I went in just to check out some Basses and the employees were super helpful. Tony helped me with the different models of Stingrays and offered to order one that wasn't in stock. Offered to discount the price as well, great shop! read more

worst guitar store ever. High pressure and confusing salesman (Tony) no refunds for equipment. incorrect receipts. Salesman was confused about what was on the receipt and what was sold. go anywhere else. read more

If I could give zero stars I would but I see many others feel the way I do and I wish I had seen their reviews. I took two guitars and one violin in and asked for a bow for the violin and a peg at the bottom of one guitar and two strings on another guitar. I know nothing about music so I had no idea what it would cost but when I got the bill and talked to my son-in-law who does know guitars, I realized I had been massively ripped off and lied to. I went back and asked for a detailed receipt and it says it was over $100 for each and the receipt said all three were guitars that needed strings???? I had hoped the owner would make good, but he did not. I contacted the better business bureau and the owner never responded to them. read more

I walked in today with my son and daughter, both accomplished musicians. No employee was in the public space of the store, no one yelled out "be with you in a minute." My son, who's in the market for a couple guitars, started playing on an acoustic. An employee finally emerges, goes into the guitar space and says, "You can't do that. Stop touching that." So my son puts up the guitar and leaves the room. We start walking out of the store, and the employee is begging him to come back and play. Weird. This store is really going to have to step up its customer service game to compete with Instrumental Music Center and other nearby music stores. After reading the reviews, it looks like we dodged a bullet by walking out. read more

Dude has lied to me every chance he's had. I've heard, "It'll be here next week.", for over a MONTH now! Karma is gonna catch up to this jerk. read more

Shadiest place you could ever go to buy a musical instrument. Beware! Not much on the shelves either. Apparantly all the past vendors have bailed. Everything.must be ordered? And..what is in stock is used or cheap quality. Is it legal to buy items from walk-ins without a pawn license? Just curious because tht seems to be most of the items that are "in stock" are used and/or pawned instruments and amps. Watch out, the owner is a quick talker and lies to your face. read more

Absolutely amazing place! I have been coming here with my fiancée for 4 months to get Lessons and to buy our instruments and equipment. Tony is super cool and knowledgeable with a lot of amazing connections that have been super informative and helpful to us! read more

This guy, Tony is nothing more than a crook!!! All you have to do is read all of the reviews. And yes, as someone posted, he is a nightmare to deal with as a vendor of products, he's trying to sell that he has not paid for, lies repeatedly & gives the run-around. At this point, we plan on calling the Tucson Police & pressing charges. We already warned him to return our merchandise immediately. So he's selling essentially stolen property & he will never get any more products from us. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY WITH THIS PLACE! 100% guaranteed to be ripped off! read more

My story goes like this. I purchased a guitar from sticks and strings, which was warranted against manufacturer defects. After six months, I noticed multiple defect's in the paint on the neck of the guitar. I brought it in to Tony, who said that he would take care of it. After one year of getting the runaround from Tony, I took the guitar back and called ESP myself in which Tony told me not to call them because it was "a delicate situation and It would ruin my chances of a replacement." When I told ESP my situation, they said they had not gotten any information on the guitar from Sticks and Strings and have also heard of multiple complaints about that particular shop. So I sent a few pictures of the guitar in and that was enough to have them send me a shipping label to return the guitar to them. Within two weeks, they replaced the neck, assigned a new serial number and then shipped the guitar back to me. Lovely people at ESP. This is one story, I personally know other people that have had negative experiences at this store. read more

They did some work on my twelve string and the instrument plays fantastic. He always has some vintage gear. I purchased a 1956 Harmony amp that sounds killer. I was over charged, but it Tony will make up for it. Also got some crappy mic stand , but he cleared that up and 100' xlr cable for I dunno what? still I like the store. What do you expect for Tucson. read more

