Melbourne Guitar Stores

Melbourne Guitar shops

I had a short work trip to Melbourne this past week and was lucky enough to check out some guitar shops in the area, and I have to say I was pretty impressed by what was on offer. Unfortunately, I don’t have a great deal of access to good music shops, which is a frustration, so a trip to Melbourne really puts things straight for me.

Found Sound – this place is very cool, with a new store off Elgin St in Carlton. I knew that I had found it by the Supro and Fender amp boxes discarded at the recycle point (man, if I was more Instagram aware that would have been an awesome picture). The store is full of primarily used, but a few new select items as well, but the main thing that it is full of is awesome staff. Louis introduced me to all of the staff when I made a simple enquiry, there was no pointed fingers when I asked where an item was, but rather he walked me over and stepped me through everything I needed to know at the time. Super cool shop and even cooler staff (and that is saying something, especially given their rad synth selection)

Music Swop Shop – Just up the road from Found Sound in Carlton on Elgin Street, this is one of those stores that you dream of as a buyer. The place is packed with gear and there are handwritten signs all over directing you to more gear stashed all over the place. It’s a warren of quality gear and it was super busy when I was there, barely space to move – and this was in the middle of a work day. There is tons here and the great thing is the range, which starts at the $125 point for Strat copies, given that the staff here know their stuff this would be a great place to start your beginner journey – or your advanced journey. There was even a Casio DG-10 synth guitar there when I was in!

Fretted Instruments – Just cross the road from Swop Shop and you are at Fretted, whilst not as packed as the others, Fretted specialises more in the acoustic side of things and has a ton of Ukeleles in it’s front room. Awesome customer service as well helps keeps this store head and shoulders above a lot of other big box type stores that rely on mass quantities, rather than quality.

Cranbourne Music – Cranbourne is in the city and unlike the others they specialise primarily in new gear. Also, unlike the others Cranbourne is a music store with a wide range of gear, rather than just guitar gear (although guitars look to be their primary business). Great store, with non intrusive and helpful staff. They also have a great range of Dusenberg guitars which are pricey, but incredible looking pieces – I have never found this kind of range in other new product stores as they tend to stock the standard Gibsons and Fenders which sell big numbers. If you want to see a Dusenberg in person, Cranbourne is definitely the place to go.

Unfortunately, this was the total of my browsing in the city and I am sure that I missed quite a few, so what are your favourite guitar stores in Melbourne? List them below and I will make sure that I add them to the list!

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