Well stocked, kind, and helpful. Why go anywhere else? Besides Ted Brown has been in Seattle for a…read morelong time, maybe 40 years +. I like to support the classic Seattle stores. Ok, so you could say like Nordstrom, Starbucks, and Amazon? No. Once a store has achieved world domination I give up on it. The rest of the world supports Amazon so why should I? But I do like to stick with the smaller stores like Ted Brown that have managed to hang on for decades.

Sad that I absolutely dread walking into this store these days. It used to be an extremely happy…read moreplace for me. Now I get looked at like I'm trash, not spoken to and completely ignored by employees of this company. I have walked in with $5k budget to buy tour gear with and left to make a Sweetwater music order in the parking lot. Music stores are dying and this one deserves it. If all the other string music stores act the same way I get why Sweetwater is so popular. Just a terrible music shop with really bad employees and mid level gear you're not missing anything.

Incredibly knowledgeable and friendly staff, highly recommend! I'm so appreciative they were able…read moreto accommodate me by bringing a chair and instruments up to the main landing since I can't do stairs. Dusty Strings is a legendary gem.

The world needs more guitar shops like this. Damn fine selection of Acoustic Guitars, Electrics,…read moreBasses, Harps, with a curated selection of amps and fx. Also probably one of the best Ukulele selections you'll find; not the cheap toys...real ones made in Hawaii and even some Japanese models that I've only ever seen in Tokyo. There's accessories and instructional books too. I did really want to see a few lap steels but I can't fault them for that...they did have a selection of finger picks and tone bars at least! Worth popping in even as a visiting tourist like me.

I was troubled by no requirement for ID at pick up or drop off. Organization seemed chaotic, e.g…read more Chase arriving after 9am / arriving to find the doors still locked at 9am. Lastly, before the performance, I had to quickly return home to drop off our dog as it was too hot for her to wait in the car. I had explained to Chase and asked him to explain to my son so he wouldn't be upset. He clearly didn't as my son afterwards explained that he didn't understand what Chase had said. Most particularly, I didn't appreciate Bethany's 'mom shaming tone' when she called me as I was trying to park that my son was "very upset that you're late and we're all waiting for you". Working (and single) parents do the best they can. Instructors should employ some empathy and perhaps also remember parents are customers.

Chad and the team at School of Rock (SoR) have done such a great job building a community of music…read moreloving (and learning) families! Our son (9 y/o) has been taking drum lessons there the past 7 months and has gone from a true beginner to playing songs together in a band with his peers. This is a combination of 1:1 weekly practice with an instructor at SoR (each has been fantastic with emailed notes after every session on recap and focus areas) and a weekly 90-minute band practice which he loves. Most of all, his enthusiasm for learning and enjoying music is through the roof and he is proud to be part of the band. All of this included in the monthly Rock 101 package, a unique offering for sure!

Great communicators and wonderful teachers! Their free lesson allowed us to get a feel for the…read morespace and teachers before committing. They didn't pressure signing up afterwards, either or try to reel us in with gimmicks. My daughter said that the 30 min flew by and looks forward to future lessons!

Rescheduling is easy and the instructors are professional and great. The music selection is awesome…read moreas well.

Good people with great knowledge and willing to work with you on pricing, buying, selling and…read moretrading.

Go here!!!! Very very helpful and friendly staff. They…read moregenuinely wanted to help me get the best deal and did not try to upsell me on anything, which was a relief. They weren't condescending to me as a beginner either, and gave me the information I needed. Great atmosphere, super chill and laidback. Incredible prices too. I got a fender amp for half the price of what it would be at other shops.

David is an amazing musician and gifted instructor. Online or in-person he is thoughtful, patient,…read moreand thorough.

I came to David about a year ago with what I imagine is a pretty familiar story: I taught myself…read morewhen I was younger, but it didn't click, and now I want to learn for real. I wasn't expecting much, as I took my failure to learn previously as evidence I just wasn't very talented. Now, with a year of lessons and practice under my belt, I've made more progress than I thought possible. I never thought I could get good enough to solo, and now I can play and improvise solos pretty well in multiple keys. I can write chord progressions and songs, and my understanding and enjoyment of music in general has skyrocketed. In addition to teaching you songs, chords, and scales, David makes sure you understand the underlying music theory at the heart of music. This was the "aha!" moment for me, understanding that intervals between sounds are the basis for all music. Now when I sit down to play, I have a good understanding of where I want my chords/melodies/solos to go next, as opposed to banging out chords and hoping they sound cool. If you've been wondering if you have what it takes to play, go see David, he'll get you there.

Don't bring your repairs here. I just had my second experience having my repair forgotten about in…read morethe queue. I was quoted 2-3 weeks, when I followed up 2 months later they discovered that the unit had been sitting ready for pickup for a long time and no one reached out to me to tell me it was ready. If I had to guess, it seems like the repair folks are swamped with work and that they're constantly asked to prioritize items that are going to the sales floor over local customer repairs. Sad, this used to be my favorite shop in Seattle. Now it feels like they target the tech-salary or boomer collector over working musicians, and all the charm and relatability is gone. Won't be back.

I brought in a guitar with some very relic'd tuners. They were rusted, bushings to the post, on…read moremultiple tuners. The repair shop took the greatest care, cutting the posts, drilling them out and protecting a beautiful flame maple neck. They then buffed the headstock. My stellar Tele works as well as it looks! I am so grateful! I could not recommend this shop enough! Thank you Thomas!

Appears Archtop.com had a fire and maybe closed, anyway I bought three guitars from them over the…read moreyears and I was happy with all of them. I think his name is Joe. if Joe is out of business, maybe I should open an archtop guitar store.

I happened to be in Seattle in 2019 and also happened to know a friend the owner Joe grew up with,…read moreso I was invited to come and check out the archtops. I found one that was not cheap but still met my limited funds, a pre-war Gibson L-50. I still have it and it sits out ready to be picked up and played each day. We agreed on the selling price and I went away a happy man. But doing the buying via video calls is the usual norm, from what I gather. I would buy again from him when I am ready, more likely via video call and delivery since I'm now living out of WA state.

This is my favorite violin shop. They are very friendly and accommodating and always make me feel…read moreat home. They have worked on my violins and I have always been satisfied. It's also wonderful that they have a female luthier, Jessica.. and the shop represents 4 generations of the family now, I think that's pretty incredible

We used this shop for a school violin rental and had a frustrating experience overall…read more Over the course of the rental, we ended up paying around $1,500 for an instrument with an approximate value of $800. I understand rentals can cost more over time, but there didn't seem to be a clear or meaningful path toward ownership, which made the value feel questionable in hindsight. The bigger issue came at return, when we were charged an additional $150 for a bridge replacement that had to be done for my son to play it after it broke during orchestra class upon normal use (confirmed by orchestra teacher). For a student instrument used by a child, this felt more like normal wear and tear than something that should result in a significant extra charge. Not to mention they didn't offer to give us the replacement bridge back but demanded we wait for the new one. Customer service also felt fairly rigid and not particularly accommodating, especially for families navigating school music programs. Overall, the experience felt expensive and lacking transparency. We went out of our way for this ship and sure wish we hadn't! I'm sure they are great for those that live in this world, but I would highly recommend other families look closely at rental terms and consider alternatives that are more straightforward and family-friendly.