Sunday 15 February 2009

Shinjuku Gakki

Just because I've acquired a new guitar, don't think that I've gotten over my guitar shop compulsion.

Oh no, not at all!

It's Sunday and I'm in Shinjuku.

One place that I hadn't gotten around to checking out is TC Gakki.

While not in the CBD of Shinjuku it's a relatively short walk through Kabukicho, past Seibu Shinjuku station, to Shin Okubo.

Google street view hasn't been 100% accurate lately in showing me the exact addresses on their map.

Although I get a kick out of the deja-vu of seeing things that I see on the internet, for the life of me I didn't know where the damn place was!

I went to the koban and asked the policeman for directions (that's what they do most of time directing lost people). While not exactly a smiling happy chappy, he helped me immensely to find it. If you're looking for it, coming out of the station turn left and then left again down a small street between the station and the Pachinko parlour.

I reckon it's worth seeing just for the amount of vintage guitars and amps they had there. Everything was quite pricey, but no regrets coming here at all. Maybe one. I didn't find what I was looking for.

I tried a secondhand Hamer guitar at the Rock Inn that had a sustainiac built-in. From my trial, this sustainer functions pretty much the same as the Fernandes one. Only thing I really don't like about these devices is that when the battery dies, so does the guitar. That's a big negative for me.

Lately I tried the eBow again and I had a little bit more luck getting the gist of it. On one string, it's pretty easy to use. Maybe that's going to be the easiest and cheapest way to get this effect.

It was starting to get a bit late so we had some okonomiyaki at Momoka conveniently close by.

We've eaten there before and I have to say it was delicious. I really like cooking the food myself. This time it didn't look like a dog's breakfast.

Can you see my name in mayonnaise? If you haven't tried/made this, you don't know what you're missing.

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