Walpole Music Studio Keeps Music Local for 43 Years

More than 43 years ago, the Walpole Music Studio opened its doors and is still going strong today.

Manager Greg DiGregorio said his part of it has been quite a ride.

“I used to be a customer here back in the 80s and they never got rid of me,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been a regular since I started taking lessons here. I met my best friend here. He used to be my teacher before he was my friend.”

DiGregorio said he first started working at the studio 13 years ago. He said Gene Federico, who is a musician himself, started the store.

“He started the whole business at the time,” he said.

DiGregorio said he really liked the place because of its down to earth feel.

“It was the mom and pop shop that attracted me here,” he said. “Plus Gene’s a really nice guy.”

DiGregorio said he does most of the repairs and day-to-day operations of the store these days. He said mostly the shop has stayed the same in his time at least.

“It’s always been what it is now,” he said. “Instruments, lessons, repairs, the community atmosphere; we’ve just been here for so long people know us.”

DiGregorio said yes, there are people who come in all the time just to try out the new guitars.

“My goal here is to look for different instruments as we sell them to keep it from getting stagnant,” he said.

DiGregorio added right now there is a definite move back to more folk-related instruments, like the banjo or mandolin.

“They’re not our bread and butter, but we are going through a good amount of ukuleles,” he said. “More bands out there are very eclectic. Pop uses them a lot too.”

In a world of big box stores, many music shops are finding it hard to compete. DiGregorio said they do their best to keep their prices low, but he thinks there’s more to it than that to keep people coming in.

“We’ve always been competitive price-wise, but we know most people by name here,” he said. “You don’t really get that that much at the big chain stores.”

DiGregorio said they go through a lot of strings as well.

He said during school time they have about 200 students every week taking lessons.

“It comes and goes with the economy,” he said. “We’re still doing good as the economy has leveled off a bit.”

DiGregorio said repairs are his specialty, and he does a lot of set ups every week.

“We’ll restring if they don’t how, set up the neck and the truss rod, that kind of things,” he said. “Whatever we don’t do we have some nice outside guys. If I don’t know what I’m doing I know when to stop and give it to the next guy.”

Over the years many people have come to the store to sample their selection, but none so famous as Monkees bassist and keyboardist Peter Tork.

“He was buying strings,” DiGregorio said. “There’s an old guitar that’s been here for years sitting around so he picked up and just kind of jammed on it.”

The Walpole Music Studio is located at 942 East St. and is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Tuesday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sunday, closed