We love Nick Rail we purchased a 4k trumpet and they walked us through the whole experience. Come and rent or buy.

Wonderful place! Super helpful and knowledgeable staff. Instruments, repairs, lessons. Everything one needs for all things music. *They fixed and tuned my daughter's harp in less than 24 hours! read more

Nick Rail Music is THE "go to" music store in the Inland Empire. The staff is extremely knowledgeable and always have an answer for me. It is a smaller store, so their selection of instruments isn't huge, but they have seven stores in SoCal and can ship things from their other stores next day, so they'll have anything you're looking for to you in a jiffy. One of my favorite things about this store is their selection of sheet music. They have plenty of play-along books as well as recital pieces for your more advanced players. Oh, and their REED PRICES ARE AWESOME!!! I've sworn off shopping online and will only do business with local music stores. It feels good for the soul. read more

Favorite music place. I went here to rent a flute for my band class and the worker did everything so fast and explained everything so well. We rented my flute, and we also ended up buying a music stand, a flute book and a starter kit. Everything he did was swift and we left in less than 15 minutes. read more

Nick Rail Music - Flute Case - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Redlands, California

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I'm a beginner cellist so I brought my cello here to be restrung and get my bridge shaped. Such a waste of money. They charged over $100 and the bridge is completely uneven and they only redid one string when I gave them a whole set to be put on. Now I have to pay more to get this fixed somewhere else. Very poor quality service. read more

I really liked the place but I have to subtract a star for a telephone misquote. They quoted me $39.99 over the phone but when I got to the store, the item was actually $49.99. I'm not making a huge issue of it, but still fairly annoying. However, the store definitely fills a niche in the community and the girl who rang me up was very nice(although she was the one who gave me the wrong price over the phone). read more

About 2 weeks ago I posted a bad review on the store manager , Surprisingly the Vice President of the company called and followed up with the complaint ! I am impressed on how he handle the situation and resolution has achieved !!! 5 stars for Tom for taking care of the customer!!! read more

Very nice place. I needed to rent an instrument for my daughter who is starting band. They were responsive, and very friendly and very helpful. Not pushy at all. I highly recommend. read more

Worse experience I've ever had. We rented an instrument with the staffs saying " You'll be able to get a free instrument a after 2 years of renting". When it was time to take the instrument back and cash in on the offer we had 2 different employee 3 different credit balance. When it was finally. correct they wanted us to pay 250 on one quote and 150 on another. When I asked what happen d to the FREE instrument they said well you don't pay what we sell them for , you pay msrp. I advised them that instead of having to pay I'd rather eat it and let everyone know of my experience with them. Ill never do business with them.... read more

Terrible customer service. Required unnecessary documentation. Ultimately left without an instrument in hand. Ended up going to Bertrand's Music in San Bernardino, where we received excellent customer service, they did not require the unnecessary documentation that Nick Rail Music was asking for, and we walked out within 15 minutes with a nice instrument in hand. read more

I've been leasing a flute from them since august 2013, never had a problem before but today..... Today they made me want to take the time to give them a review. Today was my daughters first concert.... And her flute lost a screw and she was devastated.... It was 5:15pm and her concert is at 7pm oh no!!!! Well I decided to call and see what they could do... Gary answers the phone and tells me the tech has left but to bring in the flute maybe they can help so my daughter doesn't miss her concert. I walked in at 545pm and Gary (who didn't know me or had never seen me before) was waiting for me and welcomed me, he grabs the flute, walks away...less than 10 min later comes back with a working flute... Omg can't thank you enough Gary!!!!!! My daughter did amazing in her first concert!!! Thank you for your caring service. read more

This place was great. They have expensive violin bows and also affordable bows, various violin items (sheet music, rosin etc) The staff member knew where everything in the store; he pointed me to the right direction. Thank you. read more

Was out 1st time here. Thank you so much Michelle for the. Information regarding reeds for our son's Saxophone. We will definitely be back again read more

I'm not very musical myself but my daughter has been interested in learning an instrument. I went to check out the store and they were very helpful answering all my questions and in the end I bought the cutest ukulele and case for my daughter's Christmas present. read more

