Just wanted to give a shout-out to my old friend Phil Vickman, who is in the process of opening a guitar store called Fat Tone Guitars in the Chicago suburb of Northbrook. Phil has wisely decided not to compete with Guitar Center's bulk Strat/Marshall thang, but is instead stocking the place with a wide variety of interesting (and quite affordable) guitars by companies like Eastwood — makers of such drool-worthy retro models as the Hummingbird, pictured above — Campbell American, Daisy Rock and Gretsch, and amps from Orange, Peavey and Gabriel Sound Garage. Lotsa cool "boutique" effects pedals, too, from makers like Toadworks, Subdecay Studios and Keeley Electronics.
The actual store won't be open for another week or two, but the Fat Tone website is already up and running and open for business. You can also check out the Fat Tone Blog, aka "Tales from the Whammy Bar," which I will be contributing guitar-centric "content" to on occasion. In any case, Phil's a straight-up guy who knows quality equipment and good (and indeed, fat) tone; when I think of all the clowns and crappy stores I've bought guitars and gear from over the years, it makes me wish I'd had a place like Fat Tone to go to. So if you're in the market for a new axe, amp or pedal, by all means drop in (online or in person) to see Phil, and tell him I sent ya...
You've been tagged m'dear ;)
Posted by: MJ | July 03, 2007 at 10:53 AM