Southern Ontario Shops

[Hamzter]

Hello, I was wondering if anybody from the Southern Ontario area knows any good guitar stores with a wide variety of brands, and wouldn't mind sharing them.

[FreeSpirit]

well theres stores like Long and Mcquade that are all over theres a hge one in toronto aswell theres a nice one in brampton. umm theres Steves music on queen street in toronto. im not sure if toronto was south enough for you but those are m options,

kyle

[Kurisu]

Originally Posted by FreeSpirit

well theres stores like Long and Mcquade that are all over theres a hge one in toronto aswell theres a nice one in brampton. umm theres Steves music on queen street in toronto. im not sure if toronto was south enough for you but those are m options,

kyle

nonono.. don't go to Steve's on Queen... Bad idea.

I think you're stuck buying used over talkbass, or driving to Detroit. Or maybe you should look at clubbass.ca, if he has the brands you're interested in.

[Rich Piche]

There's "Pete's Music" in Brockville.
"Kingston Sound Works", "Kingston Guitar Shop",
"Centre Stage" and "Renaissance Music", all 4 stores are in Kingston. There the usual ones that I go to. Rich

[RevGroove]

Originally Posted by Hamzter

Hello, I was wondering if anybody from the Southern Ontario area knows any good guitar stores with a wide variety of brands, and wouldn't mind sharing them.

Ahem,

There's a Long & McQuade in Windsor, Cambridge, Stratford, Kitchener, and BURLINGTON (my store) as well. You're not too far from us (Dunnville, right?) maybe a half hour drive.

3180 Mainway Drive in Burlington, north of the QEW off Guelph Line. Hope to see you soon!

[Coutts_is_god]

I don't think the words variety and Long and Mcquade belong together

[Kurisu]

Originally Posted by Coutts_is_god

I don't think the words variety and Long and Mcquade belong together

Id have to agree. They have Warwicks, Godin, Fender, Ibanez... And... Um... Warwicks!

I swear, everytime I go into my local L&M I ask the guy to get in a Rick. he says he'd love to! But they never do.

[RevGroove]

Originally Posted by Coutts_is_god

I don't think the words variety and Long and Mcquade belong together

Hey, we can't sell EVERYTHING, we'd put the other vendors out of business! I still think we have a good variety of stuff, and we definitely have the lowest prices.

[RevGroove]

Originally Posted by Kurisu

Id have to agree. They have Warwicks, Godin, Fender, Ibanez... And... Um... Warwicks!

I swear, everytime I go into my local L&M I ask the guy to get in a Rick. he says he'd love to! But they never do.

Why won't he get you in a Ricky? I'm pretty sure we do have access to them, I'll check on that...

[Kurisu]

Originally Posted by RevGroove

Why won't he get you in a Ricky? I'm pretty sure we do have access to them, I'll check on that...

I think he wants to, just he feels that maybe there isn't the demand for them.

There's probably like 4 bassists in Waterloo.

[Hamzter]

Originally Posted by RevGroove

Ahem,

There's a Long & McQuade in Windsor, Cambridge, Stratford, Kitchener, and BURLINGTON (my store) as well. You're not too far from us (Dunnville, right?) maybe a half hour drive.

3180 Mainway Drive in Burlington, north of the QEW off Guelph Line. Hope to see you soon!

I think I may stop by your place next time I get a chance. Thanks for everybody's contributions.

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by Rich Piche

There's "Pete's Music" in Brockville.
"Kingston Sound Works", "Kingston Guitar Shop",
"Centre Stage" and "Renaissance Music", all 4 stores are in Kingston. There the usual ones that I go to. Rich

+1

Soundworks has some nice Aguilar and Shecter (sp) gear. They had a Stilletto Studio 4 last time I was there, great play. It was hell dealing with them over the phone (they'd never call back, EVER), but they were great in person. Never paid attention to the string section.
Kingston Guitar Shop is the best one I've seen, and my friend said there's a LOT of good stuff in there now. Last time I was there, they had some really nice vintage Gretsch and Fenders (including a 70's jazz ). They also have SWR amps, a whole rush of new MusicMan basses, and I think I saw a Cort Curbow there. I only dealt with anyone there once, and he was a bit of a jerk, but my Badass was filed very well, and pretty quickly. To be honest, I've never paid any attention to the string section, mostly because I'm always mesmerized by the awesome vintage stock and impressive section of electronics.
Centre Stage doesn't have as much "AWESOME" stock, but last time I was there they had an ampeg stack. They also deal with Marshall, and G&L -- when I was there last, they had a really nice blueburst Tribute L2500 for $850 (almost bought it last November, got fired before so I couldn't afford it), and a gorgeous cheryburst Cali-made L2500. They've got some nice Seymour Duncan pickups there, but Warmoth is cheaper. They occasionally get some good used stuff, it's where I got my Yorkville. They also stock Ibanez, Godin and Ovation, and they have a huge drum section. I've also found them to have some awesome, awesome staff. Back when I was looking at fivers, what turned me onto the G&L was when this salesman was telling me about the features of it, and then told me the Leo Fender saga. Very cool guy. No pressure to buy at all, and he's once salesman I wouldn't mind at all getting some commission off of his sale. Only place I attend that stocks Rotos. Good amount of strings.
Renaissance has some really NICE staff, but they're not as knowledgable as Kingston Guitar Shop or Centre Stage. I had Marcus toss a set of bass strings on when I got my new bass there, and he'd never done it before! Nathan is a really nice guy and does his best to help you. Don't really deal with the people in the sheet music section much. There's a new young guy -- kinda short, black hair. Don't know his name, but he's a good guy to talk to. I take lessons there, so I'm in there every week during the school year. Same teacher also teaches through Centre Stage and out of his home. They stock Fender, Gibson, Yamaha, Yorkville, BC Rich, Hartke, and Traynor. Good amount of strings, including Elixirs.
There's a place right by the Sharbot Lake exit from the 401 into Kingston called MTS Sound and Lighting that sells a smattering of musical instruments, and rents out a lot of sound equipment and light equipment. Basically, the supplier of all theatre techs in the city. I can only recall Peavey and Samicks, but they generally carry the higher end versions. They had a couple Grind NTB's and a Fairline 5 last time I was there. SIT strings and D'addario strings, IIRC.

