left plugged in... we hope.

Now THAT is a guitar wall!!!

2009-11-04T11:16:00.001+08:00

Wow... we keep looking at our new electric guitar wall & feel like we're looking at a photo out of a Guitar Magazine?! You can actually SEE all our guitars now... & they really look fantastic against the Dulux Domino grey walls Clare recommended... the low voltage spot lights really make the guitars jump off the wall. Some of you might remember we had flat black walls at the old shop in Murray Street, but the black never looked this classy... & the wall not nearly this big! Come in & check it out.

Flat Screens to the left, Flat Screens to the right!

2009-11-04T11:11:00.000+08:00

We really liked having a big screen TV in the back of the shop to run Concert & Lesson DVD's on while the shop is open, so when Clare from Egosquare Design suggested we think about adding a couple more in each different section of the the store it didn't take much convincing! And THIS time they wont be sitting on top of an old showcase... they'll be suspended from the ceiling & wired back to the main counter so we can control them from there... wow, I think we're starting to look a bit professional! About time maybe?!

A new Guitar Service Centre... at last!

2009-11-04T11:02:00.000+08:00

I don't know quite how the guys have coped with servicing so many guitars every day on our old desk plonked in the middle of the store but somehow they have! Today the cabinet work goes in for our new Guitar Service Centre which will be awesome! A nice big, clean, funky space so we spread out & plenty of room to service & repair any of your beautiful guitars that need our love & attention. Can't wait...

The Guitar Wall Cometh!!

2009-11-03T17:06:00.000+08:00

Finally... after what seemed like hours of having all of us stand around like a bunch of road workers (with apologies to all the hard working road workers out there) pontificating such issues as "how far apart do you think they should they be?" and "how high shall we go?!" and "how many rows can we fit it?" interspersed with "I think we need more space!!" (more space?! Hello...we've got twice as much as before?!!) we finally came up with a spacing formula for hanging the guitars on our new electric guitar wall... the wall of electric doom! And this time we thought enough about it make sure we won't have to stand on top of the small amps to reach the top row! (And "Doh" to the person who worked out the measurements last time... errr... that would be me... oops! Sorry guys!). Hopefully we can finish it off today before the cabinet makers & electrician come in tomorrow... and yes you guessed it, at 7:00am!!! Oh no.... have a heart guys!

Paint, paint & more paint...

2009-11-03T08:49:00.000+08:00

I didnt know if it was a good thing or a bad thing when Justin from Paint King suggested he would be happy to paint on a Sunday... saying it would be easier for him & for the customers so despite his request for (another) 7am start I agreed. He's been doing a great job & has been really cooperative with his felxibility in regards to working around us while the shop is still open. Drop in & see his handy work... you'll be blown away! And yes, that IS a charcoal black ceiling! There's still a bit to go (the amp room & last guitar corner) & he's knocking that off... you guessed, THIS Sunday!

Some of my "Golden Oldies" (or Ugly Bettys?!)

2009-11-03T08:41:00.002+08:00

It sounds like a simple thing when the painter says "can you just take down those guitars so I can paint that wall?" but when there's 40 or 50 of them & they are all bolted to the wall as part of my "Hall of Horrors" (ie. my collecton of wacky, crazy, ugly... call them what you will guitars?!) it is not such a quick or easy exercise!!

My collection started over 25 years ago when someone came in with an old Hagstrom guitar to ask if was OK for his son to learn on? He'd bought it in the early 60's while he was in the Navy but had never played it himself. I thought it was awesome however it was pretty much unplayable so in the end I suggested we swap it for a better & more modern guitar that his son would be able to learn play on (& that his mates would think was cool!). Meanwhile, I thought his old guitar was SO cool I decided to keep it & hang it up "Not for Sale" in the shop. And here we are over 25 years later & there's over 50 of them in collection! Mostly have been brought in by people wanting to get rid of them or trade them in but other I've picked up at Antique Fairs, Garage Sales or Auctions & most of them aren't worth very much in $ value but they're a lot of fun & there's quite a bit of history there now. While they were off the wall I asked Don from Mosquito Graphic Design to come in & take photo's of them so I can pout them up on our website at some point.... when I've got nothing else to do! (Yeah, right!).

