It was my first time there. Was helped by Nick restring an ukelele. A very educational experience. I’ll go back for any other guitar or ukelele needs.
I’m a novice and Tony answered all my questions without ever making me feel awkward. The store is nice and filled with great new and used guitars. Helpful, interested in adding to your experience.
Not bad of you don’t mind waiting your turn to get a staff member – even while waiting at the deserted check-out. Notoriously under staffed by preoccupied staff.
They have what they describe.
The person who helped me sold me an overpriced piece of equipment without letting me know what the price was before we got to the register, and the price was not posted above the item on the Shelf even though surrounding similar items all had the price visible. In the end the piece of equipment isn’t even working so I’m going to have to return it. Very disappointing to say the least. And a massive waste of time.
Some of the most inept, poorly trained employees I’ve ever seen. They’re all stressed out. Unable to execute the most basic transaction with any efficiecncy. Customers waiting. The store looks completely unorganized. I am reminded why I avoid this place.
Came to this store in a pinch because I needed a guitar amp speaker cabinet ASAP. I walked in the store, with cash in hand, ready to buy a cabinet and nobody helped me. Stood in the guitar/amp section for 30 minutes trying to find someone to help me. When I asked the guitar tech behind the counter near the guitar/amp section of the store for help, he stated “You need to find a guitar sales rep for help.” At that point I remembered why I never go to Guitar Center. If you’re an experienced musician who knows what he or she wants/needs in terms of their gear then go to your local mom and pop music store if you have one or order online for zZounds, Musician’s Friend, or Sam Ash.
This guitar center is a pile of garbage. None of the synths on display work correctly. The “pro audio” manager knows nothing about the equipment he’s supposed to be selling. The employees couldn’t give a crap if you were there or not. The place was a mess. Dirty. Realy dirty.
Had this been my first experience with a guitar center I would live the rest of my days telling everyone what a horrible company they are. And I would never step foot into another one. It’d amazing to me that so many things about this location drove me to a higher level of total irritation.
If I could give it no stars I would.
Drive a couple more miles and go to the GC in Roseville. At least they pay attention to you if you have any questions. And all the merchandise works as intended for demonstration. Oh and it’s clean.
3. World of Stereo
Address: 2951 Arden Wy, Sacramento, CA 95825 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
Cool store with great inventory but the staff is super rude.
Welcoming and easy to talk to staff, I noticed they have a ton of cords for audio; so if you need cords/sound/etc this is probably your place
Good store with helpful staff for all pro audio needs. I think they even do rentals.
Paid for a Dave Smith online 12/16 and website stated will ship 3-5 business days. Waited until 5th business day and still no shipment. Called and spoke with Jerry. He stated the price was not right because it went up $500 after my payment was processed. Spoke with Fabian and someone else who claimed he was only the middle man. They stated I would need to pay $500 more. After 3 phone calls and 2 emails (which they did not respond to), all initiated by me, I finally decided it was a waste of time and requested a refund. They could have notified me sooner but they did nothing and left me hanging. Not professional or honorable at all. Total 12 days wasted on non communication. My husband’s hope for a Dave Smith smashed during Christmas.
Never stopped there
El dueño es muy arogante, cortantes, no dan mucha explicacion y senti un poco de racismo descriminacion por ser ispano.
4. Music Exchange | Piano Store in Sacramento, CA
Address: 1537 Howe Ave Unit 206, Sacramento, CA 95825 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
Super helpful and friendly! They even helped me with trouble-shooting over the phone.
It was a good experience, they had some really good pianos there and had a lot of different kinds of pianos
I bought my Samipiano there
Where dreams come true
From outside looks like it was remodeled 50 years a go,, inside a lot of pianos very nice salesman, prices are high” , cheapest baby grand piano was like 12k
You can’t just came and check any pianos, you must have appointment with them
5. Off The Wall Ent.
Address: 2848 Arden Wy, Sacramento, CA 95825 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
Tony is fully equipped and ready to allow us to get in last minute. Very nice studio. I’ve seen some studios that didn’t have as much as he has to offer. Definitely recommend this place for everyone who wants to record.
I order all my volleyball teams warm-up shirts and hoodies through Tony he is super talent and I am never disappointed with what I order. Prices are affordable, work is always neat, it is always done by the time I need it , and lasts for at least 2 years. Order! You won’t be disappointed!
Great view, environment and vibes .Tone gone take care of you with affordable prices and better service
6. Slide Thru Media
Address: 1721 Eastern Ave Suite 10, Sacramento, CA 95864 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
I recorded a podcast here and it turned out great. Awesome atmosphere all around and a good staff to work with. Highly recommended!
Hands down the best Studio I’ve ever been to! The atmosphere really sets the mood and I got in the zone quick and the producer was really helpful with making sure everything went smooth, highly recommend this place!
I love Sac Valley Guitar! Eric has been like family for two generations now. He was my son’s electric bass instructor and my daughter’s electric acoustic guitar instructor. They loved him and thought he was the most fun music teacher they ever had. Today Eric does my guitar lessons as well as coaching with putting the rurig music to my lyrics. It’s always been a pleasure working with Eric and I don’t expect to stop anytime soon. Rich is also great, he helped me tune and string a guitar out of nowhere just to be polite whiIe I waited and gave an interesting history lesson as well. Clearly the instructors here know their stuff.
Eric with sac valley guitar is such a great instructor!hes pleasant to work with and is great at what he does!definitely reccomend him and his shop!
