Some Neck Guitars

Stompbox

Popped in there today with a mate; had never heard of the place before but my mate assured me that there was some delish vintage gear in there and boy howdy, I was licking my lips all the way around that shop. Came down with some serious gas for a blond Gibson ES 335. The €1900 price tag quickly sobered me up though.

happyman81

Nice ad.

CianRyan

Really doubt it's an ad seeing a the owner's a long time poster and there's already a thread about the shop.

Stompbox

Yeah, if I was involved with a music shop I'd hardly take to selling my old pedals over an internet forum, would I? Just thought it was a neat little place, I guess I shoulda searched before posting. Mods, feel free to lock, I'll dig up the old one!

eoin5

Stompbox wrote: »

Popped in there today with a mate; had never heard of the place before but my mate assured me that there was some delish vintage gear in there and boy howdy, I was licking my lips all the way around that shop. Came down with some serious gas for a blond Gibson ES 335. The €1900 price tag quickly sobered me up though.

My bandmate told me he saw a lovely blonde.. Turns out it was that 335

MilanPan!c

Great shop and Owen is a sound guy.

Does a pretty decent trade as well.

Good location + good selection + good guy = a winner

happyman81

I don't see the point to local music shops anymore. Why pay over the odds for gear that you can get cheaper online?

And don't give me that 'customer service' crap. The worst CS I have ever seen was at music shops.

Remember, exceptions never prove the rule.

ednwireland

happyman81 wrote: »

I don't see the point to local music shops anymore. Why pay over the odds for gear that you can get cheaper online?

And don't give me that 'customer service' crap. The worst CS I have ever seen was at music shops.

Remember, exceptions never prove the rule.

20 quid more than thomman, guitar checked for faults action setup and lowered (i've bought 2 guitars from my local shop) i'll stick with my local shop (mostly)

and i'd rather not see him close

there are bad shops and bad online retailers (although my one will close when the owner retires and i'll be forced online )

raindog.promo

There was a nice music instrument shop I went into the other day above a pub on Capel street. before Godwins if you're walking towards the Liffey. Don't remember the name of it. Nice pleasant guy runs it and I had a great chat with him discussing the various instruments, squeezeboxes, hurdygurdy's whistles and all strange types of instruments (which I love, the odder the more fascinating) ssome very expensive and some very cheap, some childs toys. Planning to go back there and buying some stuff. I don't think it's possible to get them kinds of shops online, although if anyone knows of any I'd be grateful for the address.

For the standard stuff, I do usually buy from thomann or musicstore.de. In my experience they're more reliable and less hassle. A few years back I had a horrible experience with a guitar shop in Tallaght Village (sob story here) and as a result of which I will not make big purchases in small retailers or pay for something that you can't get in your hands as soon as you hand the cash over.

MilanPan!c

happyman81 wrote: »

I don't see the point to local music shops anymore. Why pay over the odds for gear that you can get cheaper online?

And don't give me that 'customer service' crap. The worst CS I have ever seen was at music shops.

Remember, exceptions never prove the rule.

I agree is general, the exception is specialty shops. Some Neck is a specialty shop in that it traffics posh and vintage stuff unavailable anywhere else in Dublin. It also provides a needed service for the many people that don't have credit cards, which greatly limits their access to online shopping.

happyman81

MilanPan!c wrote: »

happyman81 wrote: »

I don't see the point to local music shops anymore. Why pay over the odds for gear that you can get cheaper online?

And don't give me that 'customer service' crap. The worst CS I have ever seen was at music shops.

Remember, exceptions never prove the rule.

I agree is general, the exception is specialty shops. Some Neck is a specialty shop in that it traffics posh and vintage stuff unavailable anywhere else in Dublin. It also provides a needed service for the many people that don't have credit cards, which greatly limits their access to online shopping.

Meh, the credit card thing is not really an issue, these days, given Visa debit cards, paypal and what not. The way I see it, if you have three grand to drop on a guitar, then you have the means to buy it online.

Rigsby

I have being wondering why he never got his web site up and running. At least you would then have an idea of what's available.

Grolschevik

happyman81 wrote: »

Meh, the credit card thing is not really an issue, these days, given Visa debit cards, paypal and what not. The way I see it, if you have three grand to drop on a guitar, then you have the means to buy it online.

I wouldn't drop three grand on a guitar without touching/seeing/playing it first.... Nor would I care that I could get it €50 cheaper online!