The beginnings of our new guitar section...

2009-10-31T12:59:00.001+08:00

The painter has done almost half of the "old" part of the shop & will be back tomorrow morning at 7:00am (yep, that's right... 7:00am... in the morning... on a SUNDAY!). I thought I was finished with these early starts actually but this week I have tradies coming in on Tuesday AND Wednesday at 7:00am so I guess there's stiull a few more to go. Today we swapped some of our electric guitars over into the back of the old part of the shop that Justin painted on Thursday & wow... they look awesome on the "domino" black that Clare has selected for the wall & roof colour... very rock, very night-club, very cool as well... can't wait to get the new racks up & the new carpet in!

Basses to the left... basses to the right... basses EVERYWHERE!

2009-10-31T12:35:00.000+08:00

We always knew we had a great range of bass gear but when we had to shift them all so the painters could start painting downstairs we realised just how many we had! At the moment they're using every spare guitar stand in the shop & are stacked in every square inch of the new part of the shop while we're painting the old part... but don't worry, they'll have an awesome NEW home very soon!

The Day Wall Came Down: Part 3!

2009-10-29T12:13:00.001+08:00

Walls, walls, walls... or more correctly... NO more walls! The first wall to come down was the double brick wall between the new & old shops; next was the temporary wooden wall (to protect us while they removed the brick wall!) & last night, we took out the old store room wall & office... to reveal a HUGE new space... which will be our new electric guitar section! Huge space... precede by a HUGE mess!!! But we had fun! Sort of...

Our new Yamaha window graphics

2009-10-28T13:42:00.000+08:00

I love photo-graphics on windows & I was keen to promote the fact that we do a lot of brass & woodwind business (even though it wasn't particularly obvious till now!). In fact even when you came into the store before the renovations they were very well hidden! Not any more...

Yamaha are the main brand we supply in saxes & trumpets etc & they had some awesome graphics available for us to use. Naturally they were very happy & keen to "assist" us in announcing our new increased wind instrument emphasis by means of these very classy photo-graphics in 2 of our new windows. Nice... very nice!

Electricals & more electricals

2009-10-28T13:35:00.000+08:00

Today our sparky Karl is back upgrading the power feed to our building (which meant we had no power for a few hours today!) and also installing the LED lights in our showcases... only 5 watts each & no heat or UV... bewdiful! The saxes & brass instruments will finally have a nice home where they'll feel loved!

Tomorrow the painters start on the "old" part of the building & getting ready for that is proving quite a logistical challenge... (read nightmare!). Fortunately they are being very cooperative & have agreed to help us out by doing it in 2 halves which means that we can squeeze all the stock into one side of the shop while they do the other... half & vice versa. Our first job was to put together another 6o guitar stands!

Our new sheet music rack...

2009-10-23T13:31:00.000+08:00

Sometimes we feel like all this is taking forever... but something new IS happening every day so I guess we just have to be patient. Today it was the unexpected arrival a new sheet music stand. Now we have somewhere to browse & somewhere to store our music... and not before time! Shane WILL be excited when he comes in tomorrow! The glass doors on the new wind & brass showcases in the background should be in early next week too.

The new acoustic room.... beautiful!

2009-10-22T17:30:00.000+08:00

There is still a lovely long ottoman lounge to go in the Acoustic Room (as well as another "surprise" on one wall!) but even at this stage you can really start to "see" it now.... the guitars just look amazing on the green walls & more importantly, the sound is lovely in there - not too bright but clear & with a bit of a snap to the acoustics. The electrician also got the pendant lights in late last night so you can actually SEE the guitars in there when you try them now! We love it!

The New counter: Part 2

2009-10-22T17:23:00.000+08:00

Well it doesn't have the lights in or power to it yet BUT here it is. And before you ask no, we don't know what the long curve on the side is for either... but we like it! Very artisic & colourful & we can't wait to have the computer screens & phones all wired in so can make the switch - hopefully in the next few days.

I told you it was going to be colourful!

