Guitars Galore
Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times
To the uninitiated, the anonymous blocks surrounding Pennsylvania Station might seem an odd place for a quirky music shop like 30th Street Guitars.
But hidden within the tangle of Midtown office buildings and roller-bag-toting travelers is New York City’s prime rehearsal-studio district. And wherever there are musicians bound for a session, there are guitars to set up, amplifiers in buzzy disrepair and a nearly constant need for picks and strings.
Since 1995, Matt Brewster’s shop has served as a musicians’ haven. Mr. Brewster, a soft-spoken 51-year-old, started playing guitar at age 4 and in the 1980s and 1990s performed in several bar bands and frequented the CBGB stage. When he decided to open a guitar shop, he envisioned a place that eschewed the pretense and exclusivity that so commonly plague hobby-oriented stores. “I modeled the shop after the one I grew up going to, and later apprenticed at in my hometown of Ossining,” Mr. Brewster said. “I wanted to recreate that same friendly, low-key vibe in New York City.”
From the street-level display window, an expansive, floor-to-ceiling wall of specialty electric and acoustic guitars beckoned. Inside, a new student perched on a stool to work out chords on a vintage Telecaster. Nearby, a huddle of longtime professional guitar wranglers stood by the counter, trading stories of gigs and gear.
In the back of the store, rows of gig bags fitted with work tags lined the floor of the in-house repair shop. “I usually have about 100 repairs going at once,” Mr. Brewster said. Even so, Eric Bradley, 47, the technician who fixes amps at 30th Street, said customers are never “just a call tag number, and they can sense it.” This family-oriented approach has made Mr. Brewster’s store a favorite for amateurs, Broadway pit regulars and touring bands on their way to Madison Square Garden. (The 30th Street shop includes legends like Clapton and Costello among its clientele.)
“Matt is a wizard at complicated repairs,” said Benny Landa, 48, a performer and session guitarist who was won over after Mr. Brewster fixed the strange static emanating from his 1993 Gibson Les Paul. Dennis Scott Kelly, 52, a bassist and songwriter, said, “It would be cliché to call him a guru, but I always trust his opinion.”
Mr. Brewster, who called himself a “lifelong tinkerer,” also makes a line of custom guitars called Rust, which he sells exclusively at 30th Street, to the clamor of clients. “After playing it, people offer to buy mine from me all the time,” Mr. Kelly said. “But it’s not going to happen. It sounds too good.”
If musicians flock to 30th Street for the expertise and the inventory, they stay to talk shop. “Sure, I get stuff fixed here, and send students here to buy tuners and picks, but I also like to head over whenever I have free time,” said Vinnie Demas, 46, who teaches guitar across the street. “I run into a lot of other players and friends.”
Mr. Brewster and his team encourage the shop’s alternate identity as a community gathering spot. “Everyone who works here is here because we love the music and everything that comes with working at a guitar store,” Mr. Bradley said. Despite the constant workload that could easily keep him cloistered with repairs, it is not uncommon to see Mr. Brewster at the front, making jokes and introducing longtime customers to one another. “Since becoming a dad, I can’t do the late nights that come with performing much anymore,” he said. But thanks to 30th Street, the preshow hang now comes to him.
A version of this article appears in print on May 3, 2015, on page MB3 of the New York edition with the headline: The Shop of Good Vibrations .
But hidden within the tangle of Midtown office buildings and roller-bag-toting travelers is New York City’s prime rehearsal-studio district. And wherever there are musicians bound for a session, there are guitars to set up, amplifiers in buzzy disrepair and a nearly constant need for picks and strings.
Since 1995, Matt Brewster’s shop has served as a musicians’ haven. Mr. Brewster, a soft-spoken 51-year-old, started playing guitar at age 4 and in the 1980s and 1990s performed in several bar bands and frequented the CBGB stage. When he decided to open a guitar shop, he envisioned a place that eschewed the pretense and exclusivity that so commonly plague hobby-oriented stores. “I modeled the shop after the one I grew up going to, and later apprenticed at in my hometown of Ossining,” Mr. Brewster said. “I wanted to recreate that same friendly, low-key vibe in New York City.”
From the street-level display window, an expansive, floor-to-ceiling wall of specialty electric and acoustic guitars beckoned. Inside, a new student perched on a stool to work out chords on a vintage Telecaster. Nearby, a huddle of longtime professional guitar wranglers stood by the counter, trading stories of gigs and gear.
In the back of the store, rows of gig bags fitted with work tags lined the floor of the in-house repair shop. “I usually have about 100 repairs going at once,” Mr. Brewster said. Even so, Eric Bradley, 47, the technician who fixes amps at 30th Street, said customers are never “just a call tag number, and they can sense it.” This family-oriented approach has made Mr. Brewster’s store a favorite for amateurs, Broadway pit regulars and touring bands on their way to Madison Square Garden. (The 30th Street shop includes legends like Clapton and Costello among its clientele.)
“Matt is a wizard at complicated repairs,” said Benny Landa, 48, a performer and session guitarist who was won over after Mr. Brewster fixed the strange static emanating from his 1993 Gibson Les Paul. Dennis Scott Kelly, 52, a bassist and songwriter, said, “It would be cliché to call him a guru, but I always trust his opinion.”
Mr. Brewster, who called himself a “lifelong tinkerer,” also makes a line of custom guitars called Rust, which he sells exclusively at 30th Street, to the clamor of clients. “After playing it, people offer to buy mine from me all the time,” Mr. Kelly said. “But it’s not going to happen. It sounds too good.”
If musicians flock to 30th Street for the expertise and the inventory, they stay to talk shop. “Sure, I get stuff fixed here, and send students here to buy tuners and picks, but I also like to head over whenever I have free time,” said Vinnie Demas, 46, who teaches guitar across the street. “I run into a lot of other players and friends.”
Mr. Brewster and his team encourage the shop’s alternate identity as a community gathering spot. “Everyone who works here is here because we love the music and everything that comes with working at a guitar store,” Mr. Bradley said. Despite the constant workload that could easily keep him cloistered with repairs, it is not uncommon to see Mr. Brewster at the front, making jokes and introducing longtime customers to one another. “Since becoming a dad, I can’t do the late nights that come with performing much anymore,” he said. But thanks to 30th Street, the preshow hang now comes to him.
A version of this article appears in print on May 3, 2015, on page MB3 of the New York edition with the headline: The Shop of Good Vibrations .
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