10 Questions for Trevor Moyle

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10 Questions for Trevor Moyle
http://www.mandolincafe.com/news/publish/mandolins_001221.shtml

Brighton, England, is home to The Acoustic Music Company, owned and operated by Trevor Moyle who has created the ultimate destination outside of the United States for finely crafted U.S. built mandolins.

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[sgarrity]

Great interview. Your collection and business model have piqued my interest for years. I look forward to the day that I can come for a visit and it will be coming soon!

[Ted Eschliman]

As a progressive international retailer, Trevor has a special place in the mandolin world. Innovative builders can only go so far in this kind of signature experimenting without capital or some kind of financial underwriting. What's not known to many is Trevor's contributions through special commissions for his store the past few years have allowed many high profile and up and coming builders the opportunity to take a chance and build some edgier, progressive instruments. This is not done with a capitalistic intent on his behalf, rather a sheer love for the art of building truly great mandolins.

If he can make a buck (or pound) for himself along the way, all the better.

[Mark Franzke]

Trevor contacted me out of the blue after seeing my listing on the Cafe. He ordered an A-4 sight unseen. Since then, he has ordered several more, and sold most of them. I have gotten emails from people in Europe that have bought them, and that has been quite exciting. I would love to visit his store. I can't imagine being able to see and play all those instruments in one place. All my best, and I hope Trevor can keep it going for a long time.

[Tosh Marshall]

I think Ted has summed it up perfectly. I have visited Tamco on a couple of occassions and only bought Eastmans, but the range of mandolins Trevor has is breathtaking. His shop is definitely a source of pilgrimage for most UK mando players and I would suggest to Americans visiting London, it's only an hour on the train from Victoria (Brighton is a good day out by the sea!). It is worth that one day of your life for any mandolin player...wherever you are from.....

[Dagger Gordon]

It is indeed an extraordinary shop.

It might not have been immediately apparent from the excellent interview, but there is also a equally impressive stock of luthier-built guitars, which will be of interest to many of us here.

To me the great advantage of going there was simply having the opportunity of comparing all these different makes. There really can be hardly anywhere else in the world (probably no-where actually) where you can do that.

Allow yourself plenty of time!!!!

Best wishes to you, Trevor, and long may you continue to do what you do. The mandolin world owes you a great deal, I would say.

Dagger

[grassrootphilosopher]

More power to people like Trevor.

[emitfo]

I liked this
"My main motivation is to have a store full of mandolins (and guitars) that I like. My decisions of what to carry are based more on my personal preferences than commercial priority. I am a frustrated craftsman and musician. I used to be a mediocre leather craftsman and I still strive to be a mediocre musician. I have a long connection with the US (I first visited in 1972) and have always liked American music."

But I LOVE this
"I have a lifelong distrust of big business and love of small business and in particular the work of craftsmen."

Trevor Moyle is what is right with business folks.

[Aaron Woods]

I was fortunate enough to visit Brighton and the AMC. While my wife was looking at shoes, I was looking at a fantastic collection of acoustic instruments. A great shop - worth the train ride.

We left with the shoes.

[Brad Weiss]

Nice to see such support for Andrew Mowry- and such an INteresting design of that A5...

[Tony Hall]

What an incredible coincidence. My father (maker of the matchstick mandolins) was born an raised in Brighton. Apart from his time at sea where he made the mandolins he lived all his 87 years in the town of Brighton.

[Paul Cowham]

I went there last year and had an incredible afternoon there playing all these wonderful mandolins that I had been ogling on line for sometime. I ended up with a beautiful heiden A5 artist although traded in my lebeda F5. Well worth a visit..
Hope you are keeping well Trevor?all the best, Paul

[Ray(T)]

Like Paul, I went there a year or so ago and was faced with a decision between the Heiden and an almost identical Kimble. I ended up with the Kimble - it seems that Paul ended up with the Heiden!

Trevor's shop is just about everything you could dream about in a mandolin shop. Nowhere else can you find and play such a range of quality instruments with after sales service that is second to none.

Long may Trevor continue.
Ray (Three times a satisfied customer)

[GRW3]

I was very interested in his contextual use of 'American' in describing a mandolin. He wasn't just saying they came from America, he was using this to describe the carved top/bottom style. That is a Capek F5 would be an 'American Mandolin' built in the Czech Republic.

[Tosh Marshall]

Went down to Brighton today and purchased a Weber Gallatin Mandocello I'd been ogling for the past month or so....Trevor was brilliant and patient. The 'substantial' case was more like dragging a coffin around in the hot weather! But I'm really happy I got it, it's fantastic......Many thanks Trevor.....

