I've loved the drums the entire 5+ decades of My Life. And randomly browsing My eyes lit upon this…read moreused Pearl drum kit, living in FL. Fast forward to dropping the proverbial hammer, I did the business, paid the $$, and finally - took forEVAh, emotionally speaking (just about 3-4 weeks IRL) - My drum kit arrived in CA. And here's where My magical day manifested. The Drumming Section Guy - Dewayne, the human being in the pics with the super cool hair - assembled the million drum parts while answering all of My newbie drummer questions. And while I was completely engaged & distracted, AllofaSuddenouttaNowhere My new Drum Baby was born! It really felt like Xmas morning, I was sooo, soo excited I almost peed Myself loll. Dewayne educated Me mostly enough that I was able to reassemble 87% of My drum kit at home; if I had to wrestle with that huge box We started with, I'm positive I would have been too overwelmed, given up, and sadly returned it... but That's Not How This Story Ended. Thank You Dewayne. You are a Good Human Being, and I will be forever grateful to You. These Guitar Center folks made a great hire with this one loll.

One of the gears of the tuning pegs was worn down on my acoustic guitar, so I came by on a Saturday…read more9/6/25 around 10:40am to see if they could help. As soon as I walk in, an employee who's sat down at a table with a clipboard asks why I came in today, and I tell him I'm trying to get my guitar fixed. He writes down my info and the make and model of my guitar, and directs me to the repair counter. To my dismay, I see that they put out a sign that said someone will return at 11am on the dot. They have a ton of cool gear to look at so I didn't mind browsing but once it got to be closer to 11:10, I decided to flag down the cashier. He made a call and asked for someone else to let one of the repair guys know I needed help, and said he'd be down shortly. I continue standing awkwardly for at least 10 more mins before Gene finally shows up. Now Gene is a nice guy, he clearly knows what he's talking about. At least to me, someone who's a complete novice at guitars and instruments in general. He inspects my guitar and the worn gear. When I asked him how that could've happened, he explains that due to my tuning pegs having an open-display, it makes it more likely for everything to shift around, which can lead to the gears being worn down over time. When I asked if I could just replace the one worn tuning cog, or if I needed to replace the entire set, he said he could replace just the one cog, but that it may be best to replace the entire set and additionally install enclosed tuner pegs. Considering the install would've been less than $70, I said go for it. I gave it 4 days before calling for a status on my guitar. It was infuriating trying to get a hold of someone from repairs. No one answered so a different helpful rep named Cole told me he'd leave a note for someone in repairs to call me the next day. He apologized profusely and hoped that I'd get help soon. I like Cole. I didn't receive a call from anyone past 3pm the next day so I called them yet again to ask for a status on my guitar. A girl who didn't introduce herself answered and when I explained to her I had spoken with Cole several different times while he tried paging me to repairs, she told me she was going to page me to repairs AGAIN, despite me already telling her my horrible experiences with never getting through to someone in repairs. When I asked if she could just walk over and get someone from repairs to speak with me, she completely ignored everything I had said and told me she was going to page me to repairs. If I had facepalmed myself, I probably would've blown through my skull. Thankfully this time though, someone named Ulysses answered and I explained that Gene helped me and that he it was "just going to be a couple days" to replace the tuner set but that it already had been 4 days, and I've received no status update. Ulysses asked for my name and checked the work order Gene had for me, then tried to explain that sometimes if they're waiting on specific parts to come in, it could take longer. I then explained that Gene literally showed me the parts he was going to use and that it would run me less than $70 for the parts and labor. After that, Ulysses said that he was going to try and work on it and have it be done the same day, and that he'd call me. He did call me later that day to inform me he was finished and that my guitar was ready for pick up whenever. It was a lot of hoops to jump through but I'm just glad someone at least got it done. When I came to pick my guitar up, I did chat with Ulysses about it and he mentioned that repairs was incredibly understaffed and that they're always dealing with so many repair jobs, they can never keep up. It's totally understandable but Guitar Center needs to train their staff to better handle the status updates at least. Kudos to Ulysses for getting the job done for me as soon as he could. Also shoutout to Martin and Cole too for just being awesome, helpful dudes.

Came here to accompany my sister with an electric guitar string replacement and Billy was so…read morehelpful! He taught my sister and also showed us around the shop. For any folks interested in picking up an instrument, Beach music is the place to go! I used to play a few instruments and Billy's encouragement and the welcoming atmosphere makes me want to get back into music! Highly recommend anyone to check this spot out. I'll definitely be back!