Grolschevik

raindog.promo wrote: »

A few years back I had a horrible experience with a guitar shop in Tallaght Village (sob story here)

Jesus, man! What happened next? The last installment in the saga was:

I have to go down and make sure for myself, but has anyone here actually seen the shop? If the sheriff doesn't work, I can demand the sum owed me is paid back in installments and if he fails to do that he gets sent to jail for a week until he does pay.
Which would be so sweet at this stage.

Rigsby

Grolschevik wrote: »

I wouldn't drop three grand on a guitar without touching/seeing/playing it first.... Nor would I care that I could get it €50 cheaper online!

I can understand your first point, but in my experience the price difference can be a LOT more then that, even when shipping and import tax are taken into consideration.

Grolschevik

Rigsby wrote: »

I can understand your first point, but in my experience the price difference can be a LOT more then that, even when shipping and import tax are taken into consideration.

Yeah, the first point is the real point.

(The second point was more that, if I could afford to drop three grand on a guitar right now, I wouldn't let a smallish price difference stop me buying one that I could try out...)

happyman81

Grolschevik wrote: »

Rigsby wrote: »

I can understand your first point, but in my experience the price difference can be a LOT more then that, even when shipping and import tax are taken into consideration.

Yeah, the first point is the real point.

(The second point was more that, if I could afford to drop three grand on a guitar right now, I wouldn't let a smallish price difference stop me buying one that I could try out...)

What if it was five hundred euro (17% cheaper), rather than the strawman fifty euro you presented?

raindog.promo

Grolschevik wrote: »

Jesus, man! What happened next? The last installment in the saga was:

I have to go down and make sure for myself, but has anyone here actually seen the shop? If the sheriff doesn't work, I can demand the sum owed me is paid back in installments and if he fails to do that he gets sent to jail for a week until he does pay.
Which would be so sweet at this stage.

According to the sheriff, who eventually found out that the shop was exactly where it should have been, he was given bounced cheques and at one stage I was told that they had recovered around €80. I found the Sheriff's office to be quite unhelpful and very lacksadaisy in their work method. The guy then closed down his business in Dundrum and I was sent back the court order/judgement (I can't remember what it's properly called.) with a stamp saying that no more could be done as the business had closed down. I rang and asked about the €80 or so that they had told me had been recovered and they said they had never recovered any money.

Complete bull****. At the start, some people were encouraging me to just go into the shop and take a guitar off the wall. Others offered to go down and rough the guy up to get the money back, but I said no, that I would do it through legal means; went through all the legal horse**** and red tape and won, yet still got screwed. Great little country we got, eh?

Some form of Karma I guess was that he was fined €5,400 on failure to lodge income tax returns, which was exactly 10 times more what he owed me.

Grolschevik

happyman81 wrote: »

What if it was five hundred euro (17% cheaper), rather than the strawman fifty euro you presented?

Yes, and what if it was 80% cheaper? The figure was meant to represent, as I said, a smallish price difference that wouldn't deter me from buying in a bricks and mortar place.

The point remains that I would not drop three grand on a guitar I'd never played, even if one that looked identical was six grand in the shop down the road. I'd just buy a different guitar.

Grolschevik

raindog.promo wrote: »

According to the sheriff, who eventually found out that the shop was exactly where it should have been, he was given bounced cheques and at one stage I was told that they had recovered around €80. I found the Sheriff's office to be quite unhelpful and very lacksadaisy in their work method. The guy then closed down his business in Dundrum and I was sent back the court order/judgement (I can't remember what it's properly called.) with a stamp saying that no more could be done as the business had closed down. I rang and asked about the €80 or so that they had told me had been recovered and they said they had never recovered any money.

Complete bull****. At the start, some people were encouraging me to just go into the shop and take a guitar off the wall. Others offered to go down and rough the guy up to get the money back, but I said no, that I would do it through legal means; went through all the legal horse**** and red tape and won, yet still got screwed. Great little country we got, eh?

Some form of Karma I guess was that he was fined €5,400 on failure to lodge income tax returns, which was exactly 10 times more what he owed me.

So no money back, no guitar, and no comeback through the system? FFS.

happyman81

Grolschevik wrote: »

happyman81 wrote: »

What if it was five hundred euro (17% cheaper), rather than the strawman fifty euro you presented?

Yes, and what if it was 80% cheaper? The figure was meant to represent, as I said, a smallish price difference that wouldn't deter me from buying in a bricks and mortar place.

The point remains that I would not drop three grand on a guitar I'd never played, even if one that looked identical was six grand in the shop down the road. I'd just buy a different guitar.

