I thought Kalua was on Danforth near Coxwell (?) at one point before going to the Scarborough (Kingston Rd) location. That was a big one. Saw an Orchestron (?) there keyboard buddy wanted one...too $$.....fading memory.

Another Tornhill Hill store was '-----?' Yonge St S of 16th. Good deals for a while. And don't forget Sparling-Maurice on Wilson before it became L&M (predatory bunch, eh?) not that it's a bad thing. Power Supply (O'Connor) was a fav for a bit, too.
Some place downtown (Jarvis) sold Sound City and some Ampeg dealer on a second floor might have sold me something......where did that SVT come from......hmmm

 

...do they have a web site?

 

I remember Richmond's Trading Post it was on Church Street and there were a few pawn shops close by.

I did a bit of bussiness with them in the 80's

:smilie_flagge17:

 

I thought Kalua was on Danforth near Coxwell (?) at one point before going to the Scarborough (Kingston Rd) location. That was a big one. Saw an Orchestron (?) there keyboard buddy wanted one...too $$.....fading memory.

Possibly you were thinking of "Stop 8" music. They were located on Danforth near Coxwell. Eventually they moved to a larger store a couple of blocks west of Coxwell. The owner was a fellow by the name of "Art" and the other fellow who worked there was Dave Hutchinson I think. I used to work there part time. Eventually they relocated to Pickering. If thats not the one you were thinking about, then you may be thinking of Larry Sykes music. That was around Danforth and Donlands.

Kalua also had a location at Danforth and Broadview.

 

I bought my first amp at Kalua, in about 1968. I remember going with my Dad, they had a used Vox AC30 (!) for a pretty good price. He put some money down on it and we were to pick it up in a couple of days. I really didn't know how good it was, but it looked fine to me. We went back to pick it up, and the guy said sorry, we sold it, but you can have this one for the same price. It was a "Imperial Cobra Mark 2", a Canadian tube head, about 20 watts, and a 1X15 cab with a Jenson in it. It was bigger, so I was happy. It actually wasn't a bad amp, no AC30, though.

 

Kalua also had a location at Danforth and Broadview.

THAT must have been it.
I have a hazy recollection of visiting there only to find that I then had to travel out to Scarb to find the new store.

 

Seems like all the good music stores were on the east end of Toronto. Were there any on the west end?

:smilie_flagge17:

 

Oh Yeah Kalua Music. They had two locations, Broadview and Danforth and Kennedy and Eglinton. They moved to Kingston road in the Bo Peep plaza in the early 70's. I lived right around the corner. I couldn't believe it when I saw the sign saying " Kalua Music opening soon". Bought a few things from them. Including my first issue of Guitar Player magazine. I was one of those high school kids hanging around in there. I'm sure they could of killed me.
Power Supply on O'Connor, The Vox Store on Yonge south of Bloor, L&M on Yonge St. (just north of Bloor), Whaley and Royce on Yonge near Dundas (first place I ever saw a Marshall amp for sale), TireBiter Sound on Yonge (near Queen...first place I saw a Mellotron). all magical places in Toronto way back when.


cheers
pete

 

Wow, blast from the past. Ed2000 nailed it with Mr B (Beresford) owing the store, and his son taking over the store later on. Guy Beresford was a decent gent who offered pretty reasonable customer service when others would turn their backs after a sale... good for him. Kalua did move from the Kingston Rd location over to Shephard and Pharmacy... that was the last I recall of the business. Wherever you are Guy, here's hoping you and your family are doing well!

Cheers... Woody (a former employee)

 

Guy Beresford works at Yorkville Sound as a repair tech!

 

I lived down the street from Kalua (Kingston/Ridgemoor).
Bought my first electric guitar there. An Oxblood Univox LP.
I remember they'd put a guitar on sale in the front window
and drop the price $5 every day until it sold.

 

I lived down the street from Kalua (Kingston/Ridgemoor).
Bought my first electric guitar there. An Oxblood Univox LP.
I remember they'd put a guitar on sale in the front window
and drop the price $5 every day until it sold.

Hey @laristotle where did you live and what school did you go to? I was on Heale Ave. Went to John A Leslie and RH King.

I do recall them doing that $5 discount thing in their window. I also recall a MEDALLION issue Gibson Flying V being in their window for what seemed forever and wishing they would do that $5 reduction/day on that baby....hahahaha

 

Great thread! Toronto was fab for music stores. I just about lived at Sparling-Maurice. One employee became my brother in law, Bill (Sparling) played at my sister's wedding. Great memories. I had a 20 watt Marshall head that I bought there. Sigh...Long gone. (hits forehead repeatedly).

