I have had Harold set up four guitars for me, and he's done a great job on every one. I have had some others in town do set up work. No complaints - they were fine. But Harold's work is just always exactly what I was looking for. I told someone a while back, "Take your guitar to Harold. After he gets done with it, you might drop it and break the neck, but it'll still be in tune and the action will still be lighting fast." His prices are fantastic and always gets me done within 48 hours of drop off. Harold is my official guitar tech. read more

Good selection with lots of cool stuff coming through. Harold is a wiz at all I've needed for setting up my boutique bass. Non pushy sales but they're there if you need help. read more

Birmingham's OG music shop. Great used gear selection and the best techs in town. It's also a great place to just drop in and hang out.

Highland is THE quintessential local guitar shop. Don is one of my favorite people (shh! don't tell him Smiley said that). You will not find one better. They will wheel and deal, laugh, commiserate, be grumpy, be hilarious, and cut up with you. Great guitars and amps flow through the shop and the place is a resource for beginners and pro players alike. Their amp service tech, Sam, is a wizard. Thanks . read more

I've had Mr. Harold set up my bass for 3 years now and he never misses. He is an absolute animal and I highly recommend going to him for any guitar needs. As for the re.t of the shop I don't know I've only ever gone in and gone out so maybe this is just a review of Mr. Harold. read more

Don, the store owner is by far, the fairest guitar store in Birmingham. A great selection of vintage and new guitars. He also seems to give better deals to repeat Customers, which I love take care of those who rake care of you!! Thanks Don read more

Took my fender for some neck work. Terrible job. The guitar buzzes when played. Will have to get the work redone. When I went to pick it up, the staff had more attitude than I'm willing to deal with. That is my last time at Highland Music. read more

They seem friendly enough. However if you don't know what you're selling don't go to them. I had a used Marshall Acton bluetooth speaker. It's the model before the Acton II. It's a good speaker and I loved using it but I had to sell it due to a tight budget and needing to move. I glanced over prices online to see if I could find any fore sale. I couldn't find it but I saw the II's going for around 150$. So I took it to their store and said I wanted between 50$ to 100$ for it. I showed them how it worked and that it still worked well. They offered 20$. I do realise that it's not the usual type of music equipment they sell. They sell amps, guitars and effects pedals. However since it was a Marshall and since I thought it was a fairly decent speaker, I figured some musician might show interest. After all a musician is who found it for me when I got it new way back. I was really stressed and needed to run other errands so I took it and left. Something told me I should have gone to guitar center. I would have sold online but I didn't want to bother with shipping. To make it even worse I didn't even ask for a receipt of sale and they didn't offer. So I can't say anything sadly. Oh well. The least I can do is warn people. read more

Highland Music - This is what I sold sadly. - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

I remember when this place was actually located on Highland Avenue. Waaaay back when I was a teenager and my friends and I would get a ride there just to stare at the vintage guitars and hang out and learn about equipment. That must have been 20 years ago or more. So...they've been in business in Birmingham for over 20 years. That's saying something in and of itself. Since then, the same guy, Don, has run the place and over the years all the interactions I've had at the store have been favorable. I must have traded amps, pedals, guitars, bought amps, pedals, and guitars here a dozen times...and I've spent plenty of time here over the years just stopping in here and there to look around and see what they have. Friendly people, honest business, and long running expert employees who probably know more about what they're selling than anyone you'll find anywhere else. These guys aren't just selling equipment...they're in love with the stuff and have been for years. This is not your basic guitar store...this is a museum of vintage amazingness where the best stuff is to be found. Looking for an old Les Paul or Strat? Need to have a vintage tube amp diagnosed? Rebiased? Retubed? They do all that in house. No shipping your stuff out and waiting around in anxiety. No exorbitant prices. Just honest to God expert tech work right here in Birmingham done by guys who've been doing it forever. I've had guitars set up and repaired here, and in most cases it happens within a day. They've got a nice layaway plan if you're in dire need of a 70s Strat but don't want to drop your whole tax return at once. Long story short, this is quite possibly the best place for a real, adult musician to go for the things that they need and to see some vintage stuff that they can truly appreciate. They're not selling starter kits and all the latest gimmick effects as their primary business. If you're in town and looking for Birmingham's best collection of rare and or hard to find guitars and equipment, then you've got to go to highland to see it. Even if you're not in the market, it's worth it to stop in just to marvel and some of what they've got. If you're looking for the last guitar you're ever going to buy...don't order it sight unseen from the internet...go to highland and let them hook you up. You'll be glad you did. A museum where everything's for sale. 5 stars. read more

Highland Music - Deluxe ash strat. - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

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Birmingham's pro shop for guitarists! Going strong since the 1980s! Great service and tech! Vintage guitars and amps!

