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The mandolin reviews database is here to help educate people before they purchase an instrument. Of course, this is not meant to be a substitute for playing the instrument yourself!
89 reviews in the archive.
Visited the store in Bedford, Pennsylvania for the first time this past Saturday. Bedford is a quaint little town north of Cumberland, Maryland. Beautiful area; people are very friendly. The Bedford Banjo Shop is a nice little store in the downtown. It is a family owned business. Mike Amato is very friendly, customer oriented and knowledgeable about vintage instruments. Store also stocks new instruments and accessories. Prices very reasonable and negotiable on used/vintage items. Also has very cool tee-shirts. They have a website that is updated regularly at http://www.bedfordbanjoshop.com/
Overall Rating: 10
Locally-owned music store that takes acoustic instruments very seriously. Great source for quality new and nice refurbished vintage instruments: mandolins, banjos, guitars, fiddles, dulcimers, mountain dulcimers, harps, concertinas, and some world instruments (hand drums, sitar, African thumb piano). Employees are directly involved in music as not only salesmen but as teachers and repairmen. The store is friendly concerning trying-out instruments.
It is NOT a mall-type store. Natural lighting in an old building in an old commercial district. Complete opposite of modern Wal-Mart-ize music stores.
Have workshops from traveling musicians, open mikes, and concerts (we've played at the open mike -- very enjoyable).
They take instruments in on consignment.
Gave them a "9" only because they are sometimes slow on repairs.
Overall Rating: 9
Matt Umanov Guitars is located in the heart of Greenwich Village. I've visited a few times and Matt and his staff are very friendly. They have a large selection of vintage guitars and all of the ones I've played have been set up nicely.
MU has a few vintage mandolins and they are worth looking at if you are in the area, but I wouldn't go out of my way to go there if you are mainly looking for mandolins. Instead, I suggest checking out the web site to see if they have anything of interest before visiting.
Please also note that MU is not the place to go looking for bargains as it is located in a very high rent district. However, keep in mind that the instruments are well set up and cared for, so you shouldn't have to incur the additional repair and set up expenses that might be incurred buying a used instrument on e-bay or many shops.
Overall Rating: 8
Accent Music bills itself as Delaware's Music Store and that is probably because it has little competition in the Wilmington area. The reason for the above average review is they have a surprisingly good selection of music books. The reason the rating isn't higher is that they usually only have one or two mandolins in stock, and they are mostly starter instruments.
They have two stores and each has a very different flavor to it. The Concord Pike always feels a little messy. However, it has a good selection of Gibson and Taylor acoustic guitars, and frequently has some nice Martins. It also has a wide selection of Gibson electric guitars and cheaper imports. It has a very nice selection Jamey Aebersold books and mixture of other books. It has a nice selection of accessories. Pricing is strange, as many items have a list price on them and then ring up with a fair price. It helps to know what a fair or going price is as pricing is sometimes negotiable.
The Kirkwood Highway store has a very good selection of music books and tends to be aimed more at guitar geeks. It tends to have a nicer feel to it than the other store and carries some unique accessories. It has a mixed selection of acoustic guitars, which seems to change frequently. I've seen mandolins there, but believe they were beginner models.
Overall Rating: 6