Long & McQuade

The traffic and their parking lot was packed, but I was lucky enough to get the very first spot because a gentleman and scholar was just leaving and gave a hand wave to congratulate my luck.
I was looking to buy a classical guitar and entered the first building by mistake. I walked in with 4 reps briefly looking at me and then going back to what they’re doing with no greeting whatsoever. I walked farther into the store, awkwardly, and after a quick look around, I realized I was obviously in the wrong department.
As I was about to walk out of the store, one of the reps was about to walk past me when I stopped him to ask where they sold guitars. He reluctantly answered that they were next door.
I don’t know why all of these people are salty as fuck, but can they learn some basic customer service skills? If you’re that miserable, don’t come into work at all. In fact, quit your jobs and find another calling, preferably one that doesn’t deal with other people. I may have missed a sign when walking in, but it literally takes a rep 5 seconds to redirect potential customers to the proper place. If you can’t do that without obviously looking annoyed, then maybe you shouldn’t be there.
I go next door and up the stairs to find the guitar department. The place was fairly small and a bit awkward to get around in, even with only about 10 customers doing some browsing. There were about 4 reps, all of them helping other customers.
I got hold of the older guy and he seemed like a genuinely good dude. He got the guitar I needed from the stock room, tested it and found that one of the strings was a bit twangy and went back to get another one, which he tested and tuned for me. Now this was a decent experience, though, I question whether or not it’s standard to not give the box with the guitar (if there is one), because it seemed that would’ve been the case had I not asked for it to be packed again. I’m assuming that they might not have accepted a return without the box. I’m not really sure, since I took the initiative and asked for it before the final sale. *Shrug.
I didn’t stay long enough to figure out just what the other building was (you know, the one with the big fucking logo on it), but maybe you should invest in a more visible sign on the front that states what you’re dealing, be it rentals or electronic equipment. And even if a customer innocently misses the thing, it doesn’t require brain surgery to give a brief and pleasant redirection. Otherwise, it just makes people wonder just what the hell is wrong with you, whether you care or not. Your head office might, but this isn’t worth my time to escalate.
Their prices are pretty jacked, but they have the setup for people to browse for a wide range of things. Do your Google-​Fu before hand to find the best deals. Before long, stores like this become ‘the man’, and the ignorant will keep lining their pockets without them improving their services. Everyone can do better with more effort.

really helpful people and nice. not run on comission which makes it alot more relaxed environment. good price, warranty can’t be beat. i always have a piece of mind when shopping here.

Long & McQuade is simply my favourite store. I’ve never seen another business that has contributed to the Toronto music scene.

I came in to buy a beginner’s acoustic guitar for my fiancé’s birthday. I had no idea where to start, and my fiancé also didn’t know enough to have any preferences. Uli helped me through the whole process: Showed me a few options within my price range (and didn’t even stick to guitars at my maximum end) and gave enough information that I could make a decision but wasn’t overwhelmed. I was afraid a sales person would try and up-​sell me since I didn’t know any better, but Uli was great. I was in and out with everything I needed in less than 20 minutes, and under budget too.

They gave me a really hard time when trying to rent out a keyboard for my son… I paid over the phone, rented over the phone… went to pick up and had to wait for almost 30 mins till the associate finished with another customer… associate was very rude btw. Disliked his attitude. Took me an extra 30 mins or so to actually get the keyboard …

Great for beginners. Huge selection across all the different departments. Lots of guitars to try out and they had no problem letting me test out different pedal combinations/​amps etc. Keyboard department on the other hand were very dismissive and acted very rudely when I asked a few questions. Really gave me a terrible impression.
Otherwise, good system for renting and rent to own. If you’re on a budget this is the pace to go.

This is my favourite music store in Toronto. The customer service is consistently great. I don’t know if it is because the staff wear ties, but I have always had professional service there.
I have had frustrating experiences at other music stores, because I am young and female, (maybe I don’t look like I have money to spend?) so now I only go to Long & McQuade because of the consistently good customer service.

This is a mega music store with something for everyone. The staff is exceptional. They have different departments catering to all genres of musicians including equipment rental for reasonable dollars that even include damage and theft or loss insurance. They have many options for different instruments and have studios that can be used to try out your choices. They have sales regularly to clear out stock so get on their list for that. The guitar department has some $ 6000 guitars up on the wall making it a fun place to ogle the goods, and if you damage your instrument they do repairs as well. Drop in thru the many different doors along Bloor St. the next time you’re nearby.

