I ordered a new bass guitar from Sweetwater and I brought it in and the luthier / owner was nice…read moreand I just wanted new strings and a setup. I picked it up a few days later paid him and everything was fine until I went to adjust the trussrod and the rod head was broken and over tightened. I call the moron up and he denies everything and he said it came that way, I said why didn't you tell me? You took my money?! Come to find out he has done it a few times to musicians I know. Stay away from this lying, weirdo. Go to Russo's in AP. This guy sux and is a weirdo!!!!

Chris fixed the issues on my strat and set it up perfectly for my playing style. Nice guy and great…read moreservice!

Visited onna recent trip to NYC - had seen the video on YouTube and it was a must see- unique…read moreguitars- cool history!

Got a setup for my beater acoustic guitar for $50 including strings, substantially less than other…read moreshops I called, big and small. I dropped it off Monday and it was ready Wednesday. The guitar was barely playable before, but now it feels and sounds great. Will definitely return next time I have a repair issue.

Pretty cool guitar shop, stopped by before a show at the Bowery Ballroom while on tour to pick up…read moresome needs and wants. Small but cool selection. I got everything I was looking for but would've appreciated a bit warmer service/conversation. I'm grateful they were open on a Sunday!

Appreciate Howie and the Rivington team for taking care of me. Straight shooters with a very…read moreeclectic collection of vintage guitars. They always seem to find interesting gear, lots of quirky and rare stuff which I appreciate. I've sold three guitars and bought one in the last 2-3 years with these guys. My LG-2 has been an inspiration.

I brought my guitar and amp to this shop, guitar for a set up and amp because it was having sound…read moreissues. First started talking to Jon who had told me that it would be 40-50 dollars for the setup... no problem... good deal... when he picked up the guitar to do the setup he told me it would be 40. When he was done he charged me 50.... Still not a big deal as I wasn't going to argue over 10 dollars. Now for the amp. Jon had told me that it was most likely just a short, it would be repaired in shop, and it would cost me no more than the set up. Fast forward about 10 minutes and a guy named Eric comes in and tells me that they have to bring the amp to their amp guy and that it would cost between 90 and 150 dollars to fix plus 20 dollars for delivery, also said it would only be a couple of days. I left the amp with them and went on my way A week later I still hadn't heard anything so I contacted Jon as he was the contact I was given. He didn't get back to me until two days later and I got nothing but the runaround... and I was told that the shop they brought it to had a lot of their amps and they would get back to me when they heard something. I waited another couple of days and contacted him again. Once again it too him two days to get back to me and he still had no answers. So I waited another two days and contacted him again. This time I get a text back from Eric saying that they are waiting on a part and that's what's taking so long and he would update me the next day. Another two days went by with no update. So I text Eric again who proceeds to tell me that he's just the delivery guy and I needed to contact the shop that had the amp. I proceeded to tell him that I didn't do business with that shop I did it with him... the next day, after I texted him for another update and he tells me that the guy was on vacation for a week and he just got to it... also telling me that he don't know if he can fix it because he's not a line 6 repair shop. So which is it? They have a lot of your amps, waiting on a part, or the guy was on vacation? So now 2.5 weeks later I still don't have my amp or any word on it.

Very easy to work with, pleasant, and knowledgeable!…read more I gave them a call to assist me with the purchase of a guitar, and they were as courteous as they come. Great staff over there - you're sure to be pleased with their service!

I'm not sure if it's fair to call this place a guitar shop. It's more of a guitar museum... that…read moresells its art pieces. If you want something very specific or mainstream, then you're better off going to a Guitar Center. Because they stuff they have here is an amazingly curated smorgasbord of rare, quirky, or otherwise vintage instruments. I stopped in just to check out their acoustic room in the back. Played some guitars, the lone banjo they had, and an acoustic bass. Then went back around to look at all their oddball guitars (in a good way). The guy manning the front desk and helping people out in between doing a guitar setup was super cool to talk to.

This is the kind of independent guitar shop we should all be so lucky to have nearby. We need more…read moreshops like this and less of the utterly devoid of character and corporate mega-store monstrosities like Guitar Center. Personalized attention, friendly and knowledgeable staff. They helped me set-up a new guitar and install locking-tuners, two things I am not confident enough to do myself. The prices are more than reasonable and the turnaround is fast.