2009-10-21T11:38:00.000+08:00

Charles from ACJ Interiors was back promptly right on 9:00am as promised with another truck load of cabinetry & started to put our new counter together... & WOW, talk about bright! It's one thing to see a small swatch on a plan & quite another to see the whole thing... very cool. I can't wait to see it with the lights on (yes, it has lights in it as well!). Tony looks a bit confused but makes a good supervisor!

Nice legs...

2009-10-20T18:57:00.001+08:00

Gazza will kill me when he sees this shot (that's why I've hidden his face!). As part of the renovations we are pushing the guitar section right to the back wall up to the old roller door in the "old" part of the shop. In fact early on, one of the suggestions from our designer Clare was that we could even consider incorporating the roller door into the design to give the guitar section a sort of classy but industrial vibe (if there is such a thing?!) but then when we remembered just how hot the metal roller door gets in summer we knew we'd have to panel & insulate it instead... plus it will give us even MORE space to hang guitars! Another messy job for Gazza! Cheers mate... you're a legend.

Showcases...we have showcases!

2009-10-20T18:48:00.000+08:00

We hardly had the computers turned on this morning when up rocked a large truck full of furniture & odd shaped boards & panels which are going to be assembled on site to become our new showcases & counters. I had imagined they would just walk them out of the truck & put them into place so I was surprised to see how much assembly is done on site. The main counter wasn't ready& goes in tomorrow but today they installed both the new brass & wind showcases as well as the cupboards & slat wall behind the where the counter will go... & we're loving the colours! The colours are not all obvious here so I'll put some more photo's on tomorrow when they're somewhat more assembled... & have the lights in!

What kind of colour is "Chartreuse" anyway?!

2009-10-18T12:27:00.002+08:00

When the designer Clare suggested we paint the side of the building "chartreuse" I cautiously agreed... mainly because her recommendations up too that point in time had been impeccable so the trust level was high... but to be honest, it was also because, before she then pulled out a swatch to show me, I had no bloody idea what colour chartreuse was & I didn't want to appear too ignorant!

Yes, as you can see it is Sunday & so I am painting... again. (And yes, in response to somebody who asked, yes, I AM really doing a lot of the painting myself!). You can see what colours I used today on my hands! I joked to my father last weekend that "you can the pick the amateur around here... the one the paint all over his hands!" The Grey is from the finishing coat on the front, back & side walls; the Yellow... is actually "Chartreuse" (see above: & I can't believe you didn't know that already!) & the Green (the slightly overripe avocado green you may recall I have dubbed it!) is from painting some of the guitar hangers in the acoustic room. Next? An Illy coffee at Cafe Cafe in Subi... but then I'm afraid I've some old branches off an almond tree to cut up & some lawn to dig up at home!

An interesting start to the day. Here comes "The Force"!

2009-10-16T12:55:00.001+08:00

Having been at the shop since 7:00am this morning dismantling some more shelving, I didn't mind being interrupted by one of the boys just after 9am saying "there's a guy here wants to sell a saxophone..." . It was a Yamaha YTS-62 Professional Model Tenor sax in excellent condition & as a Licensed 2nd Hand Dealer (as you have to be to buy or trade-in 2nd hand musical instruments) I was definitely interested... you just don't get many good 2nd hand saxes, especially Professional models. But something didn't feel right...

The guy selling it needed "cash" (or a cash cheque... which we just don't do) & said the sax "used to belong to my Dad... who passed away recently..." & that it was left to him in his Will... but he didn't seem to know anything about where his Dad had played or who with... which I thought was strange. My suspicion sufficiently aroused I checked futher & he said it was "about 6 years old..." but I had noticed that it had the latest Yamaha G1 neck on it as well as a new model of case... both of which have only available in the past 2 or 3 years. It was only then I remembered that only last week I had been asked to order the exact same model sax for a customer of RAC... things were adding up... that was just too big a coincidence. I went to my office & called the RAC to check if they had a serial number of the stolen instrument & bingo... it WAS the same sax! Next? A quick call to the Wembley Police Station & then go back & try & keep our friend relaxed talking (not so easy!) & the next thing you know we have a whole TV Crew here from the popular TV show "The Force" & the police set about doing what they do best with all cameras blazing! After an interview & taking some footage & they left with our "apparently" dodgy saxophone seller bundled into the back of their paddy wagon. Oh well... excitement over it's back to reality - I'd better finish off dismantling those shelves I guess! I'll let you know if it makes to air!

