I went to Starving Musician (Santa Clara) in search of an electric drum amplifier and an Epiphone…read moreSheraton. I was in luck this day as I found both a brand new e-drum amplifier and a used Sheraton at fair prices. Looking the guitar over I noticed the nut for the instrument jack was loose and asked that it be tightened prior to purchasing. On a semi-hollow & hollow body guitars this can be a tedious task, hence why I asked for assistance. The guitar tech, Dimitri, stopped what he was doing and went above and beyond my expectations to remedy the problem. It was not a quick fix and he kept me updated throughout the process. Starving Musician is my first stop when looking for music gear. They have been around as long as I can remember and offer the best trade-in value for your used gear. Always a great experience.

Basically a great place for nice condition used equipment at decent prices with sales people to…read morehelp you with your selection. You can also sell some of your stuff here. However, sometimes.... ? A few days ago, I got this... I came in to sell or consign an 8 track reel to reel Tascam 38 in hardly used, pristine condition, value $800-1,000+. I was told that they do not sell this kind of thing and to go to Rasputin or Street Light. ????

Reviewing as a total music novice family. We needed to rent a violin for my 5th grader for…read moreorchestra. We could not have been more helpful, patient and kind helping us set up a rental. Similarly, when we made the return at the end of the school year, the process was seamless! Highly recommend!

I have tried coming to the store twice now looking for help with clarinets. First time was about…read morerenting one and the second was inspecting one we had donated. Both times we had very bad experiences. The first experience made me feel dumb like as if I should know more the process of renting an instrument. The second experience, the gentleman helping me and explaining to me about fixing the instrument, answered the phone mid explaining, seemed to put the person on hold and then literally mid sentence stopped talking and answered the phine again and walked away. Even my child said he was rude. The second person who took over again made me feel dumb as if I should know everything about this instrument. I will not be going back to this store again

I have both of my boys learning piano and guitar at SJG for past few years and I have a good…read moreexperience with all the teachers they have

Our kids have been taking private lessons at SJG for over 7 years. Our older son started acoustic…read moreguitar with Melody when he was 7 and then a few years later added electric guitar with Chris. Both Melody and Chris have been fantastic instructors. In addition, he has participated in various guitar ensembles and is currently in Rock Workshop which gives him an opportunity to jam with other kids and perform on stage in front of the public. Our younger son takes piano lessons from Ms Josephine and is progressing nicely, she is a great teacher and encourages him to test his skills in a low pressure environment. The school offers recital opportunities and performances and it's always amazing to see how talented the students are. We highly recommend SJG!

As a professional violinist and violin teacher, I was very pleased to find this shop. The luthier…read moreis very skilled and made a big improvement in the sound of my ailing violin. New bridge, sound post and fingerboard needed attention. I was traveling from out of town and the shop accommodated my travel schedule with a very quick turnaround. When all was said and done, the invoice was for a very modest price. Highly recommend for service work. If you are in need of a fine student instrument, Scott Cao violins is a leader in providing high quality string instruments that will serve an aspiring string player well for many years to come. I would recommend this shop for students of all levels.

A few years ago, before I had ever gone to Scott Cao Violins, I was a little timid about trying out…read moretheir shop, because I was more familiar with the older, more established violin shops in the area: Kamimoto Strings (my longtime go-to), Stevens Violin Shop (are they even around any more?), and Patrick Heaney Violins (a little far for me; plus, their service in one encounter was really disappointing). At some point, I became dissatisfied with the service I received at Kamimoto Strings and so I decided to give Scott Cao Violins a try the next time I needed some work done on my cello. I have to say I was really pleasantly surprised with their service, in terms of quality, price, friendliness and turnaround time. Since then, I have been going to Scott Cao Violins pretty much exclusively. I love the convenience of the location and hours for my personal situation, and I haven't been disappointed once with their service. They always deliver what they promise, and I'm really glad I finally decided to give this lovely store a try. In fact, I even bought a cello bow from them recently. Can't recommend them enough.

It's been about 6 months since we found Nina as the piano teacher for our 5 year old daughter JW,…read moreand we have been very happy to have Nina with us. Needless to say, not only is she very professional at piano, but also as most important is that she is very patient and nice and knows well how to encourage and teach our kid. Our daughter likes Nina a lot and she is really making progress and she will have a recital for the holiday celebration soon with Nina co-playing. Looking at the music journey where we started at 0 and now my kid can play lovely and quite complicated songs, it's just amazing, we hope with Nina the journey will bring us to further exciting milestones! Looking forward to the recital! Thanks Nina!

