# Pedaltrain Pro



## Les~Paul (Nov 29, 2010)

hello to all of you! 
I want to bay a pedaltrain pro and I found a store in Bloor st, The name of the store is Long&McQuade, someone from the forum boget something from that store?
This is a good store?
Do you know good music stores in Torinto?

Thank you


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

Long & McQuade is the largest music chain in Canada. Their website is lacking, but I generally get good to excellent service from the staff. They usually have competitive prices, and will match advertised prices from other companies.

Their return policies are about the most liberal I've encountered.


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## BRXM (Nov 25, 2010)

Its the best place to buy because of their 30 day, no questions, return policy, but make sure you shop around and compare prices before you buy something and get them to match the best price you have gotten. if its someplace they can check online it will make it easier to get a price match. Different L&M stores around Toronto are better to deal with than others, Brampton is one of the best ones for customer service and a good atmosphere, and the one on Steeles near Dufferin is pretty good as well. Avoid LA Music on the Lakeshore unless you have a price from someone else first, especially about pedals, they are very over priced on some items and they tend to raise prices on products already in stock if their supplier tells them that replacing that item will cost more in the future and that's a blatant ripoff. Steve's Music on Queen St, Toronto,is an excellent place for pedals, they tend to have the lowest prices for pedals that I have found. Usually Steve's is within 5-10 bucks of the same pedal at Guitar Center in Niagara Falls,USA, which is the cheapest online place in the US. As you can tell, I buy a s-load of pedals.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I was there today. I just noodled on a few guitars. No one bothered me. If I have a question, I ask one of the staff. I have never had a problem at the Bloor Street location.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Merlin mentioned their website as being "lacking". They have actually improved the site since. They have most of their products in there now and you can even find out if the item is in stock in the store in your area. I've used the site for checking out things first and usually I would call just to confirm. Most times, their site is updated on a regular basis.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I'm a L&M fan. The Stratford store has been pretty good to me over the years, for most of the above stated reasons. The credit system there is a great benefit for working musicians.

Peace, Mooh.


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## BRXM (Nov 25, 2010)

The only Long & McQuade store that I have noticed a continuous attitude problem is Mississauga. I have seen some serious attitude problems at that place on more than one occasion. I mentioned it to the store in Brampton and they were not the least bit surprised, in fact they laughed about it, it seems they hear things like that all the time about the Mississauga store. But its still the main place I shop for guitar stuff in Canada.


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## smokey (Dec 9, 2010)

I used to frequent 3 different Long and Mcquades and Cosmos before I found my store, Markham location
In my experience, I have always encountered rude and unhelpful staff from the first time I walked into a L&M at age 16 till 20 when I took a hiatus from the guitar. 
I just picked it up again last year. Now that I am not 16 anymore, I am able to force the staff to meet my all my demands using a combination of dealing exclusively with managers and the occassional threat to call head office (located in Pickering, ON). Do not let them mistreat you, instead, ask for the manager, make a scene and then threaten to contact head office (it works as I have received many discounted purchases due to their poor customer service). I used to get better customer service when buying a $20 shirt at the mall then I did when spending $1000+ on guitar gear at L&M. Not anymore...


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

So far I only have good to say about Long & McQuade, although I am a bit biased. Small guitar shops on the island have outrageous prices for strings, like GHS bass boomers for 45+tax, whereas they're around 22 dollars at L&M... needless to say I only buy my strings when I make a trip to L&M now.


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## Gene Machine (Sep 22, 2007)

Morkolo said:


> So far I only have good to say about Long & McQuade, although I am a bit biased. Small guitar shops on the island have outrageous prices for strings, like GHS bass boomers for 45+tax, whereas they're around 22 dollars at L&M... needless to say I only buy my strings when I make a trip to L&M now.


Exactly. It's one thing if your 'WAY OUT' in the sticks and the only place with gear is a mom and pop shop. But I'm in Kingston. The local shops are routinely 10% more than L&M for no reason. Sure I'm not going too drive to Ottawa for a set of strings. But, I'll definitely stock up the next time I'm there.