"Sign, sign... everywhere a sign!"

2009-10-15T10:49:00.000+08:00

Pssst... as Don from Mosquito Graphic Design did such an awesome job with the signage on our new VW Caddy Maxi, I also asked him to come up with some ideas for the roof signage for the shop... & he picked up on a sentiment expressed by a customer who said "Wow... this is gunna be musical heaven!" Now that we own the whole corner of Cambridge & Harborne Streets we can say whatever we want... & that's what he went for on the Harborne Street side of the shop: "This way to musical heaven!" We liked it as we felt it was in keeping with our goal to be the BEST music shop in Perth... rather than the biggest. Thanks for the idea Don!

Ready for some nice guitars...

2009-10-14T17:32:00.000+08:00

We have decided to use StringSwing Guitar Hangers in the new acoustic room. At $29.95 they are quite a bit more expensive then the other brands we sell but there 3 specific benefits... they are long enough so the backs of the guitars do not touch the wall; they use a lovely soft brown rubber that does not react with nitro cellulose lacquer that is used on some of our top end guitars; and also look really nice! Here they are all ready to accept our most beautiful Maton, Martin & Guild acoustics... now we just have to wait for the electrician to come back so we see them as well!

Skirting boards... & MORE painting!

2009-10-14T12:20:00.000+08:00

The upside of the funky boards in our acoustic room is that they look & sound great... but the downside is that you have to cut them about 1cm short of the walls (to allow for expansion & contraction) so now we have to put skirting boards all around to finish it off & cover the gap... so Shane stayed back last night to help me give them the first coat before we put them on the wall... I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not but it's worth a try! @nd coat will go after they're in... I hope!

The new office furniture...

2009-10-14T12:10:00.000+08:00

Well, as of next week (or as soon as the telephone lines have been reconnected actually) I will have a new office... & having been convinced by my staff & book-keeper that I couldn't re-use my centuries old boring "brown" table & old ex Government grey office desk that I got 2nd hand 15 years ago (true?!) the time has come for some new furniture... & I gotta say it feels pretty good sitting in a new office with fresh paint & cool colours... I think I'm going to like it!

Getting there...

2009-10-14T11:55:00.000+08:00

Well it's hardly actually finished yet but we CAN see the light at the end of the tunnel! Today we moved all the keyboards "upstairs" so, at last, we now have an actual Keyboard section... no crawling under amplifiuers & PA systems & guitars to get to thme anymore! Yee har! Heaven! And I still have to install the wall hangers for the guitars but we have also put some of the guitars up the in new acoutsic area... right next to the power board... with all the wires haning out of the wall waiting for the elctrician to come back (?!).

LOVE that new carpet smell!

2009-10-12T13:45:00.000+08:00

It's been on my calendar for literally months... the day has finally arrived! NEW CARPET! The new carpet is going in the top section today & we're really happy with the colour. It looks awesome! Now we just have to work out where to put all the stock while they re-carpet the "old" part of the shop! Plus I guess it means we're going to have to get a new vacuum cleaner now (not to mention a cleaner) as well!

Smoked Cedar Formica Floor

2009-10-11T14:25:00.000+08:00

Like a lot of these jobs that you do yourself, by the time we finished laying the new Formica floor for our new acoustic room I was just starting to get the hang of it. So next time it should be easy right? (Did I say NEXT time?!! With apologies to Eliza Doolittle: "not bloody likely!"). When I told some customers I was putting in "grey floorboards" you could tell by the look on their faces they thought it was an "interesting" (read: strange!) choice... but when you see it down & finished... it really is lovely & the wood on the guitars look great against it. Next? Get some nice guitars up on those walls!

Lights... we have lights... well nearly!

2009-10-11T14:16:00.000+08:00

To be more accurate: we have light fittings, we have lighing tracks... we just don't have power! On the one hand there seems to be loads happening every day but on the other hand there are things not finished that were meant to be done a week ago... like the lighting as you can see form the mass of wires hanging out of the wall! Hmm... looks like our "Guitarbecue Sausage Sizzle Grand Opening" might have to wait for a bit longer than I thought!

