Sam Ash Is Done

In this video I'll share my thoughts on the closure of a legendary music store. What's next for Sam Ash??
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📷Gear that I used in this video:
Yamaha CP40
Yamaha MG12XU
Yamaha HS5 (S2)
MacBook Pro (Running LPX and FCP X)
Garritan CFX Piano VST
Sony ZV-E10
iPhone 14 Pro
Sennheiser MKE600 Shotgun Microphone
Neewer NL660 Lights (X2)
#guitar #music #musician #musicproducer #musicproduction #retail #musicstore #guitarstore #guitarcenter #samash #nyc #keyboard #piano

[@kennethhwilliams3350]

Man you spoke the truth. I don't buy anything in stores. I research online and purchase online. I know when it's going to arrive at my home and I can set my install time up in advance and keep working. The sense of community is gone,. But honestly it's gone from the world in general.

[@BobMcKinstry]

I bought my 1st keyboard at the 48th street store back in the late 70s. I lusted after the MiniMoog. Came home with the Cat SRM. Served me well.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Wow!! Wish I could’ve seen it back then.

[@joemusik17]

I agree with everything you said. Sam Ash was part of my childhood too, spent so much time at Sam Ash. I drove to Sweetwater from Ct. Being there I felt Sweetwater was how Music Stores used to be, but of course it was massive. I buy all my gear from Sweetwater. OBX8 just came. lol

[@DannyDep17]

My first music store I purchased, I believe an amp, was from the Sam Ash store on Rt 17 in Paramus NJ, right across the river. .... and after my wife passed a few years ago, I bought a Hammond A-3 Heritage from the local Sam Ash down here in Clearwater, FL.... I am really an B3 nut.... when I was young I got hooked on the sounds that Richard 'Groove' Holmes made with his B3... but we couldn't afford it.... So that's one down on the Bucket List. 😉😎

[@scribe2006]

Wow, I didn't realize Sam Ashe was closing. I loved that store and have been going there since the early 70s. I am saddened by that lost of such a great interactive environment.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

They’re long gone now, and this video was only 3 months ago!

[@paulbeauregard8297]

Now that I think of it, the last 5-10 years, I've only purchased gear from B&H and Sweetwater. I'm a piano teacher and a couple of years ago, both of my Yamaha P200 stage pianos croaked at the exact same time. I called Sweetwater and ordered two, Yamaha CP300's to replace the P200s: They had two in stock and I got them immediately. When I need gaffer's tape, B&H has it... I wouldn't waste my time calling any music store for it. By the looks of the above, Guitar Center is probably next on the auction block.

[@matt-spaiser]

I grew up going to the White Plains store too, and it's so sad to see its state. They had better sales 20 years ago than they do right now. My family got all sorts of gear there, and I have vivid memories of me and my brother getting all sorts of things there, from some Sabian crash cymbals to a Yamaha keyboard to a few different guitars for my brother. I'd ask my brother to try out the Gibson ES-175 to see how much he could sound like Pat Metheny (he didn't at all). And plenty of drum sticks and drum heads. My favourite memory is when I went to the 48th Street store and tried out an A Custom Flat Top Ride and a K Custom Flat Top Ride. I had just seen the Pat Metheny Group on the Speaking of Now tour and this was the only place in New York that had the A Custom Flat Top Ride that Antonio Sanchez played (albeit in the standard 20" size and not his custom 22" size). I ended up getting the K Custom because the A Custom was too bight and washy. A few months later after a show I asked Antonio if he'd sign my cymbal if I brought it to a show, and he responded, "Sure. And if you bring your girlfriend I'll sign her too." He signed the cymbal at another show the following week, and he signed my girlfriend a decade later! Wonderful memories made possible by Sam Ash!

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

That's a great story! Antonio has a great sense of humor :)

[@TheMirolab]

I went to my nearest SamAsh about 2 weeks ago. Even tho the store was mostly empty, the equipment remaining was only 15% off. I did not find a single tempting deal!

[@petea]

Interesting points about our music culture. I was raised on the original "sampling" era of hip hop and electronic music before technology lifted the veil on the secrecy. I heard these amazing snippets of sound, but they always remained mysterious. It took years to realize there's a whole world of amazing music that came before. There's Betty Wright - Secretary and Elliott Smith, there's Skatalites, there's David Axelrod, it goes on and on. BTW I am a diehard fan of B&H Photo Video in NYC!

