Electronics Supply Store in NYC area?

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goldenechos

New member
Joined
Jan 6, 2005
Messages
2
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Can any of you recommend a decent electronics supply store in the NYC area? Manhattan or Brooklyn preferred... but I'll take the train!

I am not a professional repair or design person. I just like to mod stuff and do small projects. I would like to be able to go somewhere and get pots, resistors, caps etc...

mouser.com scares me and I never know what anything is until it arrives at my door (and is often not EXACTLY what I was looking for).

thanx in advance,

tony echos
 
Manhattan Electronics Corp. (since 1977) - 16 W 45th St btwn 5th and 6th Ave. This place is the only real parts place that I know of in the city.

Also..

269 Electronics Inc. at 269 Canal St, a block below Broadway if I remember correctly.
They have a limited selection of new stuff but also sell used/rare components and parts they've pulled from amps and such. Claim to specialize in radio electronics. I believe there are one or two other places like this on Canal. somewhere between Broadyway and Hudson. All of the audio stores around there carry some parts too.
 
I looked along Canal street a month or so ago and never saw any of the old places, although I didn't go that far west. I'll have to go look again. The place on 45th street is VERY expensive, if I remember correctly.
 
[quote author="NewYorkDave"]There are almost no electronic parts stores left... But there's Leeds in Brooklyn.

http://www.leedselect.com/[/quote]

I live walking distance from this place and the last 2 days I have walked over to it and the garage door has been down with no info both times. Yesterday at 4pm and today at 1pm. Is it still open? What hours?

mark
 
The place on 45th street is VERY expensive, if I remember correctly.

Buying parts at Manhattan Electronics is somewhat akin to being on the receiving end of prison love. I refuse to do any business with them on principle alone. I went there a while ago in a pinch looking for something stupid like a resistor or a diode, and whatever it was they wanted like $10 or something crazy like that. 269 electronics actually had a pretty good selection of parts last time I was there, and the old chinese guy who runs it was pretty cool and seemed to know his stuff. Call (212)625-0405 first and ask if they have what you need. They're at 269 Canal, but all the way in the back, behind the luggage and perfumes. You wouldn't see them from the street unless you were looking. As far as I know Leeds is still in business, Walter Sear sent me their way about a month ago when I was looking for some oddball tubes. It would be a real shame if they shut down.

Zach
 
Leeds isn't open much. I think their big day is Saturday. Shoot them an email for hours or an appointment.
 
Wow, I didn't know ANYTHING was still open on Canal. It's good to hear that some tiny echoes of "Radio Row" still exist.

I did visit a small store on Canal about 12 years ago that had some parts; I'd just assumed that they'd be gone by now.

The electronic parts store is becoming a thing of the past, and my hat's off to those few holdouts who've managed to hang in there.
 
When I lived in NYC (until last summer) the only places I could find parts were mouser and other online shops. Don't even bother with other local stores, they'll rip you so bad. Radioshack is good for ordinary stuff tho. (great for knobs)
 
Yeah, it's pretty much a wasteland here for parts. That one place is the only one on Canal I know of that's any good for parts. It's a shame too, I can only imagine what it used to be like.

Zach
 
I am in Auckland now and you know what it's a heaven for DIY'ers. There's a store called Surplustronics across from me, which has virtually everything, old and new. A block away there's a Radio Parts shop,and a chain called Dicksmith, which is like radioshack turbo! There's Jaycar not too far away. Only trouble is to get more specialized items from overseas costs A LOT! :green:
 
Tony,

It's a real problem. I miss the shops that used to be along Canal St. The 269 shop has some parts, nothing predictable.

Mouser and Digi-Key are where the studios get their parts, too!

If you are interested in experimenting, Digi-Key have resistor and capacitor assortment kits....
 
[quote author="SPG"]Buying parts at Manhattan Electronics is somewhat akin to being on the receiving end of prison love.[/quote]
You know, I don't think I've ever even bought anything there personally. I just know that they exist in case of emergencies. I've found any electronics store to be rediculously expensive in comparison to Mouser or Digikey which is why I always use the latter. Sorry to hear it!
 
I stopped in 269 about a year ago, & IIRC their parts dept was comprised of 2 cardboard boxes all the way in the back...1 box full of tubes sockets & similar parts, and the other box contained a giant entanglement of various (and VERY old looking) caps. i needed a 7 pin tube socket for my la2a & they had one, but it was like $6 or $7 or something...pfft

Leeds is a great place (a gold mine really) but yeah, they're only open to the public on saturdays between 10am & 2pm. its best to call before even venturing down there. i forget the owners name, but he was a really nice guy. i bought a handful of AB pots & he threw in a couple for free since they were used.
 
There used to be a place on the Post Road in Portchester, NY called MCM components. I looked for it recently but I couldn't find it, so I assume he's gone too. Park Electronics in Bridgeport, CT will still do some walk-in business, though they're really a wholesaler.
 
I went to Leeds today. Richard (great guy!) said the only open on Saturdays thing is a roomer. Apparently you can also walk in btwn 10AM - 2PM everyday except thursday and sunday, and can call in an appointment most any time. He has no problem selling single parts and small quantities to individuals except when someone walks in and asks for something very rare. The reason being that the place is basically a warehouse with everything in carboard boxes on tall shelves and he has to dig. I think most of the business is filling web orders now but they seemed very happy to have me there (I was the only customer). Call in asking for the parts and he'll give you times to stop by. It's a gray building on the corner of Kent Ave by the water and you have to knock on this busted old door to get in.

Anyway, great place, great service, tons of old and rare stuff for reasonable prices. I scored some 12 position, 2 deck rotary switches for $5 each and he didn't charge tax.
 
i think being open to the public during the week is a fairly new thing, as i've been there a few times in the past (all over a year ago) & it was always sat 10-2. i noticed a few months ago (maybe longer) he stopped listing stuff on ebay & started regularly updating his website, so i guess he's changed things up a bit. either way he's still a great guy to deal with, & quite knowledgeable too.


hey Dave...yeah hehehe, i've been staring @ that damn D train symbol soo much lately it seemed like the thing to do. :grin:

-dave
 
2 cardboard boxes all the way in the back

They must've added some stuff since. I went in a couple of months ago, and they had plenty of drawers of stuff in the back, along with a pegboard full of caps and stuff. Seemed like a decent spot for last minute and emergency type needs. I just refuse to go to manhattan electronics at all, and while radio shack has some stuff, their assortment is hardly varied.
 

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