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Homestead Pickin' Parlor

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Richfield, MN
Homestead Pickin' Parlor

The Homestead Pickin' Parlor has been supplying its customers with everything needed to support a healthy folk music habit for the last thirty years+.
(69)

Instruments, Accessories, Recordings, Books, DVDs, Live Instruction and Jam Sessions are offered.

06/28/2024

HEADS UP! HOMESTEAD PICKIN’ PARLOR IS GOING ON VACATION!

We do this every decade or so, but as we are short handed at this time, the solution is what the Military Industrial Complex calls Factory Shutdown.

We will be closed from Wednesday, July 3 through Sunday July 14. We’ll be back back in the stanchions at 10:00 am, Monday July 15.

We can’t take you with us but we can give you a chance to save a few bucks before we go. Read on!

We don’t like to play favorites, but this one is directed at mandolin players. As you well know, the Kentucky line has been our main family of mandolins for over 40 years.

Between today and the close of business on Tuesday, July 2, we are reducing the price of all new Kentucky mandolins to 30% off MSRP. This applies to both A and F Models. It’s a 3 day sale, the first we’ve ever offered on mandolins. Selling a couple of Kentuckys will make our vacation more pleasant and it will give you some woodshedding time until we get back.

If not before, we will see you after the 15th.

Marv & Dawn

06/25/2024

We continue our listing of old time open back banjos today with an old friend that we are delighted to have back in stock. It is the UTE Standard 12” open back from Boulder, Colorado. It is one of the most reasonably priced US made banjonwe carry and a list of features goes like this:

African Mahogany Neck
Rosewood Fingerboard
Adjustable Truss Rod
Nickel Silver Frets
Rosewood Peghead and Heel Cap Overlays
Unique 5th String Frailing Scoop
7th Fret Railroad Spike Installed
Geared Tuners
12” Multi Ply Rim
Brass Trimmed Dowel Stick
Notched Brass Tension Hoop
14 Shoes and Brackets
Aged Nickel and Brass Hardware
Renaissance Head
Custom Wooden Armrest
Tung Oil and Varnish Finish
No-Knot Tailpiece
Heavily Padded Gig Bag
Two Year Limited Warranty

Our Price = $ 995.00

The 12” Standard UTE is pictured below, but hearing and feeling it is the ultimate decider. Stop in and check it out before it disappears once again.

06/24/2024

We feel very fortunate to have a good supply of open back banjos on hand at present. We will tell you about the remaining ones we have on hand in the next few days but they are disappearing rapidly. Our newest arrival, and the first one of this model we have received is the Pisgah 12” Tubaphone. Here’s what it’s all about.

Stained Maple Neck and Rin
Vintage Headstock and Heel
Richlite Fingerboard
S-Style Frailing Scoop
Quilted Star Inlay
Delrin Nut
Dowel Stick Construvtion
Tubaphone Tone Ring
Brass Side Dots
Metallic Fingerboard Markers
Two Way Adjustable Truss Rod
Renaissance Head
Notched Tension Hoop
Gotoh Tuners
Includes Access Stage One Carrying Bag
Limited Lifetime Warranty

Our Price = $2,495.00

The photo below shows you what it looks like, but hearing it and feeling it is the only way to truly what it’s capable of. Stop in at your convenience and check out this banjo.

06/05/2024

For you early planners. We just received the flyers for this year’s Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS. The dates are September 18 to 22 and the photos below will give you an idea who will be performing. Pick up a copy on your next visit.

05/20/2024

RIP MARK BRIERE!

It is with a great deal of sorrow and sense of loss that we inform you of the passing of our co-worker, Mark Briere. Mark succumbed to the ravages of cancer last Friday evening. As many of you know, he had been fighting a good fight for several months.

Mark was a beacon within the acoustic music community. He was consumed by all things mandolin and was quick to share his knowledge in lessons, in jams and in the many musical aggregations he contributed to over the years.