Wow!! Best shop ever. Billy was so helpful and taught me how to restring and gave me other useful…read moretips as a beginner guitarist. I would highly reccomend this shop. They also have awesome vintage instruments. Maybe one day I'll pick one out!

I love this place. Came in to get a sax and flute cleaned and another sax repaired. Their service…read moreis awesome and their prices are great. I'm getting all my instruments needs done here going forward.

Great customer service. They were able to make adjustments to my sons saxophone on a Saturday, just…read more2 hours before closing. Highly recommend! They were very busy while I was there with several families picking up instruments and chatting with employees.

Kim the owner is a quality human being and a pleasure to talk with . If you need equipment or…read morelessons give him a try you won't be disappointed.

Customer service and communication could be improved. Scheduled a lesson over the phone for me and…read moremy wife and was excited to take a lesson after seeing the great reviews but unfortunately we caught the flu and woke up in the morning feeling like crap and my wife was bed ridden. I texted the instructor or owner, Kim, asking if we can reschedule because we still wanted to take the class. Received no response, so I made a courtesy call to provide a notice and was received by Kim,to my surprise I was met with the response of "no you can't reschedule" after explaining to him that we were very sick and how can he expect us to show up when we don't feel well. His next response was "I need a 24 hour notice" I'm sorry Kim but the human body doesn't work that way. I told Kim that I'm willing to still come in myself but Im very sick and was being courteous as I do not want to get him sick. That's when his tone changed and agreed to a reschedule. Thanks for offering the reschedule but no thanks. There was never a mention about a 24 hour notice over the phone, and do you really want potential customers who are sick coughing in your face? I guess customer customer service is not a priority, so I will take my business elsewhere.

Wanted to say that Mike and the crew at McCabes surpassed all expectations working on a 77 Ovation…read more12 string and numerous guitars I've had over the years. Ecellence and care and humble. Thank you so much

McCabe's is where it's at. We live close by and had passed it a hundred times always thinking it…read morelooks like a cool little place. Let me tell you... McCabe's has layers. You walk in to a small and intimate shop, with history pouring through its veins. One of the staff (Camila) was kind enough to take us on a little tour to check out all the nooks and cranny's. We ended up getting some sweet swag, but I plan to take my nephew back there to get one of those ukuleles . There are some legit musicians that perform at that intimate venue - will need to check out a show there!

1 1/2 minute read: On 05/06/2026, Greg Sinclair and I,…read morearrived at NORMANS RARE GUITARS as previously planned by Greg. 1 1/2 minute read Today (05/05/26), ahead of the invitation extended (to me) by esteemed colleague- Greg Sinclair, Administrator of a FACEBOOK renowned Surf Group "TUBES", today I went on a scouting mission. Relying on GOOGLE'S Siri, I arrived around 09:15 hrs m, to find business hours had been slightly rearranged at Norman's Rare Guitar Shop. Not being one to waste time, in the same little strip mall (TOPEKA VENTURA PLAZA) I saw a coffee shop (PEET'S) and decided to treat myself to some (coffee), and I did. I went in, got hot black coffee & a Blueberry Muffin. Before realizing it, it was 11 am. So I mozied'on'over to NORMAN's. The video I took, as I approached the guitar shop main door, will tell you more than words could ever say. Once I was in the guitar shop, I felt a nostalgic Deja-Vu pinching me. The same atmosphere, feel, sounds surrounded me like when I used to go to Sam Ash and other, now gone, guitar & Pawn shops. Be that as it may, I hope my photography will satisfy your curiosity of this scouting mission I went on today and as always ... ... thank you for stopping by! 05/06/26 ... UPDATE As promised, Greg Sinclair drove from Redondo Beach (I think) up to my place in North Hollywood, and picked me up. AS YOU RECALL. Greg has been inviting me to accompany him to go to NORMAN'S RARE GUITAR SHOP. We first had lunch on Venture Blvd at BLU JAM. It was very trendy for me, at least. Then we got to the guitar shop and Greg introduced me to Michael, whom you will see a short clip playing one of their guitars. Greg and I had a very satisfying visit at NORMAN'S, as we strolled around inside. We also met another guitarist who works there-Joey, I believe and if I'm wrong, I will correct my error. They have live music on certain days and as soon as I can get their schedule, I'll share it! All in all, THANK YOU, GREG, for your considerate invitation, picking me up at home, treating me to a fabulous lunch at BLU JAM restaurant, a fun time at NORMAN'S RARE GUITARS, and best of all ... your companionship. Update, 05/17/2026: Click link https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02sSQznzKewuHeGR2yfjHRxaA7qc6x88RgkhxcGj3FtyF6DHE6u1HKH878WtavKUvUl&id=1222849448&mibextid=wwXIfr

