Long & McQuade Music Review

Most popular and accurate place to rent music equipment.

Bought a Yamaha electric acoustic guitar at this location yesterday, FSX800C Rene recommended. He was very helpful and knowledgeable. And shout out to his lady colleague (apologies, didn't catch your name) who found my phone on the floor. Nice folks! Thank you.

First time renting an instrument, the staff were SUPER helpful getting me all set you and went above and beyond what they needed to do to make sure I was all set up.

Super helpful, knowledgeable staff that are more than eager to answer your questions and provide a great shopping experience.

Always have what I need. Picked up a dmx adapter in a pinch. Rentals are often low quality but very relaxed and always available.

Good people work here. A big store with many entrances leading to different sectors. So far my experience here has been great.

Customer service is lacking. Used equipment is overpriced.

Great helpful staff. They are so knowledgeable about different instruments. Great place for a guitar tune-up!

My favorite place to buy my toys! Every store you always have someone to help you out! Special in Toronto Bloor location, for my amazing customer service always perfect with Tony, May, Terry and Richard!

Always a friendly, courteous, and knowledgeable staff. The staff are always able to help me fine tune exactly what I'm looking for. Whether it's dj gear, sound stuff for my studio or instruments!

It's quite busy as it is the largest in the city.
Has an excellent selection though.

The people here are so helpful and oddly enough don't try and push products. You can tell they know what they are talking about and truly enjoy it.

Really a bunch of specialized music shops in a row. Long & McQuade is a big chain - you'll find most of the big name stuff you're looking for, plus some more esoteric offerings on hand. Staff are helpful and generally plentiful enough that you aren't waiting around to be helped.

Great servicen and I got a beautiful Yamaha. Thanks Tim for all the help!

Placed an order for an electric guitar and had excellent service throughout the whole process

Amazing place to find an instrument of almost any type. Friendly staff was more than eager to help with my questions.

Long & McQuade is my "go-to" place for musical purchases. The staff are knowledgeable & friendly. They have a huge selection. I usually know what I need and I've had to special order on numerous occasions. But that is more because I am looking for something out of the ordinary. However, their parking lot is tiny for the size of store. I haven't always managed to get a spot. I will be a lifelong customer of this store.

Guitar department staff are really nice and helpful, except for one red-head in a bandana (not a real mask...) who has all the charm of a 2x4. Interacted with him multiple times now and he's consistently cold and rude.

There's no room for rudeness in retail (own a shop myself). If you don't want to be there, maybe you shouldn't be. Music stores can intimidate people, and this is why.

100% would recommend! Sam helped me pick a guitar for my husband as an anniversary gift. He asked me a few questions to know what would be right for my husband and showed me a few options. I went with the one he suggested and my husband loved it! It was perfect! Sam was friendly, knowledgeable and very helpful! The other staff appeared to be likewise. Thank you Sam!

It's a very busy location with lots of volume and traffic. But the staff remains friendly and made me feel cared for. I was in town for the weekend and the staff prioritized my set up. Would love to be able to drop by here more often.

Experienced sales people. Provided many options. Traded my guitar at excelent price

Had buyer s remorse when I bought a bass at the Scarborough branch. Richard Fathers helped me find the perfect bass for me and comfortably walked me through financing options helping me make my purchase possible!

Helpful, knowledgeable staff. Wide range of musical instruments and accessories.

Solid shop. Love the rental prices. 4 stars because I've had mixed customer service. Good at times...... Bad other times.

Excellent, I went to see the guitars, for all the styles, colours or shapes.

Reliable place and helpful people to rent musical gear and audio equipment. Highly recommended

Very professional outfit, no snobery, staff are extremely helpful, best place to rent gear hungover on a Sunday morning

A goto for new gear, the financing is the key to this place, still amateur at times, nothing special,

Wide selection of musical equipment, freindly staff and affordable rentals

Great location, good selection, and helpful staff. They always have new products and keep the usual staples in stock.

They lost my rental!

I came from out of town to rent a sousaphone for a 3-day festival. I know sousaphones are not a common rental instrument, so I emailed months in advance, and called 3 times to confirm that they would have it for me.

I arrive in Toronto and come to pick up the horn and its not there! I was counting on L&M and they let me down.

