It’s a rare day when Billy Fuller doesn’t smile.
Even on the way to work, he loves his life and the unique small business he has built.
“I really feel good every time I come to work and open the door,” says Fuller. “I’m always reflecting on what a beautiful place we live in. We are super fortunate,” he says.
Fuller is the proud proprietor of Sunset Beach Music, an eclectic music store that buys, sells and trades old-fashioned TLC with a little bit of music magic mixed in.
Fuller said his tiny music store is a family affair, a place where work and life have become almost inseparable.
“I’m even here on my days off too, because I just, you know, enjoy it. My wife Farrah even shows up here because we sit and enjoy. We love the place,” says Fuller.
In a time when some small businesses are struggling to find relevance, he’s used old-school charm and vintage instruments to thrive.
After more than a year of conversion, Fuller and his small cadre of friends and family have only recently completed the renovation of a much larger room next to his existing location that has tripled the physical size of his shop.
Sunset Beach Music is a tiny building with a guitar on the roof on Pacific Coast Highway. In an interview with the ENE this week, Fuller says he remembers when he and his son Richie crated the rooftop guitar out of wood and then erected it on the roof.
They decided to move the business from a different location in Sunset Beach.
Fifteen years ago, when Fuller first moved into the micro-sized wooden building that once served as a shack for oil field workers at the turn of the century, he had also tried to get the larger one next door.
“I’ve even talked to people who once lived here,” he says of the oil-field quarters turned local business.
“This one (new building) got taken when I first moved in,” says Fuller, proudly standing in his new renovated addition. “The gentleman was able to get this place, so I moved in next door and started giving lessons.”
So when it finally became available more than a year ago, Fuller rushed to sign a lease with the much larger building from his original location, separated only by a wooden deck.
His new addition even has a small, wooden porch over Huntington Harbor, giving Fuller the chance to fish when business gets slow.
“I had friends helping and family members that were helping me get it dialed in and it’s finally done,” says Fuller, like a shopkeeper of old. “Everyone just loves it,” he beams, “when they walk in and the first thing they say, almost every time, is ‘wow, what a good vibe.’
“I’m always reflecting on how lucky fortunate we are to have a business like this,” he added.
Now, his selection of guitars is highlighted by track lighting along with a slender new addition, with double rows of acoustic guitars hanging on one end, with a transition to double rows of electric guitars on the other.
Other instruments and amplifiers dot the floor across the floor to create a magic array of musical equipment that now welcomes its long-term customers.
There are some new guitars, but most are what Fuller terms “vintage” pieces. He even offers older, tube-based analog amps that create a sound that some musicians still swear by, even though he does offer the most modern equipment as well.
He says buying a good guitar is hard to do by mail order, and most of his customers “are open-minded. They’re not demanding a discount on something; they come in and really appreciate your advice and your help.”
According to Fuller, no two guitars are alike, even those that are built in an identical production line, each guitar is unique, with some better than others.
“Identical guitars may not look very different, and they can look good, but they don’t sound good,” said Fuller. “It could be the same model, even ten of the same models could all sound and play it differently based on how they were put together,” he said.
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of working parts, pieces of wood, etc., that all depend on each other to produce a sound, so even identical manufacturing can produce a much different sound.
Customers are surprised his new shop is as big as it is and has as much nice stuff.
“We carry a lot of vintage stuff so that’s what’s different about this store also besides the service,” said Fuller.
“Musicians who are professionals also like to play instruments once played by their heroes 40 years ago, when guitars were made well, so people come hunting for that stuff,” he said.
“If you’re just starting and you want a brand-new expensive guitar, you could order that on Amazon,” he said, while most of his customers prefer to come into the shop to find a good quality guitar.
He said musicians are an amazing group of people. “Ninety-nine percent of them are super cool people and the old ones want to share what they know with the young ones,” he said.
Accordingly, there are few “quick” trips to Sunset Beach music, and people linger and savor the environment, free to grab an instrument or talk with other customers, the way Fuller says small businesses are meant to be.
Now, the tiny building that rooted his music shop into the fabric of Sunset Beach is used for music lessons, while the new expansion sports an impressive array of vintage and new musical equipment for sale.
Fuller says he went into business as a naïve young man, and at a time when the real estate bubble had driven others away. “I was able to buy the stock from other music stores going out of business, and that’s how I got my start.
“I’m kind of naive, but I jumped in,” he said, opening the “quirky” little shop.
Almost to his amazement, “customers magically appeared,” and his customer base has only grown for the past fifteen years.
For Fuller, his dedication to “local” has never waned. He knows what his customers want and it is not buying musical knowledge by mail order or from overnight delivery.
“So many things nowadays are available online and at big box stores,” says Fuller, but whenever possible, he supports other small businesses, like his favorite hardware store.
“I prefer dealing with our local hardware store, which is like my favorite hardware store like Bay Hardware on Main Street in Seal Beach or your local little restaurant you know it’s just it’s so much nicer to do business with them when they’re supporting the community and that money stays in the community,” he said.
Billy plays the bass guitar but knows enough about music to carve out some music for every instrument he sells. Most of all, he sells himself and his sincere concern for every customer.
Fuller said he never lost sight of a wise old saying, “Never forget there is UNITY in community.”
As another old adage suggests, it’s hard to argue with success. Fuller has found the formula. No, better yet, he lives by his formula of success.
“Every time I crack open the gates, turn on the lights, and start playing music in the shop, I’m always reflecting on how lucky and fortunate I am to have a business like this,” he says.
It is indeed a rare day when Billy Fuller doesn’t crack a smile.