The Acoustic Room is coming together... & sounding great!

2009-10-08T07:39:00.000+08:00

After picking up the Formica floorboards on Monday I was keen to get them in before the weekend as the carpet goes in "upstairs" next Monday so, quickly accepting the offer of a friend & customer Shaun to help, Anke & I stayed back last night & got stuck in... & we ALMOST got it done but gave up around 11pm & rewarded ourselves with some Indian Takeaway & few light beers leaving the last metre for the morning. The Laying instruction were a bit ambiguous but we eventually worked out the system to get them down. The finished effect is really beautiful & VERY "live" which is just what I wanted for the acoutsic guitars. Shaun stopped to give our poor knees a break to test it out... nice. Very nice!

Action stations...

2009-10-08T07:24:00.000+08:00

With no Tradies on Monday or Tuesday the shop felt almost normal (?!) but Wednesday it was action stations again... Karl came to finish the lights & Gazza came in early to finish off the plastering around the stairway & half wall... messy & dusty... so if you want to buy something CHEAP & don't mind a bit of dust - NOW is the time! Feel free to come in & check it out.

The new floor will in by end of the week.

2009-10-06T16:50:00.000+08:00

Orginally the designer had selected a funky carpet for the new acoustic room but I was keen to have something with a bit of natural reverb & "snap" to it so we had a rethink & eventually chose this formica board instead. It's a gorgeous smoked cedar finish & it came in today from the Eastern States so our new VW Caddy was put to good use to pick it up. Hopefully I will get it laid tomorrow... & I will be able to use my new Makita sliding mitre saw for the first time! Yee har! Feel free to come in & watch the progress.

Stairway to Heaven?!

2009-10-06T16:45:00.000+08:00

Steps... we have steps! As I said before, there is a difference of about 450mm in the floor level between the old & new sections of the store so we had to have steps put in today so you can get up to the acousic section. Not much else today though I'm afraid... the electrician didn't turn up, the plasterer didn't turn up... oh well, at least all the guys did so "count your blessings" eh?! And there's always tomorrow...

The day the Wall came down ~ Part 2.!

2009-10-04T10:46:00.000+08:00

Now you can get a glimpse of how it's going to look when it's all finished! In a word: big & open (Yes, I know... that's 2 words... I lied). Today I removed the temporary wall between the 2 shops... messy work I can tell you. his week: the "chippie" will be in to put in the steps between the 2 floors (yes, I did say steps... as you tell from the slope of the carpark, the floor in the "new" part is about 450mm higher than the existing shop so there will be 3 steps to get up to into the new side. And standing there today, it is going to be quite a groovy looking down into the existing shop when you walk down!). Also, hopefully, the plasterer (who was meant to be here this morning at 6:30am?!) will be in to finish all the flushing on the dividing walls, the lighting will go in, some more painting (ugh) & we'll be putting floorboards in the acoustic room... can't wait for that!

Look who's back!!!!

2009-10-02T10:21:00.000+08:00

Welcome back Rob!! And wow, how fast did that 3 months go?! Rob offically "Left the Building" 3 months after Gradutaing from Uni with his Accounting Degree & then taking off to Croatia for a well earned chill (though from he tells us, it was the hottest summer they've had in years!). Fortunately for us he was happy to come back & keep working at least on Saturday's... and who knows, maybe we can even convince him to do a few extra days during the week. :-) Drop in & say hi this Saturday!

OK guys... now you're just being silly!

2009-10-02T10:09:00.000+08:00

Give a boy a spray can.....

I wonder if the Yamaha Rep has been in today?!

2009-10-01T17:02:00.000+08:00

I'm not 100% sure but I reckon we might have just a visit from a Yamaha Rep what do you think?! True, Matty from Yamaha was in today help with out with the our new TV's & audio install & he just couldn't resist sneaking back to "tag" our temporary wall! Hmm... it looks just little bit like you've done that before Mat?! But seriously... thanks for your help Mat... & Yamaha!

The new Blackstar amps have arrived too...