I needed a guitar string replaced and happened upon this place. They guys couldn't have been nicer. My daughter and I are just learning guitar, and I had a great conversation about future maintenance of our guitars. I will definitely be back! read more

Highland Music - Fun stuff for sale. - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Birmingham, Alabama

Let me preface by saying that I love this store and all of the old guys that run it. They can be kindof rude and grumpy but I like that better than the ass-kissing you get from any other store in the area. Don, the owner, has always been fair with me and has always been respectful. He is hard of hearing and might ask you turn down the volume if you plug in, but he will always follow up with some comment that he doesn't mean to offend and you can play as long as you like. I've bought pedals here, my current vox AC15, and lastly my 1965 res-o-glass supro sahara. I paid $1100 for my supro, which is pretty expensive for a guitar that had been hacked up and restored, had a hacked pickguard, and had a refin body, but I had never seen a guitar of this rarity before and I had to have it. The wiring harness was not working properly, and I ask to have this fixed before picking it up. This was done and I got the guitar. When I got home, the repair had not been done. After letting them attempt to fix it twice more, I came back to highland and ask for the parts to fix it myself. They gave me them for free (thankfully) and I rectified the issue easily. After a couple months of gigging, the pickup started to short out. I called don to see what he could do and then Dave (don's friend) about re-winding. After requestinf that Don fix it and making about 4 trips to highlands and them claiming they fixed it, I finally ask that they re-wind it. They finally fixed it on the 6th attempt. Long story short, I love this place. Buy vintage gear and everything else here, just dont expect them to fix or setup your guitar, they are totally incompetent. Go to Homewood music and ask for Jason Burns, he can fix any guitar. Send your electronic issues to Chris Novak. read more

REVIEW IS FOR GUITAR REPAIR SERVICE ONLY. It kills me to have to write this, because I love Don, Doug, Sam, and all the other folks who work at Highland Music. If you're looking to buy used gear, this is your place and if you need a classic amp repaired, you will find no better than the illustrious Sam. I've been taking my guitar to get worked on there for years now, and over the past 2 years or so, I tell myself that that each time was the last time. This is the way the encounter usually goes: I drop the guitar off, asking for whatever it is I need. I get the guitar back with the work NOT being done as asked. When I ask why, that's when it starts - the condescension about how long this person's been working on guitars and how knowledgeable they are, the BS excuses/explanations about why it wasn't done as requested ("you won't hear the frets buzzing when you plug it in"), and in a lot of cases, somehow BLAMING ME that the work wasn't done as asked. Ridiculous. Today I paid dearly for not listening to myself. Brought a $3000 custom guitar in to have the pickups swapped out. In the process, my guitar managed to get not one, but two scratches on it. The response I got to the first scratch was "once you start playing it and scratch it up even more, you won't even notice". Maybe so, but that's for me to do, not the person who is supposed to be a professional doing repair work on my guitar. The headstock was scratched by the use of a stringwinder, and when asked about it, the response was "you didn't tell me you didn't use a stringwinder at home" by the same person who routinely tells me to trust them and how long they've been doing this. And this was AFTER the first scratch had been caused. The guitar has a matte finish, so it can't be buffed out, or even fixed. As I was leaving after we discussed the damage I was flabbergasted to be told "Man, I did that pretty damn fast considering all the work you needed done. I even gave you a great deal on it"! I walked out with the pickup height not even being set and when I called about it, the explanation here was "you distracted me because you were standing there talking to me". Guitars aren't covered to protect the body when soldering is being done, tools are left on the bench as your guitar is handled which could easily lead to damage, etc., etc. If you have an expensive boutique/custom guitar, from the bottom of my heart let me urge you to go elsewhere. read more

As a local of BHM I've been to Highland Music many times over the last 10 years or so. They've always had an interesting selection of gear. You'll see the usual flow of second hand gear pass through. It seems like a popular place to sell your guitar or amp on consignment. Highland also has some neat vintage stuff. They have several vintage CBS era Strats hanging out behind the counter. They have always managed to have a few other vintage Fenders too. They even have a literal wall of vintage Fender Champ amps that includes tweed, blackface, and silverface era examples. So why the low score you ask? The problem with Highland music is the people working there consistently give customers a negative experience. These guys are unknowledgeable in the gear they carry-not the biggest deal. That would be easily forgiven if it weren't for their habit of just making up stuff to sound smart when they don't have an answer. What's worse than this is their attitude toward customers. Don't bother asking to play one of those cool vintage guitars. You will only be met with a snide remark about how you probably can't afford it. Both myself and friends have experienced this kind of rude talk from Highland Music, and it's honestly lead to our decision of willfully not spending our money there. I do not intend on bashing this store. I am not an angry internet troll, and this is not that kind of post. I genuinely want to see Highland Music succeed. Despite the faults I have complained about, I think it is the coolest guitar store we have in BHM. I would love to see these sort of things change. read more