RIP Mark and peace to his wife Erdyne. Watch the newspaper or this space for final arrangements. Keep them both in your thoughts. Pass the word to those that knew Mark and were aware of his humility and generosity. He is and will continue to be missed.

If you have special memories of Mark, feel free to share them by commenting on this post.

05/18/2024

And then there were none!

05/16/2024

DEERING 1990 GOLDEN ERA PRICE REDUCTION!

One of the banjos we have had in-house for a while and that has gotten a great deal of attention is the 1990 DEERING GOLDEN ERA 5-string.

The GOLDEN ERA is DEERING’s answer to banjo players liking DEERING workmanship combined with the GIBSON sound.
Features include:

Traditional curly maple neck with fuller shape.
Ebony fingerboard.
Hearts and Flowers inlays
Bone nut
Geared tuners
20 hole flathead tone ring
Violin grade 3-ply rim.
One piece cast fl**ge
Deeper resonator sound chamber (ala GIBSON)
Bound resonator and neck
Includes foam lined shaped case.

We have completely set this banjo up including a new DEERING head. If Bruce has not made you try this banjo out, you owe it to yourself to do so.

The MSRP on the GOLDEN ERA is currently $5,719.00. The one in question has been priced at $3.495.00. Effective immediately the price is lowered to $3;095.00 or 54% of List Price. If you are looking to add a tried and true work horse to your banjo stable, check this one out on your next visit.

05/09/2024

Tone Gards are back in stock! More news for mandolin players.

The Tone Gard is designed to isolate the back of your mandolin from your bady giving you an immediate increase in volume.

To envision for yourself how the Tone Gard works, stand two or three feet from a solid wall. Play one of your favorite licks holding the instrument as you normally would. Next hold the mandolin by the neck slightly away from your body. The Tone Gard will give you that same increase in volume.

Tone Gard will fit on both A Model and F Model mandolins. With its low profile, it will fit in a carrying bag and most hardshell cases while installed on your instrument.

A few of the heavy hitters who use Tone Gard are David Grisman, Mike Marshall, Chris Thile, Ricky Skaggs, Andy Statman and many others.

The picture below shows the Tone Gard in position on an A Model mandolin. It would install in the same relative position on your Florentine model.

At $75.00, it’s a pretty inexpensive acoustic amplifier. Check one out on your next visit.

05/08/2024

New from Kentucky mandolins:

As you know, Kentucky mandolins have received the Homestead Pickin’ Parlor seal of approval for the last 44 years. We have found them to be the best value going in mandolins in the working man’s budget. They sound good, play well, and are extremely durable. We currently have 23 models hanging on the wall in both A Model and F Model styles. We set them up before they go on the wall.

The most exciting recent news from Kentucky is the introduction of the KM606 as the beginning model in the F Model series.

Specs on the KM606 are very appealing to mandolin players and are as follows:

Solid Carved Spruce Yop
Solid Carved Maple Back & Sides
Black Body Binding
One Piece Maple Neck
Adjustable Truss Rod
Bone Nut
Radiused Rosewood Fretboard
MOP Position Markers
Radiused Compensated Adjustable Ebony Bridge
Satin Brown Finish
Includes the Kentucky Pro-Tour Carrying Bag

MSRP on the KM-606 is $1,295.00

As you have come to know, our price is a lot lower.

We fortunately have two of these beauties in stock at present. They have been selling well and we encourage you to come in and check one out before these two disappear.

02/11/2024

ONE DAY HPP CLOSURE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2024

We will be closed this Monday while a construction crew replaces missing or damaged ceiling tiles in the store. As I am sure, anyone who has visited us since our dramatic down sizing will appreciate, floor space is at a premium and it wouldn’t be possible to make room for the worker bees without making the areas with intact ceiling tiles nearly impassible.

We will be answering the phones and will be on hand to welcome you at 10,00 am Tuesday. Sorry for any inconvenience and we will be conducting tours of the new ceiling tiles thereafter.