[Ivan Kelsall]

TAMCO is indeed an unusual music store for the UK - as many (if not more), Mandolins than Guitars. As these seem to be not questions,but rather posts of 'support' (support posts !) for TAMCO & it's owner Trevor,i have to join in & say that in my own dealings with Trevor,he's ever been generous minded & obliging. The rules of the game on Trevor's part,are that if you're trading in one instrument for another,you send yours first,then you get the one from Trevor. When i traded one Mandolin in for another one that Trevor had,i couldn't get a box to send it in. I told Trevor & he sent his up first,thereby allowing me to use his box to send mine back to him - ie.he broke his own rule,which he didn't have to do, to do me a favour. It's little things like that that help ''oil the wheels'' & why Trevor gets my whole hearted support,
Ivan

[Paul Cowham]

TAMCO is indeed an unusual music store for the UK - as many (if not more), Mandolins than Guitars. As these seem to be not questions,but rather posts of 'support' (support posts !) for TAMCO & it's owner Trevor,i have to join in & say that in my own dealings with Trevor,he's ever been generous minded & obliging. The rules of the game on Trevor's part,are that if you're trading in one instrument for another,you send yours first,then you get the one from Trevor. When i traded one Mandolin in for another one that Trevor had,i couldn't get a box to send it in. I told Trevor & he sent his up first,thereby allowing me to use his box to send mine back to him - ie.he broke his own rule,which he didn't have to do, to do me a favour. It's little things like that that help ''oil the wheels'' & why Trevor gets my whole hearted support,
Ivan

Ivan, I have to agree wholeheartedly, my dealings with Trevor were similarly positive although I just about made it down to Brighton and back in a day from Manchester on the train!

[Matt Hutchinson]

Went down to Brighton today and purchased a Weber Gallatin Mandocello I'd been ogling for the past month or so....Trevor was brilliant and patient. The 'substantial' case was more like dragging a coffin around in the hot weather! But I'm really happy I got it, it's fantastic......Many thanks Trevor.....

Congrats Tosh - how many instruments will that be now, including the Shippey 10 string?!

Another big thumbs up for Trevor and TAMCO from me. Nothing but great service and a willingness to let me try things I could no way afford just for the fun of trying.

Keep up the good work.
Matt

[Tosh Marshall]

Hi Matt, that'll be just the 5 (although I've let Steve Barnacle use the 515 for the time being), including the 10 string which I'll be collecting in about three weeks time all being well. The cello is a beast, unbelieveable, so glad I got it. I think you can safely say I'm pretty happy with what I have got! Come over to the group one Sunday when I get the 10 string.....
Trevor is tops, no one to beat him this side of the Atlantic, some mind boggling instruments in at the moment.....The Black Top Weber is really really nice!

[Ivan Kelsall]

manc.mando - I've been down to Brighton on the train 3 times. First train Sat.morning from Manchester,Piccadilly at 5 am,gets down to Brighton at around 10 am. Virgin 'Pendolino' train - the closest thing to flying without leaving the ground !!,an awesome journey. I wish i had the excuse to just go down for the ride,
Ivan

[Paul Cowham]

manc.mando - I've been down to Brighton on the train 3 times. First train Sat.morning from Manchester,Piccadilly at 5 am,gets down to Brighton at around 10 am. Virgin 'Pendolino' train - the closest thing to flying without leaving the ground !!,an awesome journey. I wish i had the excuse to just go down for the ride,
Ivan

Nice one Ivan, my train wasn't that early but I had a great (if expensive) day down there early last year ;o) - I didn't realise anyone else had made the same journey just to buy a mandolin though!
cheers, Paul

PS this reminds me of a joke; what is the difference between an American and an Englishman?
An American thinks 100 years is a long time and an Englishman thinks 100 miles is a long way..
I suspect that in America the length of a journey from Manchester to Brighton (about 250 miles) would be considered a small journey but I thought it was pretty epic...

[Ivan Kelsall]

I think that Tosh may be refering to Weber's rectangular case,one similar to the one my "Fern" came in - 13.6 lbs in weight no less,& as bulky as h**l - not the world's most comfortable case to carry around,
Ivan

[trevor]

Times 10... it really is a beast that case.

[Tosh Marshall]

Beast Trevor? It's the Godzilla of all cases!!!!!! It could have done with a set of wheels on one end and a T handle on the other (one for the Weber design team!!!!).

[Ivan Kelsall]

My first purchase after buying the "Fern" from Trevor,was an Eastman Rectangular Violin style case (again,from Trevor, when he was still selling cases ), less than half the weight of the Weber. The 'Travelite' is the ultimate in light weight for me - my Lebeda is fine inside that one,
Ivan