Stay away! One of my students took his violin in on concert day because a peg broke. They told him that his violin needed conditioning as well. Well here's the "conditioning" that my student's violin was in when they picked it up and being charged $70 for (!): They re-bored out the peg holes. Who does that? That made it worse for the pegs to stay in tune. They installed a G string for the D string. The G string was on the D string peg and the D string was on the G string peg. The A string was on the E string peg and the A string was on the E string peg. Because the A and E strings were switched, I broke the E string (thinking that I was tuning the A string) which was my last E string (I am teaching at a middle school and resources are precious). When I spoke with the manager, he said "Oh, well, mistakes are made." Mistakes?!!! Are you kidding me? This is basic stuff. This is not a mistake, it is just plain incompetence. This would be like a garage putting on a different tire size from the other three and then putting oil in the gas tank and gas in the oil pan. To the manager's credit, he did send an E string to me to make up for my broken one and he did end up lending my student a new violin for the concert. But really, this is nonsense. And expensive to boot. ***UPDATE 4/10/18 More stories from colleagues and students at other schools keep coming in about how utterly incompetent and dishonest this place is. PATRONIZE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! 5* = A top favorite. Mind-blowing good. I will definitely return and I will go out of my way to go here. Worth every dime of my money. 4* = Outstanding. Tucson-top-tier. Some elements not quite as good as it gets, but it still is worthy of my regular business. 3* = Good experience. I might do repeat business if it is convenient, the only option, the only one in its category, or on a whim, but would not be among the first thing to come to mind. Would definitely recommend you trying it to get your own take on it. 2* = Not so good. Would not recommend at all. Waste of money. 1* = How are they still in business? Stay away at all costs! read more

My son discovered this store. We visited twice before purchasing a drum set. They have a good selection and reasonable prices. I am sure we will visit for various musical supplies. Tony, the owner, is knowledgeable and easy to work with. We were able to purchase the drum set and layaway, read more

Horrible horrible, unkept promises for date of delivery of a vinyl 33 album converted to a CD. Multiple excuses. Ordered it in November for a Christmas gift, by January still not done. Did receive my total refund of monies paid though. read more

Guys here are really helpful and has pretty good prices for musical equipment. Family takes lessons here and owner goes out of his way to accommodate our budget. Everytime we talk to the owner it has been pleasant and will more than likely be back to support this local business. read more

I bought a bass guitar for $1,300 there, on credit. I was charged $2,600. And never got the refund. Tony knew exactly what he did, we jammed at the same Studio, every time he saw me coming he tried to ditch me. Basically this store is a bunch of Thieves read more

Wow, what a pile of shit this place is. Or rather, what a complete asshole Tony, the owner of the store, is. I have owned a music store in Tucson, and I will say upfront that other employees of this place are kind, knowledgeable, and do a good job. But after months of being dicked around with, and then only later coming to find that the depths of douchebaggery are apparently limitless, I find myself writing this review encouraging anyone and everyone to stay as far away from this place as you possibly can, and know especially that if you deal with Tony, you will be ripped off, lied to, and treated with less care than the fecal matter on the bottom of his shoe. It all started about 9 months ago now, when I decided that it was time for me to upgrade my current bass rig to my dream rig which included an Epifani UL2 4x10 cab. My current cab at the time had a blown speaker and sounded terrible. Epifani is a very small company and had only one dealer in Tucson: Sticks n strings. So I went down there to see what they had, and there wasn't much. A single performance series (Epifani's lowest end line) 4x10 cab marked down to $650. I played through it and was not very impressed. I was quite familiar with the line and knew that I wanted something from their top line. I began speaking to Tony, he said that he could order it, and that he would give me a really good deal on it because he knew me and my store (he quoted me at about $1000). He told me it would take between 2 and 4 weeks to arrive. I asked him if I could make a down payment of $200 to get the ball rolling. He said that would be fine. I handed him the cash, he shook my hand with a smile, told me he'd order it that day, and I left the store with a grin on my face that I very soon was going to have the first piece of my dream rig! Over the next few weeks, I kept feeding Tony more and more money and he began to tell me about strange things going on with Epifani. You see, they were fresh out of UL2s in their warehouse, so they were having to build one for me...was going to take an extra week or two. You see, they're coming out with their new line of UL3s, and they're really trying to fill those orders right now...may take an extra couple weeks. Literally 3 months go by. Tony has $900 of my money, and I don't have a cab. I'm extremely distrustful of Tony at this point, but stupidly am still believing that the problem is still at least somewhat on Epifani's side. Finally, Tony tells me that he spoke to the people that morning and that the cab has been shipped and its on its way! HOORAY!!! I ask him to get me a tracking number, he never does. He tells me it should be in by the end of the week. I figure, even if he's been lying to me this whole time, the cab has to be here in a week, right? He can't stall any more...if the cab isnt here, the jig is up and Ill know 100% without a doubt that Tony is the problem, and Ill raise hell. So I feel comfortable enough with the situation to sell my previous cab (now leaving me without an amp to play on) in preparation for my new cab arriving in a week. Sure enough, come end of the week, guess what!?!? The cab was delivered COD, and Tony claims to have paid them up front for it. He tells me he had to send it back to the factory to have them re-ship it NOT COD. As a store owner, I know that this is horseshit. If there is a problem with a COD, the company can correct that with UPS and the package can be redelivered the next day. However, he tells me its already gone back and now im pissed. I have waited for MONTHS, and now its going to be another 2 weeks or some shit and I don't even have a cab?!?! WHAT THE FUCK?!? Tony tells me that he knows, its all fucked up...Epifanis a bunch of shit heads...but he maybe has a solution for the time being: he'll let me borrow the performance series cab while Im waiting on my UL2 to come in for the next two weeks, so at least ill have something to play through. I say fine, but 2 weeks and thats the end of this nonsense. 2 weeks go by...then 3...then 4...at which point I called him and told him that I either wanted all my money back or Id take the performance cab for 300, and I wanted the rest back. He agreed to sell me the cab. After trying to dick me AGAIN on getting my money back, I got the assistant manager to write me a check for what he owed me while Tony was out on lunch, and I left pissed off, but at least with a working cab. Until just last month a speaker blew on the performance. Not wanting to deal with Sticks N Strings, I contact Epifani directly and speak to the owner, who tells me that they dont deal with SnS anymore because they had lots of problems, and that over a YEAR ago, Tony was trying to get the speakers on my performance replaced. In other words, TONY KNEW HE SOLD ME A BAD CAB! What a fucking asshole!!! So, NEVER EVER AGAIN will I shop here. Absolutely deplorable and I will be contacting the BBB as well. What a shit stain on the Tucson community. read more

