OM Dealer in Sacramento, CA?

[Jonathan Penney]

Hey Everyone,

I'm relatively new to the site and a newbie to mandolin playing in general. However, it has quickly become my addiction. I am interested in expanding to an Octave Mandolin, but would prefer to test drive one before buying.

Does anyone know of any dealers within the Sacramento, CA area? I guess the next option would be any local builders or workshops that commonly build them?

Thanks in advance!

[EdSherry]

I'm not aware of anyone in the SacCity area that stocks them. You might check out the Fifth String and Skip's.

The closest dealer I know is Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, which typically has a Petersen in stock and/or on order. Right now their website indicates they have three(!). The Petersens are a significant step up from the usual PacRim Trinity College or Johnson instruments.

As for "local builders," I know that Lewis Santer (formerly of Davis, now in Oakland) makes lovely OMs, as does Michael Lewis in Grass Valley, but they're both $$$$ (worth the money, but not suitable for a beginner).

[foldedpath]

If you can handle a drive to Santa Cruz, Sylvan Music has a nice-looking Weber Big Horn OM in stock, according to their web site. It's in a different price category and style of construction than the Peterson, but you might want to play it for a comparison. For what it's worth, I play a Weber Yellowstone OM and I think it's terrific, but most OM players seem to go for the flattop "Celtic" style. Depends on the music you're playing, too.

Weber also makes less expensive OM's like the flattop Sage, and they have a pretty good distribution in retail music stores. You might want to check the dealer locator for CA on the Weber web site, and see if any nearby stores have one of the other OM models in stock.

[Marcus CA]

When I was in Davis a few years ago, there was a music store downtown that had a couple of Trinity College OM's. I don't remember its name, but it was a good-sized local store --- not a Guitar Center box store. However, I'll agree with Ed that the Petersens are a definite step up from those. The tough call is that Petersens cost 2-3X as much, but you're more likely to fall in love with the OM as an instrument if you play one of his.

I've heard good things about Tall Toad Music in Petaluma, which is closer to you than Palo Alto would be, but I don't know anything about their mandolin or mandolin family selection.

Happy hunting!