HARTNOLL TORQUAY GUITAR CENTRE

Torquay is tagged as the English Riviera; tourism, ice creams and palm trees... and also a bustle of live music to suit all tastes. 'We have it all,' says( Hart noil's manager Dave Edwardson. 'Even in the winter months you can find acoustic, blues and rock here in The Bay.'

LAYOUT

A LIFE-SIZE Elvis Presley brandishing a pointy metal guitar welcomes you to two levels - electrics and basses downstairs and acoustics upstairs, with a leather couch for noodling.

RANGE OF NEW GEAR

Hartnoll Guitar centre has a good range of Gibsons plus Fender, Epiphone, ibanez, Spector, Jim Deacon, G&L, Squier, Cort, Washburn, Danelectro, SX, Kramer, Vintage, LTD, Gypsy Rose, Gretsch, Aria and Parker. For acoustics they've got Cort, Yamaha, Tanglewood, Faith, Gibson, Takamine, Larrivee, Vintage, Epiphone and Washburn. Cool amps too: Marshall (including custom-coloured Class 5 combos), Vox, Roland, Markbass, Eden, Fender and Epiphone

RANGE OF SECONDHAND GEAR

'We'll always take a look at good clean pieces,' says in-store guitar tech Chris Tierney. We spotted used Martins and Takamines, Washburn, Gibson and ESP electrics and amps by Bognor and Peavey

BEST BARGAIN IN THE STORE

Good bargains in the secondhand list including a very clean G&L S500 in cherry sunburst at £899, a Bognor Alchemist combo at £650, and a Fender Princeton combo down from £1236 to £749.

HIGHLIGHT

Dave and Chris are really helpful and genuinely love their job. Every new guitar is fully inspected before it's put up on the wall. There's lots of customer support on hand, with a nine-month aftersales set-up service. Basic amp and guitar repairs are handled in the workshop by both guys, and with Chris also holding in-house guitar and bass classes, there's no end to their talent. The website is also pretty impressive.

CONCLUSION

Hartnoll Guitars has only been here for seven months as a sister shop to its store in Plymouth, but the premises have been a music shop for over 40 years, and the guys are doing a fab job and have a great insight into modern rock'n'roll.

VITAL STATISTICS