Frontline Eurosports Presents Big City Getaway:
Meadowood Music
MEADOWOOD MUSIC
ALLENTOWN PIKE, BLANDON, PA 19510
610-916-1285 • WWW.MEADOWOODMUSIC.COM/
Not all that long ago I wrote a Free Wheelin’ called Common Ground – about how so many riders are guitar players as well and we all react when we see a tarp-covered bike in a garage or a guitar case in someone’s living room. That being said we are always happy to find some that are musically special. Some will say that nothing happens by coincidence and that things happen for a reason. That may or may not be true, but over the last few months, I had been ‘Jonesing’for a new 12-string. This all started with a visit to Gruhn Guitars in Nashville and a Taylor guitar that was way over my pay-grade, not to mention my lacking skill level. Then there was a Takamine at one of the chain stores – used, but very nice. Alas, it was sold when we returned. We were combining a little holiday concert (Peter Mayer, of Buffett’s Coral Reefer Band, was playing in Reading, Pennsylvania) with some Backroads S & S (seeking and searching). There was a lot to see and do in the Berks County region of PA and we would make the most of a short overnight stay west of Philadelphia.
It was the weekend before Christmas and things were pretty icy, so this overnight was done by car (perish the thought) and I
was driving. Heading down the Allentown Turnpike and just north of Reading, in the town of Blandon, Shira spotted an old stone building set
back just a touch from the road. She said, “ Hmmm, that was a stringed instruments store.”Que? A quick u-turn and seconds later we rolled into Meadowood Music – one of the neatest music shops we have been in for a long time. In a world full of big-box music stores – Sam Ash, Guitar Center and the like, it is refreshing to discover smaller and more laid-back establishments.
Here along the busy Allentown Pike, in this old stone building that had to a be few centuries old, the husband and wife owners - Paula and Mike - have created something different and special. We like Mom & Pop... obviously. Where in most of the larger and more corporate stores you will find the usual big names – Fender, Gibson, Taylor and the like – here at Meadowood you will find a selection of different instruments. Yes, they do carry Martin, as the factory is fairly local to them, but they also carry several brands that you rarely see; one being Seagull, a superb guitar from Quebec. I was not familiar with this make, but I sure am now. Walking around the small shop, the rooms that might once have been a parlor or kitchen were now a place where guitars, basses, dulcimers, and fiddles now hang from hand-made custom shelves made by Mike and his son.
Very nice.
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Upstairs they have a number of rooms that now see students of all ages coming to learn to play guitar, banjo, ukulele and the like from a large number of dedicated musicians offering quality mentoring. Meadowood Music offers more than in- struments & accessories. We were told to make ourselves at home so we did and I strolled into the back rooms that hold their repair shop. Now, this was very impressive as Meadowood offers expert repair & restoration of all stringed instruments. Mike builds and restores violins and is an authorized Martin Guitar warranty service technician. If something bad ever happens to any of our guitars Mike will be the man who will make it right. We will try never to have to hire him for this.
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While we were there several ‘regular’ customers came in for this, that and the other thing and Mike knew them all by name. See if that ever happens at Sam Ash or in an email to Sweetwater. When the Takamine was taken I told Shira it was not to be and that if a 12-string did appear it would be something special and the circumstances would be as well. In the middle of the pack of guitars on one rack was the single 12-string in the house; A Seagull Coastline S12. Built with a wild cherry bottom, cedar top and silver maple neck – it was a four-figure guitar at a mid-
three-figure price. I asked Mike to take it down for me as I never want to be ‘that guy’ who knocks guitars into guitars and nicks, scratches or worse to a shop’s instrument. He took it down, strummed it a few times to check the tuning and handed it over. He asked for a minute to handle a customer and returned to tell me about Seagull.
A few chords in and I knew I might be in trouble (trouble of a good kind). Unlike some places, this would be where the hard-core sales pitch occurs, but he seemed honestly into telling me about the guitar and how this Canadian machine differs from others. For sure he’d love to have me pull out the credit card this day, but he settled into maybe another time and then showed us around the shop.
If you are a guitarist, bassist, fiddler, or just like music, a stop at Meadowood Music is well worth the effort, slight detour or a day trip. The building is exquisite, the owners are a delight and the instruments, not the usual fare.
By the way, we returned the next morning as Mike opened the shop and that 12-string Canadian guitar rests happily next to its new family of Ovations, Guild, Fender, and Martin. Maybe there are no coincidences after all.
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