The Steel Guitar Forum

Posting this here in "Steel Players" because it's important info. Manny's did sell pedal steel guitars. I bought a Sho-Bud Pro II there in 1973 for $1300. After the sale, I asked Henry if he had Emmons steels. He said: "Yes, I have some of those upstairs." I asked him how much." He said: "$800." I still think about that. It was probably an S-10 but could have been a D-10.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/04/nyre ... e=Homepage

Thx Robert.

I too purchased many things from Henry over the years. He was iconic on 48th street, its like he owned the street.

When he was idle, not often, he would stand outside the front door and talk to folks walking by which were, oddly enough, musicians !

My friends ( bandmates) and I would take the train from Westport Ct to NYC at least once a month to hang out on 48th street. The train by the way was the famous New Haven Railroad Electric Line which went directly to Grand Central .

We would see Henry each time we went , and while I'm sure he had no clue who we were , he treated us like friends. He was such a nice guy.

In 1995 I took my wife Bonnie and daughter Mandy to NYC and we went to Manny's. I think by then it a had already sold to Sam Ash , but all the photo's were still on the walls. Henry was not around, I don't know if he was even part of the store anymore at that time.

The photo's were signed major artist photographs to Henry, 100's if not a few thousands. They dated back decades.

RIP Henry.

RIP Manny's

PS: when I took my wife and daughter to Manny in '95, it was to show them the iconic store with all the photos. When I left the store, I had a brand new Fender 1962/RI JAZZ Bass in my hands ! Good thing I didn't go to the Telecaster wall! At the time I was playing Bass behind a Grand Piano in a Pentecostal Church Praise band. Lots of Eb and Ab going on !

Here is a nice interview of Henry Goodrich (inside Manny's) filmed in 2010.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfJ56D6rMrw

One guitar I bought from Henry was a Gretsch Tennessean, this was after trying out probably a dozen guitars that Henry kept bringing out for me to play. I was probably 15 at the time. It was a weekday morning early and I thought I was driving him nuts, but apparently not. My brother said that Henry was having a good time ! I ended up with the Gretsch Tennessean due to the George Harrison influence.

Years later I bought a Standel Artist amp from Henry , it was lousy, probably the worst ampoI ever owned. Finally I went back and Henry sold me a Twin Reverb, which is what I should have bought in the 1st place.

One thing Henry was not, He was NOT a HARD SELL HI Pressure Salesman , he was gentle and kind, very patient.

Henry and Manny's was part of our musical journey back then, we were just kids from Ct. taking it all in.

We would walk 48th street, visit all the shops, go get a slice, then walk 48th street again. That was a typical Sat for us once a month.

One time Henry had 2 VOX Super Beatles set up at the back of the store, WOW they were glorious to us ! They were only $1000 .