Long & McQuade

I always find that they have great sales reps here, all of them are very helpful, answers any questions you have, and they don’t discriminate based on your music experience. They’ll help you try out almost any instruments/​tool and don’t mind if you stay in the store just to try out things. All the hired staff are really experienced in music.
Selection is great, they got a large variety of instruments and accessories, suitable for beginners and pros. Finding specific models of instruments is a little hard, but no big deal, just ask a rep. Great stuff all around.

I rented some gear for a gig and called a week before to book the rental.
I paid upfront with my credit card over the phone for the rental but when I got to the store I was charged a surprise $ 40 «holding fee». Confused seeing as I paid in full up front I was informed that the fee was to guarantee that the gear I had already paid for would be held for me. Huh? Apparently paying upfront in full does not guarantee that the gear will be there which makes absolutely no sense. Unless of course you pay them an extra $ 40 for nothing.
I pleaded with the guy to forgo the unfair, undiscussed hidden charge and he smugly said «Do you want the gear or not pal?». Had I not had a gig in three hours I would have walked. To make matters worse they initially showed me a piece of gear that was like new but then gave me one with missing knobs and beer spilled all over it. I only noticed when I got to the car and had to go back in and exchange it. They thought it was funny. Nice.
I will never go back to L&M and now happily take my business else where and for better rental prices too I might add.

I’ve been a long time customer at the store. Absolutely loved the selection, deals, and some of the staff.
Don’t put your instrument in for a tune up though. They obviously do not cater to the more casual musicians. I put my 6-​string bass in for a tune up and truss rod adjustment. They had my bass for 1 month and 2 weeks before I got it back! They said it would be a 2 week job. I contacted them about 4 times and the job was not complete. The 5^th time I said I was coming to pick it up; they informed me the truss rod was not adjusted and the job wasn’t complete. When I got there they took 15 minutes to bring me my bass, and when they did, the job was «done». They did a 15 minute job after having it for over a month.
2 stars because of the selection, prices, and the fact they didn’t charge me for the tune up because of their inconvenience. I’m pretty sure a more known local musician would have had his back within a week.

I drive all the way from Vaughan to buy from this store and have been for years. The staff are great. They bend over backwards to get what you need. They aren’t on commission so the advise you’ll get is sound. (Excuse the pun :-) I love the fact that I can try whatever I want and I have 30 days to bring it back if I don’t like it; no questions asked, for any kind of musical instrument or gear. That’s huge.
Over the years I’ve accumulated a ton of guitars and gear. Because of their great trade-​in program, I’ve always been able offset the cost of a lot of new gear with trade-​ins.
Next, as a part of a gigging band you need a place where you can rent reliable gear at a reasonable price. So there is no need to own the more expensive gear, (lights or larger pieces of a PA, etc) Because of this, I know we can do a gig of any size. Plus the fact that you can rent from one location and take it back to any other location comes in handy.
Finally… selection, availability and price. When you call and ask if they have something in stock, they check their own inventory. If they don’t have have it, they check the other 50 locations across Canada. If they don’t have it, they can usually get pretty quick and at a great price because unlike other stores, when they order from a vendor, they have the buying power of 50+ locations.
I highly recommend. L&M in general but the Mississauga location specifically.

Adequate selection but not a great selection IMO. Staff seemed much more helpful than Burlington store. One little aggravation, verified on their website that an item was in stock… got there and it took over 30 minutes for the salesman to verify it was not. Ah well, at least he actually looked.