I didn't know any better when I first started playing the guitar some 20 years ago. Naturally I fell for so many of Tony's little scams, bought shitty pedals, shitty gear. Had a new pickup installed....some time later, it stopped functioning...opened up back....nope...they didn't solder anything....just some tape. I enjoyed taking lessons here...but that was Robby Lochner's enthusiasm and patience...no credit to Sticks n Strings is due there. Anyone who shops here likely doesn't know anything about decent instruments/gear, and doesn't care. Just wants to look cool for a week or so. read more

I took in a fender and after 9 months of waiting for miner work to be done I got worried he was going out of business I expected a piece of junk starlight don't go here read more

Tony and Ryan were very helpful in making my equipment purchase a quite satisfying experience. I would recommend doing business with both gentlemen who acted in s most professional way. This is my fourth major purchase here in the last two years. Another satisfied customer. read more

Sticks N' Strings Music - Musical Instruments & Teachers Near Me - Tucson, Arizona

Purchased a starter guitar from Sticks and Strings. Tony said the guitar was a great guitar but after reading reviews, it was terrible reviews. The company doesn't even make guitars anymore. I should have looked up the model while shopping but I believe that people are generally honest and try to be helpful but after seeing the same model for less than half of what I was charged at Sticks and Strings, I feel like I was ripped off. Don't go in, do you're research. I'd rather support a local business than contribute to a huge online corp. but when I have experiences like this I'd recommend going online to a place that allows returns and exchanges. Sticks and Strings does NOT. read more

Ordered a new drum kit for a price that can't be beat! The staff is awesome and know there stuff! Tony is NOT a BAD guy he just very busy and that's why he hires people like Dan :-). I was so pleased with the service I went back the next day and bought my girlfriend a bass. I have been searching all over town for a place with service like back home in Long Island NY and this is the place for grate one on one service!! I'm a lifer and will keep coming back :-D read more

Ordered and paid for a guitar slide. Every week I had to call, and he said " by the end of the week". Got it 2 months later. What's the point? read more

Tony & Justin pulled a bait & switch on me too. Ordered an Ovation and made a down payment. Then Justin claims it arrived damaged and then steered me to all the defective garbage in their show room. Every guitar in there had a problem and Justin tries to play dumb. You're better off taking your chances at a pawn shop or anywhere else in Tucson for that matter. Doesn't get worse than this. read more

