Big City Music has been the go-to shop in Los Angeles, CA for vintage, rare, & new analogue gear since 1996.

We buy, and sell top-notch vintage and new electronic musical instruments.

Music is the heart of our team; we possess a deep passion for sound and are dedicated to delivering outstanding service to our local clients & our customers around the 🌎.

Origin Story

I was wondering how this whole thing started. So I asked my boss, and this is what he said:

So Roger, why did you start selling analog synthesizers?

What about your initial trips to Japan?

In 1983 the Yamaha DX-7 was red hot and there was an extreme shortage here in Los Angeles. Everyone wanted a DX-7, so I flew to Japan and bought a pallet of them. I brought them back and they quickly sold.

During this time, most musicians felt they had little use for their earlier analog synths and were happy to unload them for far less than they paid for them. Japanese people still had love and respect for older synths, so I bought them here in Los Angeles and sent them to shops in Japan.

Yamaha DX-7 Ad, 1985

 

Bob Moog?

Roger & Bob Moog, NAMM 2002

 

I asked Roger about Bob Moog....."I think it was 1999 when Bob Moog's new company was called Big Briar. His only dealer in the US was Black Market Music in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I typed out a letter to Bob (on a typewriter) and had a post card made, with a pretty color picture of a Moog Source, and it said, "Do You Remember?" across the front. I wanted to show Bob my absolute respect for his gear. At that time I already had 6 or 7 Memorymoogs and more than a dozen Minimoogs. I had been buying as much Moog gear as possible to sell in Japan. I had nearly every product Moog ever made. I sent Bob the postcard and the letter, and asked if I could sell his new gear.

Shortly thereafter, he came to my shop and was quite impressed. He informed Black Market Music that Big City Music would also be selling his products. They let him know that, if that was the case, they would not be selling his products anymore. Bob Moog did not mind passing the torch to Big City Music, so we became his exclusive US dealer for awhile."

 

The Big City Music Team

Roger Cordell - Owner

 

Janet Chang - Accounting

 

Nathaniel Alpin - Product Testing, Photography, Web Design, Social Media
@nathaniel_alpin