I wouldn't buy a guitar for that price, full stop! Madness.

Grolschevik

happyman81 wrote: »

I wouldn't buy a guitar for that price, full stop! Madness.

I'm with you on that. Unless someone else or the Lottery was paying...

raindog.promo

Grolschevik wrote: »

So no money back, no guitar, and no comeback through the system? FFS.

Yup, and the reason why I don't do big buys with small business. I know that's unfair to some of them but i think my reasons are fairly justified

MilanPan!c

Rigsby wrote: »

I have being wondering why he never got his web site up and running. At least you would then have an idea of what's available.

I def agree with this, but basically, he's the entire business at the moment and everytime I'm in he's up to his eyes busy.

He does update his FB page more frequently, but that's not saying much.

MilanPan!c

happyman81 wrote: »

Meh, the credit card thing is not really an issue, these days, given Visa debit cards, paypal and what not. The way I see it, if you have three grand to drop on a guitar, then you have the means to buy it online.

You'd be wrong and it's still an issue to me all the time. I just spent 400 on a delay pedal and had to have a friend pay for it. All the other crap is either not handy for me or has screwed me in the past (eg. Paypal and credit cards)

happyman81

MilanPan!c wrote: »

happyman81 wrote: »

Meh, the credit card thing is not really an issue, these days, given Visa debit cards, paypal and what not. The way I see it, if you have three grand to drop on a guitar, then you have the means to buy it online.

You'd be wrong and it's still an issue to me all the time. I just spent 400 on a delay pedal and had to have a friend pay for it. All the other crap is either not handy for me or has screwed me in the past (eg. Paypal and credit cards)

Perhaps learning to manage a credit card would help there. I'd hate to bother people to use their cards. Honestly, I don't see how such a simple thing can be such a problem?

Rigsby

MilanPan!c wrote: »

I def agree with this, but basically, he's the entire business at the moment and everytime I'm in he's up to his eyes busy.

He'd probably be even busier, i.e. get more custom if he got the site going.

Ravelleman

You gotsta have a website in this day and age. There's no doubt about it.

Glassheart

happyman81 wrote: »

I don't see the point to local music shops anymore. Why pay over the odds for gear that you can get cheaper online?

And don't give me that 'customer service' crap. The worst CS I have ever seen was at music shops.

Remember, exceptions never prove the rule.

You won't find the stuff this guy sells on websites like Thomann.

happyman81

Glassheart wrote: »

happyman81 wrote: »

I don't see the point to local music shops anymore. Why pay over the odds for gear that you can get cheaper online?

And don't give me that 'customer service' crap. The worst CS I have ever seen was at music shops.

Remember, exceptions never prove the rule.

You won't find the stuff this guy sells on websites like Thomann.

I know that. And we all know that vintage websites don't exist.

Miklos

He'd do well being linked in with this I'd say - http://www.vintageandrare.com/

MilanPan!c

happyman81 wrote: »

Perhaps learning to manage a credit card would help there. I'd hate to bother people to use their cards. Honestly, I don't see how such a simple thing can be such a problem?

Thanks for your financial advice.

If you MUST know. We had a kid and took out a cc to pay for all the kid stuff. There's a lot of expense there. I had also just been made redundant from my job. We ended up maxing the cc (all of 2500 euro) on kids stuff and refuse to get into any more debt until it's paid off... guess why?

Because we are managing our debt responsibly.

Want any other details? Does that suffice?

There's lots of people with money that refuse to use credit cards, for lots of reasons, many of those reasons have nothing to do with being irresponsible.

Ash.J.Williams

happyman81 wrote: »

I don't see the point to local music shops anymore. Why pay over the odds for gear that you can get cheaper online?

And don't give me that 'customer service' crap. The worst CS I have ever seen was at music shops.

Remember, exceptions never prove the rule.

I dunno about that, You can't judge craftsmanship,wood quality and playability on thomann..and they are three of the most important things when buying. You could walk into a music shop and play a gibson les paul only to find the next one on the shelf is better...you don't have that luxury online.

MilanPan!c

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

I dunno about that, You can't judge craftsmanship,wood quality and playability on thomann..and they are three of the most important things when buying. You could walk into a music shop and play a gibson les paul only to find the next one on the shelf is better...you don't have that luxury online.

Absolutely true... and the depressing thing is you wouldn't even know until you run into another one, sometimes years later, that you got a poor example.

There's a great thread on TheGearPage where a guy goes into a music shop and tries a lot of different LPs and discovers just how different they can be, and it has nothing to do with the cost.

