We are Melbourne's leading independent guitar store. We started out as Musical Repair & Trading Co. on 8th Nov 1982, and initially did P.A and Sound Re-Inforcement as well as guitars and accessories.
Chris and Ross Nicol, now of Abbey Sound, Seaford, played in leading Melbourne covers band 'The Davey Brothers' in the 1982-3 period, and Ross was a partner in the business until 1985. After an amicable split, the seeds of the present store were planted. An expansion into the adjacent store occured in 1988 and in the early 90's Chris changed the name to Guitars Plus. The teaching room in the second shop was underused by the mid nineties and was changed into an inviting 'high-end' room. Here guitarists can try out the instrument of their choice away from the chatter of the main store area. A high quality valve amp is kept in this room generally warmed and ready to roll for electric buyers, whilst a plethora of modern and vintage classics adorn the walls behind you.
Chris can draw on nearly 40 years of retail experience, 38 of those in the guitar business. He started in guitar retailing in 1974 working in a shop in London and it was sink or swim with clientele like Alexis Korner, Dave Gilmour, Mario Maccaferri, Mike Oldfield, Stefan Grossman, Rory Gallagher, Steve Howe, John Williams, Paco Pena and Joe Pass all passing through the store on a regular basis. He had to 'get with the programme'. These kinds of players assumed the guys in the store knew their stuff! Chris also played in various bands in and around South East London, including his first band 'Deuce' named after Rory Gallaghers second album.
After many years absence, Chris is again playing guitar on stage. 'Two Dogs' are a five piece rock and blues band that enjoy playing classic rock along the lines of; Free and Bad Company with a measure of ZZ Top, SRV, Dire Straits and Eric Clapton thrown into the mix. They are considering recording a CD later this year and can be booked via the shop if you want to hire them.
Chris is proud of the fact that he is rarely, if ever, stumped on a guitar related question and has credits on many top selling Aussie recordings, including Australian Crawl, British India, Crowded House, Skyhooks, Southern Sons, Joe Camilleri, Mojo Risin, Trial Kennedy and Jimi "the Human" Hocking.
Recently the business has sold guitars to bands like Jet, the Black Keys, British India and the Gingers, not to mention a Uke to Peter Mitchell, the Channel 7 newsreader. The shop has credits on CDs by Triple J performers like Sonic Animation and British India.
These credits are generally earned by giving advice, support, repair work and occasionally, product to up and coming bands. Many famous identities have chosen to shop at the store, and regular visitors are amazed at who they spot in the shop! Actors&Film stars, V8 Supercar drivers, AFL players, NBL basketballers, newscasters and international rock stars have all been noticed at Guitars Plus.
All of the staff at the shop are well skilled at diagnosing problems with guitars and never charge for a quick tune-up or advice. This is well appreciated by the wealth of young people who have started guitar over the last few years. He is backed up by the Guitars Plus Team.
Simon Croft is our senior guitar teacher and is well known around Melbourne for his guitar skills. Simon scored a major coup acouple of years ago by landing the guitar seat in the musical "WE WILL ROCK YOU!". Simon came through with flying colours against some stiff opposition, having had to audition in front of Brain May and Roger Taylor. Simon is back from UK and is teaching five days a week in our store - we secured the services of Alex Yarosh whilst Simon was away and Alex continues on teaching five days a week also - plenty of slots available from about 2pm on most weekdays and all day Saturdays . Rob Mitchell is the guitar tech and whilst many jobs are carried out on site Rob also has a workshop at home where more intricate repairs can be attended to.