Great people to work with Help me find the right equipment that I needed at a great price Would recommend Very friendly and helpful read more

Terrible customer services. I rented an instrument with the intent to purchase after 2 yrs. However, No one knew what they are doing and every time I asked a question I got different answer. It was a terrible experience in which I wasted a lot of money. read more

I came in to find out about renting an insturment for my kids. They answered all of my questions. Let me hold all of the insturments and helped guide me to making the right decission for them. They are knowledgeable and patient. The fees for renting are great, and very fair. read more

Nick Rail's is great if you're coming in for small orchestral items like certain strings and music books (not a large selection), but I wouldn't recommend anyone going there to buy/rent a string instrument or bow (orchestral) or looking for serious repairs. I play violin so there really isn't a lot to choose from in store, and it feels like everything is geared toward band instruments. I was looking for a bow a while back and their selection went from inexpensive beginner's bows to over-priced bows that I didn't really like, and I had to come back later because they didn't have many bows for me to look at currently available, and ended up leaving empty-handed. I've dropped in throughout the years and the more my knowledge of violin has increased the less appealing this place is. A mute that I got from here for my violin didn't do too great of a job and they didn't really help explain anything when I would go in as a confused beginner. I would suggest that someone go to a place like Cruz's violins in Riverside to rent or buy a violin, viola, or cello (though he specializes in violins) there's a luthier there that providesrehairs,repairs, and adjustments and a large selection of violins, accessories, and cases! In summary: Nick Rail Music seems great if you're in band, but if you play an orchestral string instrument (violin, viola, cello, or bass) I would only stop by to pick up little things here and there until I can make my way to a shop or buy from online. read more

I have been involved with nick rail for 5 years. I have a mixed opinion with this store. I like how much of a variety of products the store has, and how much sheet music there is. The staff is friendly and helpful, and they all play instruments themselves. This is a very recommended store for reeds and mouthpieces are great. When I needed a mouthpiece for my saxophone, they let me try all of their mouthpieces and I found the one that suited me best. Repairs are another story, though. When I needed a repair for my school horn I borrowed, the repairman criticized my ability to care for the instrument (it's a school horn that's many years old, do you think I made all of those scratches?) and after 3 days of keeping the instrument (another minus, because this company is notorious for keeping your instrument for days at a time) they fixed everything but the issue I had. I will rate it 2 stars for these reasons. read more

My son has only been playing the cello for 2 years now. I was told to go to a previous music store, which was a mistake. Turned out they strung it wrong. Roberto greeted me and my son as soon as we walked in the door with the most welcoming smile. I was there to see if anything was wrong with the cello, and was told was strung backwards. He restrung all the strings right then and there. To anyone reading the reviews Nick rails is amazing. And Roberto is definitely the one you want to see. Was very helpful and very much friendly. Found a new music store for my son... read more

This is the only music store I go to when I'm not shopping online. I've bought all my trumpet mutes and some sheet music there. The staff were also really helpful and nice when I was looking for a trumpet to buy and they let me try out two trumpets to compare and walked in occasionally to help me out. I also like the atmosphere and interior of the store. read more

This is one of 6 Nick Rail stores. It's a great place to rent a band instrument. The staff are friendly and knowledgable. I highly recommend Arte Hernandez, the sax, flute, and clarinet teacher. read more

Great place for anything music - from rentals to lessons. The people at the front desk are always helpful.

