I was having a hard time finding someone good to restring my guitar. John does an excellent job…read moreand he has been very helpful with other issues I have had with my guitar. I really appreciate having this small family owned shop to go to that is really available to help and takes his time to meet your needs. I like supporting a small business in our community as well, this shop offers the service that is lost in the bigger corporate stores. Thanks John. Mark S.

I'm an almost 60 yrs old beginner and went in to purchase a couple of medium picks, and John spent…read moreas much time as I needed. I took a walk around and was looking at some amps and john asked what if anything I was interested in. I really didn't have a clue but John spent as much time as I needed. He took out a Les Paul and gave me a demonstration of the lowest cost amp he had and said this will get you by until I am ready for somethimg better. I love the amp, (I'll keep it forever. First amp right?) John was an incredible help to a complete newbie and now I can't wait until I need something else. The days are dwindling when you can walk in to a store and speak to the owner and receive that kind of support and caring. Please go and receive it. Bring your children so it will not be lost. Ron F.

Fantastic workmanship. Fixed up my piano in no time, did a great job, and cost me 1/3 of what I…read morewould've paid elsewhere.

Ken at Audio Nexus has always been extremely fair, super knowledgeable and always reasonable. He…read morehas repaired my GK bass head twice over the last 12 years after I rattle the heck out of it. I recently purchased an Ampeg head that was toast and in need of repair. It turned out the head could not be repaired even after Ken took pieces from a donor amp that he had. Fast forward 3 weeks later after I couldn't sell it for parts and I ended up finding the main board new from Ampeg. Ken agreed to swap it out and also replaced the preamp tubes which were toast as well. This long winded story is an example of Ken's persistence and dedication to help his customers. That is why he comes so highly recommended.

I bought my current cello from Kevin; it's wonderful. He takes great care of his instruments and…read morehis customers. Because he builds instruments he understands them. He is an artist, and he's right here in New Haven! No need to travel to get the best instruments and service.

I had the pleasure of utilizing K h Chapin Fine violins shop service. Renting a decent cello, I had…read morevisited the shop and was very impressed. Although the name is Violin shop, he is currently making and repairing cellos as well! Aside from its coziness, Kevin's shop offers a unique experience. Personalized set up of rental instrument was almost a shock as rental price is very competitive. I was renting from a big company before but have decides to rent from this shop for acute set up and customer service. I do not regret. Should you are a beginner music student like me, please consider this shop! Kevin will walk you through what instrument to look for as well as personalized set up of your instrument.

Brian's Guitars is a boutique guitar shop that opened in Hamden, Connecticut in September 2010. It…read morewas founded by guitarist Brian Giampietro. An avid guitar player since age 12, Giampietro eventually enrolled in the Jazz Studies program at Western Connecticut State University. After graduating with a degree in Jazz Guitar Performance, Giampietro began working at G Guitars: a guitar shop in New Haven that was owned by his uncle. Before long, Giampietro was practically running the store himself. Eventually he opened his own shop, Brian's Guitars, at a strip mall in Hamden. In 2017, after seven successful years, Giampietro relocated the shop to a larger space in his hometown of Cheshire. That same year, he and his wife Katie also opened West Main Music Academy: a multi-room music lessons studio across the street. Brian's Guitars carries a wide variety of electric and acoustic guitars, basses, amplifiers, effects pedals, and accessories. They are an authorized dealer Paul Reed Smith, Fender, Taylor Acoustics, Swart Amps, PRS Acoustics, Dr. Z, Victoria Amps, and more. In addition to the aforementioned brands, the shop also carries several used guitars and equipment from brands like Gibson, Gretsch, Suhr, Mesa Boogie, and more. It just so happens that I know Brian Giampietro pretty well because we were both music students at WCSU during the same time. We even performed in a few jazz ensembles together. In recent years, both of my young sons have shown an interest in music as well. My older son takes after me; he likes drums and percussion. However, my younger son has shown an interest in guitars. I told my wife, "I know just the place where we can show our son some serious guitars." Although I've known about the store since it opened, my recent visit was actually my first. My family and I were blown away by the selection. My son's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw all of the different colors and body types. My whole family and I were very impressed with the selection. Unfortunately Brian wasn't there when we stopped in, but his staff were helpful, knowledgeable and very friendly. If my son still shows interest in guitars when he is a little older, I know that we'll be coming back.

