Mandolins in LA? shops?

[jazzgtrl4]

HI
Im from SoCAl, actually in Palms springs area but are there any shops in LA that have any higher end mandolins? I know about McCabes, but any others out ther?

[rcc56]

I'm not sure that mandolins are allowed south of the Bay area . . .

[sgarrity]

What are you looking for? SoCal is a mandolin desert. You know about McCabe's. Norm's Rare Guitars might have something but it will probably be overpriced. Steve Sorensen is a great builder that lives north of LA. Craig Wilson is another builder in Bakersfield.

[jazzgtrl4]

What are you looking for? SoCal is a mandolin desert. You know about McCabe's. Norm's Rare Guitars might have something but it will probably be overpriced. Steve Sorensen is a great builder that lives north of LA. Craig Wilson is another builder in Bakersfield.

Looking for any higher end mandolins to try before i buy. It sucks the Mandolin store moved from AZ to Nashville..would have been 3 1/2 hour drive for me.

[sgarrity]

Gryphon up in Palo Alto is probably the closest shop with decent mandolin inventory.

[rcc56]

Schoenberg Guitars also has a couple. Sylvan Music has a couple of Webers, a Girouard, a pre Gibson Flatiron, and a few overpriced old Gibsons. But it doesn't look like anyone out there has many.

It might be worth your while to make a trip to Nashville. Even though inventories are lower than usual, there are still 3 or 4 dozen better quality instruments that are currently available.

[Lucas]

What are you looking for? SoCal is a mandolin desert. You know about McCabe's. Norm's Rare Guitars might have something but it will probably be overpriced. Steve Sorensen is a great builder that lives north of LA. Craig Wilson is another builder in Bakersfield.

Agree that SoCal is a mandolin desert. I wonder why that is, because this area is a hotbed of music of all genres.

Steve Sorensen is great if you want high end. There is a Weber Gallatin on the Fret House website. They are located in West Covina. At a lower end, LA Guitar Sales in Los Angeles has some Eastman's. Your only other option is to take a 7 hr drive up to the Bay area.

[mandroid]

Or fly to SFO .. 1 hr .. there's public transportation from there.. & around the bay ..

[Mandobar]

Gryphon up in Palo Alto is probably the closest shop with decent mandolin inventory.

I just looked at their inventory. Wow! I’ve never seen it so sparse

[sgarrity]

I just looked at their inventory. Wow! I’ve never seen it so sparse

Weird times we're in.....

[rcc56]

If you go to Nashville, Gruhn has 17 instruments in the 5 to 20 range, including instruments by Ellis, Monteleone, Gilchrist, Brentrup, etc; 4 new Collings, and a new Newsome [which is a lot of mandolin for $8500]. Carter has about 2 dozen in the same price range, many of them modern era Gibsons. And those numbers don't include the 9 Loars and two early '30's Gibsons the two stores have between them.

It's by far the best selection anywhere. If you're really serious about buying, it would be worth the plane trip [unless you're like me and won't fly anymore] and the cost of a motel room. It's unlikely that you would go home empty handed.

For anybody thinking about making such a trip, motel prices are much lower once you get 10 miles or so beyond the city limits.

[Marcus CA]

Since you want to try before you buy, I doubt you'll find anyone here who disagrees with rcc's declaration that Nashville has "by far the best selection anywhere." Also, the food there is absolutely tremendous if you have no dietary restrictions. My only caveat beyond the viral one is that airlines and car rental companies (and possibly hotels) have really kicked up their prices to make up for the past year.

That said, my biased opinion is that the SF Bay Area is by far #2 for mandolin selection, for the reasons that others have already listed. The problem here, as Mary mentioned, is that Gryphon and Sylvan's mando inventory is about 1/2 of what it usually is. Gryphon has three Collings, but usually has 6-10. The same is true for the Weber numbers at Sylvan, and Sylvan usually has a Pava or two, a second or third Girouard, and often an Ellis. None of those now, though. If you're serious about a NorCal trip, you might call those stores to find out what mandos they expect to be getting in over the next few months, and plan a trip accordingly.

Those two stores are about an hour apart, as long as you don't go during rush hour or on a sunny beach-day Saturday. So, IF you've got the stamina and/or the caffeine tolerance, you might be able to fly from Ontario to San Jose --- which is between the two stores --- go to Gryphon, then drive to Santa Cruz either before or after lunch, and then go to Sylvan. If you fall in love with something at Gryphon but still want to check out the mandos at Sylvan, you probably could even make it back to Gryphon before closing, and then fly home that night. Or, you could head straight to the airport and pay Gryphon to ship it down to you.

As rcc also mentioned, Schoenberg Guitars always has some interesting high-end mandos. Eric is up in Tiburon, though, which is a couple hours north of Gryphon, so you definitely would want to stay up here a second day to go there. You also might want to fly in and out of SFO instead of San Jose. I know that Gryphon and Sylvan update their website inventory listings every day, but I don't know about Schoenberg. A phone call could tell you that.

[rcc56]

Weber has discontinued production for the foreseeable future. Once their existing inventory is gone, the selection of new US mandolins will be limited to Collings, Gibson F-9's or the occasional higher level model from The Mandolin Store, Morgan Music or GC, and instruments built in small shops.

[Sheila Lagrand]

Looking for any higher end mandolins to try before i buy. It sucks the Mandolin store moved from AZ to Nashville..would have been 3 1/2 hour drive for me.

Sun Valley Guitars is a Cafe sponsor. Brian Farmer, who was Dennis' partner when the Mandolin Store was here in AZ, owns it. I bought my Collings at Sun Valley two months ago and it was a wonderful experience.

I could mention, too, that when I was at UCLA (grad school, back in the late 80s and early 90s), I often ran up to visit my BFF in San Francisco and that run only took about 4 or 4.5 hours . . . just sayin'. Good luck with your search.

[jefflester]

I could mention, too, that when I was at UCLA (grad school, back in the late 80s and early 90s), I often ran up to visit my BFF in San Francisco and that run only took about 4 or 4.5 hours . . . just sayin'. Good luck with your search.

You were definitely exceeding the speed limit. It takes me a pretty solid 6 to go from Hermosa Beach to Oakland which I have done about 10 times in the last dozen years and I'm usually trying to keep it up over 80.

[Sheila Lagrand]

You were definitely exceeding the speed limit. It takes me a pretty solid 6 to go from Hermosa Beach to Oakland which I have done about 10 times in the last dozen years and I'm usually trying to keep it up over 80.

Exceeding the what? Sorry, I can't hear you over my engine.

[jazzgtrl4]

thanks everyone for the replies. Ya that seems like the way to go, i have a few friends in Nashville i need to visit!. I do get up to SF once in awile, maybe thi summer ill hit up those store..perfect time to get out of the desert.