There's a store in Napanee called Marie's Place. Don't expect a lot of stock, but the service is top notch, and orders are done very quickly. Go for the older fella named Bill if you stop in there, his son (around 30 something) is a prick. Good amount of strings, and he stocks a lot of flatwounds -- for some reason, a fair amount of the bassists in Napanee love flats. I use 'em on the fretless, I have two other buddies that use them (fretted MIM Jazz and an Italia Mondial bass). He had sets of D'addario chromes, Dean Markley cryogenic flats, Fender flats, and can get TI and La Bellas. Only store I go to that regularly has flats.

In Belleville, there's a place called Harmony Music Plus. They stock Eden, Ibanez, Fender, MusicMan, and a few others -- I've only been there twice. They've got a HUGE drum section and a great electronics/pedals section. Strings are kinda sparse. Service can be pricky, and the people who answer the phone seem to never have any idea what "in stock" means.

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by RevGroove

Why won't he get you in a Ricky? I'm pretty sure we do have access to them, I'll check on that...

I thought Steve's had the Rick license over L&M? I was in the T.O. Steve's and saw a couple of Rick guitars (no basses though).

[Hamzter]

rev it looks like I'll be heading to burlington tomorrow so if your there I'm the big guy with glasses, green purple onion shirt and shorts.

[RevGroove]

Originally Posted by Hamzter

rev it looks like I'll be heading to burlington tomorrow so if your there I'm the big guy with glasses, green purple onion shirt and shorts.

Oh man, it's my day off!

If you go after 1 PM, ask for Paul, he's our top bass guy and the floor supervisor tomorrow. He'll be more than happy to help you out. PM me your real name and I'll have him look out for you.

Hope to see you another time, for sure!

[RevGroove]

Originally Posted by Govithoy

I thought Steve's had the Rick license over L&M? I was in the T.O. Steve's and saw a couple of Rick guitars (no basses though).

That may be in Toronto...my store was the local dealer for them (I think) before we merged with L&M, and I think we still have access to them...please don't quote me on that because I wasn't there in the Lakeshore Music days and I haven't seen any Ricks in the store for a long time...

...but some L&M stores are allowed to carry lines that other locations aren't able to. Our store is able to sell Mesa product, others aren't. We carry Yamaha band instruments, and until recently were the only L&M in Ontario able to do so.

Ironically, our Ottawa store is not able to carry Yorkville products because of a vendor agreement that existed before the L&M store there...

...so outside of TO, there's a good chance (and I'm betting Murch Music in Cambridge, now an L&M) that some L&M stores can get Ricks in. Will check that...or Hamzter can ask when he's at my store tomorrow!!!

[spliffnriff]

Club Bass and Steves have a great variety of basses. Club Bass has basses that Steves does not have, but if you want Fenders... go to Steves. Now if you want to go to a small place where many famous musicians go and have gone, then try Ring Music on Harbord. They have a big guitar selection, but alas a very small bass selection.

[bmc]

Originally Posted by Rich Piche

There's "Pete's Music" in Brockville.
"Kingston Sound Works", "Kingston Guitar Shop",
"Centre Stage" and "Renaissance Music", all 4 stores are in Kingston. There the usual ones that I go to. Rich

I thought everything in Kingston was called Norman Rodgers.

[thrash_jazz]

Originally Posted by RevGroove

Ironically, our Ottawa store is not able to carry Yorkville products because of a vendor agreement that existed before the L&M store there...

Really? I've seen Yorkville stuff there...

Was this a recent thing? Last time I was there was probably five months ago.

The customer service at Steve's is usually pretty bad. As bad as, if not worse than Guitar Center in the US.

[RevGroove]

Originally Posted by thrash_jazz

Really? I've seen Yorkville stuff there...

Was this a recent thing? Last time I was there was probably five months ago.

They can carry used stock...or, they may have come to an agreement with the Yorkville dealer there...last May, they weren't able to have YS stuff there, or so I was told by the man himself...another thing I'll check on, hopefully it HAS changed!!!

edit: I e-mailed in my questions re: Ottawa Yorkville stuff and Ricks, should have an answer by 9PM or I'll log in at work tomorrow with an answer...cheers!