How is this possible??!!!…read more Unbelievably stocked guitar store and repair shop. Here in little old Wilmington. You can even get guitar lessons!! I could spend all day here listening to Gino Stories. I brought a 40-year-old bass here because the guitar tech in the back of the shop is phenomenal and regionally renowned. If not nationally. Despite being completely booked, he found time to tune it up a little bit and give me some great advice on my next purchase. I found this place on the recommendation of a small store in woburn center. The front of the store is all guitars and gear and gino. Yes there is a Gino at least I think that's his name. There are probably at least fifty or seventy five beautiful guitars and basses for purview and plucking, but you have to be very careful. Gino provides a great illustrious story for each instrument. And will talk endlessly about them. You can tell that he is a consummate guitarist end musician. Very outgoing. And communicative. I bought an old Ampeg cabinet a pedal and a soft-case for my bass. Very reasonable prices. Very reasonable advice. Fantastic selection. Not to mention the genius in the back of the store that can find a fix for anything and knows everything about anything guitar. Easily worth a 45 mlnute or more long drive to get here. You won't be disappointed even if you walk out of here empty handed. The place is a music school, museum and an ICU for stringed instruments electric and acoustic. One of a kind without a doubt. Is it the eighth wonder of the world? Probably not, but definitely belongs in Ripley's. You'll see, check it out

Just wanted to share that I had a fantastic experience buying an amp from Gino's store. He's not…read moreonly a great guy but also very knowledgeable and accommodating. The price of the amp was just what I was looking for. Highly recommend checking out his store!

Jess did a sound adjustment on my cello - she did an excellent job. She gave me great advice and…read moreexplained everything as she was doing the adjustment. Will definitely come back again.

What a great place and the best service! Located in downtown Methuen and couldn't be easier to find!read more

Lessons from top educators . Service and set ups are on point and inexpensive. Jack has a great…read morerange of used equipment that is always changing . I check in often and always leave with a smile and something . Great value

1. Illegal bait and switch 2. Complete incompetence…read more3. Unhinged rude attitude 1. Illegal bait and switch - I called and asked if I could bring a guitar for assessment. Guy on phone said I could bring in and they'd assess for free. After five minutes of my free assessment, the lady tried to charge me for it. The guy then changed his story and said he actually meant that they would assess it for free only if I dropped it off but not dropped by with it (which doesn't make much sense if you think about it) 2. Complete incompetence - A) I told her that the guitar frets were out of tune. She denied it and said nothing was wrong with the guitar. B) I told her I wanted to action lowered. She said it was impossible to lower it anymore without causing buzzing. C) I told her something was rattling when I played the open G string. She said it could be anything causing it, even a loose truss rod So I took it to Stubblebine lutherie. Without even playing it, he inspected everything about the guitar - he listed exactly what was causing it to be out of tune (mainly the nut grooves), exactly how the action could easily be lowered without causing buzzing (he said the action was actually pretty high), and exactly what was causing the rattling (loose tuner component), and offered to fix everything for 100 dollars 3. Unhinged attitude - She started making fun of me for the questions I was asking. When I handed her the tuner, a rubber piece fell off, and she blamed me for breaking it to her coworker. When I pointed out that some of the frets we're out of tune, she blamed it on how I tuned it. When I clarified that I was told on the phone that the assessment would be free, she started to try to guilt me into paying and trying to get me to tell her how much money I made in my job. When I eventually did offer money because I felt bad, she made fun of me again

During a recent visit to get my daughter's clarinet repaired, I encountered mean spiritedness and…read morehovering, (by two different people but still...)! The middle-aged woman who initially greeted me and looked at my instrument was helpful and kind but not as knowledgeable as the second, older woman who was clearly running the show and ended up helping me. A third and younger woman stood so close to me until she was sure I was acknowledged by the middle-aged woman, if we weren't wearing masks, I'm sure I would've felt her breath on the back of my neck. The initial impression was enough to make me want to leave and not return, but my daughter really needed a clarinet and time was not on my side. So I swallowed hard and tried to make the best of things by staying engaged in conversation with the kinder middle-aged woman.I made it through the ordeal and decided to vocalize my disappointment here because while I don't know the first thing about instruments, I do know good service, and I did not experience that here. So, despite the fact that I ended up getting a loaner from Wood & Strings, as my kid's clarinet was busted, I can't in good conscience recommend this place because the service was subpar. It's unfortunate too, because the shop is so close and my kids are really getting into instruments that I see myself investing lots of money. But the woman was just so snotty and condescending, (of course in a "no disrespect intended" sort of way), if I don't have a better experience upon returning the loaner, they're going to lose a good customer because I won't be going back. Even if the prices are good, it's just not worth the hassle!

