Went in Saturday with questions about buying a Hand Pan drum. The young man was extremely helpful and went above and beyond directing me to the Meinl website. I ended up purchasing a small hand held tongue drum for a gift and he again, went above and beyond, making sure my purchase had the mallet inside. He packed it up nice and even put my other purchase in the same bag for me! This young man is someone every store or company would want to represent them. If I was still a bank manager, I would have made him an offer on the spot!! read more

Once again, excellent service and assistance. Took my Bass in to solve for buzzing strings, truss rod not working and suspected problems with the bolt-on neck. Received quick assistance at the counter, 15-20 minutes of initial adjustments at no charge, and left the Bass for the luthier to check it out. Was on a tight schedule; picked up the bass today, bolt-on neck tightened and tight, truss rod now working, charged me the shop minimum and now the Bass and I are ready in time to travel to the gig. About as good as it gets. read more

I am not a musician. Zero.... But my nephew is and he wanted to look at guitars. The Yelp check in is a Dollar off discount on new strings. Not used. The instruments are all perfect and shine. Both a new and used section. If you want to play, you can afford it here. Electric and Acoustic. read more

Having been a Fender Rep for more than a decade I wish that ALL of my Dealers had been as Cool as Downtown Sounds currently is. The first thing you need to know is that the pic above no longer applies. The Store was purchased by Several of the Coolest Cats in the Valley several Years ago and like an Atomic-fueled Rocket is quickly becoming a Major Force in New England. Having recently moved from New York back to Hamp I strolled into Downtown Sounds for the first time in 5 Years just the other day. Within 37 seconds my Eyes fell upon a MusicMan Stingray and my hand, totally on its own, reached for my Wallet. The Staff is Fabulous. Management is Fabulous. Inventory grows better by the Day! With 50 years in the Music Business behind me I can confidently state that Downtown Sounds is going to be a Monster Shop.......in the Very Best and Most Musical Ways. :) Bass-ically Yours, Rich Briere read more

See all

I had to give it a week to make sure that they should get 5 stars. The answer is yes. Yes they deserve it. They had the exact guitar I was looking for for about 3 years. I could not believe the shape it was in - as close to new as a 9 year old consignment could be. Only needed a half turn on the truss rod and a cleaning. We also were able to come to acceptable terms on a trade without any hassle. Downtown Sounds is better that I ever remember them being. They were very helpful to all their customers that day and they helped make me very happy with my new find. read more

I have had both a Martin guitar and Ibinez banjo resurrected to excellent shape after not having been played for 20 years or more. Tom worked on both and did a great job in a timely manner. The staff is very friendly and attentive. It's my go-to music store in the Valley. read more

Service, Sales, Support. Always there when I need them. They shoot as straight as straight is, and they never seem to come up shy of what a national chain would offer. The opposite is the case. They're better, way better. They are ...for real. Downtown Sounds--We Love You. read more

The folks at Downtown Sounds are so generous with their impressive and diverse knowledge of instruments, particularly esoteric percussion. Highly recommend! read more

This one goes back a ways, but better late than never. I live out-of-state, so it's an all day affair for a "day trip" to Northampton. However, I love everything this little college town has to offer ~ in shops, eateries and entertainment. It's got it all. About 20 years ago, I ventured into Downtown Sounds for the first time. That's when a beautiful Gibson semi-hollow body electric guitar started talking to me from across the room. I had to have it. Joe B., the owner, gave me a very generous credit on my Brand X trade-in guitar. More than I had paid, in fact. I was soon out the door with my dream Gibson, one very happy camper. Consequently, I always stop in at Downtown Sounds upon each and every "all day trip" to Northampton. That might not be more than once a year, but I always visit this great guitar shop whenever I'm in town. And I have been treated with respect each and every time. Thank you once again, Joe. read more

Dealt with them over the phone for a Gibson i saw on their reverb page. They price matched and then beat guitar center's price for me. They saved me over $500 and then proceeded to ship the guitar free of charge. They inspected and set up the guitar to make sure there were no defects or dings on it. I spoke to a couple of people over the phone there and they were very welcoming . A+ service. read more