02/07/2024

MBOTMA WINTER WEEKEND ADVANCE TICKETS ARE IN THE HOUSE,

March 1 - 3 are the dates, the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West is the location. This is one of the Minnesota Bluegrass and Old-Time Music Association’s most popular gatherings and one that truly puts a dent in Winter’s grasp and kicks off a new year of traditional music.

We have Weekend Tickets only in three different categories:
MBOTA Member weekend passes at $60.00
Non Member weekend passes at $65.00
Teen weekend passes at $25.00

They are available now and will be available until shortly before the event. If you have attended in the past, you will want to be at the head of the line. And if you have never attended previously, this is a premier opportunity to learn what MBOTMA and traditional music are all about.

They can be purchased during our normal business hours of 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday thru Thursday and 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Friday and Saturday. All proceeds go directly to MBOTMA.

01/17/2024

Hey! Today’s feature is an old time banjo kit. Not a production kit, but a Northwest Airlines modified kit. There’s a photo below. Basically it is an 11” open back pot. The neck has been forcibly removed from the dowel stick. The neck has four planetary tuners on the Peghead. The fifth string tuner is missing. It is missing a nut and a tailpiece. It is a candidate for some gluing, setting the dowel stick, making a new nut and some general TLC. All missing or broken wooden parts are present as is a tired softshell case.

The first $100.00 takes it. This is just one of the nearly forgotten instruments that had been residing in the space we just vacated. More to come.

01/08/2024

Pisgah banjos out of North Carolina continue to be the hottest kid on the block with lead times approaching a year and a half. All that said, we consider ourselves fortunate to have two on hand with the addition of our newest arrival, the Woodchuck.

The Woodchuck is a 12 inch open back banjo. Som of the salient features include:

Ash Neck
Two Way Adjustable Truss Rod
Paddle Headstock
Gotoh Tuners
Richlite Fingerboard
Delrin Nut
Standard Frailing Scoop
Rolled Brass Tone Ring
Three Ply 12 Inch Ash Rim
Renaissance Head
Grooved Tension Hoop
Dowel Stick Construction
Carrying Bag Included

The Woodchuck is pictured below. The price is $1,695.00. A welcome addition to our ten open back banjos on hand and we’ll worth checking out.

01/06/2024

And the winner is……

The lucky individual who comes in and buys this 1986 (pre-Gibson) O.M.I. Model 60 Dobro with hardshell case. It is very clean and was one of the instruments that surfaced during the down sizing. At $1,250.00 it is a wonderful value. The picture below will give you some eye candy, but coming in and putting some picks to it will tell you the full story.

A reminder, our hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday thru Thursday and 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Friday and Saturday.

12/23/2023

ONE MORE SHOPPING DAY UNTIL WE CAN ALL REST A LITTLE EASIER.

We will be open tomorrow , Saturday December 23 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm for you late shoppers. A heartfelt THANK YOU for all of you who put up with our down sizing mess to put some music in the hands of those you were shopping for. It was good to so many faces we recognized in such a short span of time.

We wish you a joyful holiday season with fond reunions of spirits seen too seldom and a HAPPIEST 2024.

See you next time!

12/20/2023

The good news is we received two more of the very popular UTE open back banjos this morning. The bad news is there is only one left. The 12” Ute Standard is still available to put a smile on some clawhammer banjo player’s face. These have been extremely popular and at $995.00, an attainably priced banjo. Check out his unique 5th string fretboard scoop, but don’t wait long.

12/20/2023

More DEERING Goodtime banjos just arrived.

Three open back banjos, two with scoop and one resonator. Open back models without scoop are $499.00, with scoop $529.00. The resonator model is $729.00. Come and get ‘em.

12/19/2023

What to expect in banjos before Christmas.

If you have a banjo player or wannabe banjo player on your shopping list, we do expect some more DEERING Goodtime banjos any day, both open back and resonator and we are also anticipating the arrival of two more UTE banjos from the factory in Colorado before the weekend.

We are in pretty good shape in all instrument areas and we are standing by to help you choose just the right one for you or your gift recipient.

Our hours are 10:00 to 6:00 Monday thru Thursday and 10:00 to 5:00 Friday and Saturday.

