Other luthier from another city told me I would have to take the instrument apart, etc. But once I…read moretook it to Mr. Cauer, the problem was solved in under 30 min. Highly recommend.

If you live in LA and need a string instrument, this is the place to come. When our daughter was…read moreready for a 3/4-size cello, her cello teacher recommended that we shop at Robert Cauer because she trusts the people here. Because we had a great experience the first time and because of the trade-in policy, of course we came back when it was time to look for a full-size cello and had another great experience. If you're wondering about the trade-in policy, it is as good as it sounds. I wasn't sure if it was too good to be true, but the people here honor their word. It is incredible in this day and age. Everyone who works here is kind and extremely knowledgeable. Make an appointment ahead of time if you can, and be patient. They are very well known and they do get very busy at times, but they will get to you and give you the attention you need. If you have never shopped for a string instrument and bow before, it is a bit like shopping at Ollivander's for a wand. What works for other people may not work for you. To some extent, the instrument chooses you (I mean, not really, but your playing style may suit some instruments better than others). You tell the staff what you're looking for and give them a price range, and they will put you in a room and give you a selection of instruments to try in your price range. They will not try to upsell you or force you to make a decision before you're ready. They will not tell you the exact price of an instrument unless you ask, and really, as long as you have given them a range you're comfortable with, there's no point in finding out unless you're serious enough to want to take an instrument home. Price does not necessarily correlate to what will work best for you. Be prepared to spend an hour or longer assessing your choices. Kids will do best if they're already fed and watered. Robert Cauer came into our room at one point and advised that we could weed out instruments very quickly by just playing an 8-note scale across 2 strings and deciding what we didn't like before spending any more time evaluating the instruments that passed that cut. After that, we had our daughter play scales across all 4 strings (some instruments sound better in the lower register and some in the upper) and then a few bars of music from some of her pieces. Once you've selected an instrument or instruments that you want to borrow (and you should borrow some to take home and practice on for at least a week to get a better feel for whether they will work for you and have your child's teacher evaluate them as well), then you can ask for a selection of bows to try within a price range (they generally recommend 10-20% of the purchase price of the instrument). Then the process repeats :) It can be exhausting for the kiddos. I think we evaluated 12-15 cellos and maybe 15-20 bows each time we came. When I was growing up, I would guess that I only ever tried out 3 violins at one time, so it was a lot for our daughter. The staff really go out of their way to be helpful, and I mean above and beyond. At one point, one noticed that our tire was flat, and another offered to let us use his air compressor. We had a very long drive home so were incredibly grateful to them for preventing what could have been a very rough experience. This place is 100% worth the drive, but to sweeten the deal you could follow our example and top off your time here with a visit to Ululani's (best shave ice in the world, IMO), which is only an 8-minute drive away ;)

Make time for your guitar tech! I'm realizing how important and fortunate I am to live in a city…read morewith talented guitar techs like Mike who go above and beyond--at an amazing price too. My previous Fender build broke down after being worked on by a random tech who took longer and did an average job. Mike showed me the value of going to someone who's truly #1, and he proved it with my new custom Fender Telecaster: better wiring, a careful setup, better strings, and great advice on what the legends use--all done within the same weekend Overall, my experience with Mike was amazing. He's got a great sense of humor, an old-school attitude, and he's still working like he's 40.

Mike is the man for the job. You pay less for way a comprehensive setup. I can't think of a reason…read moreanyone would go to a different tech.

Raymond is one of the most incredible vocal teachers I know. I had the pleasure of studying with…read moresome of the world's best vocal teachers at USC and Raymond is right there with those incredible professors. He creates an incredibly comfortable environment for all levels of singers while bringing a level of professionalism that cannot be understated. If you are looking for a vocal teacher you need to take a lesson with Raymond!!!

I'm relatively new to singing and had taken a few lessons with other coaches before working with…read moreRaymond. He is by far the most talented, approachable, and genuinely passionate coach I've had. In addition to having a beautiful voice, his knowledge of music and vocal technique spans multiple genres, and he explains concepts in a way that's clear and easy to understand. He adapts his teaching style to how you learn. In my case, he uses visuals and videos to break down how the voice works while emphasizing healthy technique. He quickly understands your voice, identifies areas for improvement, and still gives you the freedom to choose what you want to focus on during each lesson. I'd recommend him to anyone, whether you're just starting out or already have experience and are looking to refine your style or develop more advanced skills!

A real connection with an authentic technician. He saw what other repairmen couldn't see about my…read morehorn and he fixed it right away. A true blessing for a musician.

Everything always goes well with many.He's a true artist/craftsman. He has repaired all of my…read morewoodwinds through the years.

