Crazy guitar shop

I visited a crazy old guitar shop in Amsterdam, in search of more Wandre vintage guitars.

Followers of my bass guitar story might remember that I picked up a 1960s Wandre bass guitar for a song in Joburg. A dealer in Amsterdam got hold of me, and offered me a whack of money for it. Coincidentally, I was in Amsterdam last week, so I went to visit him.

Soren’s store is called Palm Guitars, and is an absolute treasure trove of vintage instruments. I was amazed. It’s been in Amsterdam for around 30 years, I think he told me. It wasn’t easy to find – check out the minimalist signage – but worth the hunt.

And I got to see a stand up bass guitar made by the Italian lunatic, Wandre. It actually folds up for transporting. (It’s the long thin one in the front.)

Soren told me that he’d sold three Wandres that week, to an American collector. And he showed me this freaky Wandre, which looks like it’s been graffitied by a child. Very cool.

The shop is really cluttered. Any SA guitarist passing through Amsterdam, make a visit and buy your dream vintage guitar.  (Not unlikely, it turns out – I ran into Desmond and the Tutus in Schiphol Airport, coincidentally a couple days after I’d played their song “German Modern” to a bunch of alt.types in a bar in Warsaw. Talk about weird.)

Oh, and if you’re an SA accordion player (yeah, yeah), this is also the place for you.

1. 

   soren venema says:

   July 31, 2010 at 6:14 pm

   thanks , chris.i will try to clean up the shop next time you visit …honest!!!..hahaha..soren greets
2. 

   Chris says:

   August 1, 2010 at 6:34 pm

   Soren! How’s tricks. Some friends of mine from New York are going to visit your shop next month, I’ll tell them to say hi from me.