I normally like to support local music stores rather than going to guitar center, but highlands music has changed my mind about that. The staff is extremely friendly, but I feel as if I was taken advantage of, either by them not having the correct knowledge to set up my guitar, or them not wishing to take the time for a complete set up. I left a note with the guitar tech working at the time to change the strings on my 7 string Jackson Dinky. We discussed verbally that I liked a lower action than most players, and for it to be tuned to drop Ab. This was written in my receipt. Obviously the difficult part of this, that a guitar techs expertise is needed for, is lowering the action. I know there is a joke about some people having their action entirely too low, but I don't think the bridge was touched at all. It was high enough to comfortably play slide guitar on. Essentially, I paid this man 40$ to change my strings. This is the same amount of money that I would have to pay at guitar center to have a licensed Fender technician work on my guitar. Fender, being the parent company to Jackson. read more

This place is a godsend for Birmingham area musicians. It's local and has been around for decades. Don and Co are super laid back and friendly. Harold sets up my Fender and Hofner basses like a pro. And Sam has fixed my GK and Hiwatt amps and made it better than they were before they broke. Go there. Buy stuff. read more

These guys were quick, they had my pedal in and out. I have a TC Helicon Play electric preamp and the center console went out and they warranty had passed so I was out of options. I was referred here and they had my pedal fixed in probably an hour. They have a good selection of vintage guitars and amps as well! read more

I have given this store multiple tries and it has been incredibly consistent. The staff doesn't give me the time of day and has minimal to no knowledge on the guitars there. I tried playing a couple guitars and was told to "turn it down I'm on the phone and can't hear". I was playing at a pretty low volume. Every time I have visited I was prepared to buy if I found something nice- but their horrible customer service STRONGLY deterred me from doing so. Highland Music, if you're reading this, you've missed out on about 4k from me. Y'all have some of the best guitars around but your terrible service has led me elsewhere to spend my money. Take young adults more seriously and fix your bad attitude about sales and you'll get more business. Meanwhile, I'm sending all my friends to Bailey Brothers to buy their gear. read more

Great local music shop specializing in pre-owned instruments. Go get your strings changed, amps repaired by Sam of SamAmp, guitars set up by Don and Harold, and take lessons from some of the city's best musicians. Prices are always fair and trading is an option if you've got something they like. Inventory constantly changing and they've been around forever. Go check them out! read more

Great local store in Birmingham...still grateful for the day I found this place. I am a working musician and it is great to have a practical, no-nonsense shop to help me with whatever I need. I am not playing big-box store guitars and don't want any junk. I'm impressed what they have tracked down for me. Don has been honest and fair in his dealings with me and has earned my business. I am 100% acoustic but they have a great selection of electrics, amps, and basses too. If you've never been drop by - you'll be glad you did. There's a reason they've been around so long. read more

I've been frequenting Birmingham-area music shops for about fifteen years now and Highland has become my go-to. Terrific place to buy music gear, particularly guitar-related stuff. Acoustics, electrics, strings, straps, picks, effects pedals, amps, everything. They also have electric basses, bass amps, PA gear, a selection of TAB and sheet music, and parts for guitars and basses. Also, it's the only local place I know of that has a selection of vintage instruments and amps. Really cool stuff. This is the only place that I take my guitars and amps to for repair. Though I've never taken lessons here and I can't speak for all of the teachers, I do know one them and I've seen him teach. He's thoughtful and patient with his beginners, and he's a heck of a player. The thing I like the most about this place is that most of the time you'll be dealing directly with the owner. This is not a chain stores where you end up talking to someone who hasn't got a clue about gear. The staff here have decades of combined experience and know their stuff. read more

Never stopped into Highland in birmingham alabama until today. It is a small old school shop, which is rare. They have a bunch of old fender amps, prices are about right. The staff reminded me of why I hated going into music stores years ago. They were not unfriendly, but seemed detached. The prices on most of their guitars seemed a bit steep. I approached the old dude behind the counter and asked him about a wall of old fender champs and vibrochamps with no price. He said that I would have to speak with the owner, he rarely sells them. I remarked is this a music store or a museum. (rarely sells means to me he wants top dollar of course which did not bother me, but the sheer dismissal was stunning) How do they pay the rent? It made me realize why no one should miss the old days of music store monopolies. Thus, they go the way of the dinosaur. New amps are better than fifty year old dusty crap anyway! read more