Originally Posted by
Ranald
It's a similar situation in Ottawa. The main music stores are the chains, Steve's and Long & McQuade, with the usual limited selection. A couple of small shops sometimes have interesting consigned or used items. Since I've taken up mandolin, I've been struck by how many local acoustic bands in various genres have mandolin players. Still, it's a tiny number compared to guitar, bass, drum, or keyboard players. Let's face it, bluegrass is not as popular here as in the US, and the mandolin isn't a common instrument in Canadian "old time" music (I'm referring to what's been called old time music in Canada since before I was born, mainly Canadian fiddle music, and not to Canadians playing Appalachian or southern music). A few fiddlers, like me, take up mandolin as a second instrument. However, I suspect that if there was a good turnover in mandolins, merchants would respond. There are some fine luthiers making mandolins (often guitars too) across Canada, but mandolins a niche market, and I wouldn't advise music store owners to stock a wide selection of mandolins, so that you and I can drop in, play a few tunes now and then, and perhaps buy an instrument two or three times in a lifetime. I would like to walk into a store with thirty different mandolins on the wall, but we live in a huge country with a relatively small population, in which mandolins aren't all that popular, so I don't expect to have that experience. Still, we have Mandolin Cafe, where we can shed tears together.
My daughter was looking for a banjo in Germany, which is a whole other problem. I can't imagine shipping costs from North America.
Added later: I have no complaints with the stores mentioned above, except perhaps that they're not mandolin emporiums. I bought a Godin A8 at L & M, and was happy with the instrument, the knowledgable staff, and their service.
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