You don't really find out about a business until something goers wrong and you get to see how they…read morehandle it. My co-worked was retiring soon so I ordered him a couple of t shirts because he always would talk about how many great guitars this place had. So I ordered him two t-shirts last month but one of them they sent was the wrong size. So I emailed them the day I got them about it and I got a return email telling me to send them a picture to prove they screwed up and they would then send me a return email detailing the process of how I could get what I paid for. So the same day I got the email I retuned the email with the pictures proving they sent the wrong size in one of the t-shirts and then I heard nothing... So I emailed them multiple times over several weeks with no reply. But then last week I got an email saying sorry we screwed up and your t-shirt will ship out that day. Well, I never got a shipping confirmation and a week later I still have no t-shirt. This has been going on for weeks. Luckily, I didn't order anything expensive from them. If they can screw up something so simple as a t shirt and fail to quickly remedy it, how are they going to treat you when you have spent thousands of dollars and there is a problem?? If you are not famous or in the music business, probably the same way they have treated me.

Bootlegger is amazing. I bought the 5 watt amp and it sounds incredible. The guitars are way under…read morepriced for the quality. The owner is awesome.

A Hidden Gem in Redondo Beach for Music Lovers and Non-Musicians Alike!…read more Admittedly, I have never owned or even played a guitar--my musical "expertise" peaked decades ago in school with piano lessons and the viola. Yet, as fate would have it, I stumbled upon Bootlegger Guitar while walking to grab Thai food for lunch, and I'm so glad I did. This is so much more than just a guitar shop--it's a welcoming, community-driven lounge for anyone who appreciates music, craftsmanship, and good vibes. The owners were incredibly gracious and made me feel like an old friend the moment I walked in. They even offered gratis sips of bourbon (yes, bourbon!) and, if my eyes didn't deceive me, I think they had a bottle of scotch back there as well. It's clear that their hospitality is as much a part of their business as their musical expertise. While I can't vouch for the instruments from personal experience (again, my viola days are long gone), the passion and knowledge of the team here speak for themselves. You can tell they care deeply about their craft and their customers. Whether you're a seasoned musician, a newbie, or just someone who loves to soak in creative energy, this place is worth a visit. For all your musical needs--or just a friendly chat and a sip of bourbon--Bootlegger Guitar is a true treasure in Redondo Beach. I'll definitely be back...maybe for a scotch this time.

I love this store! They have a wide range of used gear, but they don't just have anything. They…read morehave nicely curated stuff for sale. Everything from expensive to affordable... but even the affordable stuff is good (imo) affordable stuff. I picked up a cool discontinued JHS pedal. Jeremy, who works there was very helpful and set up an amp and bass for me to try it out before I made up my mind. I'm definitely visiting this shop again!

Everything a musician or, in my case, wannabe musician, could ask for in a guitar shop. Tons of…read morebeautiful older guitars and amps to try out. Lots of records to peruse. Random instruments and drums etc to check out. Extra kudos to Eric and to the Luthier Nathan who has worked on some of our guitars. Very nice bathroom too.

Mike has setup 4 guitars of mine now over the past few years. He is an expert tech, but beyond that…read morehe is super knowledgable across all things guitar and music and a great guy to work with. He recently helped point me in the right direction for a pickup for my new Martin. I knew I could trust his recommendation and it ended up being as good or even better than promised. Trust Mike with your guitar needs - he is great!

yes yes yes Mike's guitar parlor is great - go and visit the store now - you will see many guitars…read morethat are available to you - just a wonderful place to be -

Kind and knowledgeable teachers and a great location! When we called the studio to get lessons for…read moreour son who loves loves loves music at such a young age, he started playing at 3, they were willing to give it a try and we are so thankful. He loves drums and guitar. It was a great fit for our family. Mr. John is so kind and wants to share his love of music with his students. Our son loves to rock out with his teachers and they are so encouraging and meet at his level. The office staff is so friendly and accommodating. We are thankful to have found this studio and highly recommend it for all ages!

Wonderful kind and talented music teachers. I highly recommend this location! I'm a beginner in…read moreplaying the ukulele and the entire staff really made me feel at home. Thank you so much for such a fun experience:))