I purchased a used Fender American Professional II Telecaster Limited Edition Butterscotch Blonde…read morefrom Brian's Guitar online. This was the first time using Brian's and they were quick to respond via email. They provided a decent price for the model I was looking for. Item was delivered quickly and the guitar was packaged very well. The condition was very nice and I was pleasantly surprised to see the tuners were upgraded to the premium fender vintage tuners. I really like the look of these better and they also included the original tuners in the case as well. Nice bonus! I highly recommend Brian's Guitars!!

This place has turned into my place for drum equipment. A heads-up to Eric, and the rest of the…read moreguys I deal with in the drum area. I'm not the most personalble guy and can come-off as a slight bit antisocial (Just sit me behind a set and I let the drums do the talking, for me!) and the guys handling the drum section know how to interact with people that are even as recluse as me, and that shows an excellence in customer service! Guitar Center, in Southington, should be ashamed, and should take some notes on work ethic from these men.

So I just heard that the 100 year-old Sam Ash chain of stores is closing - and that is what has…read moreprompted this review, I apologize in advance for its length: For over 26 years, my company did business with Sam Ash. Back in the 90's I would walk into the Woodbridge, CT store and be properly and professionally greeted, guided to the salesperson that would help with my purchase and get great advice, information and service from a knowledgeable staff member and most of the time, fellow musician. Who could ask for more? Fast forward to the 2020's and the retail giant is totally unrecognizable - so hearing the news this morning that the chain was closing didn't exactly come as a shock, as I predicted this years ago. The tell-tale signs were everywhere and honestly, I'm surprised it took this long. It doesn't however make this news any less heartbreaking. I say heartbreaking because anytime a brick and mortar establishment closes, every American should stop and tremble. This is the end of another era. Out of tradition or some sort of misplaced loyalty, I've always stopped into Sam Ash to give them yet "Another Chance" to redeem themselves and every time, I left the store empty-handed, disappointed and kicking myself for wasting my time there - again. No greeting at the door. No smiling faces. No staff to help. No knowledgeable staff on hand. So, I stood there and waited and waited. When someone finally decided to acknowledge me, they were useless. Then to add insult to injury, as time went on, they rarely stocked anything I needed. So I just stopped considering them as a supplier. Most of the time, I was there for high-end sound reinforcement for live performances - Large power amps, speakers, sonic maximizers, cabling, wireless mics, mixers, etc. My last visit there about ten years ago. I was shopping for a full-size keyboard to incorporate into my studio. I had specific questions as I'm a guitar player, not a keyboard player, and I got stuck with a salesperson who knew less about keys than I did. So how many time times do professional musicians, engineers, producers and sound people let this scenario play out before we let Jeff Bezos take care of us? And here we are. Towns across America are full of little corner music shops that sell low end everything for the grade school student and beginning musician and that's as it should be, but professionals go to stores like Sam Ash for the performance grade stuff. And when you're dumping two thousand to 12 thousand on a Les Paul or Strat or maybe 5K on a vintage Vibrolux, you want your sales staff to know their stuff. You EXPECT to be treated a certain way. You want to be able to touch, feel, see, hear and play that dream guitar you've been waiting a lifetime to buy. You want to smell that cedar top on that new Classical guitar. Kinda hard to do with an on-line purchase. Imagine buying a new car without the test drive! And THAT is what makes this a sad day in America. It's another sign of the times. Another example of how we've fallen as a Capitalist society. Some people celebrate that I guess. I don't. I'm sad to hear this news. I'm going to miss Sam Ash despite my feelings. I'm going to miss the experience of buying in person. No one wants to see a business fail. This is a part of history we're losing. Someone worked hard to build that business. It was someone's dream. And Sam Ash won't be the last. Guitar Centers is suffering from the exact same issues and collapse of the business model and I say they're next - but will they turn it around? Will their board of directors send out district and regional managers or "secret shoppers" and start fixing the issues before Jeff Bezos takes their dollars too? Will they read reviews like this one and get off their collective asses to turn the Titanic around? Probably not, when you can't find anyone today who really knows what hard work is - how do you fix it? Who's training their staff? There comes a point when the damage is done and it's not salvageable. Goodbye Sam Ash. I take no pleasure in writing this. I'm disgusted. I'm disappointed. I'm sad. I just hope that those in control at the top levels of management of these chain stores, read their reviews and pay attention - take them to heart and make the effort to improve your businesses. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, it's just that most people won't take the time to write something like this - but I feel better for having said it. Maybe by some miracle, someone will come in and scoop Sam Ash up and right the ship at the last hour. I can dream, can't I? Ron L, Southington , CT

