Yesterday John Barton at Friendly River Music added 30 years to my life...seriously!…read more I was out for a drive in the country with my wife and we happened to find ourselves in village of Cornish, Maine. For those unfamiliar, Cornish would be the Wikipedia entry under "quaint New England village." I asked if she wouldn't mind a little detour. I told her how in one of my past lives in the early 1980's I used to go with my bandmates to a very small guitar shop out in the middle of nowhere: Friendly River. John Barton started his store sometime in the 70's. The fact that he is still in thriving with his small shop in the age of big box retailers like Guitar Center and Sam Ash is nothing short of remarkable. The fact that he has built a global base of customers including many well-known celebrity guitarist from a barn on a riverbank in rural...and we are talking rural, Maine is nothing short of a miracle. How did he do it? Having been out of the music business for some time, I'm always a little shy about reminiscing, especially with someone who continues to walk the walk. John greeted me with warmth and spent the better part of a half-hour sharing stories of my past life as a musician. Much to my surprise, he even remembered one of my old bands, "The Coon Cats," which enjoyed some modest success in the emerging country-punk, rockabilly scene in the 1980's. He treated me as if I'd been a loyal customer for the past 30 years...and the fact is I had never bought anything from him! I was not a guitar player in those days; I was a drummer. I used to ride along with my guitar player friends and bandmates to carry and occasionally finance their purchases at Friendly River. I did remember John's expertise and honesty... ...and those are the characteristics that account for his continued success. John has customers all over the world who will call him for an order and trust him to ship vintage and high-end musical instruments simply on his reputation. Many actually travel to Maine specifically to shop at Friendly River- and he's glad to accomodate them. Now at this point in the story I should tell you that part of one of my regular, intentional mid-life crises I decided to play guitar. I'd hacked on it for years, but wanted now to get serious. I recently visited one of the big boxes and left, happily, with a Chinese made Fender Telecaster and a small practice amp. No complaints... However- I'm starting to get fussy about my sound, I'm growing in my technique and I'm ready for an upgrade. With this in mind, John could have sold me just about any vintage instrument that would satisfy my growing passion for surf guitar. (He did, in fact, show me a collector's Fender Jaguar in the neighborhood of $6,000!) He could easily have preyed on my enthusiasm and my middle-aged sense of status purchasing. Instead, he asked me what type of playing I was into and what kind of sound I was looking for. Instead of dazzling me with technical specs, which he is fully capable of, he gave me a tour of the various features of several instruments from a player's perspective. Instead of the Jaguar, he steered me toward a $1,200 used Stratocaster, though he did take advantage of a moment of weakness and had me drooling over a DiPinto Galaxie after he established our mutual admiration of the surf revivalists, Los Straightjackets. The DiPitro was priced at about $600, a considerable drop from the $6,000 Jaguar. Obviously, this is one of the reasons John has such a loyal and lasting clientele. I was very pleased to hear that he was not only surviving, but thriving. Many businesses, particularly those dealing in largely discretionary spending have closed their doors over the past few years. I assumed that part of John's success selling high-end musical instruments from his wilderness outpost was a savvy exploitation of online sales and internet marketing... ...Nope. He does have a website, barely. You really can't order anything from his site- he says give him a call or send him an email and tell him what you're looking for. So what are the keys to his success and why should you buy your next guitar, amp or other fretted instrument at Friendly River? 1) Expertise & Experience - John Barton has been in the music business nearly 40 years as a retailer, collector, technician and musician. He has remained focused and true to his vision throughout. He knows what is current, and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of the vintage and collector's market. 2) Sincerity and Honesty - As I said, he could have sold me about anything. I left the shop with information and a greater understanding of exactly what instrument would satisfy my ability and interest. I did NOT leave with a guitar. I did leave with the surety that Friendly River is where I will be purchasing my next one. 3) Remote and somewhat inconvenient location - I know, that's usually NOT a benefit...but this trip is really worth the effort!