But in general, I was treated well every time I went to a L&M. Website is good. Prices are best around. I'm sold.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Gene Machine said:


> Exactly. It's one thing if your 'WAY OUT' in the sticks and the only place with gear is a mom and pop shop. But I'm in Kingston. The local shops are routinely 10% more than L&M for no reason. Sure I'm not going too drive to Ottawa for a set of strings. But, I'll definitely stock up the next time I'm there.
> 
> But in general, I was treated well every time I went to a L&M. Website is good. Prices are best around. I'm sold.


The 10% is most likely due to their volume discount. They have several stores and buy a lot of gear/strings etc. They are going to get a deeper discount than a small shop would ever get.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Fan of L&M here !!!! they will do you right.


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## Morkolo (Dec 9, 2010)

GuitarsCanada said:


> The 10% is most likely due to their volume discount. They have several stores and buy a lot of gear/strings etc. They are going to get a deeper discount than a small shop would ever get.


10% would never bother me, it's when the small shops are almost double the price that I decide I'm finished with my business there.


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## Cdn_Cracker (Oct 7, 2006)

FWIW...I have always been a huge supporter or mom & pop shops and independent resellers. I have rarely ever had a bad experience. I can however say that I have found that some chains, such as L&M and Steve's have made me feel like I am bothering them and treated me with a condescending attitude - I have been playing for over 20 years and although I don't look like a rock star or play like Steve Vai, I probably know more about the gear and appreciate quality pieces more than they do. I can recall asking Lauzon's here in Ottawa about the sound of the Modern Eagle pickups , as I was looking to replace the ones in my McCartys. They handed me an $8000 Modern Eagle and encouraged me to try them myself.. and actually handed me a handful of other PRS's to compare. I was blown away by that type of service and would gladly pay more (within reason) simply based on the friendship we have developed. To be clear though, Lauzon prices are very good and I am just using them as an example of the excellent type of service I have experienced with a mom/pop store. I feel much more comfortable going in there and grabbing a high end Collings, Suhr or R Taylor off the wall than going into L&M or Steve's and grabbing a cheap, Korean PRS or god forbid... asking them for a nice Lester they have behind the counter.

The friendship developed with a shop that might charge me a bit more to stay in business is worth so much more than any discount from a impersonal chain.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Merlin said:


> Their website is lacking


No kidding--I was googling some different guitars tonight, and a link to their site came up--and I read the guitar had "Humbacker" pickups.


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## holyman (Dec 22, 2009)

Cdn_Cracker said:


> FWIW...I have always been a huge supporter or mom & pop shops and independent resellers. I have rarely ever had a bad experience. I can however say that I have found that some chains, such as L&M and Steve's have made me feel like I am bothering them and treated me with a condescending attitude - I have been playing for over 20 years and although I don't look like a rock star or play like Steve Vai, I probably know more about the gear and appreciate quality pieces more than they do. I can recall asking Lauzon's here in Ottawa about the sound of the Modern Eagle pickups , as I was looking to replace the ones in my McCartys. They handed me an $8000 Modern Eagle and encouraged me to try them myself.. and actually handed me a handful of other PRS's to compare. I was blown away by that type of service and would gladly pay more (within reason) simply based on the friendship we have developed. To be clear though, Lauzon prices are very good and I am just using them as an example of the excellent type of service I have experienced with a mom/pop store. I feel much more comfortable going in there and grabbing a high end Collings, Suhr or R Taylor off the wall than going into L&M or Steve's and grabbing a cheap, Korean PRS or god forbid... asking them for a nice Lester they have behind the counter.
> 
> The friendship developed with a shop that might charge me a bit more to stay in business is worth so much more than any discount from a impersonal chain.


First of all, I work at an L&M. The fact that I work for a large business does not make my dealings with customers any more "impersonal" than they would be if I worked for a smaller store. You may find it suprising to learn that L&M staff actually become friends with customers as well. 

