Sedley Wells

Sedley Wells  —  Music Store

The Sedley Wells music store was situated on High Street immediately opposite Beggs who were the main trading opposition.  Sedley Wells became the de facto Christchurch agent for Fender guitars, and they supplied many of Christchurch's most significant groups with Fender instruments over many years.

Sedley Wells

According to the late Alan Irvine, who worked at the Sedley Wells Limited music store at the time, shipments of Fender instruments started arriving around September of 1962 — although there is speculation in some quarters that things may have been happening slightly earlier that that.  Supposedly the owner (and founder) of the business (the late Sedley Wells), had liased directly with the legendary Leo Fender at Fender Electric Instruments Company in Fullerton, California, USA and as a result Sedley Wells Limited was importing sets of Fender equipment - including electric guitars, amplifiers, leads, strings and picks - an enterprise in a rapidly expanding industry sector.  The manager of Sedley Wells Limited at the time was Graeme Elcock, and Jack Speck was also on staff.  Sedley Wells Limited (nowadays owned by MusicWorks) has a proud history in the music business, and the company (which of course bears the name of the founder - Sedley Wells) dates back to 1935.  Anecdotally, in those early days, there was no New Zealand agent for the Fender range of instruments and accessories, and as previously stated, Sedley Wells personally conducted business directly with Leo Fender, however the did not focus exclusively on Fender instruments, handling Gibson, Gretsch and Rickenbacker etc..  A number of local musicians worked at Sedley Wells in the early 1960s.