In an era when so much buying and selling takes place online, it sounds almost fanciful to describe a local second-hand musical instrument store as jaw-dropping shopping, but Newmarket’s Gokula Music in central Tāmaki Makaurau well fits that description.

Occupying a semi-basement space down a sloping driveway on the ‘wrong side’ of the inner-city suburb’s main drag, Gokula provides a rock’n’roll contrast to the glitz and glamour of the premium Westfield Newmarket shopping mall opposite.

With low ceiling and concrete floor the store has a suitably cavern-like rock vibe, with long rows of rock-uniform black amplification and other electronic music equipment of all shapes, sizes, eras and purposes. Some items that warrant the ‘vintage’ tag have clearly been well used over decades, while others look like brand new.

What was a huge open floorspace has been divided up to create smaller rooms on two sides that house specific instrument collections, a large case storage area and workshop facility. Acoustic and electric guitars line the walls and almost everywhere you look is chockablock. Much like a favourite market stall or opshop, there seems every chance of finding exactly what you didn’t know you wanted here.

It was late 2023 when Greg Messon opened the doors of Gokula Music at 370 Broadway, and there will be some who are surprised it has lasted there, with plenty more still unaware it exists. With so much involved in setting up the shop from scratch it took several months for Messon to find time for finer details like marketing. The website (gokulamusic.co.nz)  has been active as an online sales platform only since late 2025.

Henry Macdonald, who is Gokula’s valve amp repair specialist, works nearby. He says he was shocked to realise there was a used instrument shop right across from the mall.

“I saw the sign and thought, ‘Oh, it’s probably someone selling CDs.’ So I didn’t come in the first couple times I walked past it, and then one day I came in and, ‘Wow, this is actually a guitar shop!’ I lived in LA for a while, and obviously there’s a few places like Gokula, though not as many as you’d think.

“Greg’s got a really special collection of instruments, especially with all the vintage NZ-made amps and guitars. One of the things that’s quite cool is that he’s into not necessarily into the most obvious stuff, but like he’s really into Japanese instruments, and those Roland synth guitars, really quirky!”

As he suggests, Gokula Music is in fact Messon’s own personal eclectic musical instrument collection, a remarkably large stash worth north of half a million, that he has accumulated in an ongoing buying spree. 

It began only about 10 years ago, a period when he had time to spare, and having moved into his mid-50s decided to get back into playing guitar. He started off buying some of the cheapest used guitars he could find.

“Really, playing was a ridiculous idea, cos I can’t settle to learning songs. But I am mechanically minded and practical with my hands, so I decided instead to dive into repairing and setting them up, seeing how they work and all that stuff.”

He says it wasn’t really about investing, more like a giving in to his childhood fascinations and frequently-referenced ADHD personality. 

“I was in like an ADHD compulsive mode and didn’t want to stop buying guitars – but I had to have a reason for buying them, so in the end it became this!

“I have bought and restored antiques, and there isn’t much difference to buying and selling old guitars, it’s the same sort of thing. So there is a business side of it, and I have bought quite well with some things and not in others. It’s swings and roundabouts.”

Leaning on his antiques trading he evidently travelled up and down the country, buying at auctions, pawn shops and from other sources.

“So it’s an unusual route that I’ve taken, obsessive compulsive is what that is. This is keeping me active and fit, and I’ll either go broke or I’ll be successful… I’m hanging it all on the line here!”

Messon smiles a lot, and is laughing with that quip, but wouldn’t deny it’s been hard work going from obsessive collector to retailer. The shop also had origins in his own buying experiences.

“It was very hard to buy a second hand guitar. If you want to buy from TradeMe you don’t know what it feels like, plays like, all that type of stuff. You can’t find beginner guitars anywhere else that are second hand, ready for sale. I have a lot of intermediate guitars, American and Mexican Strats say, and Les Pauls. I collected a lot of vintage NZ amps, we’ve got a lot of Jansens.

“Our big emphasis is making sure every guitar here is set up and plays well, and has nothing wrong with it. Most people are actually surprised that all the guitars are set up.”

Acknowledging the current interest in high value vintage guitars, Messon says Gokula’s focus is on more affordable instruments, priced up to around $6000 or so.

“I mean, I have some very special guitars. Like this absolutely mint condition 1976 Ibanez Deluxe 59er, and this really nice 1960s Jansen Jazzman [in its own display case], but I’ve got to chase them down at the right price. I like the thrill of the chase! Finding something unusual that has maybe fallen through the cracks!

Word about Gokula and Messon’s trading passion has spread far enough that he is starting to attract bulk offers, like a recent one he describes as being ‘a bit of a guitar shop story’. 

“Some guy knocked on the door and I said, ‘Look, we’re not open, but he showed me some photos from a studio at the end of the northwestern motorway. He said, ‘I’m leaving on Friday, and if you want some of this gear come out tomorrow, bring a van.’

“I didn’t know what I was walking into. I just turned up with a rental van. After seeing all these wonderful keyboards and other instruments I asked him how much he wanted for all it? He named a reasonable price and we didn’t even haggle over it.”

The studio and gear had belonged to the late, great Tongan Kiwi musician Bill Sevesi, and the haul included blank cassettes and ¼” recording tapes, Akai reel-to-reel recorders, a mint condition Italian piano accordion to a fabulous and virtually unused (the expression pedal is still in plastic wrap) 1970s Yamaha YC45D double keyboard organ.

There are a growing number of other similar stories, and if you’ve got time Greg Messon will be happy to tell you about almost any of the instruments on sale. The all-carbon fibre Bond Electroglide, the orange 1964 Holden Wasp amp head, a 1974 Gibson Marauder in near perfect condition, classic 1970s hard tail Fender Stratocasters and so on…

And that quirky name? It originated with a mate who changed his surname to Gokula. Messon does express a small amount of regret, but he’d registered the company before having any reason to reconsider.

“It’s what I think the planet needs to do,” he quips. “But it’s also Indian deity, and an Indian province. That’s the story I tell, it’s got four reasons. I thought it works quite well phonetically, but everyone seems to struggle. Once you get it, hopefully it gets stuck there!”

While the economy has only worsened since Gokula opened in 2023, and marketing isn’t one of his strengths, Messon remains upbeat. Having started feeling very much an industry outsider, both he and the shop have found their feet.

“We’re doing reasonable turnover down here, which, every month surprises me,” he smiles. “This is my retirement plan is a good way of putting it… and you can’t really have a bad day in a music shop!”