12/19/2023

CLEARING THE HARMONICA SHELF

in reviewing the harmonicas on hand, we found three XB-40s by Hohner. These are the big brother to the Special 20. Specially designed for easy bending. They are. Recommended for advanced players. They have been discontinued by Hohner. The keys we have on hand are D, G and Bb.
The photo below shows you what to look for.

When these three are gone there will be no more. They are available at the Get-em-outta-here price of $75.00 each.

12/12/2023

Just in time to make some old time banjo player’s holiday memorable!

This just in from the Pisgah Banjo Company. A 12” Appalachian Model open back banjo in walnut. Pisgah banjos are highly sought after and delivery times have been running 1 1/2 ton2 years.

The 12” pot is surrounded by 18 brackets securing the notched tension hoop all in aged brass. Gotoh tuners make tuning a breeze. The Remo Renaissance head and rolled steel tone ring give this banjo a memorable sound. The photo below shows the banjo but hearing it is best. This banjo won’t be here long so hurry on down.

The Appalachian sells for $ 1,795.00.

12/11/2023

It’s a first in 44 years for The Homestead Pickin’ Parlor

By way of explanation, we are helping a long standing customer who now lives some distance from us, download some of his musical stash.

The piece that is most unusual for us but not for the rest of the world, is the Starfire electric bass by EKS, pictured below, which comes with a carrying bag for $450.00. We’d be delighted to find a new home for it? Give us a call or stop by and check it out.

12/09/2023

IT’s Mando Mania at The Pickin’ Parlor for the holidays!

We probably have the best inventory of mandolins and mandolin family instruments for states around. Today I counted 37 mandolins (A-model and F-model) and I saw an Octave mandolin, a Bouzouki and a Mandola rounding out the selection. If you have a mandolin player on your shopping list, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t stop by while the selection I’d greatest.

The photo below shows what just one corner looks like this morning.

12/07/2023

A POINT OF CLARIFICATION!

It was a little disturbing today to have two customers come in and say “I thought you had closed”. Please read this entire post as we share our situation.

We have been in our present site for 44 years. We are still in that location. For decades, we have had three storefronts in the strip mall that houses us.

Several months ago, the mall was sold. The new landlord felt he could make his investment more profitable by having us vacate one of our storefronts. It was the one that housed our teaching program and our repair facility.

We are still conducting business in the main store as we have for those 44 years. Our office is also where it has been for decades two doors to the south.

So other than being under inventory which we had to move out of the vacated area, we are conducting business as we always have and like every other small business, we would love (that is to say NEED) to have your support during this holiday season. We are open six days a week. Hours are 10:00 to 6:00 Monday thru Thursday and 10:00 to 5:00 Friday and Saturday.

So if you hear anyone say we are closed, please correct them and we hope to see you soon. There are some pretty good deals to be had as we continue to comb through the newly re-found inventory much of which had nearly been forgotten about.

That is all. Over and out!

12/04/2023

Mama does allow washboard playing in here. If it’s on your Country Jamboree Authentic Musical Washboard pictured below. It comes complete with three thimbles, you supply the rhythm. At $38.50 this is a serious instrument and should not be considered as a gag gift.

12/02/2023

A perennial favorite arrived today just in time for the holidays!

They are the Lakota Leathers instrument straps made by members of the Lakota Sioux on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. These straps are hand crafted of Bison and Elk hide. They are extremely supple and most comfortable to wear.

So if you have a mandolin, banjo, guitar or Dobro player on your shopping list, check them out while the selection is best.

12/01/2023

GIVE THE GIFT OF MUSIC. YOU’LL RECEIVE A LIFETIME GIFT OF GRATITUDE IN RETURN!

This year bring music into the life of those on your shopping list.