In early December 2014, I ordered a Martin guitar for my husband for Christmas. I paid in full for the guitar with my credit card. I was told by Tony that, unfortunately, the guitar would not be delivered to his store in time for Christmas and then promised a delivery date of January 22, 2015. On January 22nd, Tony called and spoke to my husband offering him a Martin Anniversary Edition guitar for the same price. He said that it would be four to six more weeks before it would arrive. Considering that the Anniversary edition is priced at almost double the cost of the original guitar, my husband accepted the offer. Four, six, eight weeks went by and no call from Tony. My husband called Sticks and Strings and was given some excuse and another delay. Forward to October 2015. Even though we have been calling or stopping by Sticks and Strings at least monthly, we still do no have the guitar I ordered eleven months ago. I cannot tell you how many excuses Tony has come up with and how often he has promised delivery within a week each time we contact him. Unfortunately (for me), my husband still trusts that Tony will deliver on the guitar one of these days. Therefore, I have not (yet) requested a refund nor filed a complaint with my credit card company. So, Sticks and Strings (Tony) has had nearly $3000.00 of my money and we have nothing to show for it after eleven months of hassling with this company. I would NEVER recommend this company to anyone. They are extremely disreputable and totally dishonest and untrustworthy. STAY AWAY!!!! read more

Oh, boy...I don't want to be to long winded here. I paid up front for acoustic pickups two years ago, as Tony said he was on the phone ordering at the time I was in the store, and he claimed he could get me a deal. I paid more than $200 up front, two years...no pickups. He also sold a consignment instrument of mine and kept the money. And; there is more to this situation (not good stuff) that I wont share here. I don't event know what else to say...BEWARE! read more

Great store for all of your musical needs! They give great one on one service to every customer and their prices are so much more reasonable than Guitar Center. All around great local business that deserves special recognition! read more

Horrible. The head guy finagled me into buying a bass with wrong type of amp! Then the other guy "moose" is his name lied to my mother and told her I got a ride home. All this PROBOBLy doesn't make sense, but just know that they are cons and they will tell you anything they want just to make a sale read more

I wish I had read business reviews about this store before becoming involved in a lengthy ordeal of ordering an instrument... took waaaaaaaaaaaay too long. I am happy with my drum, but was very dissatisfied with the process, and being mislead for so long. My bad for enduring. read more

I'm 60 and have played guitar since 12, I have had associations with Carlos,(yes That one) and a past guitar tech. of the Grateful Dead. I currently Play with a Local group and have played before others on 4 other groups. I say this with some experience behind me. Now lets get real. Of all music stores, why go to Sticks and strings for a Chicken Sandwich. YOU WOULDN'T. RAINBOW for Fenders, , Guitar Center for High end Specialty, Chicago and STICKS N' STRINGS for misc. Reasonable new, used and consignment. Every experienced musician needs to step up and take responsibility for their decisions. True, bad things happen in every business. I could write a poor review for every music store in Tucson and at times half the sales personnel in each. I always shop Sticks N' Strings first. If they don't have what I want, I go to a different store. I even will call first each store to find what I want. Tony ALWAYS tries to satisfy my need and will always try alternatives if he does not have in hand what I ask for. Take it as his desire to take care of his customers or take it at as he is trying to pawn off junk Step up man, No one makes the decision to buy but you. If you don't know if you're buying junk, take someone with you who knows better. I can verify that Problems have happened. I don't care what store it is. I even got Junk Strings from The Chicago store. The coating frayed in less than a week. Go figure Elixir Top of the line strings. Its not always the Retailers fault. How the store handles the problem, That's the question. If I can not cash and carry, I order it on-Line myself. I order online and carry the Shipping tracking from the manufacturer or the online store. BUT, I have had in hand equipment (guitars) that felt great in the store, ordered it with lower price convenience packages on line and the product felt totally different. If no store has what you need, walk out. You will always have trouble with the middle man regardless of the store. Lets Talk about Tony. Why? He is who I deal with. I See a man, a HUMAN. and a man in business. Some have real bad impressions of him. I don't. He is Dealing with frustrated musicians that are dealing with multiple frustrating issues that can give one bad opinions. Just look at the words used in previous post. However, do we think about how many Expectant, entitled and needy customer the store has to deal with on any given day. Store competition is obvious. Tony Treats people better than they deserve and has So much patience it is amazing. I have seen customers that he has had that I would have shown the door or thrown out the door without opening it. Yet Tony has respectfully and professionally treated them, Sale or no sale. Know what you need and only need what you know. Quit shopping at McDonald s for a bucket of KFC then complaining you didn't get what you wanted. I won't always buy at Sticks N' Strings but I will always check with them first before I buy. If I can't cash and carry at any store, I order online myself unless I have Retail return guarantee. Buyer beware is not for any particular business it's a daily challenge. if your not old enough to buy smart, quit shopping. read more

Gabriel might be onto something. Reading his review is a little Deja-Vu - so far. Amazing - how completely different companies can have the identical problems! I will give Tony this week to fix things or this review will be GREATLY expanded as I finalize my options for restitution. Good or Bad - check back here on 12/7/13 for the rest of the story!! read more

