If you're looking for a reasonably priced custom/handmade guitar, or if you have a prized guitar…read morethat needs more than a string change and some polish, this shop is the place to go. Ry Charters is a personable expert in repairs, restoration and custom acoustic and electric guitars. He communicates well and repair charges are very fair. This is a jewel of a shop in Downtown Kalamazoo.

I called these guys over the phone. I asked him how they were doing. He said fine and in return he…read moreasked me how I was doing. I found that very respectful. I have a Glock 19 for sale. I asked him if that's something he would be interested he said yes but I would have to bring it in. I said I'm over an hour and a half away from your store for me to bring it in. It would literally create me a 3 Hour drive and with gas prices the way they are that would cost me over $30 just to get to the Store. I asked him if he had any Glock 19's in the store and he said he does. I asked if he could give prices on what those Glock 19's are selling for. Hes a pawnshop owner and he says I can't give prices over the phone. He couldn't even give me prices of what his Glock 19 and guns are selling for in his store not even asking for a quote on my gun, but literally his guns are selling for in the store. Horrible customer service. He sounded either super tired or like he was on drugs on the phone. I asked could just give me a simple estimation he said no I said what about hypothetically a price. It has no scratches I only fired a couple hundred rounds though it and he goes. I can't give quotes over the phone. I said what about hypothetically he says it's the same . These guys are not putting their customers first when they would rather have their customer spend $30 in gas to get the location. Just should probably take a couple hundred dollar offer when I get there if at all.. don't waste your time with these people. I just noticed the reviews on here and the stars they have been given and there's a reason they have three stars out of five, it's because they probably put themselves first before the customer. I've called multiple and they all have been able to give me hypothetical quotes and ballpark estimations. It would be easier just to take the gun in and just rob the place and get money for it, but don't do that cause that's illegal. And I assume they're called TNT pawn shop because they're self-destructive in their business Practices.

Your average pawnshop, with lots of jewelry options. Outside of jewelry there was a large speaker…read moresection that would rival a guitar center's selection. They also had quite a few movies, cds and guitars. The guitar that caught my eye was shaped like a butterfly and sent my hippie heart a flutter. They also had a decent selection of video games, which was caught my husbands eye. They were a bit confusing though because the $55 sticker was similar to the $5 sticker so it looked like a game was $50 cheaper that it was so that was definitely a disappointment for my hubby. My husband loves pawnshops so we will probably be back to check them out again, but to be honest this place was pretty meh. Nothing super special. However, if you need speakers, I'd consider stopping by because they did have a decent selection.

I am not in the market for buying instruments, but lately, I've been selling. I had 2 old…read moresaxophones that I took in to Marshall Music for a price estimate. They did the estimates and told me what I could do to sell them. I am real happy about the money I got for those, much more than I paid and they both also needed pad work done. This is all I've had done there, since I'm not into buying right now, but I am getting ready to sell one of my 4 guitars. I have 2 Fender Stratocasters, an Avarez acoustical, and the one I'm selling, a hollow body guild. It's worth about what I thought, but I now have their written statement on it's worth. This is a service that I could not find elsewhere, so kudos to them.

Will be joining Circuit City, et al, in retail oblivion soon. Don't shop here. Ignorant staff…read more Pathetic inventory. Cheap knockoffs favored over REAL merchandise. Prices are almost all list. "Special order" means "someday...whenever...maybe..."

When I lived in Kalamazoo, MI, I always brought my cello to him for repairs. He always did an…read moreexecellent job. Back in the early 2000's, he let me take a beautiful cello that he had built to try out, I fell in love with it, but I didn't have the money to buy it. I always wondered who ended up with that wonderful cello. I hope Scott is doing well.

Nice guy, amazing work. Had my Violin string changed and bow re-haired and he took great care of my…read moreinstrument. Had it done the same day, which is wonderful because I have a concert next week and needed it done in a jiffy. Gave me nearly half off the original price he estimated for me as well! Very kind.

