Wisconsin’s Cream City Music started out as a home-based online business in the late Nineties, the early days of eBay. Within a few short years, it opened as a brick-and-mortar shop in...
Wisconsin’s Cream City Music started out as a home-based online business in the late Nineties, the early days of eBay. Within a few short years, it opened as a brick-and-mortar shop in Milwaukee’s historic Bayview neighborhood with a focus on new, used and vintage guitars, basses, amps and effects. In 2006, Cream City moved to its current location, a 6,000-square-foot mid-century-style building in Brookfield, just west of Milwaukee. It’s a true “one stop shop,” welcoming everyone from beginners buying their first guitars to high-end vintage buyers. The staff has created an enjoyable online experience for their customers and offers a level of expertise and customer service that’s simply hard to match.
NUMBER OF INSTRUMENTS CURRENTLY IN STOCK
(Brian Douglas, owner/general manager): Close to 1,000 new, used and vintage guitars and basses, over 600 effect pedals and more than 300 amps. Don’t even get me started on accessories!
STRANGEST REQUEST FROM A CUSTOMER
We had a customer come to our repair department and ask our master luthier to build him a semi-hollow 12-string Gibson SG-style guitar. That was a wild one!
COOLEST INSTRUMENT CURRENTLY IN THE SHOP
I’m a bass player, so for me, it’s an incredibly unique un-assembled Gibson Thunderbird bass that’s unfinished and was an auction prize at a Les Paul benefit. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for someone to build their own custom Thunderbird in whatever finish they desire.
THE ONE PIECE OF GEAR EVERY PLAYER SHOULD HAVE
A good tuner. Keeping a guitar in tune is the key to everything.
FAVORITE INSTRUMENT YOU’VE SOLD
A 1976 Fender Thinline Telecaster in black, which was a custom color for that year. It played and sounded amazing. I should’ve bought it. Instead it sold almost immediately and I’ve dreamt about it ever since. Moral of the story? If you