They have a bevy of instruments and offer lessons on almost anything (my son goes there for tenor…read moresax). The lessons are very affordable. I've found the staff to be responsive and friendly. And I like changes to the lessons (like reschedules) are confirmed via emails

Took my son's saxaphone there to be repaired and tuned up. They did not follow up with me when it…read morewas finished but continued charging me for the rental. When I called them to see what was going on because it had been two months they said "um someone left you a message two months ago and didn't hear from you." I ALWAYS return calls so I think this was an absolute lie. I asked why they wouldn't try calling a second or third time perhaps. And the guy was just like "uh, uh, well, uh ....." Ridiculous. TWO MONTHS my son's instrument has been sitting there.

I really appreciate this company. They have wonderful people and are very helpful. I also worked…read morewith Kate Hummel to learn the piano and it was a great experience.

Great place to find gently used instruments & accessories. Easy in/out location. Helpful service…read morestaff.

These guys were always honest when I did business with them. They moved to a bigger store in the…read moresame shopping center several years ago

The store is great with lots of guitars and equipment…read more Donnie is a great music teacher that teaches the French horn.

It's incredible that there are 100 five star reviews on Google, but not if you've ever been there…read more I just got back from dropping off two (more) guitars, which Justin promptly fixed. Add that to all the others I've brought to him in the past. Justin is a pro, I trust him with my "children" - all of them. He is a guy who truly loves what he does and he's great at it. I would highly recommend him 10 times out of 10. I completely trust his judgment and his work.

Have taken my son here twice now. Excellent customer service! Friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable.read more

BUYERS BEWARE!! Greatly disappointed with how Island Music…read moreCo handles returns. Advertises 14-day return hassle free policy on Reverb.com. BUT offered no assistance when the item arrived damaged. Granted it was not their fault for the shipping damage, but instead of dealing with FedEx they put the responsibility on the buyer instead to resolve by suggesting to the buyer to utilize the manufacturer's product warranty and then stopped all communications with the buyer following this advice. After many failed attempts by buyer to get Island Guitars to honor the return and send buyer a return shipping label, Reverb was asked to step in (which they did luckily) and they had to force the return process. There was ZERO cooperation by Island Music Co and later Reverb issued the full refund once item was returned to seller.

found guitar online called store to let them know what i was intrested in 3 days before stopping in…read morefrom out of town. called day of visit to let them know when i will arrive and would like to look at one other guitar.When arrived guitars had not been pulled ,not set up,out of tune .1500 dollar fenders not cheap guitars .Did find cheaper mexican telecaster that was great. I did have two trade ins and there offers were very very low ,but at that point was not enjoying the experience.

Amazon had a massive outage when I was expecting some P/A equipment to arrive in a particular time…read moreframe. I had no way of tracking the delivery, and it was imperative we got our equipment on time. I called half a dozen music stores in the area, and no one had the piece I needed. When I called Alexandria Music, Sonya (sp?) helped me out. They did not have the model I needed, but they did have a really great alternative, albeit more expensive. I told her my situation, how our delivery was caught in between worlds in the ether of delivery debacles, and she said, "Let me check with the owner and see if we can help you out." Shortly afterward, I got a call saying they would give sell me the higher-end unit and give me a discount to accommodate our very specific budget. In short, she (and the owner) saved our bacon and took my stress level down several notches. I've worked in music stores, and I've frequented countless others across the country. I've actually grown to dread going into them; I often find myself feeling like I'm at a car dealership. Heck, I'm sure I made folks feel like I was a car salesman when I worked at the music-store-that-shall-not-be-named (*cough* Walmart of music stores *cough*). This was different. Short, to the point, zero haggle involved, just accommodating a customer in a very stressful situation and going above and beyond what most places would ever do. I don't live super close to the store, but I might just make the drive to Alexandria in the future because my experience here was so good. Thank you Sonya; I'm sorry if I misspelled your name. You made my life much easier this week, and I sincerely appreciate it. And thank you, store owner I never met. My sole experience tells me you've got the right mindset on running a music store. I'll be back.

