Long & McQuade

I live in New York City and ordered a last-​minute Christmas gift of violin strings for my father who lives in Qualicum Beach, a good 45 minutes from Nanaimo. I was told that although the store did not have a delivery service, it would make some arrangement. Lo and behold, a young man showed up on Christmas Eve with an attractive gift bag and said, «Merry Christmas from your daughter!» Needless to say, this Canadian expat was extremely impressed with the level of service and kindness of this gesture. Thank you!

This was my first time at a Long & Mcquade. I came up to Nanaimo to have a look at what they offer, and left very impressed. The second I walked in I was greeted by a store representative, and was immediately ushered to the guitar section to peruse the Bass guitars. I was interested in purchasing one, but I knew near nothing about guitars period (pianist and alto saxophonist).
He showed me a few, and I chose one that looked nice but wasn’t plagued with a whole slough of buttons and knobs (I’m a newbie). He then asked me if I wanted to hear how it sounded, and then plugged it into an amp in the dedicated amplifier section of the store. It sounded very nice.
He then suggested purchasing a case for it, which never crossed my mind for some naïve reason. The first one he brought out didn’t fit the guitar because the guitar had an abnormal cut at the bottom. He found a used one with a few scuffs and cuts, and the locking clasps were loose but not dysfunctional. He discounted it by over 65% because it was used and had more than average wear-​and-​tear.
All said and done, my experience purchasing the instrument was very good. I learned a lot about my instrument and I highly recommend this store for music instrument purchases. I hope the Long & Mcquade stores throughout the country are all consistently this good.
Summary: Great service, good prices (August is Fender month, by the way), and an overall very good experience. 5 Stars.