Some Neck: The guitarist’s guitar shop finds a new home on Francis Street

Some Neck is a guitarist’s guitar shop. That’s because it is owned and run by a genuine guitar enthusiast and collector with a shrewd eye for vintage, classic guitar amps and pre-loved guitars with histories to tell. Owen McQuail has put in long, hardworking hours to build the business from the ground up, with his perceptive recognition of an unfulfilled niche market: a specialist guitar shop run by a guitarist who sincerely cares about the needs of other guitarists and musicians.

Owen is always available to patiently answer questions, respond to requests or, if the shop is not particularly busy, to share a quiet joke with staff and customers with his understated sense of humour. He’s also an absolute wealth of information about guitars, and runs one of the very best guitar maintenance and set-up shops in the country.

Without regularly mentioning it himself, Owen is also a highly accomplished professional musician, with a track record proven on the road. He has been a working guitarist, so his insight into the mind of serious players is keen. He’s aware of their requirements, interests and even their foibles. His face is slow to immediately display emotion, but when lured into a slagging match he can be devastatingly hilarious.

He can also still play beautifully: he maintains his genuine connection to guitars by holding them in his hands and playing them. The storied guitars which have passed through his hands, and some of the well-known guitarists who have acquired them, is a journey in itself.

Some Neck has provided a guitar freak’s sanctuary in Dublin from its earliest days in the first small shop on Aungier Street, to the larger shop also on Aungier Street, where Some Neck’s unique identity began to flourish. Rory Gallagher posters began to adorn the walls, with Thin Lizzy memorabilia, and photographs of legendary Blues musicians such as John Lee Hooker and BB King. The shop moved up near Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on the corner of New Street several years ago, where it cemented its position as the number one gathering spot for vintage guitars, guitarists of every vintage and plain guitar lovers and enthusiasts.

On any given day, surrounded by a collection of old radios, antique amplifiers and guitars, and associated accessories, Owen’s face would be a mask of calm as one young guitarist would jam out on Metal riffs; another would be attempting the electric solo from 'Stairway to Heaven'; while a third would hit power chords for a group of pre-teen friends. Owen would stare, like a poker player giving nothing away, until the slightest crack of a smile betrayed the tortured Edvard Munchian character within… repressing the ‘Scream of Nature’ as the three clashing musicians wailed chaotically around him.

On another day, he would be hunched over a more delicate stylist, quietly testing a guitar, gently feeling out a new fretboard as Owen quietly pointed out various attributes or drawbacks of the particular instrument.

Now, as part of the new Some Neck shop on Francis Street, Owen has included the unique and exceptionally useful feature of soundproof booths, where guitars can be tested to the limit without the other customers (or the staff) having to hear. It’s an absolutely brilliant idea, one destined to become the industry standard from now on.

Some Neck's new location, at 95 Francis Street, is the shop’s fourth incarnation, the culmination of all the experience, expertise and history built up over some very productive years in the business. What is perfectly clear is that Some Neck Guitars is flourishing. Long may it continue…

 

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