No other guitar shop has stood up to the experience and expectations set by Friendly River. I've…read morebought and traded many pieces of gear here over the years, even though I have been living across the country for over 20 years, I have never been in another shop that doesn't make me think about jumping on a plane to go to the shop I really want to be at.

On vacation and my boyfriend broke a piece off his guitar.we stopped at this music center for help…read more The employees here were so helpful and so kind. The selection of items was nice and it's a pretty cool spot. Loved every minute of being here.

This is a small music shop that is worth stopping in and taking a look around. They had quite a…read moreselection of ukeleles, a couple banjos, a wall of acoustic & electric guitars (even an electric uke). Plus tuners, amps, cables, and other necessities. For books: piano, ukelele, and guitar music primarily. The service was good. The shop owner came over and tuned a banjo for us as soon as we mentioned it was out of tune. We left with a fancy new harmonica, a handful of banjo strings, and a free pick.

Midtown Music rocks! My family was vacationing near Biddeford, Maine, and my son was eager to rent…read morea guitar to play. We found Midtown Music and drove over. Nick at Midtown was incredibly friendly and helpful - and rented us a guitar and amp at a very reasonable price. A day later, the output socket was loose, so we drove back, a little nervous about it, and Nick fixed it with a smile (and no charge). From the looks of the other people in the store and the music being made, it's clear that Midtown is for real pros. For the budding musician like my son, Midtown is a friendly place that loves and encourages music. I wish we had a place like this where we live.

We just stopped by Midtown and signed our daughter up for lessons. Nick is such a great guy to work…read morewith. He answered all our questions and gave us some great tips for success! What a great place!

Needed strings on a used electric guitar i just picked up. Dropped it off at 4 and explained that…read moreI'd love to have it by close if possible. By 5 the new strings were on, tuned and i was on my way. Thanks for the fantastic customer service guys. I love your knowledge as well. I don't feel stupid with any question i ask as I'm teaching myself this stuff.

Great service! Great local business! Buy local! I cannot get enough of local merchandise and…read moreputting my money where it belongs!

This is the place to go for guitars and guitar gear in Portland…read more The staff is great, the prices are excellent, and the vibe is cool. They recently helped me re-setup my Tele after I screwed it all up by adjusting the neck on my own. They did great work, and got my guitar back in shape pronto. Best of all, unlike the corporate bozos over at Guitar Center, Buckdancer's won't try to upsell you at every opportunity.

I bought a very pretty Martin guitar to get back into playing (45 years since high school) I didn't…read moreunderstand that with the quality of the wood it needed to be hydrated in winter months when the house gets dry. So it cracked! Buckdancer's were able to fix the crack (it happened two years in a row) beautifully and did not charge me an arm and a leg to do so - reasonable price! The guys working there are really great. I have had a good experience shopping there over the years for myself or grown children. Highly recommended! Phinneas, the owner, is a very nice man too! PS They gave me some great advice on hydrating gear to protect the guitar going forward as well.

Cool music shop, lots of great used guitars. I got some good deals on drum hardware back in the…read moreday when I was a student at Bowdoin. It was cash only as I remember it (fight the power, Marty) and Marty is the only one who works here. He's got a faithful crew of customers, and it feels more authentic to shop here than the place in the Tontine Mall, although that's a decent shop too. It was real nice to have both options and not have to truck down to Portland for me music gear during my 4 years as a Polar Bear. Definitely the kind of place where it's hit or miss depending on what he's got in for used and new guitars....always a few drum kits and plenty of cymbal stands/hardware on hand. Overall a great little music shop.

