The dingy sign and bars across the window make this place look a little daunting. But fear not,…read morefriend. Venture inside and you'll be greeted by a very friendly man who is an expert on everything clock and barometer related. The actual room (and it is just a very small room) has an extremely impressive collection of grandfather clocks, carriage clocks, wall clocks and barometers. The back of the shop is reserved for their workshop which, by the looks of it, is as big as the shop itself. Specialising in antique clock and watch repair, their workmanship is guaranteed for two years and is of the highest quality. They also run exhibitions, featuring some of the finest antique timepieces around. And I mean it when I say they know their stuff. Just one thing - they're only open Wednesday to Friday, which can be a bit restricting if you work full time.

A real find with top quality professional watch and clockmakers who as well as providing servicing…read moreand repair, design and build from scratch, real quality timepieces, many with unique features and capabilities. Very friendly and happy to take time to explain and help wherever possible. To me the revealing feature was the window to the workshop which was spotless and everything in its place which reflects true perfectionists in their profession. Service with a smile, you cannot beat it.

If you're looking for sheet music and are a serious music player wanting to make sure that you've…read moregot accurate sheet music then this is the place to come. There are a few entry level pieces on offer, but primarily this place is for those of greater competence and you'll find some of the more advanced items abundant here. Another good point is the fact that the pricing is pretty good, but I do have one criticism which is their range. It's a big shop and I can't help but feel that they could offer a bit more choice as although it's not limited it's perhaps not as expansive as you might expect from a specialist sheet music provider.

Before I walked into Omni Music Store I considered myself a competent musician. I had been playing…read moreguitar for ten years and I thought I was fairly good. I got a bit of a reality check while flicking through some of the sheet music on sale here. I was a bit skeptical when I heard about this place, how can a business (in a great location) survive on just sheet music alone. We live in an age where guitar tab and piano music is online and in most cases, 100% free. Can a place like this still be relevant? Yes! The place was packed with people, young and old browsing through the massive collection of workbooks. "Bach" for Grandpa and "Songs From Glee" for the Grankids (and also Grandpa is he's honest with himself), it's eclectic. While difficult to grasp at first glance, these books have one clear advantage of online tab. 100% accuracy. And thats what fills this place on a daily basis.

I always get a bit excited when I go anywhere near a music shop. I love music shops, I could spent…read morehours in them. Imagine my excitement, then, when I see a brand new one open just minutes from my flat. It was fairly short-lived, it has to be said. First of all, they don't sell drums. They don't sell any percussion. Which is a shame, that's my instrument. But I guess that's reserved for the magnificent Drum Central down the road. They do, however, have a decent selection of guitars (the cowboy guitars, complete with authentication certificates at £49 particularly caught my eye), ukuleles, banjos, accordions and a few brass and wind instruments. They've also got a reasonable selection of sheet music. There's nothing much wrong with the place, it's just there are much better music shops in the area. Might be worth a look if you're struggling elsewhere.

Great wee shop have had my guitar setup twice at Mev Taylor's both times for about £20. My guitar…read morecame back feeling great and setup to a high standard. I also think the price for gear is very reasonable all in all good honest music shop, highly recommended

It's been a while since anybody has reviewed Banana Row, and in that time, I think there's been an…read moreupgrade of equipment. We were very impressed with what was available. In terms of service, the guy at the front desk didn't seem too interested, simply greeting us with a hello and then telling us which practice room was ours. And that was that. If you're coming to do a practice session, you do kind of want to get straight to it. So, this didn't bother us at all. - It was the practice space, equipment and cost per hour which was important to us. It was £9 an hour for a duo. The cost goes up dependent on the number of people because the room is bigger. We would usually practice at home during the day but my current schedule doesn't allow this so often, and we were cautious of bothering neighbours in the evening. Obviously, if you're a big loud band you just can't practice at home so places like Banana Row are a necessity. Also, the rooms are all soundproofed with that funny black foam on the walls which magically keeps all the noise in. - We didn't hear a peep from any other bands! We will definitely be using Banana Row more often as it was great to have piece of mind when practicing. And as a weekly thing, it isn't too costly.