Five stars easy! This place is awesome, and you will rarely see me say that. Great selection of Fender guitars (which is what matters to me), friendly people that know what they are talking about, when I need my equipment repaired this is the only place for me. I was in the market for a crash cymbal, and looking at some of the more expensive brands. Jim walked over, and pointed me in the direction of an inexpensive, but great sounding crash. Jim also pointed me in the right direction for a Wah pedal. Thing was used, but it had volume feature the new one didn't have, and cost ten dollars less! They have a nice little sound-proof room to crank amps and try out guitars. They've had my business for over a decade, and they don't disappoint. Best shop in Western MA! read more

I have purchased several guitars (and gear) here and I have a ton of work done by the repair shop. The guy I usually deal with in the repair shop, Owen, always does a fantastic job with my prized guitars, is easy to deal with, and delivers as promised. I have used several different luthiers in the past, but Owen has been my go to guy for the past 3 years. The shop is a welcome change from the big box stores (i.e. Guitar Center). They have a great selection and I always feel welcome and appreciated when I go there. They have a great sales staff, genuinely nice guys who know their stuff. Plus I would rather support a small, local shop than a huge corporation any day. highly recommended! read more

Downtown Sounds Northampton has the Best customer service! Best selection of New & Used guitars and fair prices on all musical equipment, music and lessons. Amplifiers, keyboards, pedals, percussion, folk instruments, band instruments and they will order anything you need. Now with a direct link to the online Reverb collection. A relaxed atmosphere with staff that will help when you ask and let you browse independently. Bought my '89 Strat Plus there (in 1989) and still have it setup at the repair shop. Five Stars on all levels - service, selection and confidence in your purchase, knowing Downtown Sounds will stand behind every purchase. read more

bought a mandolin on a Saturday morning in July. Staff was welcoming and let me play a few different ones. I decided on an entry level interments. The original one didn't sound right, so they went out back, got another out of the box and set it up for me. Probably will never pass this way again, but was impressed by the descent selection of instruments. read more

Awesome music store, filled with guitars, sheet music and more! I needed some audition pieces in a hurry before I headed back from a weekend out in the western part of the state, and on a whim, I went in here and lo and behold, they had some great vocal books! It's hard to find a good store that sells decent sheet music these days, so I will recommend this to anyone in the Northampton area that wants to find some good music and instruments. read more

Despite my better judgement, I've been shopping here for 15 years. The staff is mostly always nice except for the one guy who I assume owns it (see the photo of him on this page holding a guitar for easy identification). Always condescending and unfriendly. Too bad this is the best place around here because he really tends to ruin my mood nearly every time I go in. Otherwise a good store. Store would get a 4 if not for him. read more

Rented an instrument for my son here. Person who help me was patient and helpful. Seems like a good place to me.

I never actually got into the store. After finding their website through the website of the guitar manufacturer I was looking for, I sent them an email asking if they had any of this model in stock and if I could drop in anytime to get a value for the violin I was looking to trade in. NEVER got a response, so after a week I called. Rude man on the phone (I never identified myself or said I had sent an email) acted like it was an inconvenience to even check if they had this guitar in stock. Short sentences like "Which one" and "hold on" curtly delivered and after taking 30 seconds to check their stock, he only said "no." No offer to see if it could be ordered, nothing. Called Guitar Center and chatted with a VERY nice man named Kevin who not only was pleasant, but offered to put the guitar aside for me. I usually like to patronize local shops, but expect at least a bit of customer service. I was ready to SPEND money at Downtown Sounds, but now I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. P.S. It's ok to have rude people working at your shop if you feel the need. DO NOT have them answering your phones or dealing with your customers! read more