Suggestions:

Our entire CD collection is still on sale for $3.00 each
Remaining DVDs on sale for $4.00 each
Minnesota’s largest selection of written music for Folk Music lovers
Large selection of LPs
Gift Certificates in any quantity
Music lessons
Largest selection you’ve ever seen of Mandolins
Largest selection you’ve ever seen of Banjos (Bluegrass & Old Time)
We do have a limited number of Homestead Pickin’ Parlor mugs on hand.
Experienced personnel to aid you in your shopping decisions

We are here for you. Our hours are 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday thru Thursday and 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Friday and Saturday.

We are also rediscovering new and used instruments from our storage area we were recently moved out of on a daily basis.

11/28/2023

Our old friend THE SWAMP DOG RM-993 resonator guitar is back in stock.

This Recording King parlor Resophonic guitar has been most popular in both the bright nickel plated version and in this distressed green finish. Both are made with a bell brass body. The nickel plated one just left it’s moorings and the one shown below now hangs in its place. Both have biscuit bridges. They are round neck guitars featuring a European spun cone, mahogany necks with adjustable truss rods. F soundholes and a parlor sized hardshell case complete the ensemble.

$995.00 will put this guitar and case under the tree of the greatest blues fan on your shopping list. These guitars don’t hang around long when we are able to get them and ‘it’s the season.

11/16/2023

Our next offering in our “Get ‘em back on the road” instrument re-hab program is the Yamaha FG420 pictured below. The FG420 was produced by Yamaha in Taiwan from 1989 to 1994. It has a spruce top and nato back and sides. It is referred to as a dreadnaught but as you are aware, the Yamaha dreads were slightly larger than those of the big boys

It is common knowledge that Yamahas were of the finest build quality. They have always been a working man or woman’s guitar and this one still has a lot to offer. It has a multi layered bound body and sound hole rosette. It has geared machines with dust covers, a black pickguard and dot position markers on the fingerboard.

And best of all, as we approach the Minnesota humidifying season, it comes with a hardshell case in which it is most easily kept humid. All of this for $225.00. A perfect guitar for a beginner or someone looking for a travel guitar that will keep the Gibson or Martin safe at home. Of lesser consequence, you will find a strap in the case. A clincher if I ever heard one.

11/14/2023

Today’s item up for adoption is an Epiphone PR350S guitar as shown below. It features a solid spruce top, ovangkol back and sides and comes with a soft shell case to tote it from gig to gig. It has sealed, geared tuning machines. With the solid top, it’s a pretty good sounding guitar. A good deal for someone just starting out. And it is only $185.00. The Autoharp we mentioned yesterday found a new home today, so if you have been thinking about taking up guitar, I would recommend jumping on this one. Call us at (612)861-3308 to have us hold it for you.

11/13/2023

OK - there are not merely as many Autoharp jokes as there are banjo jokes, but they are looked down upon by many. But not us. We love Autoharps and in our recent spate of down sizing, we ran into a bunch of them. And as we get to them, we are going to put wheels under them and make them available to our discerning customers.

The first one out of the chute is the OS73C pictured below. It is a reissue of a 1930’s Autoharp updated with all the modern conveniences. It is a 21 bar harp that can be played in 11 keys. The top is solid spruce, back and sides are laminated mahogany and the tuning pin blocks are of laminated hard rock maple. The finish is a satin black reminiscent of the 90 year old models. We have added a cover over the string anchors which the factory left off but which can save lots of wear and tear on your clothing and the carrying case which is included.

You will also receive a tuning wrench and an assortment of picks to get you started. The price is $315.00. First come, first served. (612)861-3308.

Address

6625 Penn Avenue S
Richfield, MN
55423

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 6pm
Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 6pm
Friday	10am - 5pm
Saturday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+16128613308

Website

http://www.homesteadpickinparlor.com/

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Videos

NO MANDOLIN SUPPLY CHAIN PROBLEMS HERE, With all the talk about supply chain problems earlier this year, we wanted to make sure that we were in good shape on the ever popular mandolins. As you can see in the video below, we currently have 32 mandolins in stock with more expected any day. We have new ones, used ones, A models and F models set up and ready to go. If you have a mandolin player on your shopping list, stop by. We have a goodly supply of books and we offer live instruction as well.