Finding shops in California

[tdintbl]

By the end of this summer at latest, I'll have saved up enough to get a serious mandolin.

Haven't been sure how to track down the stores though. I'm hoping there's at least a couple of shops left that have dozens upon dozens of mandolins physically in stock and the staff to help me sort through. I live in Fresno, so both San Francisco and LA are perfectly viable options for a weekend shopping trip. Hell, even San Diego and Reno wouldn't be out of the question.

[Jack Roberts]

Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto would be my first stop.

[MikeEdgerton]

+1 for Gryphon.

[dhergert]

As mentioned, Gryphon in Palo Alto is a great option. If you've never been there, I'd recommend visiting sometime.

FolkMusician in Reno is also a great option. I hope to visit there myself on the way back home from the Grass Valley festival in June.

[Br1ck]

Gryphon will have a dozen Collings, a few Northfields, most Eastmans, and some Kentuckys, plus whatever walks through the door.

Sylvan in Santa Cruz will have Webers, a Pava or two, a Girouard or two, several local luthier built instruments and Eastmans.

Schoenberg has a variety of high end instruments plus vintage collectibles. I believe they carry The Loar line.

I'm sure there are more I don't know about.

You could also do a road trip to Surprise, Az. Visit The Mandolin Store. The tax savings would pay your expenses.

All the above have good website inventory lists.

The phrase serious mandolin means different things to different people. $500-15,000.

[djweiss]

Also Tall Toad Music in Petaluma has some nice vintage pieces (I believe some of Dawg's stuff).

[Loubrava]

Sylvan in Santa Cruz has a nice selection and there more than happy to let try out anything you like. Tall Toad has some vintage mandos but thats about it. They stock Eastmans, Epiphones, Fenders, pretty much low end stuff they carry an incredible amount of high end acoustic guitars but I guess high end mandos don't sell there kinda disappointing as live near there.

[Steve Sorensen]

I'd say your first step is to pop on down to Santa Clarita and pick on some mandolins at my place!

Steve

[Billy Packard]

"By the end of this summer at latest, I'll have saved up enough to get a serious mandolin."

Will you be specific please regarding the dollar amount you will be ready to spend? In #5 above Brick's comment says it all--$500.00?--$5000.00-- $50,000?? Each of these presents a very different selection for you. For us, as a community, to advise you your budget is a critical element in the equation.

The above references to Sylvan and Gryphon are good but I haven't seen, "dozens upon dozens of mandolins" ANYwhere! That would be a Mandolin Dream!! Actually, come to think about it, Nashville has a couple of stores like that! Carters & Gruen's for example.

BTW, More Music in Santa Cruz has some very special mandolins available by request but by all means dicker and dicker HARD if you shop there with Dave Handloff. He is a wonderful guy with the highest prices imaginable in his mind. He does have some wonderful mandolins in stock. http://moremusic.com

Beyond that, only buy the mandolin that knocks your socks off!!

Billy

billypackardmandolin.com

[tdintbl]

Billy Packard: The $800-$1,600 range. Something I can grow with for a very long time. I certainly have long outgrown this wretched $70 Chineese jobber I was gifted. But poverty will make a man cling to awful things. Finally changed that part of my life.

In general, the best I've laid my hands on is one The Loar 500VS (or something like that, can't remember the exact listed model number) at the local Guitar Center. Though badly in need of a setup, it still was leaps and bounds beyond anything available locally which are usually cheap Gibsons and competitors in the $100-$400 range. They universally suck to play, and sound nothing like a mandolin should.

I wanted to get to a place where I can in person find out what calls to me. Much as when I was freshly in college as a flute player, that first flute convention with its sampling of flute vendors was a revelation as before the best I had ever tried was still a "student model" flute. Renting even an "intermediate" $1,000 Yamaha allowed me several years of growth as a flute player before I was ready and had the means to acquire a (now) $7,000 professional grade flute. That is badly in need of servicing, but again, just climbed out of poverty. I can send it off to the top rank tech I used to go to again. Probably next month.

Thanks for the recommendations all. Looks like I'll be visiting my family friend in Palo Alto this August or September.

[Br1ck]

IMHO, use your trip to test drive Weber and Collings mandolins, and some Kentucky masterbuilts. Get an idea of what you like, then shop the classifieds. $1500 will go SOOOO much farther buying used. You should be able to score a Collings MT for $1700, or Weber Galatin, Red Line, Silverangel, and many others, all A styles, where that much dough will restrict you to Kentucky master built in an F style.

See for yourself when you try the nicer Eastmans and non masterbuilt Kentuckys, then grab an MT. Huge difference. Kentucky masterbuilts somewhere in the middle.

That mandolin you want will show up in the classifieds in no time.

[Richard Eskite]

If I could only shop one store, Gryphon would be it.

[Marcus CA]

IMHO, use your trip to test drive Weber and Collings mandolins, and some Kentucky masterbuilts. Get an idea of what you like, then shop the classifieds. $1500 will go SOOOO much farther buying used.

I agree, but this raises a key issue about music stores today. How can the better music stores stay in business if people use them merely as a display floor, and then show their appreciation by buying just a set of strings and a couple of ProPlecs? I'm not saying that we should feel obligated to buy one to play all, but there has to be a middle ground.

As Br1ck mentioned, in the $800-$1,600 range, you will find around a dozen Eastmans at both Gryphon and Sylvan. At Gryphon, you also will find a few Kentuckys, and at Sylvan, you also will find a few Breedloves. At Gryphon, you'll be tempted by the lower-end Collings, and at Sylvan, you'll be tempted by the lower-end Webers and the Pava. So, you'll have plenty to play at either store.

If you time your trip well, you can get from one store to the other in about 45 minutes, so go to both! There are lots of great places to eat within a few blocks of Sylvan, but no restaurants at all within 1/2-mile or so of Gryphon.

[Luna Pick]

One of the best chocolate makers on the planet is a few steps from Sylvan.

Dozens of great restaurants in Palo Alto.

Yes, go to both music stores and hopefully buy something from them.

[Br1ck]

Believe me, Gryphon is in an area where they have one of the most affluent populations anywhere, and I have spent plenty and generally put my money where my mouth is, but $1600 at Gryphon or anywhere else for that matter, will just buy you the low end of the better Kentuckys. An MT will cost you around $2300-2400. This is over the stated budget by a bunch, and keep in mind the 9% that goes to the state.

Knowing that I hear a very discernible tonal difference from a Kentucky to a Collings, and the OP states he wants to buy something long term, I see used as the only way to go for him.

[Bill Findley]

The new Kentuckys are very good. I agree with Mr. Br1ck; there's a significant "tonal difference" between the KY and Collings. I like the KY. Of course, YMMV...

[Br1ck]

There is always the chance you'll like the cheaper instrument for sure. The Kentucky masterbuilts are nice.

This has happened to me once, when I liked a Martin 000 16 over the 000 18. Happy day for the wallet.

[JeffD]

Its true, you don't have to spend your budget. If the increment isn't worth the difference, save the money for your next mandolin.

[Mark Gunter]

Headed to San Fran next week. Does anyone know whether Gryphon is open for walk-ins these days?

[Simon DS]

Looks like you have to phone in for an appointment.
https://www.gryphonstrings.com/appointment/