I write to extol and celebrate the virtues and amazing craftsmanship of Michael Virok, the owner of…read more@theGuitarRescue.com and a Luthier extraordinaire. This review has been a long time in coming, due to several serious family medical issues combined with a move to another state, and it is a review that I am grateful to finally write. Michael graciously and kindly helped me to complete the final (and most important) phases of mods on my 2006 Gibson SG Standard. My overall goal was to switch the colour-scheme of the hardware to Black, and so that it also had the "Doom" affinities of my previous guitar, an ′86 Jackson Custom made in the San Dimas workshop. The first phase of mods began with the installation of new tuning pegs and control knobs. I was able to get some Grover 102BC Original Rotomatic Black Chrome tuning pegs to replace the original faux-ivory white ones, the latter of which have really thin attachment posts (which I have seen break due to desiccation a few times). I always loved the control knobs on my Jackson, so I got a set of four Proline Back Chrome Textured Dome ones, which feel like home to me. The next phase of mods involved replacing the Gibson pickups with something more suited to my style of playing. I decided to go with the EMG Zakk Wylde 81/85 Humbucker Set in Black. Both of these are active pickups, like the one in my Jackson. I went to one of the big-box stores for the installation and when I picked it up, the tech (i.e. not a luthier) said that since the electronics cavity of an SG is notoriously small, he was unable to fit the battery inside of the cavity, and it was returned to me like this. He suggested that I find a luthier who could rout out a battery-box to ameliorate this situation, because the store didn't even have the proper tools for the work. I was, like...WTF. So, I found a real Luthier in Michael Virok. He was able to discard the splitter connecting the new pickups and wired them directly together so that a battery could actually fit in the cavity - without having to rout out a battery-box to the side of the cavity. While this setup may use batteries more quickly, there was no need to do any invasive procedure to install something by doing it this way (which I thought was a great idea!). He did this while I waited. Gratis. The final piece of the puzzle was the installation of a proper tremolo system, and I asked Michael if he could put a Kahler whammy-bar on it, because I absolutely adored the Kahler on my Jackson. Michael acted as a de facto consultant on this, and he graciously helped me to determine which Kahler model would be the best-suited for my SG. Bear in mind, that literally no other luthier in a 100-mile radius said that they could do this...not even in Philly. He installed the Kahler 2200 and it works perfectly! Taken together, I offer my highest recommendation, without any reservation, for Michael Virok at The Guitar Rescue as the regional go-to Luthier extraordinaire. If you live anywhere within an hour-or-two of Lawrenceville, NJ and have the need to do something, anything with/to your guitar, PLEASE let him work on your axe! I drove all the way from King of Prussia (PA) based on his reputation alone, and was so impressed with him. He is kind, affable, and a consummate professional whose only concern is customer satisfaction. Thank you so very much, Michael, for literally everything, and humble apologies for the exceedingly long delay in submitting this review. Namaste...

Took my guitar in yesterday and got it back today. Full rewire and setup. Sounds perfect! Provided…read moreme with some history on the 1983 Fender Fullerton Stratocaster I brought, which I always wanted to get confirmed. I would highly recommend.

It seems like every time I try to do business, there are issues. Nothing is ever in stock, and has…read moreto be backordered. People buy stuff, use it for 45 days, return it and GC sells it off as new. Better off buying off Sweetwater or Amazon.

Guitar Center in Ocean has a pretty good inventory and odds are you'll find what you're looking…read morefor. The sales people are friendly and if you're in the market for a musical instrument they probably have it. Check it out.

Friendly, professional, skillful and knowledgeable service. Had a custom nut made by Andres at…read moreBrooklyn Fine Guitars. He solved the issue I described to him of my Strat's high strings making a sitar sound and notes choking a bit. I appreciate that they got it back to me in good time (1 week). Andres also did great work on a Tele that needed an overhaul; now it plays and sounds great! And more recently, he made my 53-year old Gibson L6-S play better than ever, with great attention to detail on the frets, electronics and intonation. Prices are quite fair but probably not for those on a tight budget. Highly recommended!

Great local shop! My son and I take all of our 7 guitars from a washburn to an eastman archtop for…read moregeneral adjustment and alignments, strings and setup. we trust them wity our instruments for more serious repair work too! they masterfully fixed puerto rican cuatro that need wood crack repair on the back and they did a fantastic job. Also they are pretty fast too! highly recommend for all guitar needs and i see them fixing up keyboards and pianos all the time too! Thanks Brian for providing a great neighborhood shop in brooklyn! -Oleg and Basil

If you need any instruments or lessons this is the best place to get music lessons for your kids…read more Owner is very kind and patient. Schedules are flexible and tailored to your needs.

My child has been taking lessons here for almost a year. They have been excellent! I'm not sure…read morewhat these other complaints are about. We've had days where I have completely forgotten about lessons, or have had to reschedule/cancel lessons last minute, and they have always been accommodating. Even rescheduled the lessons I had forgotten about, when they didn't have to (it's in the contract regarding missed lessons and rescheduling). My daughter enjoys going for her lesson, and both the teacher and the owner have been fantastic.

THE very best guitar tech in the five boroughs. Matt Brewster transformed a vintage Gibson Firebird…read moreI'd picked up for about half price, because it had been tampered with, wired wrong,and just all wrong. In just about 2-3 days, he found a big issue that the last tech had missed. I got phone calls on the progress, he asked permission before doing a fret level and polish, and replaced the tuners, full setup, fret level and he transformed it from a "player's project" into an Instrument that played like a new Gibson. The price I paid for the work was so fair, I know him and his techs worked on that thing for days. Everyone at the shop knew about its progress, and they all seemed proud of their work. Good Vibes, Honesty, and integrity along with getting a tech that's mentioned in Rig Rundowns, he works on Rock Star's guitars, and you'll get the same quality work as those celebs on Rig Rundown for the same price a local music shop charges. Matt, Chris and everyone working at 30th street always greet me with smiles and warmth. That is the cherry on the sundae. Retail professionalism along with the best setup man in NYC, these are rock solid fellas.

About 15 years ago, bought a gibson goldtop from one of matt's workers at the shop. Got home to…read moreLong Island and had to adjust trussrod for the humidity. Found out truss rod didn't work?. Called Matt and he said it was my problem because I lived near the beach?. Truss rod not functional, how is that my problem?. Accused me of having buyer's remorse?. Finally returned the guitar but it left a bad taste in my mouth. He's great with name players, but he's really an A hole!.