if I could give 6 stars I would. Roger was fantastic. Very patient with me as a new guitarist…read more He helped me find something that I truly love and can use for a lifetime. I also appreciated how he didnt just push me to the most expensive stuff.... he showed me everything in the range and let me decide what I liked best. Zero pressure, just support. Thank you very music.

Bad experience. I'd recommend anywhere else. I made a mistake ever going here and wish I hadn't. I…read moreended up losing $450 trying to return a purchase I regretted from day one. Essentially got charged a 25% restocking fee.

For years, my young son would go in and just noodle around. Staff were always so kind and helpful…read more He spent countless hours there, and eventually a good deal of his hard earned money on quality, reasonably priced gear. They care about the customer, they know their stuff, and they create a great atmosphere for experts and beginners alike. Canadian owned; old school, 'customer first' kind of place.

I love Long & McQuade music stores in general, for the variety of musical instruments and books…read morethat they offer. They also have music lessons (i.e. Piano, Guitar, etc,.), which seems like a great idea. I did some research to purchase a keyboard, and the price of the keyboard I was interested in seemed quite fair, too. Lastly, my interactions with Long & McQuade staff in multiple locations have been pleasant. For this specific Waterloo location, one employee named Dave met short of my expectations. Let me clarify, he was helpful while we were browsing. As soon as I paid for the instrument, he just ignored us. We had parked about 200 metres away from the store, due to the road closures associated with the LRT construction in Waterloo. We had our laptop bags and the umbrella, it was raining on and off, and since I got the keyboard, the bench and the keyboard stand, we weren't able to carry all of those by ourselves. Since Dave offered no insight to how to move these boxes to our car, (when we asked him, he only said "Oh, this keyboard is super light") my husband went to his car to see if he could get closer to the store while I waited in the store. Thankfully, someone told me about a temporary loading area behind the store so I directed my husband to drive there. Another employee named Jeff helped me greatly while I was standing in the front of the store confused and waiting for my husband to show up. Jeff moved the boxes to the back of the store and showed me the temporary unloading area, so I could send better instructions to my husband. I really appreciated Jeff's help. He's the best! In the meanwhile, Dave, who sold us the keyboard, didn't even tell my husband where I was, (I was downstairs at the back door guarding my boxes) when my husband came back to the store, so this caused additional delay. Some other older gentleman helped us load the boxes to our car. If Dave responded to our inquiries of how to load these boxes to our car from the get go, we wouldn't have wasted that half an hour trying to find the place to get the car closer to the store, and loading the boxes. Dave's ignorance and unhelpfulness really disappointed me. Despite this long delay in loading the boxes to our car, I'd say you could go to this Long & McQuade location for the service provided by Jeff and other very helpful staff.

Super friendly staff, beautiful array of guitars and lots of room to play. Followed covid…read moreguidelines great as well with lots of care for customer safety. Would for sure go again and highly recommend for anyone in the area to come check out

A true gem of a shop. The selection is world class and the level of expertise and advice provided…read moreis second to none. I purchased many a fine instrument from Folkway. You can't go wrong.

My grandfather dropped off his special guitar for repair and then passed away…read more Thank you for your extra kindness to our family and for supplying exceptional service.

I had the pleasure of purchasing a Godin guitar, during the Covid lockdown. I contacted the store…read morevia email, and was contacted almost immediately by Colin. After a few quick exchanges, a deal was done, as the store was having a Covid discount during the lockdown. I picked up the guitar, curb side service, quick and efficient. It was a pleasure to support an independent music store, and also buying from a quality Canadian guitar producer. I travelled from Toronto, and will be looking forward to attending the store when the lockdown is over. Eric D.

Great service. I ordered a guitar amp from these guys. They said it would be here in a week, showed…read moreup in 3 days. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Love my Mesa Dual Rec

I took lessons here for a while! Really nice guys and gals, that I can promise! There's the ups and…read moredowns to a smaller music school but it's a nice location considering how many people are in the area! They've got decent stock on strings and such so even if you're just looking for strings or a tuner really quick, drop in and see if there's anything you like! :)

From the owner: The Sound Factory Music School was created for people of all ages and levels of ability and is…read morerecognized for it's outstanding teaching staff, community service and it's commitment to lifelong learning. The high quality, practical and academic instruction offered by The Sound Factory Music School represents a constantly evolving selection of artistic endeavors. Regular lessons available in piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, flamenco guitar, electric bass, music theory, voice, drums, percussion, marimba, violin, bodhran, bagpipes, tin whistle, ukulele, music therapy, history & harmony 1, composition, saxophone, clarinet, flute. Sheet music and books, name brand accessories, strings, and select instruments available through our retial store.

Great service. I've been to this location several times recently as I have just started playing…read moreguitar again. I recently ordered a guitar from this them. It came in it two weeks just like they said. When I picked it up I was having some fret buzz issues with it, they offered to do a free set up on it and make sure I was 100% happy with it before I left. After the setup the guitar played great. Very happy with my experience at this location. I will be back