Being a beginner to the whole music scene, I was quite intimidated by the prospect of booking…read morerehearsal space for lessons. However, the guys here are really laid back aboutwell, everything! and genuinely pleased to help out, and they go out of their way to make everything as easy as possible for you. As well as having a whole range of equipment you can rent out, they also sell all the basics like sticks, clutches, earphones and the like on site, which is very useful if you get there and discover you've forgotten something! Their rates are very reasonable - you can book one of their smaller rooms for £6 p/h for one or two people, or £12 p/h for one of their band-sized rehearsal rooms. They also have a full suite of custom-built editing equipment, and you can rent out their recording studio and sound engineer for £35 p/h once you feel you've had enough practice!

Great music shop, certainly the most genuine music shop in Edinburgh…read more Rikki's stocks of crazy guitars you've probably never heard of but if you have something paticular on your mind they can no doubt order it in for you. I ordered a Danelectro 12string from Rikki's that I hadn't seen in any music shops in Edinburgh or even on Londons Denmark Street and had presumed impossible to find in the UK (and Rikki got it for a better price than any place online) Rikki's also seems to have the weird ability to have in stock the exact thing you are looking for. I was on the hunt for a multitrack cassette recorder and Rikki's just happened to have a Tascam 244 tucked away. Lovely guys who always have a chat and help you out, even taught me how to restring my guitar when I was 13.

While out wandering around Leith Walk trying to see where I could find a decent guitar to start…read morelearning with my new copy of Rocksmith we came across Rikki's with it's bold shop sign popped into view ahead. We were warmly welcomed when we entered and he was quite helpful in finding the right guitar to start with, giving me a quick demo to get a feel for it and hooking me up with gear for it. They are pretty crammed wall to wall with all sorts of instruments and with the really warm service i'd recommend a visit if you're ever that way inclined.

I first came into scayles when a friend was planning on buying a guitar. There was a lot to choose…read morefrom (the store seems to specialise in this department) and the staff was eager to assist and advise. They have a good selection of instruments. All are fairly competiively priced. The shop isn't the biggest but they make the most of the space.

Scayles is one of Edinburgh's many music stores, and is perhaps one of the smallest. Selling a huge…read morerange of musical instruments including trumpets, guitars, tamborines and mandolins they will cater to almost your every musical need. We bought one of our guy friends a pink Ukelele from here for his 21st and filled it with condoms. It was only around £20, bargain! I saw a Spongebob Square Pants Ukelele in the window once and was mega impressed. This shop also had a good selection of accessories for a variety of instruments and music books to go with your instrument. There is also a board at the back which musicians use to find a new drummer/singer/whatever so a handy hint of your on the lookout for a band.

It was through pure chance that I discovered the Scots Music Group. While perusing the notice…read moreboards in one of my favourite cafés, I saw a small poster that read something like "Music lessons offered. All ages and abilities welcome" with an e-mail address and phone number underneath. Further investigation revealed that this modest note in fact gestured towards a major community initiative, a project dedicated to giving adults the chance to learn traditional instruments, from the fiddle and guitar, to the highland pipes and the mandolin, or even (though not technically an instrument) Scottish step dancing. Due to time and money constraints, I've not been able to take any lessons yet, but a good friend of mine has, and tells me that the classes are well taught, warm and non-judgemental, placing emphasis on learning and playing together and developing your own sense of the instrument, rather than adhering to prescriptive methods or books. I went to see her perform in her first concert, and felt like a proud parent watching her scrape away on her fiddle alongside a group whose ages probably ranged from 20 to 60. It's somehow very pleasing to know that every Thursday night hundreds of people from across Edinburgh return to the classroom to engage in the innocent past-time of music lessons, and if you've ever harboured a secret desire yourself to take up a new instrument, Scots Music Group might be able to help you out.

From the owner: We have classes in accordion, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, melodeon, moothie, Scottish smallpipes,…read morewhistle and song, as well as mixed instrument groups. We support our members to gain the skills to take their music out into the local community. Come and join our members doing what they do best...building links, spreading goodwill, and involving people round about in the joy of traditional music, song and dance...