2009-10-01T10:35:00.000+08:00

"What's new?!" is probably the single most asked question we get asked in the shop... I reckon we get asked "what's new?" probably 8 or 10 imes a day! So... so here is another "new" thing for you! Blackstar Series One amps... just arrived & VERY interesting addition to their incredibly popular HT Series amps & combos & pedals. Drop in & have a listen.

Charvel guitars have arrived!

2009-09-30T16:55:00.000+08:00

Of course the shop is still open & all sorts of new gear is STILL arriving during the renovations. Today we were excited to unpack some of the new Charvel USA guitars... the boys fired them up & gave them a huge thumbs up... VERY cool (& VERY good value at around $2000) & we eventually found somewhere to put them! Only limited stock & limited colours at this stage but really worth plugging for a listen... the necks feel awesome. We also got quite a big shipment of new Maton guitars in today as well some new Fender guitars... it's definitely all happening!

A huge "week that was"... & another ahead!

2009-09-30T16:43:00.000+08:00

Well, THAT was one of the biggest weeks in the shop in ages! It took us the entire long weekend but we managed to get all the painting in the "new" part of the shop finished (& I'm loving the colour selections Clare has made!) but starting work at such ungoldly hours to accomodate all the different tradies I can't say that I've felt that excited the past few weeks (just buggered!). But as the green-ish paint went on the acoustic walls & the yellow went into the new office, it really started to look & feel quite funky & I could start to really "see it" at last. The acoustic guitars are going to look awesome against the avocado colour in the new acoustic room. Today: all the light fittings were delivered & the glass guys came to measure up the glass partition into the acoustic room. Tomorrow... phone systems, EFTPOS machines, shelving, measure up the steps... now, where's my list?!

Welcome Graffiti Man!

2009-09-26T16:29:00.000+08:00

Phew! After the first I wondered what on earth Shane was up to do when he walked in this morning shaking the hell out of a spray can?! Actually, while it was very busy before & after the Grand Final, predictably it was pretty quiet during the actual game so the boys indulged in some artistic "Time Out!" That's Pete getting rather forcefully "changed" by Simon & Shane... but seriously guys, his cardigan wasn't THAT naff was it?!

Yep, Graham really is a "Hands on" kinda guy!

2009-09-26T16:20:00.000+08:00

Today we started painting the"new bit" of the shop... & I can't wait to see the finished product! Putting the first coat on in the acoustic room was awesome! The painter called it Putrid Green but we'd rather think of it as "slightly over-ripe Avocado"! So, day One of painting finished: the ceilings are done, Anke put the first coat on the walls in the acoustic room & office, we prep coated all the doors & frames. It brings a whole new meaning to the term "Long Weekend" I tell you! Ugh... I wonder who won the Grand Final?!

No, I don't know where to put them either Charles!!!

2009-09-25T13:02:00.000+08:00

It was bad enough when stock shipments arrived BEFORE we started the Reno's but now it is just ridiculous! PLEASE come in for a bargain... anything you need we'll definitely give you at a VERY special price to help us make room! As you can imagine, we can't wait till the new loading dock is ready!

Pretending to help...

2009-09-25T11:13:00.000+08:00

Thanks Tony... holding that electrical conduit up is REALLY helping the sparky a heap! It's "action stations" all round today with our mates Gazza & Moses finishing repairing & replacing all the remaining ceiling panels that had all the air conditioning & flue holes in them from the old Hearth House days. Karl is back finishing off the wiring for the new lighting before we start painting & JP is here prepping all the doors & frames.

Lucky we ordered the BIG bin!

2009-09-25T11:06:00.000+08:00

It didn't take long for this 8 metre bin to fill up! Lucky I ordered the 8 cubic metre instead of the 6 that my wall guy said we would need... funny how such a skinny brick wall takes up so much space when you knock it down.

What? No Gaffa?!

2009-09-24T13:07:00.000+08:00

Here's a novel idea... have power points in the floor instead of gaffering extension chords to the floor (like we have been doing for the past 8 years!!).

When my sparky mate Karl from Crtichell Electrical came in last week to check things out, I said to him "it's a shame they didn't put power points in the middle of the floor when they built this place so we don't have to run extension cables to the keyboards & amps". "No problem!" says Karl ... & he whipped this you beaut channel cutting thingy with twin blades & ripped into the floor before stopping & saying "you ARE getting new carpet aren't you?!" & I said "Well if we wern't before we certainaly are now!"