I do not recommend going here for instrument rentals, or for anything really. Unfortunately, we had…read morea very bad experience our first time here. We would love to support local when we can, but we will not be returning here. We were given an instrument that seemed one size too small and sounded like a toy compared to our previous rental instrument from Meyer music. Even my 4 year old said , "eeeeeew" after trying it out for the first time. We rented for one day , called to ask about the returning it and the worker on the phone initially said we could go in and get refunded, but then called back and said we would still be responsible for the charge. He seemed like he didn't know what he was talking about because he kept recommending that we go in and try out the other instruments and said they had a variety to choose from, but we were clearly told the previous day that there was only ONE instrument in stock in the size we needed. Upon returning the instrument the next day, the customer service guy shrugged it off and said "you had the chance to try it," after showing them the picture of their instrument compared to another. The rental instrument was for a very young kid who wouldn't have questioned it. My child's instructors were surprised at the size difference, and mentioned they would recommend continue renting either at Meyer music in Grand Rapids, or even Shar music. We were unable to have a successful lesson with no proper instrument so we left our lesson and went to return the instrument directly. It's been super hard to reach out to the manager at the store. The workers there seem to be untrained and when we when to return the instrument, he took it and said we were all set without even entering anything in the system or getting our name. When asked to get a receipt, he asked for name and proceeded to type something, we ended up with a receipt of our original rental $21.xx, and the receipt also mentioned next billing cycle starts next month, nothing about ending the rental agreement, or instrument being returned. In the photo: left is the actual size we are in, right is the rental. The shoulder rest that we had wouldn't even stay on the violin... it just kept slipping off.....something is clearly not right, and they are not willing to make things right or even admit that a mistake was made. Lesson learned! We hope our experience will help save you the trouble that we experienced.

The staff are always friendly and knowledgeable. I appreciate that the teachers are known,…read moretop-notch performers in the area. The location is convenient as well!

All I can say is "Wow!" I've always thought about getting singing lessons, but never got the…read morecourage to until now. I was always worried whether I would like it or not, if I would actually learn something, and I think I was always worried that I would learn I sucked and I shouldn't even try. Crazy thoughts huh?! Well anyways, I am glad I took lessons with Ashley because I learned so much. In just 5 months, I experienced a huge improvement in being able to sing. I had no idea of the depth of the gift of singing I had until she helped me discover it. Ashley is so helpful, thoughtful, and inspiring that I recommend her to anyone who loves to sing and would like to move forward in their journey with music and singing.

Our 15 year old studied with Ashley and made a tremendous amount of progress on her singing skills…read morein a short period of time. She always looked forward to her lesson, enjoyed Ashley and, by her own assessment, gained a tremendous amount of confidence. We would recommend Ashley to anyone looking for a voice teacher. She is awesome!

My family loves guitar so we tried new lessons and we loved it. We will be coming back.read more

From the owner: Guitar Lessons, Music Theory Lessons, Recording, Classic Rock, Blues, Alternative, Jazzread more

This store is amazing. I wrote a report on the one in Kalamazoo, but it's portage Michigan, which…read moreis next-door to Kalamazoo. I give them five stars. They went away in above their duty to a customer. They spent over 2 1/2 maybe three hours trying to accommodate my service that I needed from their store Jake I don't know the other fellow names, but you were the main man that stood and did all the you could do you even know you even put my lost card in the safe because I was so frustrated and aggravated that I forgot it on your counter if you need any kind of musical guitars or anything amps accessories this store will accommodate you and they will do it with professionalism and friendly kindly attitudes I give them five stars and 100% of my business I will always go back to that store and I will never order online again that's where you get messed over and they don't keep their word. We'll see you in the morning at online service finally got it right but as far as the Guitar Center and portage Michigan on W. Ridge Rd. 100% five stars I wish I could give them more yours truly Eddie Mings.

Finally got a chance to make it to a lesson with the girls. We didn't know much at at, true…read morebeginners, who didn't even know what a chord was. That was until the awesomeness known as Adam, I'll call him Adam driver. Sat down with us and gave us the 411 on the anatomy of a guitar. There we were not even ten minutes in and already working on strumming, plucking, and multitasking. It was a very interesting class indeed, as our instructor played melodies from hit songs, and showed us how to imitate them. We left we not only basic knowledge of the guitar, but a passion to learn more, and hopefully one day. Play on our own, our with a group, but with our own guitars. The class was a good amount of time which surprised us. We thought we were gonna be there for less than ten minutes. But it was over half an hour and we got to play as long as we wanted after we were done. Talk about awesome!

I'm blown away by the talent and commitment of this extraordinary musical arts organization! With…read more42 music teachers and a wide variety of classes offered for all abilities, ages, and instruments, Crescendo Academy is one of the biggest treasures in Kalamazoo. Our daughter takes voice lessons with excellent voice teacher Shannon Scoles (she's also on the faculty at WMU). I never imagined that Lillie would connect so well with her teacher, and learn so much in such a relatively short time. She looks forward to her lessons each week, and has strengthened her voice, learned new styles, and progress with her passion for singing. Crescendo Academy has deeply impacted our family. Beyond that, I am always in awe of this non-profit organization. There are scholarships for students, a plethora of options for private instruction, group ensembles, and even music classes for littles. You'll find that the faculty is highly regarded, and boasts many musicians you'll recognize from the KSO and other musical organizations. April, who is the operations manager, is a connector, a genius at matching students with faculty, and planning all kinds of events (like art hop!). Even seeing her will bring a smile to your face - she's the epitome of a friendly face of a beloved organization. Take your kids to Crescendo. Get yourself involved. You'll be glad you did!