A Guitarist's Guide To London w/ Andy Martin & Dan Steinhardt | Reverb 

London is now just a (admittedly still great fun to visit) museum for its past musical glories, I worked as a guitarist and music teacher there for 7 years, watching the great small venues close, the studios and rehearsal spots disappear, the guitar shops become more and more unaffordable, and the city destroying cultural landmarks like The Astoria for Crossrail development. It's really just a place to go play if your a big touring band and can pack out the a venue like The Roundhouse. There is very little grassroots music scene left, as most creatives, and the venues to support them, have been priced out of the city in the last 15 years. More and more small venues close down because the council is more interested in the noise complaints of new wealthy residents than the importance of fostering a creative community. Such is life in a big city!

Who better to ask about London than an Australian

Chipottle

I wish this was a syndicated series. This is amazing.

I remember going into Macari's in the 70's with a friend and we asked about Les Pauls, he said oh no dont talk about horrible Gibsons lol, that's because he didnt have any on sale. I think it was Macari himself. We used to call in a lot for fuzz boxes etc, but loved going into all the guitar shops, great memories. No way could I afford a Les Paul, but I did manage to buy a superb CSL copy for £50 when I told the guy that's all I have he said here it's yours plus hard flight case, what a bargain. It played and sounded beautiful, a big step up from my Watkins Rapier 3 pick-up.

It's so strange to see Andy ... just walking

Why would anyone watch TV when there is an endless amount of great stuff on RU-vid?

Hey everyone, I look forward to live chatting with you during the premiere! - Andy

This place is heaven....

2000 years of TONE!

Guitarist guide to Chicago! Reverb and Chicago Music Exchange are right across the street from each other!

I'm suddenly really proud to be a musician from London.

"Tone>All other human contributions from London"- Andy

Andy has like the perfect silky smooth radio voice. He could easily sound at home doing voice over narration for documentaries.

This was ace. Made me nostalgic of living in London as a student in the 90s going to the pubs in Camden like the Hawley Arms or Enterprise, buying albums at Sister Ray you couldn’t find anywhere else or spending countless hours looking in the Shops on Denmark Street dreaming about buying all the guitars and pedals I lusted over. Fantastic trip down memory lane and great to see a lot of these shops are still going 20 years on. Thanks guys.

My two favorite Internet people!

GREAT video guys. I live just outside london and I'm heading down there tomorrow, the first thing my girlfriend says to me when I got in tonight: "Don't spend all day dragging me around Denmark Street"

So cool. Thank you Reverb for existing. And Andy and Dan for being so informative and excited about the state of guitar. Cheers

I love this concept!!!!

So glad you got That Pedal Show to host. Someone who has proper knowledge

I love seeing how excited they get over the gear.

Ain't Nothin' But blues bar deserves more love. The place is tiny, but the musicians that play are top notch every single time I've been (which is a fair few...).

I’ve had the pleasure of playing the 100 Club 5 times. Each time it’s just as special. The feeling you get on that stage knowing the legendary people who have played there is incredible!

The fact I’m moving to London and I stumble across this is the universe calling to me. Thank you so much guys, this video is amazing.

Thank you, thank you thank you!

Just Love this!...so amazing to see Andy finally out the dark room and sharing some great footage for us to see, was hoping he could do some more playing, but lets hope thats in the near future, cheers! 👏🏻🌟🎼🇬🇧

Yeah certain parts of London, the energy left from all the great bands lingers. Best for music ever!

Andy is a fantastic host and presenter. He should do more of these. Just so long as we still get our pedal demos!

I’ve bought many a guitar from Regent Sounds over the years. Great guys there that give you all the info, let you try out gear in peace with no pressure etc!

You can't really imagine how much I enjoyed it and what a useful tool is going to be this video in my next visit to London. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it

Nobody says “Soho” like Andy.

I love this series. Thanks for sharing!

Reverb getting Andy on board with them is the best thing to have happened to the internet since those ProGuitarShop demos!

This was fantastic! PLEASE continue this concept as a series!