We purchased a beautifully restored piano from James after he advised us not to try to restore an…read moreolder Sohmer with a cracked soundboard. My son is a professional pianist, and he had told me that we should let the piano go, but I was attached to it as my mother had given it to us. I was impressed that James didn't try to talk me into a repair job, which would have been costly. Instead, he invited my son to his studio, where he played a variety of instruments and bought a Yamaha to replace our old piano. James moved the new one in and took the old one away, and we paid much less than we expected. My son thinks the world of James and the quality of his work. He is our favorite tuner in 30 years of working with different individuals.

I have had the extreme pleasure of doing business with Jim. His prices are extremely fair. He is…read moreone of the best piano tuners in the state. He refurbishes pianos with unbelievable detail. I was able to buy a beautiful Yamaha that he worked on for many months. I love the sound of this piano. Jim removed my older piano and delivered the one I bought from him. He and his movers were so careful and professional with the removal and delivery of the Yamaha piano.

Mark put in a new saddle (It was severely worn down) reset the neck, and did a setup on my Taylor…read more314CE. I can't believe the difference - the sound literally jumps off the guitar. I was going to sell it - but it's so nice now I'll probably just keep it!! Reasonable costs and quick turnaround time as well. I've recommended Mark to all of my musician friends!

You can't go wrong with Mark. Can't say enough positive things about the service he provided. The…read morejob that he did on my my Taylor 614CE was outstanding. It went from pretty much unplayable to like a dream! Communications were excellent, the cost and time to complete estimate was spot on. Looking forward to having my other guitars set up by Mark.

Brought in an expensive 1975 Selmer Mark 6 alto saxophone. The pads that cover the tone holes were…read moreout of shape. Had previously brought this to a music shop in Avon called Music & - - - - where I was quoted $1,200 & 2 months to repair. So I brought it to The Music Shop on a hunch. They charged about $157.00 & 1 week to repair. When I got the sax back, they had fixed things I didn't even know was wrong with it such as straightening keys, re-setting posts. They had re-set all the pads and the sax was as good as new. When I played it, I knew that these people cared enough about quality repairs that I can trust them for any future work.

A while back the nut cracked on my 1986 Guild D212 12-string acoustic guitar. Unfortunately, I'd no…read moreidea where to find somewhere to repair it, and the one lead I had turned out to be someone who'd just retired. So I stopped by The Music Shop when my travels brought me to the neighborhood to see if they had any leads. "Sure," said the young man at the counter. "Our manager does that." A couple of phone calls later, to make sure the guitar and I would arrive during his working hours, he was looking confidently and affectionately at my beloved Guild. A replacement nut leapt into his hand, he asked me about strings, gave me a price, and made a guess at how long it would take (which was wrong, but that's par for the course). Today I picked it up. My baby is back, looks better than I've ever made it look, and sounds wonderful. This wasn't anything resembling a challenging repair to a luthier - I know that - but my beloved Guild got real Tender Loving Care, and that's as good as it gets.