[@c1ph3rpunk]

3 years ago I was going to build a new small DAW setup, needed a computer, desk, monitors, patch panel, USB interfaces, a 61 key MIDI controller and all the cables, budget was $15k. Walked into the local Sam Ash and tried to find a human, had that money in my pocket, after 15 minutes of nobody I went looking. Finally found someone in guitars who had no idea what I was talking about but said he’d go find someone. 10 minutes later someone else appears with him, also had no idea what to do, so I asked for a manager. 10 minutes later nobody appeared so, after 30 or so minutes, I left. That was my last experience. They literally had no idea how to take my money. I didn’t want to order online, I wanted to leave with the gear I needed. They failed.

[@carmistead7025]

Sam Ash on Queens Blvd has been there from as far as I can remember.

[@Sigma77-n2u]

Physical stores have to match online and have things in stock ! I’m surprised Barnes and noble still around they never match amazon. The internet killed everything but made things easy !

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Absolutely. The Barnes and Noble near me has a cafe and gourmet restaurant, which I suspect is keeping them afloat!

[@Sigma77-n2u]

@@pierrejpiscitelli it’s pretty much a library 📚 people hardly buy books 😂

[@dougtravins9624]

Still, it used to be cool to stop in at various music stores, hoping to find that Les Paul Jr. that some poor sap traded in for something else he 'had to have'. And then to play it before buying it was advantageous too. And if you didn't find 'it', you usually left with a set of strings. But I get it. That's the way it goes nowadays.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Yes, the "deals" were satisfying when they were right. The hunt was part of the fun. Now it's all too easy.

[@cinqo7]

Ohh no! Hope Guitar Center never close.

[@acoustic61]

Not sure what happened here but it's hard to compete with online retailers when you have the overhead of prime retail space. I don't live near a Sam Ash store but I've ordered a few things over the years. A real shame brick & mortar stores are disappearing. It's a race to the bottom for retailers. All the money goes to a few billionaires now. I do electronic service and loved having a Radio Shack store around the corner when I needed something in a pinch. These days everyone wants the lowest price. They don't care about customer service or patronizing local businesses which helps the community. What will we do when there are no more local businesses? The recording industry has changed and record stores are gone for some of the same reasons. Joe Walsh put it well: "Records, record stores, record sales, it’s all gone. And it’s up to the young musicians to try and figure it out. There’s no money in it, no record companies. It’s free, you can download it. Nobody gets paid, so they can’t afford to make music. That’s what’s happening."

[@jackblack3886]

Same for live music at clubs and bars. Just recording files from a laptop and a pair of speakers. The human interaction and spontaneity of the crowd is gone.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

I miss Radio Shack too. Great point- what do we do when there is no retail, just nothing left?

[@Stereolab2000]

Taylor Swift is a musician?

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

😂

[@clovergrass9439]

Sam Ashkenazi

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

That’s right.

[@jackblack3886]

An excellent video and great story. Sadly the human interaction in music is disappearing at a rapid rate.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Absolutely is. Thanks for watching!

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Totally is :( Thanks for watching!

[@j0pj0p]

Pretty sure Taylor Swift plays a Taylor. If her surname was Martin, maybe it would have been a tougher choice… 😂

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Ha!

[@Evergreen64]

It's fascinating and sad. You're younger than me. I was born at the very end of the "boomer" era. Yeah. Music is not part of the culture the way that it used to be and that's sad. Because music is very personal.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

People don't care about music the way they used to. It's incidental, somewhere in the background...

[@BlackMan614]

Truly end of an era. The local music store has gone the way of the regional department store. Dead and buried. It was important to demo stuff before purchase. Now its watching some lame content creator on YT run thru their "not sponsored by..." nonsense. Ugh...

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

haha exactly! if I ever get sponsored by anyone for any reason, I promise to be upfront about it 🤣

[@csikora5150]

Taylor Swifts agent is on the phone now making an offer to buy the Taylor guitar company 😂 . Great video!

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

😂😂

[@WysteriaGuitar]

You have to wait until they really have to close then they MAY take 30%-50% off LOL.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Right! The question is, do I really NEED any gear??

[@WysteriaGuitar]

@@pierrejpiscitelli True...I don't LOL

[@billhasty5197]

To much crime at malls. People stopped going.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

Great point.

[@mikerood7193]

Martin Taylor plays neither a Martin nor a Taylor.

[@pierrejpiscitelli]

He plays a Christopher.