An awesome place to shop or rent musical instruments. Theyre up to dated all the time and their polices are exceptional.

Use to enjoy shopping at this store in the band department when Greg was in charge. The new management is less knowledgeable and less friendly, which unfortunately led me to shop elsewhere now.

they don't even work on commission and theyre more helpful and involved than places that do. such a variety of instruments and equipment for every budget and skill level. 10/10 would recommend. the staff are the loveliest.

Pretty much the only place you need to go to for musical instruments or pro audio equipment, except in rare cases there might be things they don't carry...very, very rare I would say. Staff know what they are talking about and are very easy going

Friendly staff, they are clearly knowledgeable about the instruments and are very helpful for those who want to start an adventure in music

Very helpful staff. Great selection of instruments. Fair prices.

A huge selection of guitars on two floors (electric and acoustic.) I appreciate they carry a wide price range, and you're welcome to try them out- of course. I also like that they stock Canadian-made guitars.

They also have a very competent service area. Their service is not cheap, but that's to be expected for a skilled craftsperson. In addition, they have sheet music and the usual accessories.

They also sell other instruments, but I have no experience with that aspect.

Gave me a good deal on a floor model eDrum, plus throne, dbl kick and sticks. Friendly, honest and helpful. The guys listened to what I wanted and got me exactly that. No bs, no up-selling.

I admit in went to had some trepidation due to a negative past experience trying to buy a guitar at one of the neighboring storefronts. This time I'm extremely pleased.

Very affordable rentals. Very courteous staff. 5 stars.

I have mixed reviews about this location.

On one hand, the people are friendly and knowledgeable and it s a store that does not scare you off w their pretentiousness or aggressive sales tactics.

On the other hand, the guitar repair shop is a whole different story.

I brought my Les Paul in for a basic set up. The guitar was returned to me 5 days later damaged. A 2 cm chip down through the blue translucent finish and into the maple body on the face of the guitar. Also, 2 black marks around the saddle. I was told these were sharpie marks although they couldn t tell me why a sharpie was used to mark the guitar. The pick guard was also very loose. My guitar was stored in a quality hard shell case before and after the service, so it s clear to me that something (a tool) was either dropped on my guitar, or my guitar was dropped during this service.

Now, I was not even told of the damage upon pick up...I noticed it myself when I walked to work across the street and pulled out my guitar to test it out. I promptly returned it (within 10 minutes) and they expressed surprise and embarrassment and claimed they would send it out for repair with an approximate 4 week wait time. I was given a used Les Paul loaner to use during this time.

I received my guitar back about 3 weeks later and brought it home to discover awful fret buzz on the top E string. This especially surprised me considering it was a set up that they were suppose to do on my guitar originally. Also, the pick guard still had not been repaired as it was as loose as it was when I dropped it off. And to top it off, I noticed that the Ernie Ball Heavy Bottoms back up strings that were in my case were used despite me paying for a restring.

I contacted the store and the managers during this fiasco to ask what sort of compensation I would be receiving in return. I expected my money back at minimum and this is exactly what they offered. I was also in the market for a new guitar at the time and I told them that out of principal I would not be buying it at their store unless they made it worth my while. I did my best to indicate that I was not trying to extort the shop, but instead to imply that I am buying the guitar either way and they have exactly one chance to keep me as a customer. The managers felt that repairing my guitar free of charge and returning the $100 set up fee was the best they could do. This was their prerogative and I do not fault them on it however in doing so, they lost the sale of a $1600 guitar (that I did in fact purchase elsewhere) and all future sales. I m confused by their handling of this considering that even an extra $100 off would have been enough to keep me buying from them and a continuing customer.

I now finally have my guitar and I can sleep somewhat soundly at night knowing that I don t have to worry about the treatment it s getting at the Bloor Street Long + McQuade. A fine place to buy instruments, but do not get guitar work done here. They are either sloppy or don t know what their doing, but either way...you do not want them repairing your instruments.

Lots of choices and helpful staff.
Bought a bass!

Great experience. With a store this big, and with so many people running around, it can be daunting trying to find what you want and with any legit customer service. Not in the case with this store - incredibly helpful staff from start to finish. I will be back to buy more!

