Musicians Friend

[Jaded]

I usually buy my strings from the local music store that hosts bluegrass jams...they cost me a bit more, but I feel like it's worth it to support someone who supports bluegrass...

However, I busted a G string at our last practice and I had to buy strings between work and practice tonight, so driving the 60 mile round trip distance to buy strings at my normal place, not an option...that left either MF or a guitar shop that I don't like much downtown.

So I pick the quicker of two evils and go to MF. They only sell two kinds of mandolin strings. Gibson monel wound (like the Sam Bush's i guess, cept they don't say Sam Bush and they don't come with the extra E string) and the martin strings with the picture of a taterbug on the front.

I go with the Gibsons...I'm not crazy about em but i've used em before and they are decent. After spending five minutes trying to figure out where the mandolin strings are, while I'm standing there pointing right at them...they get me a pack, ring em up and say $15.62. I start to hand them my card...then it dawns on me what they just said and I say...um what did you just say? He says $15.62...I look up at the shelf up at 20,000 feet where they keep the mandolin strings and sure enough the little sign says $14.99.

I say, um I can buy these strings at Harry's for $6, and matter of fact that's what I paid for them the last time I bought some here...He says "Gibson strings cost more." I give him a look like he has just grown a third head and horns and then annouce I'll be going elsewhere to purchase strings. He then decides he should check with his manager.

The manager fusses around with the computer awhile and tells the Gibson string expert that they cost $5.99.

They ring me up and I leave the store thinking I sure hope whoever Gibson plans to have train these people how to be experts at mandolin setup has a LOT of patience.

Now maybe, someone in the store just made a mistake and no one in there knew enough about mandolin strings to realize that $14.99 is really expensive for a plain old set of non long life mandolin strings. Or maybe they figured the folks in there buying their first fender mandolin wouldn't know the difference and they'd make a mint. But that is definitely the last set of strings I'll purchase at MF. I'll just have to be late for practice next time.

[steve in tampa]

You gotta give these kids a break! Did he ask you if you want fries with that? Did you supersize?

[John Rosett]

i remember looking at the ovation mandos at MF when they first came out. the salesman told me that they would hold their own against any carved top mandolin. i did manage to keep a straight face until i got to the parking lot...
john

[bjc]

I thought MF was online only. Where do they have outlets?

[WJF]

I too was unaware that they had a "real" store. I've only purchased through them online ... I'd have to say that their selection has always been very good (more mando strings on-line than the two options they offered you), the pricing very good and the service excellent with most orders arriving just a few days after they're placed.

[Jaded]

I really meant to say Guitar Center...I get them mixed up, MF is owned by Guitar Center and as far as I know I think they only sell online under that name.

[duuuude]

Oh man, now I gotta re-do all the pickett signs!

[John Flynn]

FYI, I have had good luck with MF online. I will not darken the door of another Guitar Center, though. "You want fries with that?" is a perfect description.

[mandroid]

I walked into a MF retail store in Eugene Oregon,when it opened , a few years ago,I wonder if its still there.

[John Rosett]

they had a huge store in medford, or when i lived there in '96.
john

[jaybee]

Have you tried Just Strings?

I've had nothing but excellent response from them for years.

[RobP]

The MF store, now Guitar Center, is still in business in Eugene. We went down there a couple of months ago and bought us a nice Yamaha PA system. Played a few guitars while I was there, but all they had were a couple of Fender mandolins. I did drool over the HD28 I played though But if I ever have instrument cash to spend again you can be sure I will head back to Cartwright's, where I bought my Rigel.

Cheers,

Rob in Oregon

[Dru Lee Parsec]

I will not darken the door of another Guitar Center, though. "You want fries with that?" is a perfect description.

Oh my gosh. That is so true. #I went to one a couple of months ago to check out the Bose PAS system (really nice) and while I was there I thought I'd go to the "nice acoustic guitars" playing room. #Geez-Oh-Freakin-Petes! #The Martins and Taylors were all listed at their top retail price, the strings were all dead, very few of them were set up properly. #The only guitar in the room that sounded at all decent was a Eric Clapton model Martin and somebody had ripped the ebony end pin out of the guitar leaving a splintered hole in the instrument. That didn't stop them from asking over $3000 for it though.

What a waste. #The only mandolins they had were 2 Fender mandos and they were in a glass case to keep people from stealing them. #(Steal a Fender mando? Stranger things have happened).

I love my local Acoustic Expressions store. #It's a nice local mom & pop store that really cares about their customers and their instruments. #I'd MUCH rather give them my money than GC. #In fact, a few months ago I bought a Breedlove guitar from them even though I could have ordered it online and saved about $100. #But when I buy it locally I know who I bought it from, I know that they will stand behind their product, I can try the guitar before I buy it, and I'm supporting the local music scene by supporting the local music stores. #That's worth $100 to me.

[Asha]

Yep, the Medford (Oregon) store is still there. Just a few blocks from where I work. The folks in there are "somewhat" helpful - but I still only use it for limited items I can't obtain from other local music shops.

[Bradley]

Most of the Chain stores make their money on the accesories and not the Guitars...Thats why they normally have many guitars less than $500 and very seldom know anything about high end guitars and even less about Acoustic instruments

[glauber]

Both the Guitar Center stores i know are pretty useless for anything except guitars, PAs and microphones. They don't even have decent picks. It's interesting to go into one of these HUGE stores with guitars hanging 3 deep off all walls, and they have ONE set of mandolin strings in the whole store.

[mad dawg]

You gotta give these kids a break! Did he ask you if you want fries with that? Did you supersize?

I make it a rule to only supersize if they ask me.

[levin4now]

...although i keep finding that my sam bush monels ARE long lasting....they've lasted much longer than anything else i've played.

[otterly2k]

I have to agree with the general experience of the Guitar Center stores... there's a reason they call it that! Now, I also play guitar, and occasionally have use for such a store. But it reminds me of the cereal aisle at the grocery store. They offer many different names and colors and styles of the low-end non-nutritious cr#p, and very little of quality... and what is there is overpriced and still no substitute for a home cooked meal (if you'll pardon the overextended metaphor!).

The average age of their staff is 22, and most of their musical experience has been in garage bands. I brought an interesting and unique mandola in one day looking for a new case... for security reasons, they make you take it out of any case you might already have...and was walking around the store with this beautiful vintage instrument...it SO didn't belong in there...and none of the staff even knew what it was. There was one nice customer who knew what he was looking at and I had a nice chat with him.

Needless to say, they didn't have a case or strings for the thing.

[mandroid]

I often wonder how many acres of tropical forest is on the walls of all those big guitar stores, oh then there's the temperate species on the tops..