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Britain is, apparently, broken. Knife-wielding thugs swarm our streets, while Google has decided to become Big Brother overnight.

There’s a nasty war going on in Afghanistan and the country’s favourite celebrity headline generator and aspiring Princess Diana has shuffled off this mortal coil. Oh, and somebody broke the economy.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that there is no hope, and we’re all best off staying indoors, watching Jeremy Kyle in our pants and eating too many biscuits. However, from the confines of a music shop, things look very different.

The neon lit interior of my shop, for example, is an oasis of calm when all around is going increasing berserk. It is a comfy world of idle chit-chat, off-key banter, odd requests and mad questions – where customers will happily while away the hours discussing the merits of coated strings or deciding whether they really need another delay pedal for their straining effects board.

The shop inhabits a strange alternate dimension where the availability of Epiphone Casinos is of paramount importance, passers by think absolutely nothing of shelling out £150 on their lunch break, banjo tunings are regularly discussed and the only real problem is whether the tech will have that Jackson ready by Saturday.

While the world outside is seemingly collapsing, a steady stream of punters defy the newspapers and fight their way past feral youths and crashing stock markets to buy three packs of strings and another capo. A recession is not only looming but smashing in our front doors and looking down the back of the sofa for change, but the shop is remarkably steady.

Of course this could change overnight, but so far, so good. 

No matter what the media says, people are still spending money. Well, musicians and aspiring musicians are anyway. The simple lessons of music shop life still remain: Keep a clean shop with a varied selection of stock and a smiling face behind the counter and the rent will continue to be paid.

It doesn’t make much sense, but then not much in the world of the shop-bound muso really does. Musicians are oblivious to the world at large. The need for a new amp or a steady supply of Super Slinkies outstrips all other necessities. Once a guitarist has decided he must have a new acoustic guitar, he will go through hell and high water to get it. Nothing will sway him from his ultimate goal of owning a 000 Martin, because you see he doesn’t just want it, he needs it.

If his local guitar shop is happy for him to try out as many different variants for as long as he likes on a weekly or even daily basis (it happens), then the need becomes a burning desire that culminates in the best part of a thousand pounds landing in our till. And believe me when I say, it happens more regularly than you might think.

Of course there are problems. It’s not all rosy – how could it be? Prices are going up, the internet persists in being a problem and getting hold of stock can be an enormous pain.

Not all customers are kept happy and not every day is as busy as we might like, and God only knows where we’re going to get hold of any Gibsons. All that and the kettle has been broken for a week. See you next month.