What city's second

[Br1ck]

I think if you are mandolin shopping, Nashville would be the #1 destination.

What area comes in second? Let's say you have to get to all the stores in a day. I live in the SF Bay Area and with motivation could get to Gryphon, Sylvan, and Schoenberg. But that might not trump Elderly or The Mandolin Store alone.

My gut feeling is Austin at #2. But I'm thinking two east coast cities close together might be in the running.

[QCS]

You might be right with Austin. There is a strong music culture there. New York City and Lansing also come to mind. I also live near S.F. I have used both Gryphon and Sylvan. Schoenberg I am not familiar with, missing something? What town is it in? I am all over and like to check our shops when I can.

[Jill McAuley]

Schoenberg is up in Marin County, in Tiburon.

http://www.om28.com

[LastMohican]

I think if you are mandolin shopping, Nashville would be the #1 destination.

What area comes in second? Let's say you have to get to all the stores in a day. I live in the SF Bay Area and with motivation could get to Gryphon, Sylvan, and Schoenberg. But that might not trump Elderly or The Mandolin Store alone.

My gut feeling is Austin at #2. But I'm thinking two east coast cities close together might be in the running.

I lived in Austin for four years and the only place I ever went to look at mandolins was Fiddler’ s Green. What did I miss?

[fatt-dad]

Charles Johnson lives in Richmond.

Just floating our great city!

f-d

[Charlie Bernstein]

Among the Boston area's many great music stores is the Music Emporium, and Lansing, Michigan has Elderly, so those are both conteners.

[Dave Greenspoon]

Metro NYC. Retrofret in Bklyn and Lark Street in Teaneck.

[Mark Seale]

It's not Austin for sure. While Fiddler's Green is a great shop, there's not a lot else in the mandolin world. If you want guitars... that's a different story.

[Mark Miller]

Isn’t Austin the home of both Collings and Ellis/Pava? If you mix a trip to Fiddler’s Green with tours of those two shops, that puts Austin pretty high on the list.

[Br1ck]

Schoenberg is a small pretty upscale store in Tiberon. Giacomels there and Vintage Gibson. Right in the middle of tourist retail area. I hope he bought the property in the 70s.

Just got me thinking from the travel to buy thread. Lots of good replies.

[LastMohican]

Isn’t Austin the home of both Collings and Ellis/Pava? If you mix a trip to Fiddler’s Green with tours of those two shops, that puts Austin pretty high on the list.

Yep. And, I know I've told this before, but a friend of mine was the commercial agent that leased Collings there current facility and he knew I was a mandolin player a big Collings fan. So, I met him out there and we spent an entire morning going through the place. It was so cool because we could just walk up to anybody and ask them about their part of the process. And each and everyone of them would take the time to talk about how their work contributed to the finished product. They have a lot of pride in what they do. I never realized the amount hand and detail work that goes into every guitar and mandolin. I left with a much better understanding of why they cost what they do. Also, we spent some time with the folks that build their guitar cases and this was almost as amazing as the instruments themselves. Each guitar case is serialized and is a true "heirloom" piece in it's own right.

[Mark Seale]

Isn’t Austin the home of both Collings and Ellis/Pava? If you mix a trip to Fiddler’s Green with tours of those two shops, that puts Austin pretty high on the list.

It is, as well as Passernig. However, if the goal of the OP is to hang out in a shop and be exposed to multiple builders, there's really only the one shop in Austin.

[Bertram Henze]

My vote goes to Penrith, Cumbria.

[LastMohican]

It is, as well as Passernig. However, if the goal of the OP is to hang out in a shop and be exposed to multiple builders, there's really only the one shop in Austin.

Yep.

[MissingString]

Metro NYC. Retrofret in Bklyn and Lark Street in Teaneck.

True they do have some mandolins but for anyone looking to taste test several modern mandolins NYC might not be the place. I so wish it was as I’m there at least monthly. Lark Street doesn’t have much in the way of mandolins and what Retrofit has is typically vintage Gibsons. My suggestion is check their websites prior to making a special trip to either expecting to play a bunch of mandolins. Mandolin Bros sure is missed.

[Kevin Winn]

I can tell ya, it ain't Portland.....

[Ron McMillan]

There can't be many stores with a wider selection of quality mandolins than Café member Trevor's shop in Brighton, England.

[allenhopkins]

I'm not going to claim second, or third, or any particular place, but we're in damn good shape in Rochester NY!

Bernunzio's Uptown Music

Stutzman's Guitar Center

Lehmann Strings

And within reach of

Ithaca Guitar Works

I never feel the need to go further afield, though I've picked up some instruments in Boston, NYCity, etc., and a few through on-line auctions or dealers.

[Seter]

Houston has eight Guitar Centers in the metro area, does that count?

[Laurence Firth]

I live in the east bay / San Francisco bay area - Purchased my weber mandolin and mandola at Sylvan. Had the neck of my guitar reset at Gryphon. Purchased my wife's guitar at Tall Toad Music in Petaluma (north bay) - they usually have a good selection of new and used mandolins for sale. There are a few shops I know of over the hill to the east of me in walnut creek. And I think there are still a few shops in Berkeley but I'm not certain you will find many mandolins there.