Magazine \ Daily News \ Legendary Manny's Music to Close

Legendary Manny's Music to Close

Rebecca Dirks

Manny's Music in NYC is set to close its doors this spring.
New York, NY (March 11, 2009) -- An era that spanned nearly 75 years will come to an end this spring when Manny’s Music closes its doors for the last time. The legendary guitar store that served everyone from Hendrix and the Beatles to Clapton and U2 is set to close in May.

Located on New York City’s Music Row, West 48th Street Manny’s opened in 1935 and has seen countless stars. The store’s walls are a testament to its history—they’re covered in framed, autographed glossies of the patrons who have passed through the doors.


photo ©Nicolas Debacker

Other stores on Music Row are feeling the squeeze as well, and some worry that it’s only a matter of time until the entire neighborhood is gone. In a March 2008 article in The Real Deal, a New York real estate magazine, Sam Ash President Paul Ash and Manny’s grandson Ian Goldrich both commented on the Rockefeller Group’s push to purchase the surrounding property. The Goldrich family still owns the building Manny’s is located in. “I get at least a call a day from someone who wants to buy the building,” Goldrich told The Real Deal.

The store was purchased by Sam Ash in 1999. Ash told Premier Guitar in June 2008 that the company purchased the store because it was having troubles, and they believed it was an institution that should be maintained. Manny’s grandson, Ian Goldrich, continued to run the store after Sam Ash’s purchase. Neither Ash nor Goldrich could be reached for comment.

For a look inside the legendary Manny’s Music, watch our video tour of the store from June 2008.

     

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Comments

 (111 comments) display by
UsernameComment
lemanski eliseu
on 04/01/2011 		in 2001 ive bought a n4 nuno betencourt washburn in mannys music,im a brazilian guy and a loved that store i miss those times this very sad when things going down like this.
Mike Owings
on 02/09/2011 		I am so glad that I got to go to Manny's before it closed. I was in there in 1999 when I was on tour as a lead guitarist for Molly Hatchet and we were recording down the street at Bon Jovi's studio. We couldn't wait to get a slice and head over to Manny's to check out the guitars. Long Live Manny's Guitars!
Nick Hughes
on 01/18/2011 		They should have sold that horrible yellow danelectro to George Harrison for a $1ooo .The one everyone used to play.This is very sad news,yet another New York landmark that I wanted visit has gone.I m stil waiting to go ,now they re might be nothing left.
Luther Beckett
on 03/17/2010 		I worked at Silver & Horland in 1983. I have a general knowledge of the history of Music Row, from its Park Row days on. I still see the faces of all of these employees from the time I was there. I recall people from other stores. It was a world unto itself. Interesting days. On my first day at work there was a weirdo lying on the sidewalk, masturbating a few doors down from the store. I remember Skunk Baxter walking down the street and Stanley Jordan Playing in front of Rudy's music. Of course I remember all of these characters... Rudy, Alex, etc... But times change. Look at the state of music now. It's hard to wade through and find something new and good. It's easy to go back and find exhilarating, unexplored classics. So weird to me. I see people less than half my age listening to the same music I grew up with. Our culture is a parody of its former self. I worked CBGB too... What can I say? Blah, Blah, Blah....
bern
on 02/21/2010 		I still use my Manny's fuzz. I bought it because it was cheaper than the Maestro Fuzz. My band's picture has been on the wall for 45 years.
marc
on 10/22/2009 		bought my esp m2 from mannys........ thanks phil
Dave Klein
on 07/16/2009 		I used to go to Manny's as a 16-year old kid in 1969. Bought my Vox/Clyde McCoy Wah-Wah there among other things. One day I stopped in just to buy some picks and was wandering around the store when the whitest guy I ever saw started playing a Flying V - with a thumb pick. It was Johnny Winter and I was dumbstruck. As his fingers flew all over the fretboard, all I could say was "how can you play like that with just a thumb pick?" He stopped for a moment, looked at me and said "That's just how I learned, man", and went back to burning up the V! Manny's will be missed!
T.S.
on 05/23/2009 		The days of Manny's are over. I used to work there. They have not kept up with the times. Everything Ash touches turns to rubbish. Manny's became a museum with a gift shop years ago. Good riddance.
The "Baptis t"
on 05/21/2009 		MANNY'S had a Magical & Mystique Vibe.
When you walked by the store the window display would draw you in. When you entered you were always greeted and welcome. When you looked at the walls you felt like you were in a very high spiritual place, musical "Heaven".
You could feel the LEGENDS presence all around you.
And in the back of your mind you imagined that one day your photo would be on MANNY'S wall of FAME.
Ian sold me my first guitar back in 1970, a 1969 Ovation Balladeer. I'll never forget the price of the Guitar w/Custom Case, 6 Sets of strings and a Guitar strap all for $310.00. I still have the Guitar and it sounds a million times better w/age.
That was 40 years ago when I started working for "MANDRILL".
Like the Guitar, w/age we are still going strong and sound better than ever.
adam
on 05/12/2009 		I worked at SamAsh from 1999 to 2000 and had to go back and forth to sometime get gear that was in Mannys.I'm going to miss this store only because I see it happening,Sam Ash is next and the only store left to get gear from will be Guitar Center.This entire recession is not only the fault of Wall Street but also that of the Government itself all the out of control spending and the fault of every American who purchased things on their credit cards that they could not afford and those stupid idiots who lived beyond their means.Trust me...its going to get A LOT WORSE.



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