What was your favorite music store as a kid?

[drummer5359]

DRUMS - Crafton Pennsylvania

It was a great shop owned by Thomas LaFlame, a great drummer, great teacher, and really nice guy.

Edit: They used to advertise in the back pages of Modern Drummer Magazine back in the day.

Some of you may recognize the logo. I took a photo of the sticker inside my 1975 Slingerland bass drum last night.

Not the best photo, but you get the idea.

 

[RogersLudwig]

In elementary school I took trumpet lessons at Reseda Music on Sherman Way just east of Reseda Blvd.

 

[Jazzhead]

I had favorite music storeS.

I remember dreaming about having a drum set all day everyday. My hobby was to walk through the music stores after the school was out everyday. My middle school was in a neighborhood where all music shops were, in a busy south part of Tehran. Not all stores sold drum sets, the ones that had a drum set in the display were my favorite.
However, even as a kid in the late 80’s I could see a difference between vintage drums and newer china/taiwan drums. Vintage drums had mojo for some reason. I felt that as a kid.
Other than the music center of the city, There was this dark and small very cosy music store near my house. I would ask my mom to go for a walk in the evenings and I would intentionally choose the route to end up passing by that music store. I remember seeing a Big R rogers kit in Koa finish, I saw it through the window of the front door, it looked so cool.
After a few years my dad finally got my beloved first kit for me, used but lovely full of mojo 70’s Pearl kit in red sparkle.

 

[DWSlingerland45]

Daddy's Junky Music Store in Salem NH. The manager Frank, would help my mom and I when we had questions ( about a thousand each trip) lol and the Mecca for me back then, Jacks Drum Shop in Boston ...I can still remember seeing a Ludwig Octa- Plus kit in their window natural maple goodness.... Then my parents moved to Southern Maine mid 80's and Portland Percussion became the place

 

[Rivot]

Mine was Billy Hyde
Music and its still today.

 

[Fat Drummer]

In the 70's it was Boyd Music Center in Little Rock, AR then we moved to the Chattanooga Area and my Local store of choice was The Sound Post in East Ridge, TN. But by then I was driving and took every opportunity to run down to Atlanta to American Music and Atlanta Pro & Percussion! All good memories.

 

[bigbonzo]

I never went to a music store as a kid.

Oops.....I take that back. Doman's Music Store in Elyria Ohio where I took drum lessons.

 

[frankmott]

I never went to a music store as a kid.

Oops.....I take that back. Doman's Music Store in Elyria Ohio where I took drum lessons.

West side of Cleveland -- didn't you go to DiFiorie's?
That's the place I thought was magical when I was a kid. We would skip school and drive in from the 'burbs, just to see the signatures on the wall!

 

[bigbonzo]

West side of Cleveland -- didn't you go to DiFiorie's?
That's the place I thought was magical when I was a kid. We would skip school and drive in from the 'burbs, just to see the signatures on the wall!

Never heard of it. I lived in Lorain county.

 

[frankmott]

Never heard of it. I lived in Lorain county.

I lived in Summit county, but my buddies and I would make pilgrimages to DiFirore's whenever we could. Joe Walsh and Neil Giraldo shopped there! All the hot local bands shopped there. But that was early 70's. I think it's long gone.

 

[jptrickster]

I remember a small mom and pop in Crafton pa, don't remember the name I was like 12, bought a brand new Rogers Swivo matic bass pedal with money from cutting grass, think it was $36, that was a big deal! My first brand new Zildjian Ride 1970 Mom and pop Connecticut Music in Stamford for my 13 birthday $44!
Ordered my first Ludwig FT Sam Ash White Plains NY Christmas '71. ($177) Ordered the rest of the kit Music Lovers Rochester NY the following year (bass and tom $496)
Sam Ash and Manny's NYC visits we're pretty special in years to come.

 

[bigbonzo]

I lived in Summit county, but my buddies and I would make pilgrimages to DiFirore's whenever we could. Joe Walsh and Neil Giraldo shopped there! All the hot local bands shopped there. But that was early 70's. I think it's long gone.

Yelpers report this location has closed.
Cleveland, OH
Musical Instruments & Teachers
Difiore's Music

 

[jb78]

I grew up in the Chicago area and by the early 90s when I was getting into drums, I had a handful of shops I'd frequent. The one I loved the most was the Sound Post in Skokie. I believe the location now sells pianos only.
However, I got my first ever set at the Percussion Shop in Evanston, which I think may have closed soon thereafter. This was late 80s or maybe 1990. I was only there once or twice and my specific memories of it are limited but in my mind, it was a dreamland. I'd love to hear about it from any folks here who remember it better.

 

[robthetimekeeper]

Daddy's Junky Music Store in Salem NH. The manager Frank, would help my mom and I when we had questions ( about a thousand each trip) lol and the Mecca for me back then, Jacks Drum Shop in Boston ...I can still remember seeing a Ludwig Octa- Plus kit in their window natural maple goodness.... Then my parents moved to Southern Maine mid 80's and Portland Percussion became the place

I bought a lot of gear from them through the mail, as I grew up living in the middle of nowhere.

 

[DWSlingerland45]

I bought a lot of gear from them through the mail, as I grew up living in the middle of nowhere.

If I'm not mistaken the Salem NH location was their original store. They had a printed newspaper form of a used gear listing and they sold new stuff too .. they opened a second location when I was a teenager but I don't remember exactly where ...then they expanded all over New England and sadly folded.

 

[EssKayKay]

OOPS. . .

 

[ggmerino]

Manny’s on 48th st. (Music Row) in New York City. Me and my friend Brett would cut school (Junior High Scool) in the Bronx, hop the subways and just go store to store on that street: the first Sam Ash, Rudy’s, a big used guitar store, a custom guitar store with super expensive Schecter guitars, and others. But Manny’s was the best- big cymbal room and a eventually a whole floor of drums. I think they hated us because we wanted to try everything and never bought anything except maybe a pair of sticks or picks.

 

[cochlea]

Drome Sound in Schenectady, NY (They also had a store in Albany but the drum stock wasn't as big). This was the only music store in my area that always had a well stocked drum section. They would always have 15-20 shell packs stacked vertically on the floor and back in the late 70s they always had huge 7 or 8 piece double-bass kits on display. This was my first exposure to Yamaha, Pearl, and Tama. I still recall a black Ludwig Octaplus kit in the window, as well as the first Vistalite I ever saw in person.

 

[richardh253]

The Toronto Percussion Centre . This was a very cool shop , I took lessons there for awhile and they were a big Gretsch dealer . They had other brands too , but Gretsch were the most numerous brand . They sold shell packs and usually added whatever hardware people wanted . I bought my first Gretsch kit from them (18/12/14 with matching 5” snare ). This was also the first shop I had seen a Modern Drummer (the first issue Steve Gadd was on the cover ). They had a very cool cymbal selection and a great selection of anything you could possibly want . They sadly went defunct in the mid 80’s . I loved that shop .

i lived in Toronto 81-83 & remember that shop, great stuff. Soul Drums now is my favorite Toronto stop when I'm there.

 

[richardh253]

Manny’s on 48th st. (Music Row) in New York City. Me and my friend Brett would cut school (Junior High Scool) in the Bronx, hop the subways and just go store to store on that street: the first Sam Ash, Rudy’s, a big used guitar store, a custom guitar store with super expensive Schecter guitars, and others. But Manny’s was the best- big cymbal room and a eventually a whole floor of drums. I think they hated us because we wanted to try everything and never bought anything except maybe a pair of sticks or picks.

Always went to Manny's when I was in NYC as a teen.