A Post's intern goes on a post-party crusade to find some amplifiers and guitars in Kyiv worth shouting out loud about.
Remember that childhood memory? A leather-booted foot planted on top of a milk crate as if it were a huge monitor, a blanket around your neck like a cape and a broom in hand as you shred through a killer Kirk Hammett guitar solo or belt out the lyrics to “You Got Another Thing Coming”? You were born to rock. Only thing is, maybe you don’t know where in Kyiv to find music gear.
To find out where to get instruments and amps and stuff in the Ukrainian capital, I turned to a reliable source: Speeding Lisa bassist Nick Morris. We met in front of a music shop on a recent Saturday afternoon. That was too early, given that the night before Nick and Speeding Lisa ripped through a wicked set at Art Club 44’s 44-hour long birthday party. Our heads hurt with that sharp pain that burns behind your right eye.
We were hung over and shopping for rock star instruments – it felt right.
Got My First Real Six-String
Then we were off to A&T Trade (1G Skovorody, 467-6962), and a head above the competition for accessories, amps, selection and service. This is as close as you’ll come to a Western music store. The wall of guitars is huge and they’ve got good amps: Vox, Fender and Marshall.
“I’ve never seen a Music Man in Kyiv and I’ve never seen a Gibson in a shop, which is a shame,” Nick mused about these classic guitars on the way to A&T. But at A&T he did find the latter, and he took some time to play around on it. It was a Gibson Les Paul Studio for $1,400, and Nick considered it the find of the day. Bargain of the day honors, however, went to the Brian Setzer signature guitars, whi ch sell out quickly, especially given the steal price of $2,400 compared to the $4,000 you’d drop in England.
Step Right Up
Within seconds of walking into Tic Tac (10 Kostyantynivska, 467-5460), you can tell it’s run by musicians for musicians. A salesman in the corner idly strummed a guitar as we looked around, visibly perking up when we started looking at the instruments. The staff here was wonderful, polite and knowledgeable.
“What they got here is copies…what they’re doing is they’re copying the old standards: the Fenders, the Les Pauls,” Nick explained, pointing out each bright, shiny electric guitar hanging on the walls. “They’re perfectly fine guitars, and perfectly good for starting out,” he said.
He had a guitar in his lap and was churning out riffs. Though bass is his baby, and he speaks with pride of his bass collection, he can play guitar, too.
Tic Tac is the place for garage-band kids who want to get started with everything they need. From guitars and basses to amps, PAs, pedals, cables and monitors – the whole nine yards.
“The staff all play, and that helps,” Nick said. “They’re going to be a lot more trustworthy, because they know you’re a musician and you’re going to come back to them if there are any problems. Generally musicians stick together.”
Funk Odyssey
Drinking coffee, we made our way down to the Yamaha store in Globus. It’s a great place to buy your teenage daughter her first guitar and amp, but as for selection, there’s not much happening. The service was almost non-existent.
“It’s affordable, it’s good quality, it’s strong,” Nick explained about the Yamaha brand. “But the instruments are completely lacking in any kind of soul,” he added as we looked at a decent Yamaha starter amp for Hr 375.
That said he was impressed with the high-end Funkadelic-esque Warwick bass guitars and amps – both of which cost a pretty penny. Beyond those, there were just some basic Yamaha models. At Yamaha, though, you can buy cables by the meter, and they’ll fit the jack for you.
Nick summed it up: “This is the kind of stuff you get for a teenager who says ‘I wanna be in a rock band, and I want to play loud.’”
Smoke on the Water
Our bodies buzzing with caffeine, we hit our final two stops: Budynok Muziky and Jazz Club.
Budynok Muziky (145/1 Chervono-armiyska, 269-7331) was a typical Ukrainian store: watches, do-dads, disco balls, xylophones…and, oh yeah, some guitars and basses, though not that great a selection of either. Fans should know they carry an impressive selection of keyboards and synthesizers, too.
The staff was rather reserved. There were some decent amps, but they were mixed in with domestic hi-fis, so you had to search – it had a flea market feel.
The last site, Jazz Club (3 Druzhby Narodiv, 451-8615), was rather comprehensive, with a great selection of accessories: strings, drum machines, amps, flood lights, smoke machines, disco balls, etc. Their guitar and bass selection was heavy on Yamaha products, but their accessory selection made up for that. The staff seemed knowledgeable and eager to help, and they also have a service bay for repairs. Now go be a jukebox hero, man.