I was able to take lessons from Sam years ago, He is an…read moreexcellent teacher and I continue to use the notes I took during our lessons. Margie Hilton

I took lessons from Sam in the 90's. He's an excellent…read moreteacher. Knowledgeable. Works with you to help you improve in the areas you want to focus on. He is also the archetypal mad genius in a basement. I mentioned the Church of Euthanasia as an aside once, and Sam had taught the leader guitar. Also, in the middle if a lesson one time, he said "oh by the way pay no attention to my basketball player." and a 6'8" dude in full court gear silently walked through the room and out the door. And there was no explanation. The lesson just continued.

Joe seems to get a lot of flak on this site from people who claim that he isn't nice to people who…read morearen't interested in buying a guitar. I did buy a guitar, so I can't comment from that perspective, but I will say that when I went into the shop to check out a model I was interested in, there were some high school kids playing around on a guitar and they clearly weren't going to buy and Joe let them play. I thought Joe was a nice guy. Straightfoward but helpful. He knows his stuff and clearly loves guitars. Anyway, I bought a guitar at Performance Music Center and my experience was good. I bought a G&L Doheny Tribute model and it is a lovely guitar. The only issue is that the initial one I purchased had a factory problem (one of the potentiometers didn't work correctly, which was probably indicative of a wiring problem). I realized this once I got back home with it and played around with it. Anyway, I took it back to the store and they were VERY apologetic. Joe raised hell with the G&L people and they sent a replacement one. Joe was nice enough to let me hold on to the defective model to play with until the new one arrived, which was a nice gesture and offered a discount on gig-bags as a further apology. Once the replacement guitar came in, it worked great. All in all, I am giving the review 4/5 stars because they really should have caught the mistake when they were setting the guitar up, though I also sympathize because a wiring error is something that you would expect the guitar manufacturer to catch in quality control, especially one like G&L, but still... That being said, if I could do it all over again I would still work with the Performance Music Center and I will be back. In fact I already bought an amp from them. One thing worth mentioning that is pretty cool is that if you buy a guitar from them, they will do free tune-up/setups for the life of the guitar. That's an amazing value. So anyway, I'll be back to them within the year to take advantage of that service. If the setup service proves to be as good as promised then I will upgrade the review to 5 stars. Anyway, overall I would say that it is a store and owner than know their business and are passionate and knowledgeable about their brands. They worked with me to correct any errors along the way and I look forward to continuing with them in the future.

I arrived in town early before school so I had a little extra time to check out local business. I…read moretried a few guitars and a tube amp. A few days later I went back and got kicked out as soon as I walked in the door. I will NEVER go back there. And I have spent an ungodly amount of money on guitars and amps elsewhere.

A friend told me about Guitar Stop so I brought in my acoustic which had a bad case of fret buzz. I…read morethought it needed an entire setup (I'm still very much a beginner player). However, Jeanne made a minor adjustment to the truss rod and fixed my lousy stringing error and the buzz was gone. This cost me $5. I returned to the store the next day and Annette was extremely helpful and very patient with all my questions about a new electric guitar. I ended up purchasing my first electric with a great amp. They even include a free gig bag and six picks! Very cool. Overall, I'm very pleased with this family-owned store and will visit them again for my guitar needs. Thanks for reading and rock on!

I had a strange experience there with a guitar repair…read more Ten years ago I bought an acoustic guitar with a pickup at GuitarStop. A few months ago the pickup stoped working. I brought it in to Guitar Stop. Their technician examined the guitar, cleaned the dust out, and came to the conclusion that the pickup/preamp would need to be replaced. They gave me the customer service phone number of the guitar manufacturer, and said that because they were no longer distributing that brand, there was no way they could get the parts, or do anything else to help me. Even though I bought the guitar there, they told me I'm on my own. One odd experience was that the technician didn't talk to me. All this info was mediated to me by the people behind the counter. When I had a question, they would ask the tech, the tech would tell them, they'd tell me. It was odd to have a middleman coordinating. I then did what I didn't want to do: I brought the guitar to Guitar Center on Mass Ave, across from Berklee. The guitar technician came out, introduced himself to me, and walked me through all the options. A couple days later they called me and said the guitar was completely fixed. It was the wiring, the very thing that Guitar Stop claimed it wasn't. There was NOTHING WRONG with the pickup or preamp. It works/sounds beautiful now. When I brought this to the attention of Guitar Stop, they told me how "filthy" my guitar was, how their tech tried every everything, etc. They offered to refund me the $20 bench fee, but it feels picayune to accept that. I always want to support local business and not the "big retailers," but in this case, if I need any work on any guitar, I won't feel confident bringing it to Guitar Stop.

Came here to purchase a music stand per recommendation of my family friend. The gentleman who…read moreassisted me was very knowledgeable and gave me real advice without being pushy or trying to upsell me, rather just educate me to help me make the right purchase. I didn't get his name but he was very kind. They also have music lessons here and sell instruments, and everything in between. Right in the heart of downtown Woburn with free, 2 hour street parking.

Great people, always satisfied with service. Great product line, if it's not already in the store,…read morethey can get it for you fast. I highly recommend National Music for all your needs.