Wunjo Keys Synth Shop

Fun fact: retail is not doing so well at the moment. You only need to take a look at the average high street to see the FOR LET signs, while the demise of brands like Borders and Woolworths are proof that event the bigger fish aren't immune to the whims of the economy. The same is true of music hardware shops, those very unique places that actually allow you to try out products before you buy them or god forbid ask a technical question and get some solutions you can take home instantly.

In writing this, I'm reminded of the demise of Turnkey on the Charing Cross road; a huge shop packed with different bits of gear that catered for professional and amateur guitarist, keyboard player, drummer or DJ. Sadly that place bit the bullet some time ago, their website only a grim reminder of what used to be a fantastic place to look around.

There really aren't many places like this in London any more, which is why I think it's important that Wunjo keys gets some press as it's a place that deserves to do well. Occupying the former site of London Pro Audio on London's Denmark Street, it replaces the mish mash of stock that LPA sold and focuses on providing a solid collection of synths and keyboards for play and purchase. Interestingly there's plenty of old favourites among the newer machines. All the big names are there: Korg, Arturia, Moog, Nord (tons of them!) and Novation plus plenty of vintage Rolands and plenty more besides. On occasion, I've seen a variety of synthesisers there that I had only heard about on Vintage Synth Explorer, so they do have a good supply of old kit if that's your thing.

True story: my dad got one of these working after finding it in a skip

In terms of variety of synthesisers alone, it knocks its main rivals on Denmark Street and those further afield (West End DJ and Chappells Yamaha Music London, I'm looking at you) right out of the park. The staff all seem to know what they are doing, are friendly and knowledgeable without being pushy and they always seem to have something new in for sale or preorder. It's a refreshing experience over going through stale web pages to order things or trawling review sites when you can actually go in and try something out.

I for one will try and keep these guys in business if I can, so if you are in the area and fancy checking out new gear, go and check Wunjo out. They keep people up to date with new gear on their Facebook group,