Second, I have worked at many small retail stores (not just music stores) and have never encounted a business that places as much emphasis on customer service as L&M. Even as a lowly sales person I have the power to use my own judgement and make pretty much whatever decisions are necessary to make customers happy. This makes L&M a pleasant place to work and we get tonnes of compliments and various gestures of gratitude from customers all the time. 

It is pretty rare for a customer to come to my store and not be very happy with the service, the prices, the layout of the store, the cleanliness of the store, etc. That being said, we get the occasional customer who has a chip on his or her shoulder who looks for things to complain about. Every business gets them though.


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## fudb (Dec 8, 2010)

holyman said:


> First of all, I work at an L&M. The fact that I work for a large business does not make my dealings with customers any more "impersonal" than they would be if I worked for a smaller store. You may find it suprising to learn that L&M staff actually become friends with customers as well.
> 
> Second, I have worked at many small retail stores (not just music stores) and have never encounted a business that places as much emphasis on customer service as L&M. Even as a lowly sales person I have the power to use my own judgement and make pretty much whatever decisions are necessary to make customers happy. This makes L&M a pleasant place to work and we get tonnes of compliments and various gestures of gratitude from customers all the time.
> 
> It is pretty rare for a customer to come to my store and not be very happy with the service, the prices, the layout of the store, the cleanliness of the store, etc. That being said, we get the occasional customer who has a chip on his or her shoulder who looks for things to complain about. Every business gets them though.


I've worked at two of Canada's largest music stores, and spent many years in that field myself.

L&M are the largest chain in Canada for several good reasons. They have traditionally had excellent customer service (although generally not very knowledgable staff... I hope you're an exception I don't mean to offend), powerful in-house financing and a solid selection of instruments, accessories, books and band instruments at aggressive prices. They're also affiliated with Yorkville of course, as well as Alto and they're the Canadian distributors of Gibson (this means they block any other stores from having these brands unless it's a legacy deal from many years ago AND enjoy double margin on those products).

The reason this is important, is to note that L&M enjoy many highly lucrative income streams that "mom & pop" stores cannot. This is mostly the reason for the difference in prices between L&M and M&P. L&M have caught the eye of Guitar Center, and several other chains over the years. They've largely fended off American chain invasions with their low margin prices. I have mixed emotions about their position in the market. They're good for Canadian business, but bad for many Canadian businesses.

All that being said, I personally find that L&M (at least in Ontario) has quite definitely changed over the last few years. They have seriously tightened up a lot of what they used to do (both good and bad), and in my recent dealings with them I have found they're quite definitely corporatizing. By which I mean delivering a less personal level of service. Staff levels are down, interesting and unusual items are disappearing as stock homogonizes across the chain... I've been going in them less and less. But now not at all, after scraping my bumper at the Waterloo store this year, because they apparently think it's appropriate to have a BLACK staircase ending halfway in one of their parking spaces without any kind of attempt at telling customers "hey don't hit this", I sent them a complaint about that and a minor other quibble over being charged $1 to rent something on a Sunday. They responded to the $1 thing and ignored my complaint about scraping my bumper... And THAT is poor customer service no matter how you slice things.


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## Cdn_Cracker (Oct 7, 2006)

I have little doubt that the L&M in Nfld is different that those, say in Ontario. I was born and raised in TO region and after having lived in the Martimes for several years, they are amongst the most friendly people I have ever met. However I totally agree with fudb, Ontario chains have lost that friendliness....back in the 80's and early 90s, I loved going into all the L&M stores in Toronto. They were great people and I often bought and rented all my gear there... but now, it just seems impersonal. 

Maybe it it is Kenny G they were piping in the elevator earlier, but I think we, as guitarists, are a different breed in that the passion and love we have for music and the instrument in unquestionable. When we go and buy gear, especially a guitar... the feeling we get with that guitar, the comfort we feel in a store, and the they way staff treats you goes a long, long way. Besides, if it weren't for the interaction with great staff, a lot of boutique builders would never have gotten off the ground and some of us would know nothing more than a Les Paul or Fender.


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I've never had anything to complain about with the Oshawa and Downtown Toronto stores.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

How did this thread end up in the dealer section. Does not appear to have been started by a dealer


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