Spoke with the owner George very accommodating and professionally friendly looking forward to doing…read morebusiness with this gentleman

I took my guitar in for a little tuneup on my fret board. He was very nice as professional. Had it…read moredone the same day. Only a couple of hours. Came back exactly how I wanted it. You can tell they take pride in their work. Definitely coming back for any future guitar needs

Rented some speakers and a board and the equipment worked great…read more Easy pick up and drop off.

Absolute joke of a staff! They contacted me back on 2/16/2024 around 1:30pm not sure of the guys…read morename but he was not helpful at all about renting out one of there spaces and asked me if I'm sure I can afford it. I wouldn't spend a penny of my money supporting a company like this.

My old Gibson archtop suffered from a lot of travel. The neck was bent, and as a result, the guitar…read morebecame unplayable. I sent it to Nomadic amd got it back within the agreed-on time, and now the guitar sings like new. Highly recommend.

I brought in an Ibanez AES20E electric acoustic guitar and an Ibanez Bass, but I'm gonna focus on…read morethe guitar. After taking it to another shop in LA where they basically told me "you're shit out of luck" took it to Nomadic after it was sitting in its case for a year... what can I say man I'm a xennial raised on Brave Little Toaster, so I was starting to literally feel BAD about playing my other guitars and not playing my old friend that I'd learned to play on. Not only did Nomadic fix my gear ahead of schedule, but they promptly responded to all my texts and were super accommodating on pickup scheduling when I was out of town. Even though they're not expensive instruments, the prices were completely reasonable, and you cannot put a price on sentimental value. My old friend is back, sounds and feels great, and I could not be more satisfied. 5/5 10/10. Don't fuck around, bring your gear to Nomadic.

Nothing comes close in terms of a store that provides legitimate value. Doing whatever i can to…read moremake sure any money going toward new equipment is spent at Big City Music.

After reading some forums online and watching various YouTube videos to see what modulars were all…read moreabout, Big City Music was considered one of the best in the nation. I stopped by on the way home to explore modular synths for the first time, hoping I'd get that "feeling" like this is a perfect fit for me. Thanks to seeing Big City Music here on Yelp, I drove to their address but had trouble finding the building because there were no signs anywhere. From Ventura, it looked like there was an abandoned building at the address listed. So, I called and talked to Roger. He was great to talk to and said they usually ask customers to make an appointment to stop by. Lucky for me they were available at that time and I could stop in. He gave me better directions, since the entrance was actually off Ventura Blvd. Big City Music is unlike any other music store I've been to. It feels like I'm entering a "secret club" where you go enter through back door and walk into a room-sized warehouse full of boxes and supplies everywhere. Roger was glad to see me and introduced himself right away. He then pointed me to the demo room, where there are several large modular synths, some (very nice) keyboards, guitar pedals, vintage gear and a couple people (Stephi and Morgan) ready to help out. I mentioned I was new to modular synths and wanted to mess around a bit to get a feel for what they can do. Stephi cleared off a module and handed me some patch cables to mess around as much as I wanted. I never felt rushed the entire time I was there. At first, I was clueless. Just clueless. I started having doubts immediately. What the F was I doing here? Rather than allowing them to hear my embarrassingly-awful sounds I'd be making, I popped on some headphones and patched on the fly. After a half-hour, I felt comfortable enough to ask Morgan a few questions about the basics. He jumped right in on their massive modular and started patching like a mad scientist, showing me what all the modules can do. I was very impressed with his knowledge and passion. I instantly felt at ease, even though I had very little knowledge of what was going on. The way he explained things were super helpful. Since my first visit, I decided to take the dive into modular and have returned. I bought a Monorocket case, some patch cables and a few modules to get me started. I'll definitely be coming back here to fill up my case over the coming months and ask for a couple more tutorials. I'm very lucky to live so close to this great store and to learn from awesome people. Cheers--

Simply the best! worth checking out for the service and the gear! Clearly Rueben knows his stuff!read more

I'm old and Old style is a throwback to the great music stores of my childhood. Reuben's staff are…read morevery accommodating and there are many very interesting instruments to peruse. Reuben is a guitar obsessive and finds all the cool oddball stuff and makes it sing. In another era, I suspect a little kid would walk in there and fall in love with a guitar and Reuben would let the kid walk with the guitar and let him pay it off in weekly installments from his paper route. Plus, the Maestro has made many of my "project" guitars extremely playable and they have become favorites of all myself and all my musical friends. 5 big stars.

I hired David and his friend to play jazz music at my party, and they truly made the event special…read more David's playing was beautiful, professional, and added a smooth, elegant vibe that everyone appreciated. He's very talented and easy to work with, and I've already had several guests ask me about him. I highly recommend David for anyone looking for exceptional live jazz music!

I heard David play jazz with his group at The Lobster in Santa Monica, it was the perfect music for…read moresuch a beautiful setting. Their music has many different emotions, it's an experience. Highly recommend!