The rental fees at this place are so reasonable. Also the guy helping me rent a sax (after not playing for 10 years) was super friendly and listened to all my rambley stories and jokes with grace!
I trust these people.

Huge shop with lots of variety. Brand names of all calibers.
Most of the staff are knowledgeable without being jerks about it. Casual or professional, most people will find what they are looking for.
Plus, anything special that needs to be ordered they are on it.

I have brought a couple guitars to their repair department and have received excellent service and advice every time. The guys working there are really passionate about instruments and will go the extra mile to provide great service.

I don’t have a much of a background in music, but I’ve stopped by here a couple times, both alone and with friends. Each time, the service was great. The staff are really knowledgeable and friendly, when not busy they can chat about music and recommendations for quite some time.

Large selection of guitars, amps, and gear. I am a fan of the amount of pedals (new and used) that they have for sale. I don’t think I saw ESP guitars there which was a bit disappointing in hindsight.
If needed, staff is knowledgeable and friendly… once they decide that you might be interested in buying something.

I have a ton of experience with Long & McQuade, as both a customer since 1991 and an employee in ¹⁹⁹⁷⁄₉₈. This is by far the best music store in the city and the only place I would consider shopping. Here is why:
when he hired me, founder Jack Long explained that the customer must always come first, and that musicians are a special kind of customer. Musicians, Jack explained, are generally intelligent, honest and their incomes are unpredictable. He went on to explain that back in 1960’s, a young boy wanted to learn drums, but didn’t have enough money saved up from his paper route to buy a kit. Jack and the boy agreed that the boy could have the drums if he promised to pay Jack each month until the drums were paid off. And so was born the largest and most humane in-​house credit department that has kept Canadian musicians playing and recording for over 40 years. In 1991, at age 19 and with scarcely more than a summer job, I bought my first Gibson Les Paul Standard after a brief interview with the head of the credit department — he made his decision about me on a gut feel and I have since spent tens of thousands at 925 Bloor.
Long & McQuade is owned by Yorkville Sound — a multinational that manufactures cables, mic clips, stands, speakers, PAs and too much to list here. The warranty and road worthiness of the Yorkville Sound product is the envy of the business. What they don’t manufacture, they are often the Canadian distributor & wholesaler for the manufacturer — like Gibson Guitars, for example. All this to say that there prices cannot be beat because they are the market makers, hence their price matching policy.
You will never be dissatisfied with a purchase. I have bought tons of gear that I outgrow, or dislike and I return or exchange without any hassles. No receipt? No problem. They have it on your file. Cash, credit, debit — your choice. If I have kept a particular guitar for several months, I am subject to a restocking fee, but I consider it reasonable versus other store’s «all sales final» approach.
L&M benefits the community. Watch the CBC movie «Spirits of Havana» to appreciate L&Ms charitable efforts to music education in Cuba; visit any school in the TDSB and you are apt to find kids playing instruments from L&M. Not to mention that gear heads like me can go browse the store, hang out with the staff and always feel welcome.
The empire that is L&M was created by a musician for musicians and his legacy is still evident in the business today.

Been shopping here for years. Music store staff are hit and miss no matter what store you are in, but on this place is much better than average.
I often compare buying from an online retailer vs. buying at a store, and the prices here are very competitive. Although I do most of my shopping online, for music gear, I get it here. They can also order in almost anything, again at very competitive prices. They are obviously smart about how to compete against online retailers.
Good selection of guitar parts for customizers. I am a pick nerd, I’ll take off one star for not having a diverse selection of picks.
The repair shop guys are very helpful, and also sell bits and pieces (and give advice) for DIY guitar modification/​repair.

I love this music store! I personally purchased a violin for myself, and accompanied my brother when he bought his first guitar (an acoustic Epiphone). I recommended this place to family and friends who have all bought their instruments at this location. The staff are extremely knowledgeable and friendly, especially the gentleman who works with violins. They also help you stay within budget. He spent over an hour with me explaining everything from the craftsmanship, to tuning, to proper storage. I’m glad that he was also honest about the violin being a more difficult instrument, and he filled me in about the option of renting. In the end I decided to go through with a purchase.
This music store is organized, very welcoming, and the instruments are all taken great care of.
The reason for the loss of one star, is because it can take a while to get help. It’s not a huge problem, because investing in any instrument requires a lot of time, and I understand that every customer needs the time to get all their questions answered.

