Interview: Paul Babiak of Paul's Boutique.

Paul Babiak owns and runs Paul's Boutique, a cool little music store on Nassau Street in the Kensington Market area of Toronto.  Paul is one of the friendliest music store proprietors in town and his store is always full of interesting guitars and amps.  Paul's Boutique is also my favorite repair shop in town, especially for pedals and other hard-to-fix items. Even better, they're open 7 days a week, 12pm-7pm. Paul agreed to answer a few questions via e-mail.

How did you come to owning and running a music store in Kensington Market?

I worked for a guy in California for about five years who had vintage guitar shops in San Francisco and Los Angeles. When I decided to open a shop here in Toronto I looked around for a good location and found Kensington Market still had relatively cheap rent as well as a ton of musicians and artists close by. I took what I learned in California and tried to apply it here.

What's your take on the current vintage guitar market? Has it been affected by the 2008 financial collapse?

I always say that most of my clientele don't have much money to begin with so the 2008 financial crisis didn't really affect my regular business that much. We did see a lot of collectors unloading vintage gear but prices were still fairly high.

How have vintage prices changed in, say, the last five years? Are there any trends that you notice?

Over the past five years vintage guitar prices have continued to climb. A lot of old Fenders and Gibsons have gotten so expensive that most players can no longer afford them so now we're seeing guitars like old Harmonys, Kays, Stellas and pre-90s Japanese guitars start to go up. There are lots of good guitars coming out of China right now so the vintage market seems to have slowed down. The average player can own a great axe for $400-500. I still play my '69 P-Bass because it sounds incredible, but the for most young players these guitars are out of reach.

You also sell amps - can you explain the lunchbox amp craze?

I think the small amp craze is due to the fact that most people can now easily record from home and bigger amps are just too loud to turn up. Our amp tech Jeremy Douglas builds 5 watt class A amps that can be used as a guitar/bass head and also double as a tube mic pre. The circuits are very simple in these amps but they sound amazing! Fender, Orange and Epiphone have all built small tube amps and had great success with a combination of cheap labour and low prices.

What do you think are the best investments on the vintage guitar market these days?

In the $300-500 price range I think the best investments in vintage guitars right now would be 70s and 80s Japanese guitars. Style-wise they may be a little dated but the quality of the instruments is very high. Look for brands like Yamaha, Ibanez, Vantage, and Aria. There are also a lot of lesser known brands that were made in the same factories that had different names but are similar instruments. Moving up to the $400-1000 range I've seen a lot of American made Harmonys, Kays, Silvertones, Stellas, and Danelectros start to really climb. These are the last semi-affordable American-made vintage guitars. I also really like Fender Lead IIs and Lead IIIs as well as lesser known Gibsons like 'The Pauls' and 'Firebrands'.  Above $1000 it's tough to say. Different guitars come in and out of fashion. Lately Teles and Jazz basses have been hot but prior to that Strats really shot up. Not too many people are buying Les Pauls right now so many can be had for a good deal.

What makes Paul's Boutique different from other guitar stores in Toronto like Steve's, Long and McQuade, Capsule Music, etc?

We're different because we have a little bit of everything at the shop.  We have lots of vintage guitars and amps but we also carry some new instruments so you can come in and try a wide range of gear before deciding what you like best. We also sells keyboards, recording equipment, as well as all types of accessories. Our clientele ranges from collectors to young kids in bands but as the old saying goes, if we can provide good gear at reasonable prices with great service, people will come back.

What's the best deal in the store right now?

What's the best deal in the shop? That's a tough question because new gear comes in every day. As far as guitars I like the early 70s Ibanez Telecaster but that could change by tomorrow! 

Thanks to Paul Babiak for taking the time to answer my questions, and if you're in the area, be sure to check out Paul's Boutique at 69½ Nassau St., Toronto.