 

Bill sold me my first Les Paul in 78. Took 6 months of installments to pay it off and I still have it today.

 

How about Music Mecca in the west end? I can't remember the exact location.

 

Yeah, Whaley and Royce was where I saw my first Marshall stack for sale.
Back then, I gravitated to Long & McQuade, where I liked to hang out with Pete Traynor, when he worked there.
When The 12th Fret was offa Yonge it was a very good store, and now it's only better.

For me, in all of Ontario, only music stores in Thunder Bay rival Toronto.

That hitting your forehead repeatedly is catching, thinking about my little 60's Marshall reverb head.

 

How about Music Mecca in the west end? I can't remember the exact location.

Not sure of the name..there was\is a store on West Drive, Brampton...all the guitars were displayed high on the wall.
Kipling north of Rexdale - now gone too.

I also enjoyed visiting the guitar store in Pickering village(80's) (Marios?)which moved to Bayly(90's) and then back to the original location. Don't know if they're still around. The owner is a 'low talker'.

Re: Kalua. Back in '66 before I bought the Tele from Kalua my parents took me to a small guitar store on Victoria Pk Ave between Lawrence and Eglinton. No idea of the name of it.

 

Guy is now the Service Manager at Yorkville Sound. What I'd really like to know is the whereabouts of Mike Kojima.

 

Seems like all the good music stores were on the east end of Toronto. Were there any on the west end?

:smilie_flagge17:

Cosburn music in Bramalea. It was my first job in the early '70's. I washed the floors, cleaned the toilets, jumped on guitar boxes to make them flat etc... I took the $$$ I made and bought a '73 SG which I still have. A year or so later I bought a Fender Vibro Champ that I sadly traded in the late '80's at a pawn shop on Church St for a flute for my lovely wife. I've tried finding that lil Fender for years now.

DW

 

Seems like all the good music stores were on the east end of Toronto. Were there any on the west end?

:smilie_flagge17:

Hudson Music.
Jane and Dundas.
intersting inventory, but a total mess. Like a music instrument hoarders basement.

 

It was a mess but you always found what you needed.

 

Not sure of the name..there was\is a store on West Drive, Brampton...all the guitars were displayed high on the wall.

Music Plex. It was owned by a guy named Ron who had long red hair & a bushy mustache.

I'll never forget Ron b/c in '92 I decided to sell my first guitar, which was a '73 Mustang that I'd bought from my Dad's buddy for $300. Ron gave me $300 & another $300 for a junky old amp that had been thrown in for free along with the Mustang. I was happy to turn a $300 profit, especially since I now had enough $ to buy a '80 Les Paul Custom that was finished in a lovely metallic baby shit green.

About a year later I decided that I wanted a Strat, so I went back to Music Plex to trade the LP Custom & a beat up '56(?) Duo Jet straight up vs. a SRV Strat (I think the Les Paul ended up in the hands of Phil X of Triumph & You Tube fame). Ron then informed me that the junky old amp he'd bought from me was a tweed Deluxe & that he had restored it. He let me play it for a while but wouldn't sell it back to me.

That $300 has haunted me to this day...

 

Hudson Music.
Jane and Dundas.
intersting inventory, but a total mess. Like a music instrument hoarders basement.

I grew up in that area - where was it? Somewhere on Dundas?
There was a used cameras & music place on Dundas, north side, down near Vesuvio's Pizza (near High Park). I think it might have been called 'Macks'(?).
I put down a $5 deposit on a $200 used strat there, but couldn't come up with the balance, so I lost it.

Later, around '62, I bought a used strat at Mundinger's Music on Yonge, not far from Whaley & Royce. It was a '59 strat, brown tolex case. I paid $320 for it.

I remember Pete Traynor working in the back of L&M - I had his business card - 'MARS' (Musical Amplifier Repair Service).

 

I grew up in that area - where was it? Somewhere on Dundas?
There was a used cameras & music place on Dundas, north side, down near Vesuvio's Pizza (near High Park). I think it might have been called 'Macks'(?).
I put down a $5 deposit on a $200 used strat there, but couldn't come up with the balance, so I lost it.

Later, around '62, I bought a used strat at Mundinger's Music on Yonge, not far from Whaley & Royce. It was a '59 strat, brown tolex case. I paid $320 for it.

I remember Pete Traynor working in the back of L&M - I had his business card - 'MARS' (Musical Amplifier Repair Service).

