Top-dollar tunes

>> High-end music store appeals
to deep-pocketed players

by CHRIS BARRY

Name: Jeremy Stern

Age: 44

Occupation: Proprietor of Boutique Tone

Bio: This hunky Hampstead minstrel was a happy-go-lucky guitarist who, after getting married and fathering a couple of children, suddenly found himself working a variety of straight jobs and “hating it. I always wanted to do something music-related.” Keen to start up a music store but aware there was no way he could compete with the likes of Steve’s or Italmelodie, in 2006 Jeremy’s wife encouraged him to launch “a high-end boutique music store, only selling the very best gear out there.” And so, after selling off their Old Montreal condo to scrape up the necessary bucks for the endeavour, two Septembers ago, Boutique Tone (4200 St-Laurent, #425, (514) 287-9009) was born. Jeremy, who still does occasional gigs with his “classic rock cover band” Playhouse, expects Boutique Tone will soon start promoting gigs featuring local bands. He drives a 2006 Volvo XC-70 wagon.

What made him think a specialized store like this could work in Montreal: “I’d spoken with so many people and everyone said it was an amazing idea but there was no way the Montreal music scene could support it. But once you start using the high-end, unusual gear we carry, you just can’t go back to the regular stuff. I’m not just talking about our vintage gear. Our new stuff takes the best elements of the old and the new and marries them together, creating these absolutely incredible instruments, all built by hand and usually by only one guy. Remember, a lot of vintage gear doesn’t necessarily sound good or is that stable or road-worthy. And the great vintage pieces, with amazing tone and everything, well, you could easily pay between $30,000 and $300,000 for an old Les Paul or Stratocaster, whereas the new stuff is way cheaper than that. So I knew there’d be people who’d really want our stuff. And we do a lot of Internet business too.” Boutiquetone.com.

The companies making all these wonderful instruments: “Our top selling amp is a Swart, for about $1,800. We’ve also carry gear from Two-Rock, Mad Professor, 65 Amps and some absolutely amazing stuff from local producers like Michael Greenfield—who makes some of the finest guitars in the world—or Stevenson, whose guitars and amps are just incredible, world class. Their guitars start at around $2,000. And of course, we carry more expensive stuff too, guitars for $12,000 and up.”

What possibly could be so great about a guitar to justify a $12k price tag? “Well, for example, some of these guitars are made from wood that’s certified 500 years old, so you pay a premium for that. Also, it’s a much longer, more involved process producing things by hand.”

What the hell kind of musician can afford to buy the shit they sell at Boutique Tone? “Session players, collectors, visiting rock stars. We also get older guys who stopped playing after getting into the whole marriage and kids thing, needing to get respectable jobs. But now they’re starting bands up again and can afford the best stuff they can find.”

Last book read: Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

Musical preferences: Phish, Led Zeppelin.

Words of wisdom: “Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and jump.”

Comments: dimwit@hdot.net