The Guitar, Amp & Keyboard Centre, Brighton

Once I've overcome the childish temptation to pick up a guitar and bang out Smoke On The Water or Stairway To Heaven, my usual barometer for musical equipment stores is the attitude of the staff: It's usually whether the information they bombard you with is an attempt to be useful or part of their geek-filled, competitive streak fuelled by the fact that every band they have ever had the misfortune to grace has made ELP seem rather unpompous and made Snow Patrol appear cutting edge.

At GAK (they may want to double check that on Urban Dictionary) I have always found them to be relatively helpful, from when I lived locally to the very occasional visits that I make now. To be fair, they tend to answer questions directly and I have never felt an ounce of pressure to part with my hard-earned.

Also, they do come complete with a huge range of stock to suit most musical preferences.

POOR POOR POOR!!!

I ordered a Fender Jim Root Tele, and Digitech whammy pedal, off their websiite, on 18/11/10. The money was taken on 20/11/10.....I'm still waiting for both. other than a confirmation e-mail on ordering, the only other communication I have had was after I complained at the beginning of Decenber. GAK replied on 2/12/10..and that was it, I'm still waiting, despite ringing and further e-mails.

Both items are Christmas presents...looks like my Son is going without on Christmas day........

My interest lies strictly in the six and 12 string beauties on display in this shop, but if the range of keyboards is anything like as comprehensive as the guitars then aficionados should find their itch well and truly scratched.

The staff are approachable and knowledgeable and the customer is positively encouraged to get a model down from the wall to put it thoughts paces. The place buzzes with the sound of sixteen-note runs, power chords, and the new kid on the block demonstrating that he’s got a fuzz box and he’s gonna use it.

Notable items in stock when I visited today included a custom de luxe Telecaster (£1,799), a Les Paul Sparkle (£2,399) and a 1964 Ephiphone Casino (‘Just Like Macca’s!’ £2.991).

Future guitar heroes, start here.

I often pop into GAK. They have a good selection of guitars to look at and have a fondle of.

It’s best to visit during the week as weekends can be busy and noisy.

Went in here with my son. A superb range of guitars available.

Has pretty much anything a guitar player could want all in one store.

The range of guitars as I say seems to go on and on. Maybe a few more music books would have got this shop a 5 star rating.

Very busy and obviously popular shop.

The GAK is a pretty standard guitar shop that sells most of your musical needs. However, the choice is limited and the staff are clearly snobs. The drum cavern, however, is very helpful and has better choice, but the guitar and electronic shop is expensive and limited.

oh boy, if you are into being shunned by ignorant staff or have someone play there brand new ultra fast riff at you while you stand twiddling your thumbs then this is the place for you.this is the asda of guitar shops and if that is where your “thing” is then be my guest.there are more worthy guitar shops in brighton who do a far better job and dont have the attitude .

Oh boy! If you’re in to musical instruments (well, guitars, amps & keyboards… & drums, further down the road), this is a veritable toy shop of a store. It may look small and very yellow on the outside, but it’s like a Tardis within.

GAK, as it’s known to those in the know, has a massive stock as, in addition to the physical shop, they are a significant and well respected on-line retailer.

I was lucky enough to go in with an avid guitarist who walked me through all the stock, pointing out those guitars that best fitted my requirements and honing my choice to two, only one of which I played… and bought! The staff are all enthusiasts too and I’m sure would have used the same experiential approach. I was certainly given plenty of time to play and there was no obvious sales pressure, which is something that’s worth extra points in my book.

So if you’re thinking about getting all musical, I can HIGHLY recommend GAK!