Hank's Guitar Shop

The shop itself is one of the coolest places I've been to in London. It's set in an old building with fantastic old staircases. It's full of history and character, and, of course, guitars! If you're a musician and want a guitar, this is the place to go. The service, on the other hand, left a bit to be desired. I took my 10-year-old grandson there to help get him inspired to play his guitar. I was hoping someone could have a little chat with him, maybe play a few chords, just so he could see a real-life musician up close and personal (I can't exactly take him to any clubs). He doesn't have a lot of confidence and I was hoping this would be one of those life-changing, childhood moments. But when we walked in, the young man behind the till was on the phone. And he stayed on the phone for a long time. He looked at us, but gave no signal that he would be with us asap. I believe he may have been on a business call, but still, we were in-store customers. We wandered around for a bit, waiting for him to get off the phone and hoping to see some other staff. Eventually I saw another man there, but I didn't know whether he was a customer or staff. I asked him if he worked there and could someone help us. We brought my grandson's guitar to be re-strung and tuned. That gentleman did help us, but had no inclination at all to answer questions. He wasn't rude, but he told us that any questions we had, we could get on youtube to find answers. Seriously? So we went back upstairs hoping to have better luck with the man behind the till. I looked at him and smiled, clearly in need of assistance. He just looked at us and then back down at whatever he was doing (he was off the phone by now). I suppose a middle-aged woman and a little boy weren't rock-n-roll enough for him to waste his time. What he didn't know is that I had money in my pocket, ready to buy a better guitar. If only he had made any effort to help us, he could have made a sale. So, yes, it's a cool place, but if you want to buy a guitar, you'll probably have to be very assertive to get any assistance.

First of all, thank you Noah for your great customer service today! (-: Hank’s is my favourite guitar shop in London, hands down. Put it this way: London is famous for its museums, and Hank’s is no less than one of them; a three floor building with vintage mind-blowing guitars! (as well as some relatively newer models) Quality accessories too, of course. But really, just walk in and talk to the friendly and very helpful staff like Noah, and revere while also exploring the first and second floors. Gorgeous instruments. An absolutely memorable experience. Thank you.

I never thought I would encounter such shady business practices in such a iconic guitar shop. A few months ago I came in to buy a unique three pickup Gretsch from them. Me and the salespersons got into a disagreement if that particular guitar was modded by the previous owner, or if the guitar came with three pickup configuration from the factory. I point out several things that for my eyes the guitar seemed to be modded, but they insisted it was "Special order" from the factory. They inform me that they even have documentation to prove their claim, but it was near the closing time... So they promise that they would find the documentation for me for the next day. Next day I come in and surprise, surprise... they tell me that they had problems finding the documentation for the guitar, but still insisted they have it somewhere. For me it was becoming apparent that there were no documentation. Even without any proof of authenticity I offered to pay them a fair rate what the regular model and modding would cost, but they declined still citing it's uniqueness of being factory "Special order". At this point the credibility gap was becoming way too big for me, and I left without the guitar. Later on I actually checked from Gretsch themselves, and guitar with that serial number and specification is not any kind of "Special order", but a base model. I don't know if the salesperson was misinformed, or if he was trying his luck with me. It is an iconic guitar shop with one of the most interesting selection of the whole Denmark St., but sadly I only encountered lack of professionalism there and felt cheated afterwards. Wouldn't recommend.

Great shop with illustrious history, incredible selection of beautiful guitars across a range of prices and highly knowledgeable, friendly guys working there. Also a tasty wallop of some old Beatles b-sides when I entered rather got me in the spirit of things, sadly I didn't have the budget for a Harrison special Grestch Country Gent... Will be back for more than just strings.

I always like to visit music/guitar shops when I’m on vacation, you can get a feel for what the locals use/like to play. It’s also fun checking out rare instruments and the different brands. This shop is very interesting, it’s packed wall to wall with instruments, narrow stairways bring you up to more and more of a selection as you climb.