My dealings with the great folks at Accordion Connection have been nothing short of marvelous! 3…read moreyears ago I sold my home and had some extra money to purchase a new accordion.......so I contacted the folks at Petosa and Accordion Connection and a few other sales offices. The people at Accordion Connection made my decision so easy that I didn't see the need to seek any further. They were willing to help me explore the different possibilites of how this new instrument would be configured. Arthur Welch sat down with me and partnered with me in picking out exactly what I wanted to see in "my new baby". I had extra keys added to the keyboard, plus a complete Limex wireless MIDI system (included Alpinmaster software) built into my accordion -- and best of all, it was built by Serenellini Accordions in Italy -- but to the exact specifications that I laid out with Accordion Connection in Gilmanton, NH......even down to the custom nameplate! And, as if that wasn't enough, Accordion Connection gave me a generous discount for full payment up-front.........something that they did not ask for, but which I wanted to do (for my own peace of mind). I did not know that I would be receiving a discount -- that blew me away! When my new accordion arrived -- it was better than anything I could imagine. It worked perfectly, and that special "muffled base/chord sound" that I wanted put into one of the bass machine registers came out perfectly! Their technicians were very patient in helping me to learn how to work the Limex MIDI system. At the same time, I also dropped off my "old accordion" -- a 1963 Stradavox which I had been playing since it was new, but not in very good shape these 40 odd years later. The grill was bent (concave inward somewhat), bellows corner clips missing, bellows held together with strong sewing thread and clear vinyl cauking, and many of the reeds were either cracked or not sounding altogether. I knew that she needed a lot of work, and I was prepared to pay for it. At the end of the day I ended up paying only about 1/2 of what I expected, and my "old accordion" was restored to better-than-new condition! She sported a new Limex MIDI sound system, and the new and repaired reeds sounded flawless. In repeated trips to Accordion Connection I have been greeted with warm, friendly, people -- who want nothing more than to help me achieve what I came for........even if it's just a look-around. You will be hard-pressed to find nicer, more knowledgeable, and more helpful people than Arthur and Sue Welch, and their more-than-capable techicians. Taking "short cuts" is NOT part of their vocabulary. Accordion Connection will always be my accordion supplier/servicer/restorer of choice. I highly recommend them to anyone!

I've done a lot of business over the years with them. This is where pros go in New England…read more Proprietor Arthur Welch is scrupulously honest and the quality of the workshop the best. They've always been very up front with me. They do take a hefty percentage on consignments and their Acctone line of accordions, while top quality, are not exactly a deal. Their standards of quality are the highest and you pay for that. A couple of times I've made the choice to sell on my own rather than use them for a consignment because the amount of repairs they wanted to do to get it up to speed cost more than I could sell it for. However, they never tried to talk me into anything - and these were all things you'd want to have had done if you were buying a pro working instrument. Basically if you buy something from them it's going to be a great instrument in great condition and they will really stand behind it and the same goes for for repairs. One time on a vintage accordion I bought from them on spec. the reeds (once they were set) turned out to be a big disappointment and they replaced them with a complete set of better vintage reeds free of charge.

Great place to pick up whatever you need at (usually) decent prices. Sometimes they even have an…read moreunusual instrument or two. Friendly staff too.

I really like this place. This is one of those hole in the wall locally owned music shops. They…read moredon't have everything but they usually can get their hands on what you do need. The staff is friendly and helpful and occasionally you'll see some local talent playing guitar in the corner.

Ralph to the Rescue!…read more After suffering from shoulder injury I was forced to give up my 12 string Yamaha that I had played for 40 years. A blue grass friend told me about parlor guitars. I researched and found a gem. But the string action was too hard for me to play for any length of time. Ralph suggested ( and changed our to) much lighter strings. It worked! Now I can play again effortlessly.

I won't go back.Ralphs replaced my Telecaster bridge with some piece of Junk, and never…read more returned the Original, like he agreed to! You are better off seeing this place, in the Rear view mirror!Avoid this Place.

Always excellent customer service. I love my new guitar. Going to buy another new uke as well. John…read moreKNOWS his stuff. His talented wife and artist Pam is always interested, and Brady the mascot is simply wonderful to visit.

From the owner: TuneTown is an all inclusive musical facility. We have a retail area, where we stock instruments…read moreand accessories. There are 9 lesson studios for private and group lessons that run 6 days a week, and we have a professional recording studio here as well. To top it all off, we have a stage located in the store where we hold monthly student showcases. TuneTown offers repairs, restorations and general maintenance on instruments and other electronic gear. From restrings to refretting we have you covered.