BEWARE: DO NOT RENT FROM THIS PLACE. The company rented me an unfinished instrument. The nut of my cello is not sanded correctly and this causes strings to snap prematurely. I have spend over $100 on replacing strings because of the company's oversight in renting an unusable cello. I have reached out to the company as I have a few months left on my rental term, and they refuse to exchange the instrument. Extremely stubborn and unprofessional staff, absolutely impossible to work with. The company has cost me time, money and frustration and they refuse to acknowledge their mistake. Save yourself the trouble and go to a decent establishment that doesn't scam their customers out of money with their subpar products. read more

This place is the WORST! I brought my violin in over the weekend to get my bridge replacement, and that Migo guy (he is the only repair dude on staff) did not know ANYTHING about the correct bridge to use. After trying (2) bridges that were obviously not violin bridges (I speculated they were violia bridges) and almost breaking my strings, I had to insist that I use a smaller bridge. After that point Migo told me it would cost $40 to make the larger bridge smaller, even though there was a perfectly good smaller and correct bridge already in the shop. Bottom line: Migo knows little to nothing about violins and bridges and should not work at a music shop. He also tried to swindle $70 out of me to replace the bridge and install it and then told me to use steel brushed wool to sand down the area under the bridge on my violin?!?! I almost lost it. He will ruin your violin. Do not go here!!!!!! read more

String players: You ought to know that the only places you should be taking your instruments for repairs are string instrument shops, luthiers, or makers-- anywhere that sells band instruments can't be trusted with your instrument, just out of principle. They don't carry any fine strings (though they do carry Dominant for viola andcello), and mostly sell D'addario... yuck, amirite? But in a pinch, it's OK. The pinch being, you have to perform in 1.5 hrs and your string just broke and you have NO other option. THAT being said. I'm glad this place is here, for the occasional desperate purchase. I know I can send my students here for small accessories like kuns, their next Suzuki book or a tuning fork, metronome, stands, egg shakers, etc. They also stock a lot of bad string accessories, though, so I try to make sure I know what they have before I recommend to my students. If you're not sure about what they have, call them and ask specifically what brand it is. As long as you know the limits, it's a friendly little place. read more

Great place, beautiful store, friendly folks, local business. And their repair guy is on the floor available, not tucked away in the basement where you can't reach them. So glad to have finally come here and hope to never need the guitar center up the street again! read more

I tried Musician's General store once and won't be trying them again. I needed bass rosin, so I called them up and asked if they had any in stock. The guy I spoke with on the phone said that they did, and I made a plan to stop there on the way to my gig. Well, I get there, and they actually don't have bass rosin, they have violin rosin. I tell the sales clerk, who was the same person I spoke with on the phone, that I was really looking for something specific and that violin rosin isn't what I needed. He then tries to tell me that "most of the bass players I know use violin rosin," which is absolute B.S. (ask any bass player). Here's the thing: while it's not that big of a deal, if you can't trust the sales person to make an honest recommendation for a $6 purchase, how can you trust them to recommend the $1,000 instrument that is best suited for your needs? In my opinion and experience, you can't. If they had just said, "No, but we can order you some," I'd go there all the time because this store is way more convenient than going into the city. As it stands now, I won't be back and I won't recommend this store to my Brooklyn students. read more

Dropped my violin off to have the pegs looked at as I couldn't get the violin tuned and the pegs to stay in place. While the repair took quite a bit longer than was originally suggested (apparently due to a specialty product that was delayed in arriving) the employees did a good job of trying to keep me informed of the status of the repair. Everyone in the shop was friendly and personable. My only suggestion is to make sure to get a price quote BEFORE committing to having work done, as I was surprised when I picked up my violin and it was costlier than I thought. They got the job done though and tuning my violin is now much easier. read more

Just moved to Bklyn from manhattan. Needed a bass set up and diagnosis for a jack issue (shorting out during rehearsals and gigs). I have a real Hofner (German). Mingo explained what he would do to diagnose the problem, i.e., snake the contact or remove the face place to check the contact and resoder if needed. He fixed the bass and then charged me less than expected. He then explained how I could do it myself if the problem occurred during a gig. In past I used Rudy's and Leroy Aiello (Mandolin Bros, a genius), I have only been playing for 40 years, I will go back to Mingo. A good guitar/bass tech is a prize. Why go to Manhattanl if you live In Bklyn. Mingo and his man Skylar know their stuff. Mike read more

It all started when my wife and I walked in looking for an instrument. We asked kindly and the young gentleman who was very friendly kindly showed us what we were looking for. My wife then proceeded to ask if they carried the wood version of the instrument and that's when it went downhill. The older gentleman behind the counter took an extremely condescending tone rudely responding and proceeded to tell us that the instrument would be too expensive that the plastic one is the more affordable version. Unbeknownst to him she has been playing for 20+ years and knew what she was looking for, but was treated without any kind of respect as a possible customer in front of another customer who was present. We will be taking our business elsewhere. read more

I can't praise this establishment enough. My daughter had a broken tuning peg on her violin the day before a recital. I got to the shop 5 minutes after closing and begged for mercy. Not only did the owner let me in, he had the right size replacement peg available. And on top of that, he carefully replaced the peg for me (which involved drilling a hole) and restrung the violin. A perfect fix and all done after hours. The price for all of this: $5. Thank you for the rescue and excellent service. read more

