News
Andy’s Guitar Centre closes
Andy Barrett Jun 26 2007, 3:00pm
Comments (5)
Famous Denmark Street fixture fades away
The vintage guitar specialist and luthier to the West End of London, Andy’s Guitar Centre, went into receivership on April 24th.
The store has been a popular feature of Denmark Street for nearly 30 years, since its owner, Andy Preston (pictured) bought the store in March 1978 and has been a regular haunt for vintage enthusiasts as well as rock star clientele.
Over the years, the shop has expanded to take up more and more floors at 27 Denmark Street, established the Overwater Guitar Company with Chris May (which is still going strong in the north east of England), was the first guitar store with an internet presence during the 1990s, and lastly grew into drum sales and repairs as well.
Silki Kalra, an examiner with the Insolvency Service, told MI Pro that she would be interviewing Preston shortly with a view to appointing a trustee.
While the news is sad, it is not exactly surprising as at least one high profile ‘view to purchase’ over the past few years has fallen through following due diligence. It is likely that the internet will be blamed for the company’s collapse as the second hand trade in guitars has largely been turned over to the internet, particularly through the international eBay site.
Comments
“andy preston”
Posted by: harry nicholas - May 26, 8:25pm
I see andysguitarnet is up and running, so before you trust them with your instrument, some time ago I asked Andrew Preston of Andy's Guitar Shop to sell my guitar for me, after a month of him saying that people were interested but still no sale I went to collect it, only to be told that it was "in the workshop being modified for it's new owner", "well, can I have my 2250 pounds you promised?","no because I'm going bankrupt and Andy's doesn't exist any more".
“Re: andy preston”
Posted by: Jack Ebbets - Jul 6, 12:15am
A lot of interesting and exciting things have been happening since Andy's Guitar Shop closed on Denmark Street. There's a whole new web site and operation that taps into Andy's 30years of experience and expertise in second hand and vintage guitars. Check out the new sight and watch for some significant new developments...particularly since in the current economic down-turn, one of the few safe investments left is a good vintage guitar.
“andy dy dy wah dydy wah”
Posted by: Mr Moffat - Nov 12, 5:42pm
I'm sorry to hear you've lost a rather large sum of money...I dunno the guy personally but it looks as if he'd become the Omar Sharif of Guitar street. Apparently when he closed his shoppe He left a hole of 180 000 squid...so you're not the only one who's been had...I think quite a lot of ppl are in the same boat.
“Tea leaves ahoy!”
Posted by: I Crause - Jan 27, 5:50am
Andys stole a Gibson 335 and a Martin MTV off me.I left them with them to sell and they did indeed sell them but kept refusing to give me the money they had received for the guitars under all sorts of pretexts and prevarications, knowing full well I had left the country.
It was only when a relative went to the shop and actually threatened them in person with having the police come to arrest them for theft as they had knowingly witheld the money under false pretences that they got some of the cash out they had on them in their office.So they knew exactly what they were doing.
Then of course they went bust, having nicked loads of other people's guitars/money and the guy now surfaces trying to do a Tony Blair and hoping we can all 'move on'.
Be careful.These people are proven thieves.
“Andy Peston”
Posted by: Ralph Farley - Mar 30, 9:24pm
Andy Preston
In 2001, I decided to dispose of some guitars and banjos and approached him for advice. He gave me realistic valuations and advised me to lodge the instruments with him to sell on commission. We signed contracts and he arranged collection.
Six months passed with no contact so I decided to visit him in Denmark St. All instruments except one had sold. The total value of the sold instruments was £2700 which he agreed to pay and assured me that his office would send payment. After one month I wrote to him with an ultimatum to pay up or I would put the matter in the hands of a solicitor. Andy ignored my letter so my solicitor sent “a letter before action” and collected from Andy three £900 cheques. Odd that he didn’t send one cheque for the whole amount but at least I got my money.
In 2006 I decided to sell my 1953 Gibson J200 valued at £5000. I (foolishly) believed that Andy’s expertise and contacts outweighed the previous bad experience I had with him so I gave him the benefit of the doubt and left the guitar with him to sell on commission after exchanging the appropriate contracts. Needless to say I had to pursue him through the county court to get my money having previously been given a rubber cheque drawn against a defunct company. I eventually recovered all of my money including interest.
I still regard Andy as an expert in his field but I question his integrity.