I love this so much, me and my best friend Dave (we were the two guitarists in the band Dave started) both lived in Stoke Newington in the late 1980s and would often get the 73 bus on a Saturday morning to Tottenham Court Rd and tour the amazing guitar shops on Charing X Rd/Denmark St. I bought my Dad a guitar from Macari's in about 1989, a Washburn electric acoustic that still sounds amazing.

Great tour! I remember when 48th St in Manhattan was like that; Manny's Music, Rudy's Music Stop, We Buy/Sell Guitars, Sam Ash, ESP and others. I can't believe that has all changed now. It used to get a lot of musician traffic with history similar to what was described for these streets in London. I am glad to see that London still keeps their history alive.

Was in London last weekend - passing through on the way back home. I spent the day traipsing around many of the locales in this video. The guys at Wunjo's acoustic shop were the tops. Got to play the 1923 Martin O-28 they had in stock. Sublime!

Really Enjoyed this. 2 of my Favorite people on the planet. I am now even-more-determined to visit London. Great stuff.

This video is now how I'm going to show everyone where I hang out in London. Very cool!

Wow, this was fantastic, an Ocker and a Yank in London!!!!! Andy's commentary is stellar, I love these chaps/guys!

Thanks Andy so glad i got to see this ...how cool !!!

That good video! I was in London a year ago and I loved it. I was very nostalgic to see the same places where I was. I have a great memory of the Jazz Cafe and Camden. Also from Denmark Street.

Regent sounds truly a great shop the ppl who work there always great and helpful

Two of the greatest RU-vid guitar people EVER!

This was great! I could have watched hours of this. I love those places, feel really lucky to be a guitarist and live in London and get to visit these places regularly. Bought guitars from Hanks, Regent Sounds and Macaris. Anthony is a legend! Thanks for the video

Very awesome. I want more of that.

This was great, Andy and Dan are a great duo. More like this please.

I visited London last month and I went to a few of those places. London is really amazing. Very musical. The food also is delicious. Can't wait to get back there.

Loved hearing the songs where I could remember which pedal demos they came from originally! That Spanish Castle fuzz jam had me smiling right away, both when I saw it in the demo and now!

Oh man this was great! Hopefully you'll do some more episodes in different cities.

Amazing to see that two guys together - even they don’t play the guitar!!!!

Thank you so much for this video,Andy is an amazing narrator. Please do more travel and videos like this.

Awesome!! Thanks guys

This is a brilliant video! Please do more of these!

FANTASTIC!!!

This video was awesome! This show should be on TV! Thanks for sharing this content.

Fantastic video! I started my day watching this and now setup with a big smile on my face :)

That was a great little doc. Makes me homesick a bit.

I've lived here for 20 years and I think we need a reality check on this rather glossy representation. London is pretty much a theme park now. A museum of "what used to be" A lot of established music venues and independent record shops no longer exist having made way for residential development projects. So the days of a music scene with Live bands are limited to a few Jam nights packed with foreign music-school graduates, gigbags on shoulders, awaiting their turn to get up and strut their stuff and about one per cent local presence. The shops overcharge because they have to meet the high rents. They employ itinerant retail staff paid so badly that no one stays in the job long - you never see the same face twice. Denmark Street itself is becoming part of a massive shopping Mall redevelopment project. A token few shops have been granted permission to remain. Camden too is changing, the Local Council tried to shut down Camden Market to make way for the High-Speed Rail project and ended up having to change the route after the public outcry. So now the developers are taking over by stealth and pushing rents up to get rid of the market traders. London is not the place everyone imagines. Overpopulation and high cost of living have forced artistic Grassroot movements out of the capital. It is becoming a playground for the super-rich elite and losing it's identity in the process. Go there by all means to look, but don't expect the rich cultural experience you've been sold, it is long gone. Note the Aussie conducting the tour because there are no Brits living there anymore.

This was a great video. I really enjoyed it! Can’t wait to see morr

I would love to go here and be in awe of music history. What an amazing video!

I would've liked this twice!!!!" I need more of this content in my life!"

