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Article: 25107 of rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic
From: Tom Loredo 
Subject: Re: Mail Order Catalogs for Musical Equipment
Date: Wed, 01 Nov 1995 20:52:35 -0500

Hi-

Attached are two quite old (a year or two?) responses to this
question.  Hopefully they're still useful!

Peace,
-Tom Loredo

=================== old posts ===============================

Hi folks-

Here is some info about US mail order catalog distributors from whom
I receive catalogs.  I've only dealt with the 1st 3, and nothing
strongly recommends any one of them over the other.  Their prices
do vary, but no one of them is universally the cheapest; it depends
on what you are ordering.  Only the 1st two explicitly encourage
international orders.  All of them have comparably sized catalogs,
although they each carry a somewhat different selection of items.

My own experience is that these sources are good for smallish items,
such as strings, slides, picks, books, videos.  But if I am buying
a piece of equipment that costs >$50, I always find better prices
by dealing with a large store that has a phone order department.
Thoroughbred Music in Florida, Sam Ash in New York, and Akron
Music Center in Ohio are all places I've dealt with; I've had the
best experience with "The Bred", but none of these places is
so spectacular that every one of my experiences has been good.

Manny's Music in New York has just started a catalog/phone operation.
I have no experience with it, but my personal experiences on
48th & B'way in New York City have been that they have more
friendly and knowlegable sales people than any other place on 48th
street (including, in particular, Sam Ash).

For guitar *parts*, the best source I know of is Stewart-McDonald,
but I don't have their address handy.  They also sell a limited
selection of acoustic pickups and preamps at reasonable (but not
spectacular) prices.  I think they deal mostly with guitar shops
rather than individuals, but I've dealt directly with them myself
with no hassles.

Musician's Friend
PO Box 4520
Medford, Oregon 97501
Orders: 800-776-5173
Outside US: 503-772-5173
5am to 9pm PST, Mon-Sat

AMS (American Music Supply)
235 Franklin Ave.
Ridgewood, NJ 07450-3295
Orders: 800-458-4076
Service/Int'l Orders: 612-796-2088
FAX: 612-652-9304
9am to 11pm EST, Mon-Fri; 9am to 7pm Sat

PMI (Professional Musical Instruments)
PO Box 827
Union City, NY  07087-0827
Orders: 800-992-2764
Service: 201-863-2200
FAX: 201-863-0859
No info about int'l orders

Music Emporium USA
12401 Twinbrook Parkway
Rockville, MD 20852
Orders: 800-648-8460
Service: 301-230-9190
FAX: 301-984-3822
No info about int'l orders

Happy shopping!

-Tom Loredo

An additional supplier, which seems to have established an incredible
reputation for having a knowledgable staff and excellent customer
service, is:

Sweetwater Sound, Inc.
5335 Bass Road
Ft. Wayne, IN  46808
(219) 432-8176 (no 800 number)

They do not have a catalog, but maintain a mailing list for seasonal
flyers (4-10 pp) that describe new equipment.  These are informative,
if a little "hyped".  When I joined the mailing list, one of their
salesman called me, and we had a very enjoyable, zero-pressure
conversation
about my musical interests and setup, and what I might be looking for
in the future.  He was very friendly and knowledgable.  They will likely
be the next company I try to do mailorder business with.  Their
customers
have even written letters to the editor of *EQ Magazine* raving about
the service they've received from Sweetwater.

=========================================================
From: neverisk@elephant.dev.prodigy.com (Mike Neverisky)

Tom Loredo listed a few mail order sources with whom he is
familiar.  For anyone interested, three sources whose telephone
numbers appear regularly on my phone bill are:

Elderly Instruments	
1100 N. Washington
P.O. Box 14210
Lansing, MI 48901
(517)372-7890

Elderly prints seperate catalogs each for acoustic instruments,
electric instruments, books and recordings.  You will only 
receive what you ask for.  I have received many folk music
recordings and books from Elderly - and one concertina.  Aside
from the free catalogs, $5/year gets you the monthly Used and
Vintage instrument list.  One sales clerk offered to photocopy
and fax me a copy of an album cover so I could read the song list!

Mandolin Brothers
629 Forest Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310-2567
(718)981-3226

Acoustic/electric new, used and vintage fretted instruments are
sold by Mandolin Brothers.  One of the last words regarding
vintage instrument apprasails.  Free advice over the phone.
I am a happy guitar buying customer.  Free catalog and updates.
$10/year gets you some great reading in the form of the Vintage 
News - a monthly (or so) newsletter. 


Andy's Front Hall
P.O. Box 307
Voorheesville, NY 12186
(800)759-1775

Andy's is a folk, traditional and acoustic music store.  Look
here for bodhrans, bowed psaltries and a copy of the out-of-print
tutor for the English concertina by Alastair Anderson.  Lots
of small label recordings, too - of which I have purchased many.
When the better known Elderly is out of stock, I have found
what I have been looking for at Andy's.


FAQ, anyone?