Help find all the surviving music gear shops in the world

View the map at Google (it's much easier than scrolling round this little
window. Zoom right in - there are loads more spots than in this view)

The most common question asked by Music Thing readers is "I'm visiting London/Tokyo/Doncaster. Can you tell me if there are any good music gear shops?" With the recent demise of Sound Control it's increasingly hard to find real-world shops where you can see and play with music gear, let alone see vintage or boutique stuff. So, here's an editable Google Map. I've started by plotting a (very) few shops around the world - just tiny placeholders, because I haven't been to most of these shops.
How to get edit the map yourself: Click to the Music Gear Shops map. If you're logged into a Google account, you should be able to click 'EDIT' and change text, add new points, add pictures, links etc (remember to hit 'Save'!). The 'Edit Rich Text' option lets you add pictures, enliven links etc. Let me know at Music Thing Tips if you have trouble, or add something particularly cool.
UPDATE: 150 entries in the first 12 hours - wow!

Posted by Tom Whitwell.

Comments:

Added seven from my area. Support your local shops before you lose them

# posted by

Steve : 1:31 pm

oh this is just brilliant. you rock. i'm adding mine now.

# posted by

chrisrenne : 2:45 pm

I just added the five stores I visited this morning in Johannesburg while hunting for a specific guitar. This is a great idea.

# posted by

Peter le Roux : 2:52 pm

Moog audio in montreal, quebec, canada is really worth a visit. I never thought i'd see so many boutique synths in one place, especially in montreal. The people there were friendly and let me play with the gear.

I can see it was already added to that map.

Most brilliant idea, this map!

# posted by

Internet luser : 4:33 pm

Don't forget to zoom in a lot on your specific area, i can see that some areas have markers that are stacked up.

# posted by

Internet luser : 4:38 pm

that's me standing in front of robotspeak (san francisco), waiting for them to get back from lunch or something :)

# posted by

weatherall : 6:12 pm

Great idea, I always want to know where music gear shops are when I go somewhere.

# posted by

Jared Arnold : 6:25 pm

any particular reason for the non-stop auto-refresh on the map? not ok.

# posted by

Jonathan : 7:45 pm

ah, my bad, it's google's fault.

# posted by

Jonathan : 7:46 pm

So what's your verdict on posting guitar centers? Someone posted the Seattle store, and I'm not sure if that's cool or not.

# posted by

JuneBuggy : 10:07 pm

Junebuggy asked: "what's your verdict on posting guitar centers...I'm not sure if that's cool or not."

IMy thoughts - for what they're worth:
1. If I'm visiting Seattle, I want to see as many options as possible, so it's good to have the Guitar Center on the list - hopefully other people will also add even more interesting shops.
2. I'll probably use the list to do a '20 best music gear shops in the world' post. It's perhaps unlikely that the Seattle Guitar Center will make that list, but it's nice to have it on the map.

# posted by

Tom Whitwell : 10:57 pm

if you want to learn more about robotspeak in san francisco, check out the reviews on yelp:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/robotspeak-san-francisco

# posted by

weatherall : 5:44 am

excellent idea ! I would love to see a similar thing for used music gear, seemingly almost impossible to find these days..

# posted by

Unknown : 9:03 am

This comment has been removed by the author.

# posted by

Unknown : 9:04 am

five G in japan is the BEST SYNTH SHOP EVER!!! in the best country ever. I went there and my god, was i in total awe the whole time. I jammed on their huge doepfer for over an hour and a quick walk through and wow, just piles, stacks of every hot analogue synth you ever wanted in your life.

# posted by

axiom-crux : 5:06 pm