Can't beat these guys! small businesses are dwindling…read morebecause of the giants out there putting these guys out of business! Back Alley stand out because the staff are chilled out enough to let you wander with out jumping on your backs for a sale, but they also REALLY know their stuff and are honest! Great shop and I always make time to pop in when I visit Chester.

I like this place because it packs so much in to such a comparatively small store space (650 sq…read moreft), and because the staff are savvy enough to let you browse to your heart's content without putting any undue sales pressure on. Last time I was in there, I was given genuinely helpful advice - the sales guy actually steering me towards a cheaper product (of the 2-3 choices available) - because he felt it was actually the better item for my needs. I appreciate that sort of assistance, and if I was in the area and looking for music gear, this is the shop I'd be buying from. In fact, I'll be in there again before Christmas for some guitar accessories.

One of Congleton's hidden gems. Perfect for all your musical needs.read more

From the owner: General purpose Music Shop selling CD, DVD, Guitars, Music Books, Accessories - Strings, Reeds,…read moreDrum Sticks etc.

Always used Music Makers for all my childrens musical needs.read more

I went to Dawsons in Chester just for a look around and ended up buying a keyboard. Just wanted to…read moresay the staff went out of their way to help even when the shop closed they offered to put it into the car so the 2 guys with baldy heads nice one

This place gets a mention for the sheer breadth of the range of gear in stock - guitars, keyboards,…read moreschool orchestral, dj and mixing gear etc - and the fact that I've never had a salesperson breathing down my neck, no matter how long I've spent browsing around the store (even though I've probably looked like a shoplifter on the prowl). The keyword here, is 'relaxed'. You feel welcome in the place, and when you do ask for info or advice, they're happy to give it - without trying to hang a sale on it. An excellent cutting-edge hi-tech section too, for those into the potential of Macs and PCs, using Pro-Tools, Cubase or suchlike. All of our son's keyboards have been bought from this shop, from when he started off at home to the gear he's used gigging live. We like the fact that the store is trustworthy, and you're never going to get ripped off - and that we have an actual person to deal with should a problem arise. Something to bear in mind before committing to a maybe a cheaper online deal, from a shop without any actual physical presence (such as Thomann) just to save a few quid.

Jack White Jimmy Page…read moreNeil Young Chuck Berry Bo Diddley B.B. King Neil Young Frank Zappa Brian May Bert Jansch Joni Mitchell Elmore James Django Reinhardt If you want to add your list to the world's best guitar players, you're gonna need flexible fingers, pots of ambition and determination and a great axe. One of the best places to go, get advice and try out different guitars is Sounds Great. It's a bit of a hike from the city centre but they have a good selection of new, vintage and secondhand electric guitars, acoustic guitars and basses. Prices range from a few hundred pounds to £15,000 for one of Fender's rare and highly collectible, hand-crafted, Eric Clapton Blackie Tribute Stratocasters! For those with a significantly smaller budget, they also sell amps, pedals, tuners, spare strings, recording equipment and the musician's enemy - drum machines! The mighty Bo Diddley in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=979rwnVPG4A

The only thing I don't like about this place is that it's not next door to my apartment. Most…read moreguitar stores sell so many commercial models, and half the time they're straight out of a factory, don't play so great and are ridiculously overpriced. I find this place different, especially for advanced players. If you're in the early stages of learning to play the guitar, the model won't matter as much, but when you develop those chords, tasty licks, riffs and solos, this is the place to go. One thing you should always do before buying equipment is try it out. Sounds Great is one of the few stores in which you can really accomplish this, because they actually HAVE IT IN STOCK! It drives me crazy when you walk into a guitar store and ask for a particular item and they don't have it, but might have some model you don't want in about 80 billion colours filling the whole show room. Grr. Anyway, if you're are a serious player and like to spend a buck or two, I heavily recommend Sounds Great. In store they have some rare makes such as Diezel, Matchless, Divided by 13, Suhr to name a few... I guarantee you that these names along with your custom Fenders, Gibsons and Marshalls, cannot be found in the average music store. Oh and the accessories section is awesome. The guys that work there are not afraid to take a risk on bringing in a new product.

Absolutely awesome little shop. Great guitars at great prices. Go and see Dan for your guitar…read moreneeds. Set ups, lessons you name it and he's the man. Please support your local high street shops. Too many are disappearing.

Blessed with incredibly helpful, knowledgeable staff, this friendly, family-run music store offers…read morea great selection of instruments and musical equipment. Nick, the shop assistant is very helpful and always willing to offer advice and recommendations based on customer needs and requirements. Colbecks pride themselves on offering high quality equipment and in my experience, their long-lasting products never seem to disappoint. The store is right next to a large PC World and very easy to park close to when collecting large instruments. Its showroom is a little cramped, yet remains inviting and well laid out, and the Colbecks team are friendly, welcoming and easy to talk to.

I've been relying on Colbecks to help me out with all things musical for a number of years. I…read morebought my latest piece of equipment from Colbecks, a keyboard, complete with instruction book on how to get started. The staff member was very helpful and took me through an extensive range on offer. I settled on the Yamaha 450. It's an excellent piece of equipment. It came with a guarantee and I was assured if I had any problems or found it wasn't to my liking I could return it for a full refund. I noticed the shop also offered other services such as repairs, restrings for guitars, tuning and even music lessons. If you're in the market for musical equipment give them a try I'm sure you'll be as pleased with the service as I have been time and time again. As for my piano playing, well it's just not as good as the store.

actualy i have bought 3 guitars from soundmove my latest one being a bass i bought 2 weeks ago…read more They were very helpful and professional and because i didnt have the money to pay them there and then even set up an easy payment which i had a month to pay the balance if i put a deposit down. In addition to there advice the owner even said that if anything should go wrong with it he would repair it for free. Good quality and good service is what i have recieved i dont really care how the guitar was purchased by him now that i have it. I later discovered via the internet that my guitar sold on ebay for more than 4 times what i payed for it so im very happy.

This is your average musical instrument store. Selling guitars, both electric and acoustic, bass…read moreguitars, drums, amplifiers and so much more. They are a well priced independent music store, it is not a chain which i like, it is competitive with the chain stores. The staff are friendly and very helpful which is nice and refreshing as i find that many employees in music stores nowadays are a little pompous and dont really know what they are talking about! If you want real people to help you this is the best place to come.