The Mandolin Store

So I’ve been looking into making the investment of a good quality mandolin for some time. I’m from Southern California and was thoroughly disappointed in what was considered «quality» mandolins out there. Further research led me to The Mandolin Store, and their online selection is fantastic — a wide selection of great brands of mandolins, with good descriptions and high quality images. But personally, I wanted to discover the feel and sound of the instruments and see which one called my name, so I made the drive out.
Went in, called ahead the day of to make an appointment, and walked into a room with mandolins/​mandolas/​octave mandolins on every wall, and far more in the back room. Brian — the guy working — was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and not trying to force feed any products that weren’t in my price range. I got to play at least 12 – 15 great instruments, and eventually found the one that was absolutely right for me.
If you are looking for a high quality yet affordable instrument, you definitely want to check this place out. Definitely recommended. If you can’t come in, their online selection is really great also. He said the vast majority of their sales were online, but I was grateful I was able to check out the store itself.

I had seen this place on-​line and since I had some time to kill while in Phoenix, thought I would stop in. They have great supply of quality mandos (Weber, Gibson, Collings, customs). I would give them more stars if the dude behind the desk (he told me was one of the owners) was a little more enthusiastic. I picked up an octave Weber and it was completely out if tune. He offered to tune it and broke a string in the process which clearly annoyed him.
My attempts to engage him in conversation after that went like this: Me: «I play with a mandolin orchestra and an Irish band.» Him: «We are strictly bluegrass here». Me: «Do you play with a bluegrass band?». Him: «No, after looking at instruments 8 hours a day the last thing I want to do when I get home is play one.» A salesman this guy was not! Stop in to test drive some great mandos but don’t expect much from the help. Also, they could use a private try-​out room.