On my first ever visit to NYC I made a bee line for Manny’s. Just found a pic. I took. I knew it had closed but I looked on Google Earth anyway. The building’s been demolished. Quite sad, I was hoping for a brief trip down nostalgia avenue.
Back in the day, there was not only Manny’s. The whole block of 48th Street was guitar Mecca. Manny’s, Terminal, Sam Ash, Rudy’s, We Buy Guitars, and several others. Every band playing NYC paid a visit there. I spent two days there in the mid-nineties playing almost every D-28 and D-35 on the block. I had a D-35 picked out when I went to see what Rudy’s had. I wound up buying a Taylor 810! Having grown up in NY I always made it a point to get to 48th Street every time I was in town visiting family. The last music store on the block closed about six years ago. Gone, but certainly not forgotten. Bill, tgo
Times Square is at 42nd Street. Twenty city blocks to a mile, so Manny’s was a little more than 1/4 mile away, or about an hour and a half in NYC traffic! Lol Bill, tgo
I used to go to a US audio convention once a year. It alternated between NY and LA. When it was NY, I always tried to find time for Manny's and the other stores along 48th. Sad that's all gone, though.
Rather than Brits worrying about music shops in NY the future of London's Denmark street is sadly in the balance with all the redevelopment going on.
I have a lot of great memories of Manny’s and 48th St in general. I’m sure a lot of that is waxing nostalgic as it was a “magical” place when I first started going there in my teens. I bought my recently departed Godin LGX there back in the 90s. I still use my Manny’s pick pouch I picked up when still in high school.
I try to make a visit there whenever I’m in town. Sadly it does seem to be fighting the same fate as did NYC’s 48th St.
The plans show that it is to be preserved. It’s (mostly) all owned by Rose Morris now I believe. Certainly the similar prices would indicate that the shops are no longer independent. I found on my most recent visit that each one has a particular line where it has slightly lower prices than the rest, which are on a par. You shop around to find the one that has what you want ‘on special’, knowing that there’s little point in haggling there or elsewhere.
Ah, Manny's. I spent hours in there playing many, many guitars I couldn't afford and could only dream of owning. The staff knew it, too, and never gave me a hard time. That place was awesome.
Another Manny's receipt for Jimi the visit only about a month before Woodstock. Would have been cool to have been in the shop when James popped in ! The Echoplex is likely a valve EP2 version. The Bill total would be circa $12500 based on simple inflation. What is item 2 at $480 ?
In 1991, I had a summer internship at the Magno building @727 7th Ave. between 48th and 49th. I practically lived at all those shops. The number of Les Pauls at We Buy Guitars still remains in my memory