Bloody brilliant!! Love London.

Ahh amazing thanks. Loved the sound of that harp guitar too. (reminded me of Trumpton)

Brilliant. Great to see two of the best providers of guitar-nerd content in tandem. Cheers boys.

I love the 100 Club. My favourite place to play. Been lucky enough to play there 5 times (and more booked). The history in there is incredible and you feel it when you walk on that stage!

What a great and interesting video - I would love to see more of this! A dream vacation destination!

Just visited every guitar store in this video today after seeing this video. What luck I'm in London and came across this gem! Even ate at the Chipotle, had to.

Thank you for such a fun/great video!! Cheers!!

Shout out to Kalamazoo from London ... 👍 Love this series idea... very cool. Nashville, Detroit, Chicago, LA...

Ace video. Ain’t nothin but was my local for a few years. Kudos for including it in your story. Love your work fellas.

Hey Dan, love your work man. I’m an English guy, living in Singapore, happened to be in Queensland on the weekend with the original bass player (Keith) from Icehouse playing together at a wedding.....anyway we got talking about That Pedal Show......kudos and love from all over the world. Love it.

Please do more Guitarist’s Guides for other cities. This was amazing, and Andy is a great host!

Top work, chaps! I thought I knew the London guitar scene pretty well, but there's lots of excellent information here.

12:18 THE FIESTA RED ON THAT BASS ON THE WALL AND THE STRAT HERE 13:04 IS BEAUTIFUL!! it has that faded coral color.

Great episode guys! Love it when your out in the wild🤘

Excellent travelogue! Well done guys

Great to see you in my home town! Come back again soon fellas

Thanks for coming here and covering some of my favourite places. I bought my first LP copy and little amp in Macaris in 1979! Saved my pocket money for 18 months to buy theem. To those who criticise Denmark St, yes it's a bit pricey these days, but not drastically more than other places - guitars are overpriced everywhere in the UK. That's not the point. I often go there stiil, for stimulation and the feel and the history. It holds some of mine, lots of ours. We could try being proud of it instead of succombing to the English disease of universal sourness.

I grew up going to Denmark at so it's nothing new for me, but I feel excited for Andy. I would love to have the London guitar experience for the first time again!

Andy and Dan, you have to make more videos like this.

Well done guys - this is next level pedalmania!

Guys you nailed it! Fir me this is the best episode to date! Wish Mick was joining you both in front of the camera.

This was AMAZING. Thanks!

Thank you SO MUCH for this!

Beautiful

Cool trip in London. Glad to see lots of the shops are still in business.

Great job guys!

Aah The Gallery. I went there shopping in 96. Martin was busy luthier'ing in the cellar so he locked me in and left me to it. Lovely bloke. I was SO spoilt for choice in his Shop that I just couldn't make up my mind. I should've grabbed the display model Petersens that he showed me but instead I went back to Wales the next day with a Modulus Q5. I have kicked myself a number of times since... The Modulus IS lovely and still my best bass but those Petersens had curves like super models. It would have been a very different experience I'm sure.

The internet has replaced TV. I watch TV-quality content like this on the internet instead of on any classic media platform.

I don't know if Awesome Andy likes to travel , but it would be cool to see historic musical stuff all across the US . The more musicians that see these places the more appreciation is giving to keep them around . GREAT VIDEO ,REVERB !!!!

This really is so good!!!!

Great idea! Planning my trip when I finish watching this.

Only a few minutes from go-time! We're wearing our ball gowns and tuxedoes for the premiere, and we can't wait to share this journey with you all.

Great episode guys!!!!!

Oh wow what a music scene!

This would make an amazing series!

awesome video ! thanks ! reminded of my London years...

Great video, kind of shows just how much the music scene has changed in only a short period of time. We need another band to come along and really excite the scene again.

The stand out Reverb video of the year! (BTW, I'm not subscribed to Reverb but I am to Andy's Demos. Shame this didn't pop up in my feed from over there.) Thanks for doing this. Great crib notes for an upcoming trip to London. Like Christian Henson's guide to Edinburgh.