How Sorry is Your Local Music Shop.

[funkcicle]

even choice 3 is too kind for the largest store in my area(part of a regional chain). All they really seem to know anything about is distortion pedals. There's nowhere in my town for my brass needs so I need not worry about that... but it's frustrating when even my (bass)guitar needs can't be met. I do most of my dealing through Cleveland Music Center in Cleveland Ohio... this means doing 99% via mail, but at least I'm helping out a local business(even if it's not local_to_me) rather than feeding a MusiciansFriend/Brookmays/WoodwindandBrasswind type place.

The best option in my town is a small guitar-oriented place.. selection is small but service is great.. you might have to pay a bit more to get what you want, but the owner and his 2 or 3 hand-picked employees will make sure that you get it, and will even followup to make sure you're satisfied. He also does in-house repairs, which is very nice.

[finnbogi]

I have never even seen a tuba in any of the music stores in Iceland and the only mouthpieces I've seen are Denis Wick's 2L and 3L. Bands and music schools usually order through one of the stores, but this is of course done without getting a chance to try the horns out.
Therefore, I have had to do all my field research when travelling, especially in Germany. I actually ended up buying my horn at Bob Tucci's Horn und Tuba Center in Eichenau.

[dopey]

..

[Dan Schultz]

Dollars rule. What can I say when I hear that one of my local high schools is considering buying St. Petersburg or Sanders Imperial tubas from music stores that are over 500 miles away. I buy locally every chance I get... even if it means paying a few dollars more. (I said a few... not lots!) That being said, I don't know of a retail store selling tubas within 100 miles of here. One local store will be happy to get a horn in for a tryout but no one has much more than a clarinet or a trumpet on the shelf. Lots of guitars, drums, and amp though. I guess that's where the money is.

[JCalkin]

I was a very lucky young man; I grew up in New Jersey and Dillon's was my lms. Now that I live in Idaho (though only for three more months), I still go to Dillon for EVERYTHING, including cleanings (there isn't a store within 300 miles of Boise with an acid bath big enough for a tuba).

I wouldn't trust the music stores here as far as I could throw 'em. One of my students here came in for her first lesson all excited b/c she had just picked up a used tuba through a private sale. She brought it to the lms here in Boise for a service and cleaning, which they (said they) did, and from the first note she blew, I knew there was a problem. I took her horn and attempted to play it... and I FELT air hitting my right forearm. There was a dent in the tuba right below the ferrule connecting the bell to the bottom bow, and it was deep enough to actually result in a hole in the instrument I could fit two fingers into.

...so whenever I go to my folks' place back east, I bring a tuba for servicing.

[lprince]

I work at my local music store... well rather the guitar repair shop in the back. They are a guitar store primarily, but they try! and i respect them for that. they sell valve oil and violin strings. they ask me what i think they should carry in terms of brands. they carry reeds and all that. they're really helpful and will order and carry whatever i ask them. they also sell other used instruments, flute trumpet viola... the occasional abandoned euphonium. they have instrument repair contacts in the area to make stuff sellable/playable.
i'm fortunate to live near to BBC so when I want tuba specific stuff i can obviously head over there, but i think sometimes we are a little to critical of the local music shop. they're just trying to make money, and selling tuba mutes isn't the most lucrative of buisnesses. even so- i am a great hater of the dreaded 'music and arts.' a large chain like this has no excuse to be un-knowledgable, and their prices are insane.
local music stores are a unique buisnesses. the kind of customers they serve is so broad, from the experienced musician who wants to buy the best strings to a spoiled 11 year old who wants a $3,000 begining guitar.

now that we have the internet local music stores are beginning to suffer. people can buy new equipment online and used stuff on... *-***. people might still go there to try stuff out or get strings, but it's getting tough, it's become less and less worth their while to know stuff about valve oil- when people can just order it online.

-liz p.