Northern Musical Supply has rich tradition

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
MUSIC MAN AND WOMAN — Tim and Dorene Humphrey have kept people in the musical vein for nearly 30 years with their business Northern Musical Supply Company. The couple have a wide variety of guitars and other musical instruments to choose from at their 82 Calais Road location.
By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
    HODGDON — Tim and Dorene Humphrey know a thing or two about music. After all, the Humphreys have been operating Northern Musical Supply for nearly 30 years in the Shiretown, so it is pretty safe to say the couple know the ins and outs of their business quite well.
    It was Tim who came up with the notion of opening a music store on Franklin Street (now Chandler Street) in Houlton back in 1984, starting out with a focus solely on guitars. The couple moved to their current location on 82 Calais Road in Hodgdon in 1998.
    Dorene’s father ran a used car business — Ellis Auto Sales — for 30 years from the same location and there are several photos hanging on the walls inside as a tribute to that business.
    “Keeping small has been the key to success,” Humphrey said.  “The weird thing about this business is, the more things I get; the more places I find to display things. I have five times the inventory than when I first moved out here, and yet it all still fits.”
    Today, Northern Musical Supply offers much more than just guitars — although those are still bountiful. In addition to guitars, Humphrey sells amplifiers, sound systems, banjos, microphones, harmonicas, drum heads and sticks, tuning equipment, strings, and various other musical accessories. A lot of his additional inventory came from a music store in Calais that closed shop.
    Pianos, keyboards and drum kits can also be had through special order. He specializes in Ibanez and Walden guitars, but also has Samick, Michael Kelly and B.C. Rich guitars. Humphrey believes he is the only dealer north of Portland to sell Gold Tone banjos and mandolins.
    Humphrey also does repair work on guitars and dabbles a bit with fixing amplifiers. Re-stringing guitars is what keeps him the busiest.
    “We sell a lot of strings,” he said. “If you are a serious player, you need a new set of strings every gig or two. If you are only playing for your own enjoyment at home, you need to change the strings every month or so.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
NEED A GUITAR? — Northern Musical Supply of Hodgdon has a wide variety of acoustic and electric guitars to choose from.
    While Humphrey does not offer musical lessons at this time, he can point people in the direction of those who offer such services. He sells instructional CDs, DVDs and books.
    Music has been a huge part of Humphrey’s life. He is a self-taught musician who played in local bands during his high school and college days, and continues to do so to this day. He can play every instrument found in his store.
    “It started out as just a little shop with some strings and a couple of guitars, because that is what I liked,” he said. “Now it has grown to where we are at today.”
    Upon graduation from Ricker College in 1969, Tim taught physical education in Sherman as that was the only job opening he could find. Humphrey filled that post for about a half a year when an opening came up to teach English at the middle school. He stayed at the post until 1979 when he took a job at Hodgdon High School teaching English until 1989. He then taught at the middle school level from 1989 to his retirement in 2004.
    Northern Musical Supply is open Monday-Friday, noon to 6 p.m. and 12-3 on Saturday and Sunday in November and December.     For more information, call Humphrey at 538-5164 or 532-6895 or visit his Facebook page.