Strats are also notorious for differing pretty wildly; same guitar from the same shop, same price, same finish, same electronics, different sound and feel.

I wouldn't buy a guitar I couldn't play first... unless it was REALLY cheap.

Grolschevik

MilanPan!c wrote: »

Absolutely true... and the depressing thing is you wouldn't even know until you run into another one, sometimes years later, that you got a poor example.

There's a great thread on TheGearPage where a guy goes into a music shop and tries a lot of different LPs and discovers just how different they can be, and it has nothing to do with the cost.

Strats are also notorious for differing pretty wildly; same guitar from the same shop, same price, same finish, same electronics, different sound and feel.

I wouldn't buy a guitar I couldn't play first... unless it was REALLY cheap.

Exactly! I played pretty much every Les Paul I could find in Dublin a few years back, and it was literally the last one I tried that was the only one that worked for me.

Malice

MilanPan!c wrote: »

I wouldn't buy a guitar I couldn't play first... unless it was REALLY cheap.

I bought a 5 string bass without playing it a few years ago. In my defence it was a bad attack of GAS but happily it turned out to be a fine instrument. In general though I would agree with you, trying before buying is essential.

Rigsby

I'm sure there is not one person on this forum who would not prefer to try before you buy. However, unless you are prepared to take a flight to the country where the guitar is available, often the online route is the only option.

I suppose if someone has two or three grand to spend on a guitar, this would not pose much of a financial inconvenience.

Malice

Rigsby wrote: »

I'm sure there is not one person on this forum who would not prefer to try before you buy. However, unless you are prepared to take a flight to the country where the guitar is available, often the online route is the only option.

To be fair, one look at the Post Your Gear thread will show quite a wide variety of instruments and amps owned by folks that post on here. If someone happened to want to play one of my guitars before buying a similar one online I'd have no problem letting them have a play as folks have been kind enough to extend the same offer to me in the past.

Mind you that doesn't help what Ash and MilanPan!c wrote about 2 guitars of the same make potentially differing quite a lot .

Ravelleman

The only thing I'm absolutely convinced you need to try before buying is a high end acoustic. Otherwise, I'm totally in favour of taking a risk and buying from the States unseen.

The simply fact is that I could never have afforded my Gretsch Annie if I'd tried it and bought in Music Maker (€2400). As it stood, I saw a NOS one on ebay for a fantastic price and I bought it. There was a certain elements of risk but the 66% savings I made on the price, including shipping and tax, give me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. It's superb guitar but the price I paid is one of the best things about it.

Stompbox

MilanPan!c wrote: »

I wouldn't buy a guitar I couldn't play first... unless it was REALLY cheap.

Or unless you're REALLY rich.

Rigsby

Malice wrote: »

To be fair, one look at the Post Your Gear thread will show quite a wide variety of instruments and amps owned by folks that post on here. If someone happened to want to play one of my guitars before buying a similar one online I'd have no problem letting them have a play as folks have been kind enough to extend the same offer to me in the past.

Mind you that doesn't help what Ash and MilanPan!c wrote about 2 guitars of the same make potentially differing quite a lot .

Not much choice if you happen to like USA G&L guitars/basses

I agree about letting people play a guitar if they are considering buying.

Ravelleman wrote: »

I'm totally in favour of taking a risk and buying from the States unseen.


The simply fact is that I could never have afforded my Gretsch Annie if I'd tried it and bought in Music Maker (€2400). As it stood, I saw a NOS one on ebay for a fantastic price and I bought it. There was a certain elements of risk but the 66% savings I made on the price, including shipping and tax, give me a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. It's superb guitar but the price I paid is one of the best things about it.

+1. I have bought three basses on line from the USA. I am very happy with them all, and the purchase transactions. Who knows ? Maybe I was lucky, but I'd certainly do the same again.

kingofpain

raindog.promo wrote: »

There was a nice music instrument shop I went into the other day above a pub on Capel street. before Godwins if you're walking towards the Liffey. Don't remember the name of it. Nice pleasant guy runs it....

McNeils/O'Neils, actually a few houses in the other direction. Anywayz, cosy place for the folk crowd but the good man told me he's closing for good next weekend. There are a few acoustics hanging there.

Visited Some Neck for the first time also, hope he can stay in business with that impressive stock - not for my purse though. Could probably have chosen a better name but wtf, seen worse (Xmusic for starters)

happyman81

MilanPan!c wrote: »

happyman81 wrote: »

Perhaps learning to manage a credit card would help there. I'd hate to bother people to use their cards. Honestly, I don't see how such a simple thing can be such a problem?