Ya gotta love power tools... maybe not quite as exciting as new guitar gear but geez it's gotta run a close 2nd!

How many boxes?!

2009-09-23T13:03:00.000+08:00

Accepting bulk deliveries of stock has been increasingly difficult & inconvenient the past few years as we don't have a loading bay (though it is also very exciting... to see "what's in the boxes?!") however that is something else that will change when the new store is finished & that we can't wait for but in the meantime, with walls being removed & temporary racks tacked up all over the place, it is even more challenging. So when a truck pulled up out the front yesterday & announced he had "68 cartons for you!" we all freaked! It turns out it was an error & we were sent 33 guitars instead of 3 by one of our suppliers (you can't beat good old human error in data entry!) but that still meant we had to find room for 35 more guitars we did order PLUS find somehwere to put the extra 33 while waiting for another truck to come & pick them up again! Hmm... "over there boys... just stack 'em along the wall!"

A good days work...

2009-09-23T07:34:00.000+08:00

It was a MUCH noisier day yesterday than we anticipated... though fortunately it was just one day! This will be the new "stairway to heaven" (ie. the access to our new acoustic room as well as keyboards, home recording & brass & wind section) of the new shop. The boys got this all cut out & cleaned up ready for plastering tomorrow. Taking shape... slowly but surely!

You can do it!!!

2009-09-22T10:55:00.000+08:00

To make room for the wall to come out we had to take all the strings off the wall behind the counter. So WHY, says Graham, would you want to take all the strings off the board first when you can just lift the whole slat panel?! Easy eh? Well... that was the idea anyway! And it sort of worked!!

Hmm.... very colourful!

2009-09-22T10:30:00.000+08:00

When we all got together & had our first meeting with Clare from Ego Squared Design, the boys all agreed she "got it" straight away!

We said we wanted to make sure whatever we did, we didn't want it to be too "posh" or fancy but that we wanted to keep the vibe of the having things as relaxed & friendly as possible. Naturally, we also said we wanted to spread things out properly so you can see & try everything without pushing past boxes of stock & deliveries... so in the new "new" shop, we will even have a delivery bay! Excellent! Clare had some awesome suggestions in regards to colours. Very retro. Very friendly. Very... well... Concept!

"It's a nasty business!"

2009-09-22T10:21:00.000+08:00

I LOVE the Song "It's a Nasty business" by local band & good customers the "Kill Devil Hills" & perhaps I can apply it this photo! Taking out a double brick wall is indeed a nasty buiusiness... not too mention a dirty and dusty business... & the noise?! OMG. Oh well... now I see hy Gazza was so anal about his "false" wall between the 2 shops while it's coming down... let's hope it only takes the "coupla days" he said it would.!

We can do it! (I hope)

2009-09-21T16:52:00.000+08:00

Well, we didn't quite get the wall down today BUT the "false" wall is up at least (though why they call it a false wall is a bit unclear to me... it looks pretty bloody substantial !). "Gazza" will back at 7 in the morning to start making lot's more noise... & dust! Ugh. Fortunately the guys are still excited!

The day the Wall came down!

2009-09-21T11:35:00.000+08:00

Today is the day! It will probably be the messiest (& noisiest!) day of the renovations so please bear with us.... Gary & Moses have to put up a temporary wall so the rest of the shop does not end up full of dust & rubble when they start cutting through from the other side. Oh dear... patience boys, patience!

Our new Van!

2009-09-21T11:06:00.001+08:00

Concept has recently taken delivery a new van.... a VW Caddy Maxi. It has already been invaluable for delivering things like large electric pianos & cartons of guitars but it also been perfect timing for the reno's & it is getting a real workout ! Last week our signwriter picked it up & brought it back all done up with our "Little Man" on the side! Very cool! We like!!

Just to prove girls can do anything boys can do!

2009-09-21T10:59:00.000+08:00

It was all hands on deck after work last Saturday to take all the acoustic guitars off the wall so that we can remove the wall between the 2 shops on Monday... & I am NOT looking forward to that bit! Here is Anke showing her mechanical expertise on the drill!