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Specialist musical instrument shops
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By John Lewis. Photography Rob Greig
Posted: Tue Mar 6 2007 
Where the pros shop
Courtney Pine, saxophonist
‘I play soprano, tenor sax, bass clarinet and flute, and I seem to spend half my life at Howarth’s for reeds, mouthpieces and repairs. I’ve certainly picked up a few parking tickets on Chiltern Street! It’s also great for research – there’s a great collection of sheet music – and the people who do the repairs are brilliant.’
Fyfe Dangerfield, Guillemots
‘Ray Man in Chalk Farm is a kind of through-the-looking-glass world of a music shop. You can guarantee there’ll always be some affordable, weird and wonderful exotic instrument in there that fills you with ideas, be it a zither, a gong which bends pitch or a plastic tube you whirl around your head. They have great Chinese folk music CDs in there, too. And cheap incense! It’s shops like Ray Man that make you appreciate living in London.’
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Adem, singer-songwriter
‘I always feel welcome at Hobgoblin, just off Oxford Street. It’s filled with a huge wealth of different and inspiring instruments from traditional to exotic. The people who work there are passionate about music and are always more than happy to show
me how to play whichever bizarre instrument takes my fancy. It’s perfect for an inspiring browse or an in-depth discussion.’
Steve Beresford, composer and multi-instrumentalist
‘Last time we went to Hobgoblin the two assistants were having a jam. One was blowing a conch shell and the other was banging a small gong. We waited respectfully for them to finish and then bought a toy xylophone.’- Add your comment to this feature
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6 comments
hi i wouid like to vusit ur shop would like to c indian instruments like sruti box n harmoniums n i can export sruti box n harmoniums in a large scale thank u
Don't forget Phil Parker's on Crawford St for brass instruments. Been going for generations and every brass player in London if not the country shops there. Lovely, helpful staff too.
Hello there- I am writing this in the hopes of finding either an Octave Mandolin or Bouzouki made by Stefan Sobell....a great Engllish Luthier. I expected your site to have unusual or hard to find instruments. Well, I hope that someone out there may know of one that's in the market for sale. I live in the US, but I have someone coming over here for Xmas that could possibly deliver to me. Thanking you in advance of some good news?
Please send me information about grandpianos.I go to London in August and would like to visit your shop, without others and thank you Jessie De Bellis
www.yellowpagesspain.com/piano
Astonished that the article omits the French horn shop Paxman's, distinguished for many reasons; e.g. a British specialist manufacturer still in existence and a famous shop patronised by the famous names in British horn playing.
Duke of Uke has a wide variety of soprano ukes, concert ukes, altos, etc. And they're honest, nice people.
Warning: cheap ukes are often crap; good ukes cost a lot. The £25 ukes sound pretty bad, probably can't stay in tune. £35 will get you ok tone, and some tuning problems. £45 for nice tone, good tuning up until the 5th fret (and problems higher up). Next step up is a great uke for £135.