Hudsons was just north of dundas can't remember the name of the street on the north side of the bridge, and slightly east of Jane. Zdenos motorcycle shop was west of it.
i know Vesuvios in the junction , but don't remember Mack's. used to be a lot of used appliance shops there so I prob just never noticed. Although my first guitar and some lessons were from Hudsons, after that I only shopped at Steve's or L&m.

 

Hudsons was just north of dundas can't remember the name of the street on the north side of the bridge, and slightly east of Jane. Zdenos motorcycle shop was west of it.
i know Vesuvios in the junction , but don't remember Mack's. used to be a lot of used appliance shops there so I prob just never noticed. Although my first guitar and some lessons were from Hudsons, after that I only shopped at Steve's or L&m.

Got it. I remember Zdenos on the corner (Jane & St. Clair). I also remember Archery Craft on the east side - I guess Hudson's was near there. Motorcycles, guitars & weapons all in the same place - what more could a young guy wish for... oh yeah, I used to date girls around there - where did you live?

 

I spent alot of time in Hudsons when I was growing up. The owners name I believe was Paul Hudson, Every year or so in the late seventies they would have a going out of business sale buy one guitar get one free! Then they would reopen the next week, I think I saw at least three sales like that ........lol. Another store that was lots of fun back then was on Queen and Bathurst Powells Music and Luggage. They used to get alot of entery level stuff but on occasion you could find some cool Fender or Gibson stuff would come thru. I wish that I bought every old Colorsound pedal he had, there were always alot on hand. Richmonds Trading Post was another great store, guitars on one side cameras on the other but great gear came in there. I remember buying a really cool 68 Gibson 330 for only $600. My favorite was Kindness and Son on Church south of Dundas a little hole in the ground you would not notice to much, They were one of Toronto's first Fender dealers and had a basement full of replacement parts from the 50's and 60's bodies necks pickups even amp cabinets. I remeber some of the older guys with these mint vintage Fenders and then they told me that they would go in and buy all the parts and build new vintage Fenders! Buy the time I found it most of the cool stuff was all gone. I enjoy going to L&M and places like that but those old stores were a lot more fun.

Cheers
John

 

I spent alot of time in Hudsons when I was growing up. The owners name I believe was Paul Hudson, Every year or so in the late seventies they would have a going out of business sale buy one guitar get one free! Then they would reopen the next week, I think I saw at least three sales like that ........lol. Another store that was lots of fun back then was on Queen and Bathurst Powells Music and Luggage. They used to get alot of entery level stuff but on occasion you could find some cool Fender or Gibson stuff would come thru. I wish that I bought every old Colorsound pedal he had, there were always alot on hand. Richmonds Trading Post was another great store, guitars on one side cameras on the other but great gear came in there. I remember buying a really cool 68 Gibson 330 for only $600. My favorite was Kindness and Son on Church south of Dundas a little hole in the ground you would not notice to much, They were one of Toronto's first Fender dealers and had a basement full of replacement parts from the 50's and 60's bodies necks pickups even amp cabinets. I remeber some of the older guys with these mint vintage Fenders and then they told me that they would go in and buy all the parts and build new vintage Fenders! Buy the time I found it most of the cool stuff was all gone. I enjoy going to L&M and places like that but those old stores were a lot more fun.

Cheers
John

Just searching around for anything Hudson Music related, by request of my brother.

Paul Hudson was my uncle. As a musician, I loved opportunities to visit the shop. Not often enough, unfortunately, due to us living on the other side of the city.
He died about 15 years ago.
The business died due to a messy divorce.

 

Yes, Kindness (Jim, Robert & George), on Church St., the only Fender dealer in town at one time. I used to hang there like a laptop in a Starbucks. I remember the 'dawn' of the Fender Reverb, Jazz Bass, Jaguar, black tolex, silver face... all in that store. Next door was Geo. Heinl - Gretsch, Rick & Burns. I bought a Gretsch there in '61- $210 - still have it.
There were others near Richmonds, on 'pawn shop row'. Boy, could those burn up a saturday afternoon.

 

Got it. I remember Zdenos on the corner (Jane & St. Clair). I also remember Archery Craft on the east side - I guess Hudson's was near there. Motorcycles, guitars & weapons all in the same place - what more could a young guy wish for... oh yeah, I used to date girls around there - where did you live?

My parents were split so I spent my time between a house off Jane/Annette and one on Windermere.
st. Clair...that's the name of the street Hudson's was on. Duh...been too long since I've been back around there.

 

In the mid- late 80's, IMO the quality of gear at richmonds wasn't great. Not a lot of gems, mostly they became resellers of entry level Asian stuff that didn't carry much cache back then...Aria, Samick, etc.