I love this place. I've only been to the shop a couple of times, but the last time really sold me. One of the pins (or pegs?) on my guitar wouldn't stay in place after I changed the strings for the first time. I tried for quite a while to get it to stay, but to no avail. Luckily, this shop exists. I went in, and Mingo completely fixed it, and then gave me an extra pin just in case. He also did a complete tune, stretched the strings, and straightened the neck. All of that for $10. Honestly, I would totally recommend this place. They know their stuff. Ask for Mingo if you have a guitar situation, and he'll set you straight. Thumbs up! read more

Great addition to the neighborhood. Overall vibe is laid back yet welcoming. The staff that I've had contact with - Schuyler (hope I spelled that right - for a guitar purchase and general info), Brian (for a keyboard purchase) and Andy (for guitar lessons )- have all been super patient and helpful with all of my inquiries. Roseanne at the RockSchool is also awesome and responds very quickly. As a result, I'm prepped to start a family band all thanks to this little gem of a store. read more

I am a songwriter/producer working in Brooklyn on an extended project. I needed a simple midi controller to finish up a couple of parts on a piece before sending the files back to LA, and Mingo could not have been a better choice for rental. He was friendly over the phone, and was lovely when I went to pick up the controller, as well. You can tell he knows the neighborhood well and shared some fun music history anecdotes about the area. Highly recommend. read more

Fabulous place. Were very helpful with my kid's guitar and ukelele, patient and reasonably priced, and we heard a great pianist playing while we were there. read more

This place saves me! I accidentally broke a string on ny daughters violin as i was tuning it and i called Them looking for a replacement string. The guy was sweet on the phone searching his boxes to find a single one to save me from buying a whole set. I went in the following morning and the guy put it on for me free of charge on the spot. I only paid for the string and he even took the time to tune it for me. Her violin teacher approved of the work so I highly recommend this place. read more

Great teachers but the owners are a different story. I would pay a months worth a classes upfront and yet the wife would text me every week stating that I did not pay. About 3 months of this I had to pull him out. They are unprofessional and unorganized. read more

So glad that they reopened in this neighborhood! The staff bends over backwards to get what you need - very helpful, courteous. They'll order any music for you, and have it for you in a few days. And the refurbished pianos are beautiful & unique. I hope they stay! read more

Walked into the store looking for prices on a replacement tuning peg for my guitar. Paul was so friendly and knowledgable, within only a few minutes I was ready to walk out with what I needed at an outstanding price. I had a few questions about restringing the guitar and he gave me a few pointers I didn't know and even showed me which tool could assist in the process. Great place with a great vibe. I would definitely go there again as well as recommend it to any of my friends in the area. read more

Nice addition to the neighborhood. Friendly and helpful staff. I came in for a non-musical purchase (conductor stand to serve as standing desk for my laptop) and the guy not only didn't shame/mock me for the idea but helpfully sold me their display version when I said I was worried about assembling it. read more

A true local business. You'll feel welcome the second you walk through the door. I've come here with a number of guitar issues, and Mingo's fixed it every time and gave some helpful pointers along the way. He once charged me $10 for a fix, and became so busy that he told me to just go home and not worry about it. That's the kinda place this is. For such a nice little shop, they also have a massive inventory of parts and accessories. Pretty much everything I've ever needed for my instrument was found at Musicians General. Cannot speak highly enough of this place! read more

Mingo saved my skin by doing a minor but important fix to my guitar just hours before gig, allowing me to play as planned. And he didn't charge me, unbelievably. Good neighborhood service in an era when such things are definitely fading! read more

I called this morning (Sept. 25 2017) and their voice message states that they no longer do retail business (i.e., they apparently no longer sell instruments or accessories) and instead focus solely on instrument rental and lessons etc. The information on yelp should be updated, and more importantly so should their website (at least the site that comes up when you look for musicians general store), because both those indicate that they sell all kinds of accessories, instruments, etc. read more

If you are looking for subpar customer service and lame excuses this is the place to go.

I noticed my guitar was behaving strangely, so I brought it in. They took the time to explain exactly what was wrong with it and how to fix it, all without charging me a thing. I couldn't have asked for friendlier service. read more

I brought in my violin to have a loose peg evaluated. Mingo looked at my instrument on the spot and with care. Nice customer service. It's a great neighborhood shop in Brooklyn and I'll definitely return as needed. read more

Mingo has been super-helpful to me any time I've been in the store, jumping through hoops to make sure I'm happy. This is a great addition to the neighborhood. I'm glad there back! read more

All I know is I am outside this store in the rain at 11:15 am and it is closed up tight despite a posted 11am weekday opening time. Guess I'll buy that present elsewhere. read more

I went here a few weeks ago to buy strings for my violin. I hadn't played the instrument in years, and it needed a good bit of TLC. I hadn't had the chance yet to take it to a luthier, so I decided to ask the guy working there, Mingo, what he thought about its condition. He was very kind about my violin - it's not a fine instrument, but a decent one and has enormous sentimental value to me - he patiently explained some of the repairs that it may need to have done and then he even took the time to tune it. To be clear, this is not a place you would go to have major repairs done. But for accessories and strings, it's great. And there's just no substitute for that kind of unpretentious, sincere customer service. read more