Today, Long Beach lost its last music store, with no replacement in sight. The closure marks a turning point for musicians in Long Beach, who aren’t losing just another place to buy strings, plane a fingerboard or record a session; they’re losing a landmark of musical history.
Gilmore Music on Seventh St. was Long Beach’s premier music store for decades and remained one of the only places with affordable practice rooms in the community. That was, until owner Clint Gilmore passed away in the first week of November 2020.
Since Gilmore’s death, his wife of 37 years, Linda Gilmore, who works as a schoolteacher, had been running the store. But after a few months she quickly realized that the burden was too much to bear. She made the decision to sell the store, according to music liquidator and businessman Eddie Montana.
Montana was brought in by Mrs. Gilmore to help clear out the store’s remaining inventory. A lifelong Long Beach resident and multi-instrumentalist, he had known Gilmore since they both attended Wilson High School together in the 1960’s.
Montana recalls that his first serious job in the music repair business was at Gilmore’s in the 70’s and 80’s, where he worked as a luthier for nearly 20 years. He remembers that for a period of 6 months in the store’s early history, the famed guitar maker Leo Fender had a workspace in the shop.
Beyond being a store and repair shop, Gilmore was the site of the oldest recording studio in Long Beach and during those 80 years it hosted some of the biggest acts of the 20th century.
Besides Long Beach locals Sublime, Gilmore played host to John Coltrane, the Rat Pack and Oingo Boingo, among many others.
For instrument repairman Ryan Wagner, who did specialty work for Mr. Gilmore for more than a decade and was trained by Montana in instrument repair, the news of Clint’s death came suddenly. “Clint had invited me to come and meet his wife just a week before he passed, and the next time I was in the shop I found out. It was a huge shock,” said Wagner.
It wasn’t until a few months later that Montana called Wagner and asked him if he could come help with the liquidation. Montana says that the pace of the selloff picked up significantly in the last two weeks before they closed.
“I tried to market it as best I could, but many people only found out in the last two weeks,” said Montana. He’s had many people come in who feel that the closure is a huge loss to the community, and have asked about what will become of the store after they close.
According to Montana, when their lease ends on the 1st, the store will most likely be marketed to other people who want to open up a music shop. Montana went on to say that it was about time for things to be “refreshed,” and that the shop had suffered at the hands of online retail for some time before Clint’s passing.
When asked if there will still be interest in having a music shop in the space again, Montana remained optimistic.
Montana said, “Whatever happens, I believe that one day there will be another music store here, and we hope it’s going to be a rebirth of Gilmore’s.”
While he remained pragmatic about the liquidation and closure, there was a definite feeling of loss in the way he spoke about the store and its impact on the community. “I’ve had so many people come in over the last few weeks, all torn up over the situation. I try my best to give them something positive to take home,” said Montana, adding, “For every 4 people I talk to, 3 have been able to see the good in all of it.”
Beginning June 1, the storefront on 1935 E. Seventh St. will be available for rent, and the remaining inventory and contents of the shop will be emptied.