Greetings From Vancouver

[Rick Schmidlin]

Just got into Vancouver with Collings MF5, they never even looked at it at the at the border. I was ready to play "Liberty" for them.I would love to meet any mando players here.

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[jasona]

Enjoy Vancouver. My wife lives there and I get up frequently, so I will let you know when next I visit. BTW, I am hoping to be making a move to Calgary in the nearish future, at which point I will isit Vancouver more often!

Hope Van treats you well. What part of town are you in Rick?

[Jack Roberts]

Rick:

Are you there permanently, or is this one of those things.

I was hoping to jam with you again.

[Rick Schmidlin]

I will be traveling to L.A. in the near future.I have to go to Germany on the 27th.I am in the the Downtown ,Kit's area now.My best gal just got a job as a Assit Prof. at UBC.Anybody in the are can contact me at cinestudy@aol.com

[atetone]

Well Rick it's a good thing you brought your mando with you because you won't find much there.
Very slim pickings. Closest thing to you of any real consequence is Dusty Strings in Seattle.
Just a word of advice about crossing the border with your mando,,, Always go to the Canadian side before you cross into The States and get the little green card that "sort of" registers your mandolin. Sometimes they give you a long white form instead. I think it's called a "Certificate of Destruction" . I don't know why.
It lessons the hassle when you enter back into Canada.
You were lucky that it didn't arise when you came in but someday they will grill you about it and you will need proof that you didn't just buy it while out of the country.
They are not flexible at all once the question arises. You have to have the paper or the mandolin is not coming in. No ifs, ands or buts.
They want their 14% taxes and if you don't have proof that you took it down with you then they assume that you just bought it, in which case they want to see the receipt. No receipt??? then it's not coming in. Case closed.
Be very careful that you do things by the numbers when dealing with those people.
Here is a little horror story that just happened to me on Friday,,,
I do a lot of cross-border mandolin dealings so 2 weeks ago I stopped in on the Canadian side and told them that I would be receiving a mandolin from The States "on approval". If I decided not to keep it then I would be sending it back. They said no problem except I would have to pay the 14% taxes when I brought it into the country and if I didn't keep it I could apply for the 14% back and it would take 6 weeks before I got re-imbursed. Ok,, I thought not so bad, but here is what happened on Friday,,,
I picked up the mando, took it to the border and paid the taxes ($274) and then asked for the re-imbursement form in case I didn't keep the mando.
They then told me that the previous info that I had got from them was incorrect. The re-imbursement program is not for individuals but rather, is for companies. They understand my dilema but unfortunately there is no box on the form to address my particular circumstance, so too bad, so sad, but that's the way it is.
After quite a go-round one particularly friendly customs agent followed me out to my vehicle and gave me a few clues on how to go about it another way that might work (if I find myself in the position of not keeping the mando), but probably not. I appreciated that even though it is a long shot.
My point is that you can't be too careful when crossing the border and don't take any chances. Half of the info that you receive from them is incorrect and there is no common sense or leeway available. Be careful.

[DrP]

Hi Tone Monster

Welcome to Vancouver! Hope you enjoy your time here.

If you're looking to meet with other musicians, there's a bluegrass jam every Monday night around 7:30 pm until whenever at Trout Lake park, which is near Commercial Drive (I'm not sure if you know your way around much yet). It's a good way to meet people and play some tunes in a nice setting. In the fall the jam moves to a club in the city.

Enjoy!

[Gitpik]

If you would like to join us, we play every Friday from 4:30 till 7:30 at the Branch #21 Royal Canadian Legion in Langley, B.C. on Eastleigh Crest. just off Glover road. Name of our group is the Rusty Zippers. Also a big jam for two days July 23 & 24 th 2 1/2 miles due east of Fort Langley on River road.(Balloons mark the spot) Old Time Country Western Music. Ask for Barrie(old crock with the handlebar mustache)

[Rick Schmidlin]

Thank you for the reply and I will try to make the events.On Sunday I was walking along English Bay and met an older couple. The man was playing a 67 Gibson and the woman a Heiden. Then I went to a shop on around 10th and Alma and they had more mandolins on the wall then all of L.A.

I'm staying!

[atetone]

Yes Rick that is Rufus Guitar Shop on Alma. I like going there to snoop around. They usually have a couple of teens Gibson As and some other stuff.
Last time I was there in june they had a Gibson F7 (I think it was a 7?)that was kind of interesting.
Another place to keep an eye on is called "Not Just Another Music Store" on Granville right around Broadway.
They get all sorts of interesting vintage instruments in there.
Usually only guitars but he has had a fair few mandos go through there. He had a couple of new Breedlove Quartz mandos there in June but no other mandos at that time.
Worth dropping in once in a while though just to check.
Not far from you either if you are in Kitsilano.

[Rick Schmidlin]

Thanks for the info.

[AW Meyer]

Welcome, Rick,
Here are a couple of links that you may find helpful:
pacific bluegrass and heritage society (http://www.pacificbluegrass.bc.ca/)
Here is a link that will lead you to the Chilliwack Bluegrass Festival on Labour Day weekend (Sept. 2-4).

[URL=www.chilliwackartscentre.com]