Thanks for your financial advice.

If you MUST know. We had a kid and took out a cc to pay for all the kid stuff. There's a lot of expense there. I had also just been made redundant from my job. We ended up maxing the cc (all of 2500 euro) on kids stuff and refuse to get into any more debt until it's paid off... guess why?

Because we are managing our debt responsibly.

Want any other details? Does that suffice?

There's lots of people with money that refuse to use credit cards, for lots of reasons, many of those reasons have nothing to do with being irresponsible.

Personally, if I was in your scenario I wouldn't be dropping 400 euro on a delay pedal. I have a job, and I am fretting over potentially spending 500 on an analog synth. But as they say, it's your money, I wasn't judging you in my previous post, despite your response.

raindog.promo

kingofpain wrote: »

McNeils/O'Neils, actually a few houses in the other direction. Anywayz, cosy place for the folk crowd but the good man told me he's closing for good next weekend. There are a few acoustics hanging there.

Visited Some Neck for the first time also, hope he can stay in business with that impressive stock - not for my purse though. Could probably have chosen a better name but wtf, seen worse (Xmusic for starters)

Shame. I've been off the beer for January. I'll have to nip in and see if I can get something.

BostonB

Doesn't matter if its a cheap or expensive quitar you could try 10 of the same quitar and they'd all fell different. You can't judge that online. Unless of course you reckon it doesn't matter...

Squidgy Black

happyman81 wrote: »

Personally, if I was in your scenario I wouldn't be dropping 400 euro on a delay pedal. I have a job, and I am fretting over potentially spending 500 on an analog synth. But as they say, it's your money, I wasn't judging you in my previous post, despite your response.

Woah there, less of the digs lads, play nicely.

Fair play to Owen doing what he loves in such tough times, the shop looks great from the couple of times I've been in it, bit pricey for myself, but best of luck to him.

happyman81

stetyrrell wrote: »

happyman81 wrote: »

Personally, if I was in your scenario I wouldn't be dropping 400 euro on a delay pedal. I have a job, and I am fretting over potentially spending 500 on an analog synth. But as they say, it's your money, I wasn't judging you in my previous post, despite your response.

Woah there, less of the digs lads, play nicely.

Fair play to Owen doing what he loves in such tough times, the shop looks great from the couple of times I've been in it, bit pricey for myself, but best of luck to him.

It wasn't a dig, I just don't get why having a credit card is such a hassle and thus is a massive hurdle to purchasing goods online, which was the root of our discussion. He may have chosen to take my comments as a personal dig, but I can assure you it wasn't my intention. If you take a second look, I merely said what I would have done in his situation, I never said that he shouldn't have bought the pedal, that's his business.

ohigg84

Glassheart wrote: »

You won't find the stuff this guy sells on websites like Thomann.

True, especially that Gibson SG Junoir from 1965. I have my eye on that one..:D

ohigg84

stetyrrell wrote: »

Woah there, less of the digs lads, play nicely.

Fair play to Owen doing what he loves in such tough times, the shop looks great from the couple of times I've been in it, bit pricey for myself, but best of luck to him.

Yeah he is a sound guy, I actually traded in a white sg stamdard '61 reissue for a cherry '61 reissue, and he can fix guitars and amps..
Owen is a nice, genuine guy, you won't find a lot of guys like him around..

ohigg84

happyman81 wrote: »

I don't see the point to local music shops anymore. Why pay over the odds for gear that you can get cheaper online?

And don't give me that 'customer service' crap. The worst CS I have ever seen was at music shops.

Remember, exceptions never prove the rule.

I would have to disagree with you there, its fundamental to have local music shops.
With buying online, who to say that the equipment you buy could be broken whilst in transit or faulty, and there is so much hassle having to get refunded, its all a bit messy.

On the other hand, I do agree with some of what you say about CS in music shops, I think we all have had our fair share of arseholes that just can't deal with customer queries, however, you will be saitisfied at stores like Someneck guitars.

Owen, is a really sound guy, he knows his stuff, he maintains guitars and amps, so thats why I value stores like his. Not many like him granted, but its so important.

Bod1

I think there should be a league of gentlemen sticky on this forum. There are so many threads where people have had bad experiences that a thumbs up thread might be useful. What you got done, things that especially impressed etc.

Guys like Owen should be applauded for opening a boutique store in Dublin especially in this environment. Even more so if he's providing a high level of customer service. It's long overdue so thumbs up here !