Let’s face it… I’m a band geek, always have been and always will be. Nothing can compare to the excitement one gets when walking into a music store to find drum kit, after drum kit, sitting, willing, ready to be played.
I come from a long family line of musician so when my brothers came to visit last week (both drummers as well) it’s no wonder we found our selves wandering the vast expanse that has come to be «Long & McQuade».
Naturally we all headed straight to the basement percussion section like a hungry pack of wolves racing to a poor unsuspecting rabbit. (All tripping over one another in hopes of getting to the iron cobra first and annoying all around us with a nonstop musical array of double bass).
Within 5 minutes we were greeted by a dreamy drum stick wielding employee who let us test drive everything we could possibly get our grubby fingers on. The extent of inventory they carry is borderline ridiculous… anything in the music world you can dream of you can find here.
After a good 3 hours of playing around we all decided on our purchases and headed to check out, where our new drum stick wielding friend (and his ears) were probably only too happy to serve us.
A good $ 1500 later we were headed out the door. Lucky for us they have a private parking lot on the east side of the building, making it only too easy for us to load our gear and get home and start annoying our mother.
Long & McQuade is by far the best music store in Toronto. It is massive, with an unbelievable amount of inventory. The staff are all great and understand a musicians need to «bang on the drums all day». The prices are fair and it is conveniently located and accessible by both TTC and car. It is always my go to place for any percussion needs and I look forward to it staying that way in the years to come.

Prices for rentals are very reasonable and I think the store is great for music community but I had a really bad experience.
I rented Zoom R24 and 3 SM58 mics with stand for a show I was filming at 10am and the location only opens at 9:30am. I got there early and waited out in front, door didn’t open till 9:35 after I started knocking. It’s not a big issue when when you are tight for a shoot like me, it was.
There was a VERY long form to fill and I got my SM58 but 2 had the heads dented in pretty bad. I saw a video on it saying that it’s the strongest mic ever and I thought they know what they are doing.
I got to the shoot location on time and was setting up. We were having a lot of issues setting up and was running past our schedule start time so I called them for quick help setting up but Dane told me to download the manual. We didn’t have time to search and read the manual.
Finally one guy figured it, the issue now was that only one of the three mic was working. The two dented in were not. At this point we were 45 min behind schedule and we ended using another alternative to capture the audio. Was not a good experience at all.
If you rent equipment make sure to test it during pick up to make sure it’s working, don’t get the SM58 mics if it looks damaged, and schedule time to learn to use.

5 star rentals!
Some may be bitter that they don’t take reservations, but I’ve never been unable to rent any of the turntables, cdjs, mixers, lighting, or sound equipment needed to throw a jam, so the first come first serve aspect has worked out flawlessly thus far and I won’t hate on it. And while their one night rental rates are fair, I especially can appreciate the week long rentals and discounted rate over more time.
As for the retail side of this place, I’ve experienced both really helpful salespeople that were able to give good insight, and some that are pretty much just there to process the sale and not good for much independent though. One thing that is worth mentioning that makes this place awesome is that they will price match any other retailers that have the product in stock, even up to 30 days after purchase, so do your research online first and come in to buy with great success and moderate savings.
All in all, big love to Long and McQuade for sorting me out over the years.

I’ve been a customer of L&M for about 15 years, having bought items from various departments. It’s basically the other go to place for musical instruments and DJ gear in Toronto. The store is big and the staff is friendly and knowledgeable. They excel in band department (woodwinds, brass and similar), keyboards and guitars. A little less so in drums and bass guitar.
They often have blow out sales where you can pick up new and used gear for a significant discount. Just recently I picked up an effects pedal at $ 100 off. They also have a really good rental and finance center which I’ve partaken in a few times.
The only reason I give them 4 instead of 5 stars is that I had an issue with their guitar repair department where I had brought a bass guitar that I bought from Steve’s that needed a neck correction/​set up. I went to L&M first because they are much closer to where I live. Long story short they had told me my bass was toast and I needed to replace it if it was still under warranty. I was told the neck was cracked at some area and wasn’t capable of a proper truss rod adjustment. So I took it to Steve’s and they were able to get the bass sorted and working no problem. They said they couldn’t find no evidence of a cracked neck and that apparently L&M «do not like working on guitars bought at Steve’s.» Well from going from a guitar that was headed to the garbage bin to something fully working like new with the proper adjustments I sided with Steve’s on the whole issue.
At any rate, aside from that one experience, everything I’ve done with L&M has been positive and I recommend them as a musical instrument store.