Hello everyone! This is my first post but i've been reading the forums for a long time.
I live in Sweden and the dobro scene here isn't very big. The next two weeks i will be visiting San Francisco and i wonder if you have any good suggestions for music stores in the bay area? I'm looking for places that have Dobros, straps, fingerpicks, tone bars.. anything i can come across really. There's very little in stores here. You can find anything online of course but shipping makes everything super expensive.
Edit: I play squareneck dobro, forgot to mention that.
Edited by - Vedhuggare on 02/26/2023 07:20:31
Just south of San Francisco in Palo Alto is Gryphon Stringed Instruments. They have the widest selection of resonator guitars in the Bay Area, and carry many different accessories (bars, picks, straps, etc.).
Here's their current resophonic guitar selection.
Feel free to DM me if you have any questions. I live in San Francisco and would be happy to show you around.
+1 for Gryphon. I grew up taking lessons there.
Fun fact: the proprietor of Gryphon also runs the delightfully old-school website frets.com, which contains a wealth of high-quality information about all things stringed.
frets.com by Frank Ford. One of the best repair men in the business IMO
Molly Tuttle's dad Jack Tuttle is a long time teacher at Gryphon. I have a couple of tab books he wrote that they sell at the store.
Richard Johnston and Frank Ford are co-owners. We've already discussed Frank in this thread - Richard is one of the world's foremost authorities on Martin guitars along with some other brands, and periodically he appears on television on The Antique Road Show appraising vintage instruments. I ordered my Martin Custom Shop dreadnought through Gryphon in 2011 and have dropped a fair amount of money in the store.
Though it is the best thing going for dobros in the Bay Area, that's not saying a whole lot. The overall selection is usually not that great.
The sales manager/buyer used to go out on a limb a little more by bringing in some higher end squareneck resos, he seems to have gotten more conservative over the years.
They can sell $5K-$10K flattops all day long to guitar players making serious money in Silicon Valley, but dobros apparently sit on the rack for a long time so they are hesitant to bring them in.
I don't get there very often anymore because depending on traffic, it can be a two to three hour drive for me. Many years ago I lived pretty close by.
But it's always a treat to visit Gryphon, it's my favorite guitar store in California.
Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 02/26/2023 15:09:20
Since Brad is willing to help, I suggest you talk with him, get his suggestions then decide what you want and order it to be delivered to you while in CA. Gryphon’s current inventory didn’t impress me.
Edited by - Dobrojan on 02/26/2023 21:56:51
Ok thanks for the tips all! We're staying in Novato with my wifes mom so getting to Palo Alto is a bit out of the way but i would love to visit Gryphon though.. i'll suggest adding it to the itinerary.
quote:
Originally posted by VedhuggareOk thanks for the tips all! We're staying in Novato with my wifes mom so getting to Palo Alto is a bit out of the way but i would love to visit Gryphon though.. i'll suggest adding it to the itinerary.
Since you're staying in Novato (I have cousins who live there), you're closer to where I am in the North Bay. A good store to visit is Tall Toad Music in Petaluma, the next town north of Novato. They won't have a lot of dobro content but you never know, they take in a lot of used items.
South of Novato in San Rafael is Bananas at Large, a very well equipped store.
North of Petaluma is Loud & Clear in Cotati.
There is a great small shop almost right on the San Francisco Bay in Tiburon, Schoenberg Guitars. Eric Schoenberg is a renowned Fingerstyle picker and guitar designer.
Edited by - MarkinSonoma on 02/28/2023 11:05:52
Yeah, i plan on visiting Bananas at large today actually. I checked the place out years ago and had forgotten about it. I'm also looking for options to rent a guitar so i can go to some jams while i'm here. Wish i could've brought the dobro but regular six string will do.
quote:
Originally posted by VedhuggareYeah, i plan on visiting Bananas at large today actually. I checked the place out years ago and had forgotten about it. I'm also looking for options to rent a guitar so i can go to some jams while i'm here. Wish i could've brought the dobro but regular six string will do.
Then you probably figured out they moved to a different location fairly recently. I used to be in San Rafael for my sales rep job every Monday but I retired a few years ago. My son and I were in Rafael after the big traveling Amigos guitar show, and we decided to walk up to Bananas for some exercise, which was close to a mile away. Didn't look like the rain that day was coming back - but it did with a vengeance, and like an idiot, I left my raincoat in the car. We got soaked but good.
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