Great service from the knowledgeable staff paired with great products. What more could you ask for? :-) The staff helped me pick out a good wireless headset mic at a great sale price.

Friendly and knowledgeable staff. Wouldn't recommend the service department though, many better options in Toronto.

Bought an acoustic guitar for my son. Great experience - Bruce was super helpful!

Without a doubt a staple of Canadian musical instruments. Friendly staff, wide range of products, and if they don't have particular model numbers for the big brands of instruments they can order them in. Best bang for your buck with most instruments and recording equipment. Specially if you check their attic sale. And by far, the best rental prices, options and mileage you'll get versus any other small competitor, within reason of course.

Also very flexible with their financing options, I have done it twice. Highly recommend for all your instrument, music equipment and rental needs!

Friendly, helpful staff and a well-stocked keyboard department. I can't speak for other dept.s but whenever I've needed cables or other audio stuff, strings or pics for my mandolin, they had what I came for. They offer well-presented free workshops regularly on a variety of subjects.

Helpful staff but not too helpful if you're not buying that day.

Great store, the staff is very helpful and always ready to answer questions. As someone who knows nothing about instruments its great to know they will help me find exactly what I'm looking for within my price range.

Great people, large selection, bought guitar here, love the store ladies bring your man with you, area a little scetchy.

Love making music, renting equipment, that is your store.

Took my guitar there to get setup by a Luther and they did a great job. The staff is knowledgeable and polite. Happy with there service.

The drum department is great. Recently bought a ride cymbal and my man Mike helped me out. Was able to try a few models on a drumkit and finally picked the perfect one.

As Silvia says, as I am in full agreement with......"The staff are alright, but at times you can't be sure if they are mocking or if they are being genuine. I also don't care for the fact that the used and brand new products are practically the same price. Why would anyone buy used if the brand new one is usually about a $20 difference!?!? Also if you have younger kids or teens, don't let them shop on their own. They will take advantage of them and they will probably come home with something used and not brand new unbeknownst to them."

We bought a guitar and was told you had to wait two weeks for a set up ? We went elsewhere, for an extra cost, for a one day set-up. OMG this is no way to treat a customer. A staff member named Graham was condescending, totally unhelpful about inquiries and seemed uninterested all together. The used guitar was unplayable on purchase, because it was obviously NOT maintained. Also, my son got scammed out of a proper Gibson case. Shameful business practices. There are other choices in Toronto where the staff build relationships, and have an imagination beyond one sale. So disappointing. For some reason, Bloor St has lost its way. Many people have complained about the attitude of the staff and nothing seems to have been done about it.

What an amazing place! Top-notch instruments and top-notch service. I bought my first guitar here years ago. Their prices are competitive. It's always a treat going in here.

Absolutely outstanding, product knowledge, help and fair prices. Go to music store for sure.

Some of the employees don't clearly know a lot of information like they should.

Good selection, knowledgeable and polite staff, however its a big chain shop with standard prices so don't expect much in terms of discounts.

Only thing if hold against them is the guitar repair dept, if youre going to take a guitar or bass to get repaired you're better off going somewhere else. If your instrument wasnt bought and warranted at L&M expect to be either charged high prices depending on the work (in my experience wiring), or just not really helped at all. I would say their dept is at least good for getting certain replacement parts (I.e nuts and switches) that you'd normally have to wait ages on amazon to get and validate so its not all bad.

Great selection of equipment and instruments, very friendly, knowledgeable and polite staff, and they even offer an in-house financing option. They one of the best places for all your music needs! Definitely check them out if you haven't before!

Impressive amount of musical instruments and various accessories for affordable prices.

Quick and helpful staff ,we needed something quick and last min and they're service was amazing

Everything I ever needed in musical instruments. Sales are great. Selection great. Staff is knowledgeable and friendly.

Outstanding service from highly knowledgeable staff and a great selection...no matter what you play.

Been going here for many years. The place to go for musical gear in Toronto.

Rented a violin this month, very friendly atmosphere and rental cost is very reasonable. They offer violin classes too.

Purchased a beautiful travel guitar and got help from really friendly and patient staff, over the phone and in person. The instrument selection is just stunning. This is now my preferred spot for anything music related.