Australian Guitar Stores

Unfortunately, with the advent of online shopping and cheap shipping from overseas, the Australian local music market has suffered somewhat. Wheres places like the States have Guitar Centre and other chain stores, there is little in that way in Australia, especially when it comes to purchasing instruments. Below we have tried to list some of the bigger and more reputable stores that are in Australia for you to look at and purchase from.

Important Note – Australian Guitar review does refer to affiliate links for places like Amazon for products, however this is merely to help with the costs of running the website. I would always recommend to buy from Australian based and owned stores, not only do they offer employment to locals, but taxes go to building our community. I have nothing against seeking out the best prices online, but speak to your local supplier to see if they can price match. Most importantly, if you use the expertise of a store to answer your questions, please be loyal to that store for the time that they have put into you, try not to get all your questions/demos in store and then go and find the cheapest place online.

Big Music – I have had fantastic sales assistance from Big Music in the past, the staff there are well equipped to answer any questions that you may have about their products. Their main store is based in Crows Nest, however their online store is easy to navigate and comes with the same great service. The store stocks a wide range of both acoustic and electric guitars as well as accessories and other musical instruments. Big Music is a supplier of the major brands Fender, Gibson, PRS and Epiphone as well as a few others.

Allan’s Billy Hyde – Both Allan’s and Billy Hyde music stores were probably one of the first of the big stores to see the negatives of the online market and were forced into voluntary receivership several years ago due to around $150 million in losses. Thankfully, under the combined name Allan’s Billy Hyde they have been able to continue trading. The good thing about this store is that they have a massive range and a network of stores that will usually have what you want. The drawback is that the online store is difficult to navigate, with minimal options for sorting products. Allan’s Billy Hyde primarily stock Gibson/Epiphone and Ibanez as well as a few others, they also stock a limited range of high quality second hand products.

Artist Guitars – now Artist is not actually a shop front, but is an Australian owned online store. Artist have their own range of guitars, from the beginner to the advanced, with a new range just being released. You will find copies of popular guitars, such as Strats, Les Pauls, Teles and Jazzmasters. Artist is a great place to look at for buying accessories as well, especially for the at-home player, with a great range of leads and pedals (especially the Joyo brand, which gets great reviews).

There are also tons of other guitar stores both in regional and capital cities all around Australia: Haworth Guitars, The Guitar Shop, Guitar Exchange and The Guitar Centre. All stores carry a different range of products and services (repairs etc) so I would recommend that you do some shopping around to see what works best for you and your budget. Shopping locally is one of the best things that you can do for the local economy. Remember if you can’t find it in store, ask if it can be ordered in, a store with limited range will not stock more items if there is no demand for them.