Not often that you come across a real music store these days but this is one! Love this place.read more

These guys are so locked-in every time I've been here. They always have the right selection of…read moreservices and items, AND they've got INDIVIDUAL GUITAR PICKS (Guitar Center and Music & Arts sell bags only). They are also local, and have been my ideal instrument shop since I've moved to Stafford in 2022. The people who are usually there are respectful, kind, and overall friendly, and they even take the time to do menial tasks (that I myself would've been able to do, but I go here to do it all at once). Overall epic place, reasonably priced service, with a lot of friendly faces.

I am writing this review as I make the decision to no longer be a customer after more than one…read moreyear, in fact almost two years. We were very pleased with this store when my daughter began her saxaphone lessons. Her original instructor, Daniel, is awesome and for those continuing to do business with this store, I would highly recommend you seek Daniel out for saxaphone lessons. However, my daughter came home crying after her second lesson with a temporary instructor, Joshua Barnes, on 4/16. After getting her side of the story, confronting the instructor and speaking with management, we've made our decision to not return. I recognize that I may be biased and taking my daughter's side but knowing that we've never had any issues with other people, activities, business, or school, I find it hard to not believe my daughter. -She was talked down to, belittled, and made feel very uncomfortable. -Words that were used: "you should quit," "you need to quit," you're never going to learn" were used. -Tapping a pen/pencil on the easel consistently to create stress did not help out the situation. -Not giving her a break when she shed tears did not help the situation. -Extending her session in that environment did not help the situation. -Joshua's tone and actions were not conducive to a learning environment. While I can admit that this is a "he said, she said," situation, Joshua acknowledged that he constantly clapped his hands in my daughters face. When I questioned Joshua about this tactic, his response was that this method is used to get a student to change their behavior to learn the piece or words to that effect. The point was that he confirmed he clapped in my daughter's face. When Joshua was questioned about explaining why my daughter came home crying, his response was to point out that the piece was too difficult for her and that the band director or any band director should never give students at her level a piece that difficult and that's why she was struggling. If my daughter knew the piece, she wouldn't be taking lessons. It's also not his job to decide what students are given or not. Your job is to teach and his actions clearly showed he is not ready to teach young students. I should have also addressed why my daughter felt uneasy after their first session. I recognize that I cannot go back in time and I hope that my daughter isn't hiding anything from that session. When speaking with the store manager, his message was more along the lines of being concerned for his staff due to my actions in the store and not how things would be rectified or being concerned for how my daughter was impacted. Over the course of almost two years, we've never had an issue with the staff or Daniel, my daughter's original instructor. This new instructor shows up and we have issues. I'd second guess my decision of having hired Joshua. I am also now taking the position of empowering and encouraging my daughter to not ever let that happen again. She should have walked out of that session, but felt embarrassed or frightened. Do not let Joshua Barnes instruct your young children. I'd question management on who he really cares for.

I had some damage to occur to my Washburn dreadnaught. I had an estimate of $160 from the Guitar…read moreCenter. I thought that was a little high so I took it here. Sean Gotkin was very helpful, he told me they had an agreement with a local Luthier who could look at it and provide an estimate. The esitmate came back at $120 so I asked them to go ahead and do the work. It took a little longer to repair than they had committed to. When I went to pick it up, he charged me $100. That's what I call service! Why go to a franchise store when you have a local shop who does quality work with a local craftsman? Support your local business!

Lots going for this store: real musicians work there, great advice / service, good selection of…read moreguitars, ukes, accessories, lessons, school band rentals and an amazing array of sheet music. Also unique for the music stores in the area: lots of in-store events like jams (Friday nights) and concerts. And bonus: you can feel good about supporting small business, instead of G**tar C***er or online mega-stores. (Yes, I'm an actual customer...)