Master Electronics

Incorrect phone number posted online, so I wasted an afternoon driving there to discover that their retail store was permanently closed. I should have just went to Fry’s Electronics.

The retail section (walk-​ins) is closed. They have a sign on the door saying that they closed March of 2015

Formerly Brill Electronics, Masters still offers large quantities of everything from Cable, Transformers and connectors to some hard to find electronics. They are a large volume seller so if you are looking for small quantity, be patient, they will work with you, but as the saying goes, they have bigger fish to fry. They have very knowledgeable staff and I am so glad they are still operating in Oakland! I check with them before going anywhere else.

I swung by Brill today for some PCB standoffs because my usual spot, Al Lasher’s, is a bit too far for a lunch break errand. Having never been there before, I decided to browse around and see if anything else caught my eye before ferreting out what I came in for. I zeroed in on a nibbler identical to the ones sitting in my «Saved for later» basket on Amazon. I figured if it wasn’t too much more expensive I should just go ahead and buy it now. That’s when I noticed there were no price tags on anything.
Now, I’ll be honest — I’m not what you would call a people person. I do most of my shopping online and if I need to pick something up at a brick & mortar shop I’d rather wander the aisles browsing until I come across what I need than interact with an employee. (This usually results in me buying a bunch of stuff I didn’t come in for, so it tends to work out in the business’s favor!) So maybe I find this more annoying than the average bear. But if my choices are A) asking what the price is of every item I’m looking at (because, yes, I’ll sometimes choose a switch from among the 30 options because one is 50 cents cheaper) or B) ignore making price comparisons and just pay whatever comes up on the register, I’m going to choose option C) shop elsewhere.
I realize this place is a little more corporate than your local mom & pop, but part of the hobby shop appeal for me is discovering new things and having a «this is cool — what could I make with this?» moment. The lack of price tags pretty much kills the browsing experience for me.
That being said, their selection seemed decent from what I saw. But I have no idea how their prices compare to other local shops. I’d probably only go back there if I had a super immediate need for something specific.

Went in and asked for Misc Caps/​resistors assorted bags and the guy looked at me like I was an idiot and said NO! Only if you want to buy a million of one kind!
Why you got to be a jerk?

Brill is a great store and a great resource to electronics professionals and hobbyists in the area. This is the only place in Oakland to get most of this stuff and the selection is excellent. Components, tools, wire, Hammond enclosures, meters, etc. The customer service is outstanding. Brill is the real deal.

There is an absolute dearth of real electronics parts shops in the bay area — Al Lasher’s has been basically it for quite awhile, and Radio Shack doesn’t really count. While I love Al’s, as an Oakland resident I get a little tired of having to drive the ever-​clogged 80 every time I need one part, only to find that they don’t really stock audio connectors, or a particularly wide array of project enclosures, or whatever.
In steps Brill — after accidentally discovering them on a bike ride, I was excited to discover that they carry the full Neutrik and Switchcraft lines, as well as all the Fluke stuff I’ve been ordering from Amazon. They also recently acquired GB, and a lot of their stock consumables (wire, solder, board, etc) are from that brand.
The store is big (but not too big), well lit, and staffed by one very helpful and polite man (whose name I haven’t yet caught). I’ve consistently found things there on a moment’s notice that I thought would have required a long dig through the annals of
.
You should know though (and they’re very open about this fact) — Brill is not a mom’n’pop place — they’re actually one of two bases of operations for a big ol’ internet order business (the other store is in Texas), but you’ll get real personal service here.
btw, it’s a great local source for musical electronic hobbyists — they may not even realize it yet, but they’re the only store I know of around here that stocks a decent range of Hammond enclosures, high quality ¼″ TS and TRS jacks, as well as a wide variety of colors and sizes of LED. They don’t (yet) have stompbox footswitches, but maybe we can convince them…