My 5 year old daughter has been taking lessons with Nina for the past year and loves it. Now, she…read morelooks forward to it every week. I can still remember that she was nervous in her first lesson with Nina. So I quietly told Nina before the class that she was a big Disney fan, and she blew her away by surprising her with Disney music. My littler girl was super excited and telling me how much she wanted to learn piano with Nina in the car on our way home. That's the time my little girl start liking piano. Nina is not only a teacher who always makes her lessons interesting, but also a good mentor who taught my little girl right learning attitude toward music, or any other things she learns in school. My little girl and Nina became friends both in lessons and after lessons. Additionally, Nina is very professional, having both her Bachelor's and Master's degree from top music schools in Piano major. We can make sure that my daughter's talent won't be ruined by those piano teachers who didn't have much professional training before and just teach for money ending up destroying children's potential piano careers. We are so blessed that we met Nina and have her to be my little girl's piano teacher. Our family are obviously huge fans of Nina's piano studio, and my 5 yr-old and I would both recommend her lessons to anybody who wants to take fun yet professional piano lessons.

Awesome workmanship Speedy turnaround on shipping repaired…read moredevices...I would recommend The Amp lab for repairs on all amplifiers and most electronics...These fellows are on the top of my repair companies! Thanks guys!!!

Keith resurrected my late dad in law's 1952 Gibson GA-40. He kept it as original as possible and…read moretook exactly to where I wanted it to be. Very knowledgeable, to the point, honest and kind. There is a wait because he's that good.

Forget the Guitar Center or Norman's Rare Guitars in Los Angeles…read more This is the place you need to go for your instrument purchase and repair needs! They gave me a much better deal then those overpriced places and shockingly better then Craigslist on a twin reverb in excellent new condition. I felt quite at home there and they were very very helpful . I mentioned the Doobie Brothers by chance and they jubilantly explained in deatail that their building was once a recording studio where the Doobies first started at. They had an amp the Doobies had used for pre-show warmup for sale and was labeled as such too! The shop is well organized and displayed, the inventory was drool worthy and I was given quite the tour, even into the inner sanctum, where the King's jewels were displayed. A most memorable visit and a steal of a deal! Highly recommended! I will return. And avoid the other places .

Pretty cool that my son & his dad earned a sticker because they said a specific word when they…read moreentered the store!

The owners and instructors at Tavan have all the qualities you could ask for: knowledgeable,…read moreprofessional, accommodating, and best of all, nice! Maryam especially deserves a shout-out for juggling schedules of students and instructors, especially when vacation time arrives and everyone is away. They're extremely patient--not only in scheduling, but also in teaching. My sons were beginning piano players, and they know everyone struggles at first. Never do they get frustrated with slow progress--they always encourage their students and motivate them to become better musicians. For advanced musicians, the instructors can help them get to the next level, as demonstrated by their twice-yearly recitals. I also like how they don't sell stuff in their studio--I kidded them about that because it seems every place that offers lessons also has a supply store. Amir, one of the founders, said that's just not who they are. My two boys have been getting great instruction and learned to love music even more!

My son is lucky to have Amir as his piano instructor. He is able to connect with him and chat…read moreabout sports and then shift to the piano instructor mode and make learning how to play fun and cool. The school is a gem and I highly recommend it.

Heidi is an amazing teacher! Our daughter started almost 2 years ago taking private lessons and…read moreHeidi is incredibly patient and talented with teaching piano to people of all ages. We can't recommend her enough!

Heidi is amazing and very good with young kids. She has been teaching my daughter for some time and…read moremy daughter adores her. Highly recommend her.

Looking into learning an instrument for yourself and/or your kids? Then check out Avloni Academy of…read moreMusic located in the beautiful and peaceful city of Saratoga! I started taking piano lesson with Marianna, a lovely lady who is cheerful and energetic! She is a talented and well-educated piano soloist and accompaniment. As a teacher, she is caring and know what it takes to guide students in the right direction to give them the utmost music education possible! Music is challenging in general, but Marianna makes every single lesson fun while productive. I am blessed to have her as my teacher! A few months of piano lesson, I learned of Avloni Academy of Music and decided to take violin lessons at the school. There, I met Mr. Alex who was once part of an orchestra performing in multiple countries in Europe. While having many years of experiences as a performer, Mr. Alex also specialized in educating students. While I could only take a few lessons with Mr. Alex until my work schedule changed, I can say Mr. Alex is a great teacher with a very calm and compose personality. He cares for his students and want to grow them, so if you want to learn violin, Mr. Alex is certainly the one! Did I not mention the couple owner of the school yet? How can we not include them in the review! Teachers and school location are important factors, but we cannot forget the folks that run the show! I'd like to give a shout-out to Kin and Tina, the couple who owns the school, a huge applause for their dedication and swift responses to students' needs and wants! So, give them a ring for any musical education, either for you or your child!

Ms Tina is a fantastic teacher. She started with our daughter when she was 6 and her playing has…read moreexceeded our expectations. Tina will push her students to get better but also make sure they are comfortable and enjoying their experience. Our daughter will often sit at the piano and just play for fun. Very good combination of playing and reading notes/technical as well. Ms Tina played a lot to inspire students to feel and understand music better.