“It can be a bit nutty when we first open the door,” said Dave Mingo of Mingo Music Sales. “It’s a busy day. A lot of people look forward to this every year.”
Dave and his late father Bob held the first sale 18 years ago inspired by their trips to the big guitar trade shows in Montreal, Toronto and California.
“We were going to these trade shows as a young kid and when Dad had a meeting I was on my own – I was like a kid in a candy store,” says Mingo. “We thought it would be great to bring a little of that experience to people here.”
Sales reps from brands like Seagull, Takamine, Washburn, VOX and Peavey will be on hand with a selection of their guitars.
“You’ll see guitars you don’t see every day – maybe you’ve heard a certain brand has a new guitar out but you haven’t seen it yet, haven’t held it, haven’t played it, this is your chance to check one out and talk with the sales reps,” says Mingo. “An online review can’t replace that experience.”
It’s free to get in and Mingo says a sizeable crowd lines up for when the doors open so they can get to Crazy Dave’s Yard Sale of heavily discounted stuff he finds when cleaning out the store – discontinued merchandise, dented and scratched inventory or something he just needs gone to make room for new inventory.
“We get some people who grab stuff and say, ‘I’ll take it, what is it?’ and others who do all the research before they come, and they go round and compare several guitars, and we have some people who don’t shop at all – they might come every year because that is what you do, you go hang out at the guitar show.”
For entertainment Mingo has brought in Doyle Dykes who will perform on Seagull and Godin Guitars at noon.
“He has an amazing fingerpicking style – he’s a guitar player’s guitar player,” says Mingo.