Do NOT rent an instrument from Nick Rail Music unless you like throwing away your money. When we rented, it was to try out the instrument and lessons to see if our daughter liked it. We were told that our rental costs for the first 2 years would apply towards the purchase of our rented or other new instrument. What they don't tell you, is that they take your 2 years of rental cost off the MSRP amount. Guess what, the MSRP on most instruments is 2X higher than the actual market rate for the instrument. So, if you can buy a specific cello for $700 ( medium size beginner) and you have ~$700 in rental payments in 2 years, Nick Rail will charge you $1400 for that cello. So....they certainly apply your rental cost towards the new instrument, but you pay 2X more for it than you would as a walk in purchaser or elsewhere. We checked. Same exact cello they wanted us to pay $1400 for, was going for $700 new at multiple places. They even wanted to charge us $1400 for the used cello we rented and then used for 3 years!! Your purchased instrument will never depreciate in value as much as the money you get screwed out of by Nick Rail through renting, even if you only keep it for a little while. After being a customer with them for 3 years, they would not give us a penny off the MSRP cost. Instead of wanting to keep a customer (we have 5 kids in music lessons!!), they said thanks for your 3 years as a customer, but we have no desire to keep you. MSRP or nothing. Talked to the manager more than once, and he wouldn't budge an inch. Terrible customer service. AND......Nick Rail orders your new cello out of a catalog and you get what comes, no matter what it looks like or sounds like. You pay for it up front. Even though the experience with Nick Rail was VERY unpleasant, it made us look elsewhere, and we are SO SO glad we did. For a great instrument buying experience, go to a place like Robert Cauer Violins (was a long drive for us). They actually keep MANY (as in hundreds) instruments on hand, so you can pick the perfect one for you. The minute you walk in, you can tell it is a labor of love for the owner. We were given a private room to try cellos for almost 2 hours!! Robert gave us a great deal (several hundred off his list price - NOT MSRP). He explained his costs openly to us, and how he hardly makes ANY money on cellos in the $2K price range, and just hopes to gain a lifetime customer (coming back to spend $10K++ on the next one). I hope this review saves at least a few people from the bait and switch BS at Nick Rail. There are FAR better options out there! read more

Although I never actually visited the location, they were extremely helpful via phone and email when I was looking into a purchase of a new instrument. They are knowledgeable, very responsive, and incredibly willing to assist. read more

We have had nothing but great experiences with Nick Rail! Excellent customer service and they carry everything my children need for band and orchestra. read more

If you are vocalist this place is a WASTE OF TIME! I came here two years ago with a group of music major friends and they had two vocal "scores" one was Disney songs and one was Hanna Montana. I came here about a month ago and there was absolutely NO music for vocalist. The place is also not well lit at all and the employes just sit behind the register and stare at you. read more

We called the store in advance and we were told to bring the instrument in for a minor repair as the repair guy is there until 5 pm only. Got at the store and we were told to leave the instrument with them for 2 weeks. They have very poor customer service and are very disorganized. It was our first time visiting this store, but we will NEVER go back there again. read more

I brought a cheap trumpet in for minor repairs and was quoted 158 dollars to complete the repairs. I proceeded to get a second opinion from Sam Ash who fixed the trumpet for free within minutes. I would never trust this place again! read more

We rented an oboe from Nick Rail. Our oboe teacher realized the oboe was missing a cork in one of the keys and was unplayable. When we took it back, the store had the nerve to sell us a cork for $5 -- which our oboe teacher had to install (because the repair person there was backed up). We bought coverage for the instrument, but there is a $50 deductible! Go figure ... Is there any competition in the Inland valley? Would love to avoid Nick Rail in the future ... read more

Nice folks . I have a few of my instruments cleaned and fixed up for several years now. If nick doent have what you need they can get it or find one. Students and pros can find fair deal at Nick Rail .. thanks guys for all the great work . read more

Taking Advantage of Band Kids in a bad economy! Went here to get a reed for my son's bass clarinet. Was told a single reed was right about EIGHT DOLLARS with tax! He explained that they give a %50 discount for buying a box. Here's the catch, it's %50 off of LIST PRICE! Basically, if you just a need a couple of reeds they are going to gouge you with FULL LIST PRICEI for a reed. The big issue is that the families that can least afford it are getting gouged the most by Nick Rail Music. Band takes a lot sacrifice, both in time and money. I guess sitting in your house in Santa Barbara you tend to forget that. My solution is simple, I've already spoken to another music store that is willing to discount ALL reed purchases, not just the whole box. I'm also going to put together a flyer for the other band parents so they can also take advantage of some fair pricing from this vendor. Maybe Nick Rail will see this and realize that greed, especially when directed at struggling band families, is NOT a good thing. read more