TheMaartian

sharke
... I even miss the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. I'd spend so long in there hunting out CD and DVD bargains.

Sounds like the Tower Records store that was on Clark St. in Chicago.
...

I enjoyed the Tower Records on the Sunset Strip, before we found Moby Disk in Van Nuys ... it was at Tower that we found some Peter Hammill, Van der Graaf Generator, Can and a few other things that were labelled as "Imports" at that time. And this would have been in the mid 70's, as by 1976 and on, it was almost all pretty much Moby Disk because they had it all, when it came to the European stuff, and never failed to get a new TD, or KS or Ange, or Banco ... and some Japanese stuff.
 
Other stores that were magnificent ... Rasputin in Berkeley had the biggest, best and most far out Used bins EVER ... however, much of it was not organized, other than alphabet, but there was so much in there it was nuts. It was there that I found things like "Pole" (Bezombe and Rizet), and "Streetwalkers" which had become the new "Family" band ... and what a fine one it was until Roger Chapman went solo. They were so big, that I understand that they created another store down the street (on Telegraph too!) that had the Classical and Jazz stuff, however I never got there and see it myself.
 
Portland had a Tower that disowned imports and odd things in 1995 or so, and I told them that it was going to kill them! Seattle's Tower went down I think a couple of years later, but can not confirm it.
 
You would figger that with their distribution they would maintain a mail order service, like so many import folks did, and instead they killed it ... with insane prices, and obviously no desire to get things that stores did not have, which used to be their strength.
 
never got to see a "Virgin" store, but knowing how they ripped off MO, TD and Gong (as far back as 1975 and 1976) and many others, I would not have entered that store at all. Out of principle! 
 
However, I was to find out just recently, on Andy Partridge's book of all places, that Tower was Virgin's American arm! Go figure!

My favorite record store name: "Licorice Pizza."

And let's not forget the Arp Avatar which predated MIDI by several years and was connected via a hex pickup!

I used to work on 41st street and 6th avenue back in the day and I got a Floyd Rose fitted on my Antigua Strat at Alex Music on 48th street. Electro Harmonix had a showroom next to Manny's and they used to have jams there by local and famous musicians. Remember that place Kenny? :)

http://www.vintagesynth.com/arp/avatar.php


Steve

Of course, if you like to play synths on your axe, this is the most economical way to go....with very good results:
 
http://www.jamorigin.com/products/midi-guitar/
 
I'm not only a user, but I'm also an abuser.

Mesh,

Your post reminds me of (and I'm probably giving away my approximate age) the Virginia Slims cigarette commercials - We've come a long way baby! :)

Amazing how software is now scarily close to the hardware units. I had a Roland GR20 and I thought THAT was light years ahead technology. With that being said, Jam Origins MIDI Guitar is an amazing piece of technology. And no having to retrofit a hex pickup on one of your prized axes to boot!

Steve

TrueGrit
And let's not forget the Arp Avatar which predated MIDI by several years and was connected via a hex pickup!

 
the FIRST time i saw an arp avatar actually being used live,
was by roger fisher,
when Heart played at the jacksonville coliseum in 1979, doing the 'dog and butterfly' tour
 
an amazing sound, thru an amazing sound system (clare brothers), i wanted one.
never got one.
 

Absolutely Steve!! MIDI Guitar is an amazing piece of software......I would've never dreamed of this 20 years ago.
 
Speaking of which, I still have one of these from back in the day.....and like you said, not having to go through all the hassle of making it work, is definitely welcome.
 
 
 
 

You really had to tailor your playing style in order to get these units to behave otherwise you had those awful squeaks and bleeps coming off the strings!

Batsbrew, I really dig your compositions man (I know this should be stated in the Songs forum and I will eventually get there to give you and others their props). Your stuff is RIGHT up my alley.

And Kennywtelejazz, you sure know how to play that geetar man! I thoroughly enjoy your YouTube vids.

Best,
Steve

TrueGrit
And let's not forget the Arp Avatar which predated MIDI by several years and was connected via a hex pickup!

I used to work on 41st street and 6th avenue back in the day and I got a Floyd Rose fitted on my Antigua Strat at Alex Music on 48th street. Electro Harmonix had a showroom next to Manny's and they used to have jams there by local and famous musicians. Remember that place Kenny? :)

http://www.vintagesynth.com/arp/avatar.php


Steve

TrueGrit ,
 
The very first guitar I bought on 48 th street was Henry Gross's old Gibson 335 ...( early 70's )
Henry G was standing right there at We Buy Guitars when I bought it ...lol
This has been the only guitar I have ever regretted selling ...
This Gibson 335 was Cherry Red , had birds inlay-ed on the neck and the pick ups were the original PAF's .....
IIRC it was a 1960   ....
 
Carlo  over at Alex Music has done some real nice work for me in the past
 
The Electro Harmonix show room may have been either before or after my time on 48 th street ...What year ?
 
Way before I worked on 48 th street I used to go over to Mike Matthews factory (on 14 th st ? it's been a while )
I used to use his Freedom Amps and a few other things I had a good mutual friend that used to bring me there ...
Mike always struck me a great dude , he was a lot of fun to hang out with ....
Mike may not remember me , but I remember him for sure ....
You walked into his factory and the place had thousands of oranges all over the place   in crates , on tables..
All the employees and guests in the factory could eat all the oranges and drink all the OJ they wanted ...
Mike believed that oranges were a key to having good health and he wanted his employees to be healthy
 
When ever I was there he would have one of his techs mod or fix my E H products right there on the spot ...
 
Mike was also a super funny guy , he told great stories and he used to go out and do some pretty radical things in public to have some fun ....
He used to like to come to 48 th street and sit there on the street and play some of his newer instruments like the synths and some of the effects ...
Most people walking down the street didn't know who he was ...they though he may have been a homeless guy out there busking 
I used to bust him all the time and say,
" hey Mike what are you using to get that sound ?, what have you got there" ?...he was cool and he would talk to you when he was doing that ...he just didn't want blow his undercover identity ...he loved doing that type of stuff ...
Super Cool person I have a few of his pedals on my board ...If I had some more money I would definitely pick up a few more of his products ...they sound great and they have lots of character ...just like him ...
 
Kenny 
 

Kenny,
 
The Electro Harmonix showroom would have been around the 1981 to 1983 time period so perhaps you started working at Manny's shorly after they closed up? 
 
And it's a shame that, with 48th Street being such an iconic landmark, the only stores left there now are Sam Ash (after taking over Manny's) and Rudy's Music. And speaking of Rudy's Music, they were one of the first authorized Schecter dealers in the U.S. and I put together a ****in' strat hybrid with parts obtained from them. Also the guitar player in Dire Straits, Jack Sonni, used to work at Rudy's before Mark Knopfler snatched him up around 1984 to record on the Brothers in Arms album and to go on tour with them.
 
I haven't been in that neck of the woods in a while and the last time I was there was to see Les Paul and his Trio performing at the Iridium Jazz Club about a year before LP passed away. THAT was an experience to say the least.
 
You walk down 48th Street today and it's barely recognizable although you can still feel the music vibe emanating from the buildings and street itself!    :) 
 
Regards,
Steve