Caution when dealing with Downtown Sounds on Reverb.com. My story goes like this. I made two reasonable offers at $1350 and $1450 for a guitar priced at $1599 on Reverb.com website (similar to eBay for musical merchandise). After the second offer I was notified by Downtown Sounds that they had customer that was interested in the guitar so the price was raised to $2200 on Reverb.com and if I was still interested in a month to check back. It wasn't removed from Reverb.com for this special "customer", instead the price was hiked by over 35%. So there it is, if there is an item at Downtown Sounds that you are interested in purchasing then I would suggest that you pay the full price or look elsewhere otherwise there could be a "customer" in the wings making an offer for more than the asking price. However if that "customer" doesn't close the deal after a month then you might be able to purchase it. Nice sure what the price might be at that point though. Just wondering what the story would have been if I had actually pressed "Buy Now" in the first place. I will never purchase anything from Downtown Sound and suggest you beware of there pricing practices. read more

Incredibly friendly staff! I was "that guy", bringing my guitar in to get looked at 10 minutes before closing time. They were more than happy to help me out, and very reasonably priced, too! They not only did the work I asked, but pointed out some issues with my guitar I wasn't aware of. Nice selection of instruments, too, especially percussion. read more

It was a while back that Joe at Downtown Sounds helped me out with a purchase of my Pedal Steel guitar ..He was gracious, knowledgeable, and even 'tossed' in a better travel case for the unit .. At all times he was professional and more than fair in his business dealings. I should mention, too , that over 12 yrs ago I picked up a Martin acoustic for a couple of grand .. a good deal! The repair shop (downstairs) is likewise extremely competent .. having fixed a split head in one of my Gibson electrics ... Owen Davidson is a master Luthier : it is impossible to see that there ever was a crack .. His expert use of the proper marine epoxy and finishing let me again possess a solid rugged 'travel' instrument. I was surprised at the extremely reasonable fee for his expert labors .. (Thanks again, Owen! and Joe!) Anyone wanting to see for his/herself the quality of the guitar repair, just let me know! Jon Anderson ( yes i refuse to discuss my musical career here ;) okojobee@gmail.com read more

I have been to the store many times with a nice experience each time...So when I heard on the evening of July 5th that This establishment sold B&G guitars ( not knowing if it was true or not) I grabbed $5000.00 and off I went...got to the store ...noticed it was rearranged very nicely...looked around saw no B&G guitars...went outside to tell a friend of mine I was going to look for a while so they could wander the other shops in town and I back in to Downtown Sounds...When I asked a sal;es rep about B&G guitars ...they very rudely told me they never heard of them and that I must be mistaken and confusing them with G&L guitars...then another little guy got involved with some wise ass comment that clearly sent a message that I was not welcome in the store...I felt I was being ambushed by Antifa...not a music clerk...Then It dawned on me I was a old white guy and these young people clearly did not want anything to do with this old white guy...talking to me Antifa style...WOW ...it SHOCKED me...so I politely excused myself from the very hostile conversation they were pursuing and left...and was amazed on my 2 hour drive back home... Think what you want but I am VERY glad it is not my money that was spent there... read more

Yesterday was my 4th visit to DS.... I cannot say it was pleasant. Earlier in the week i put a downpayment on a Fender Pro Junior Amp... tested the demo in the sound room and decided the smaller PJ was a better fit for me then the Blues Junior.... Came back yesterday to pay and pick up the amp. J.B. the salesman I dealt with earlier in the week was great.. So have the other employee's that attended to us, 1st just sampling various guitars, then having a new pickup installed by the tech 2 days before Christmas.... ( He was great, for repairing the guitar at the last minute....Thank You, as he had other projects needing to be done for customers ) , Also at that time buying a G-Deck for a 10 year olds Christmas present. The guitar was part of that christmas package.... However yesterday, the owner Joe was finalizing my amp purchase.... 1st... He couldn't find the amp I had bought so after sending his guy's to search for it, he offered to sell me the Demo Amp for a $20 discount... That is an amp without any of the tags or owner's manual.... Basically a used amp for less than 5% discount.. NO.... That is just insulting and poor business ethics... 2nd ... he offered to print out the missing manual after mentioning that it wasn't really needed ...... EXCUSE ME, BUT .... ?? 3rd .... One of the other employee's did finally locate it, it had been misplaced, which I can understand and that was OK ..... But as a customer, one that would like to continue doing business with this store, it would be much better if Joe, the owner would focus on the business side and "NOT" interact with customer's as his social skills / sales skills are abysmal... It's a great store, nice inventory, the staff is great except for the owner.... Sorry that this is not a glowing review but customer's need to feel they are welcome, not made to feel like they are wasting the owner's time... If I did that with my customer's I certainly wouldn't be doing well.... Thank You.. read more