The owner needs to change the name of the place to "Scams and Snakes". I went in to get some pics which he didn't have and ended up ordering a package of pics and a pedal. When I got home I wanted to get the companies phone number to add it to my phone contacts in the event my order came in and got called. As I did this..I reviewed the negative reviews online and realized I got scammed and probably never see my items. Here it is almost 2 months later still nothing but the all familiar run around. I assume I paid his electric or water bill cause it appears this is how he's still in business. I went in to inquire about my items and he not only gave me a line of crap but tried to get me to order a guitar! I thought..what is your rent due??. Cause I will never see that guitar! What he's doing is illegal and how he's still operating is beyond me. Don't order a damn thing from this place..if it's not in the store go someplace else. Tony running the Titanic! read more

I will NEVER do business with this store again. I had an item on Consignment and have never been paid for it. Every time I called I kept getting some excuse as to why the money hadn't been sent to me or it was "on it's way". It was enough to hurt my pocket book, but not enough to get my lawyers involved. This seems to be a reoccurring theme if you read the reviews! I wish I had read the reviews before i trusted these guys! read more

This place sssssucks! Used car salesmen-like salesmen, ordering takes foreeever and they dont give a DAMN! They must really piss off the company reps they order from. I ordered a 1,200$ Schecter and have had nothing but problems with it since. Not only that I recieved a virus infused e-mail from the luthier after paying 500$ to for some work, not to mention the scratches he made, though oh so kindly buffed out after I pointed it out. Yup. read more

Beware of this guy. He tried to rip me off but I kept after him via a good lawyer. But it wasn't until the sheriff dept. was sent out that I finally got my money. And he still cried about it until we let him make payments on what he tried to steal from me. He is a bad person and I don't say that too often, but he is just one of those people. Stay away from him... read more

Tony uses his customers as interest free loans. He never ordered the items I paid him for. I know because I called and confirmed that with the manufacturers who always told me one of two things, either Tony never ordered the item or Tony was no longer a dealer. A lot of working musicians like myself have had this experience with Tony and none of us will buy from him again. BTW, Tony dodges phone calls, gives bogus tracking numbers, and Tony doesn't have any problem lying to you time and time again. I've never met a man that would look you in the eye and knowingly lie to you time after time. read more

Extremely knowledgeable. Good inventory or they'll get it for you quick. Provided sound equipment for our church. Killer FBT speakers! Always helpful; seldom inexpensive. Perhaps a tendency to sell equipment more advanced and complicated than needed. (i.e. Behringer 3282 A mixer which has a very slow learning curve for amateurs) But priced right acoustic guitar and lightweight portable small speaker/amp for wife's birthday. Important: ethical. If they tell you something is warrantied, they stand behind it, even when you can't find the paperwork . read more

I bought a ddrum kit from Tony, he ripped me off big time on the price. I got laid off at Raytheon. I gave him the kit to sell for me on consignment. He sold it over a month ago. I am living in my car in Michigan trying to find a job and hurting for money. he knows all this. yet he can not pay me a lousy 300 that he owes me. I have called him daily. He always has an excuse or he has to go and cant talk. He is a scam artist and I can not believe he is still in business. I not only lost 300 for the sale now but He charged me way more for the kit when I bought it then what It was worth then the accessories he ordered for me turned out to all be Korean junk. He really needs to be put out of business cause he is just ripping people off. when I call the store his assistance tell about all the folks he owes money to and does not pay them. This guy is such a bullshitter. Do not buy anything from this store, you will only regret it and you will lose a lot of money. read more

I just bought what i thought was a pro pack of remo heads from this place got home opened the package and got mapex heads for the remo price. This place repackages and switches their merchandise. Avoid this place. I should have gone to guitar center. read more

This place is the best place to go in Tucson. I've been shopping there for over 8 years and they always get me what I need. They match prices too! read more

Since moving to the Tucson Area in December 1999, Sticks and Strings was the first real store I walked into. I was living in Corona De Tucson at the time. During these fourteen plus years I have got to know the owner (s) and many great employees'. Some have stayed and some have moved on. I am not a person who comes in and buys the whole store out and expects to get the door opened for me. I buy things as needed. Its great even if I just want to look around, and I am never tackled at the door or pressured into buying anything, ever. Also the Luthier Mike does super great repairs. Not only on guitars and basses, he also works on stand up basses and other stringed instruments as well. A local store that treats me great. Thanks guys. read more