I've known Joe Blumenthal, the owner, since the 1980s. I trust him. I send all my students to Downtown Sounds for repairs, accessories and service. read more

I went to Downtown Sounds in Northampton Ma today and the service was some of the best I received ever at a music store. I'm 56 and have been playing guitar since 7th grade and now I'm starting to have problems with pain in my hands and went in to try different guitars to see if different neck profiles made any difference. I told Tom and Erin what was going on and what I was looking for and those guys toke great care of me and showed me different guitars to try. I live about an hour and a half away but when I am going to look for a new guitar I'm going to check there first. I highly recommend Downtown Sounds. read more

My husband and I went purchased guitars here a few years ago. We had no idea what we were doing. The staff was extremely unhelpful and even seemed annoyed we were in the store. I just recently called to ask a quick question and the same guy answered the phone. He again was completely rude & cocky. Would never recommend this place to anyone!!! read more

I've been in this store twice and both times the salesmen were rude to me. My latest experience involved an older guy taking the items I was buying out of my hands before I had a chance to say I was buying them, and rang me up for the items while I was still shopping. I guess he assumed I wasn't buying anything else, even though I was still looking for a drum stool, sticks, and a snare head. I'll be going somewhere else for those items, and never returning to this place. Their gear is overpriced and underwhelming anyways. I'm a woman, and felt like the sales guy was being sexist, even though probably know more about gear than that old rude guy! They shouldn't judge a person by their gender. Us ladies can play music too. Just sayin'. You won't have anymore of my business, boys. read more

Joe at Dowtown Sounds is a stand up guy. He tried to help me buy the guitar on Reverb that Tony R is talking about. I purchased one just like it from a different seller but had to return it because the neck was twisted. Joe offered to hold his guitar for 30 days until my return was complete, I was worried someone else would buy it so he raised the price to stop it from being sold. My returned guitar was replaced with another by the seller much to my surprise since these are pretty hard to find. I told Joe what happened, he was understanding and put the price back to where it was. Also, The Downtown Sounds guitar is brand new and a great buy at 1599. I would do business with Joe anytime and feel bad he received a poor review when all he was doing was trying to help me out. read more

Really nice employees, decent selection of gear at reasonable prices!

I went into Downtown Sounds last week after reading on their website that they buy used instruments. I need to sell my flute so I went there and the first gentleman who helped me was very nice. He called another one over who was obviously incharge of buying, and honestly I've never been treated so rudely at a store in my life! I don't think I've ever written a bad review before, but this one deserves it. I do NOT recommend even going into this store! I was very disppointed. read more

We're really lucky to have a full service music store like Downtown Sounds in the area. Everything hung on the wall gets a professional setup, including the cheap guitars, and they generally sell for as good a price or better than GC. They just eat the cost of that work, because selling a properly setup instrument is the right thing to do, so your kid will actually learn to play the guitar without hurting their hands and giving up. read more

hi thrusday i traveled from vermont .a 4 hr trip to pick up my 12 sting rickenbacker guitar. there i met joe and some of his staff. what a buch of great guys . very freindly and very helpful. joe got the 12 string and had me try it out first. everything on that 12 string was perfect . i could,nt thank him enought for that 12 string. i brought it over my cousins house and jamed with it for a few hrs and man it was the best envestment i ever made . i want to thank all the staff at downtown sounds for kindness and trearting there customer like family thank you again roland gagne highgate center vermont read more