11. Tim’s Music
Address: 6818 Fair Oaks Blvd, Carmichael, CA 95608 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
I first whent into Tim’s to have my grandson’s school Viola tuned up and a string replaced i have never ran into nicer people ever i was so impressed that i started back up practicing my Bango and my wife bought a guitar and i took it down to have them look at it and put new strings on it best music store i have ever been in and will continue too.
We love this place. Great music place! We go every time we’re in town!
Friendly and helpful.
Decent place to shop for musical instruments and music classes. Great loaner program
Amazing selection of band instruments and excellent knowledgeable and friendly staff!
I think his name is Aaron, super helpful, friendly, and goes out of his way to be informative. If I can give stars just based on him then it will be 5. Unfortunately, the other front person, female late 20’s not so much. There was also an older technician that was so nice and helpful, I give him 5 stars too. Stars taken away was for less brand choices, price point, and less instrument choices. I think their main focus is school band instruments. The place looks clean, and they have enough staff to assist.
This would be zero stars but a plug is warranted for John Doolittle’s sax lessons at the store of which I availed myself a couple of times. Zero stars involves me taking my alto sax there for repair. It’s over 50 years old but has had some restorative work done; fairly significant when I started playing again regularly about three years ago and more minor work several months ago and again following my unpleasant experience at Tim’s, the former by Kline Music and the latter by The Music Store in Rocklin. The guy at Kline is particularly known for his competence. The purported lead expert on reed instrument repairs at Tim’s told me my Selmer Mark VI needed a $1500 complete overhaul and they wouldn’t touch it for any lesser amount of work. The guy in Rocklin then fixed it for $65 and it plays just fine, as it did before it started acting up shortly before I took it to Tim’s. I played in church today and was complemented on my tone by their music director, who is a school music teacher and fellow owner of a Selmer Mark VI. An instrument in need of complete renovation obviously could not produce such a result. I got a different feel from the store than I did when I took lessons from Doolittle at the old location. Maybe they’ve bitten off more than they can chew financially but they’ve certainly lost my business.
I have purchase and rented instruments here before. This time, five different staff said they would help, apparently what I wanted was not in stock and instead of letting me know, all left me waiting. After quite a wait we decided to leave. Someone caught us leaving and took our number to call and figure out how we could get ahold of the instrument. That was over 8 weeks ago, my phone never rang. They’ve lost a loyal customer.
12. The Cave
Address: 2265 Arden Wy, Sacramento, CA 95825 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
A great place to find a cheap physical piece of nostalgia.
It can feel a bit overwhelming the very first time you walk in because they have so much to look at! But taking your time while browsing makes it easy to spend hours upon hours here. Pricing is fair, trade-ins included, and they have a wide variety of action figures, clothing, shoes, music, games, etc. Their customer service is impeccable and keeps us coming back time and again.
Great staff and awesome selection of stuff
Sold some stuff here the way it works is you write some information down, leave your stuff& they will text you with a quote eighter cash ( low value ) or store credit ( higher value then cash offered ) before day ends, staff are friendly! And store is packed ..alot to see. Don’t bring kids if you are planning on not buying them anything lol. I’m sure they will want everything here. Collectibles, dvds&more.
This store is so fun to walk through. They have good music. I found Toscana by Andréa Bocelli, Fields of gold by Sting, Gladys Night and Big Luciano Pavarotti. Good staff
Very cool place. There’s so much stuff everywhere! I know it would be a tough tasked just wished things like the clothes or shoes or movies were organized a little better. It’s just hard to find things unless you spend forever in there.
Pay u nothing for your stuff. Literally pay you 10 % of whag your item sells for. Very pricey for a thrift store. Its all mostly used stuff but they want the price of brand new stuff. Ridiculous.
I have been there a few times I bought a lot of old movies that are a little bit over priced each time I went back I bought movies. The people that work there are not helpful at all they really don’t want to answer your questions I was referred there by a friend so my first visit I had a few questions. You could tell the person my husband asked didn’t really want to help us! So when I called there to inquire about something I was thinking about buying whoever answer the phone is very rude. They need better customer service skills. Especially when people are spending their money!
I went there to sale my pop collection. I know I should have gotten at least $200 to $300 dollars for what I had but they gave me $60.00. At the time I needed anything. I won’t go back because there just like dimple records. They cheat you out of the money and sale it for more. I don’t recommend this place.
13. Piano Man
Address: 3001 Arden Wy, Sacramento, CA 95825 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
Mr Kevin is great at what he does. He has a good sense of humor with all ages and is able to get my 7 year old to focus and learn to play the piano. He is affordable and I would recommend him to anyone. He was the perfect teacher during the pandemic.6 stars if allowed.
Piano Man is awesome! Thorough in his explanations, wonderful with kids, patient, and understanding of what role parents play in this. My 6 yr old loves going to lessons-he has a great time and is learning piano effectively all at the same time!
14. Superior Backline
Address: 333 University Ave, Sacramento, CA 95825 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
this is a really good place and I bought a lot of cd’s.
I’ve Known the Proprietors( One gained his Wings a few Short Years ago) of this Unique Record Store for Well Over 29 years!! There was a time when rhey had two stores incl. One in the Heart of Downtown. The Stores has always been filled with Rare Music and Hard to Find Gems. The Gentleman who runs the Store Now is Very Businesslike But Highly Accomodating to his faithful Customers. When You walk in the Store( Or even at the Sidewalk Display of Records, CDs and Cassettes), One NEVER KNOWS WHAT You May Find. For a Return to the Time when CDs and Records ruled( before Social Media and Streamlining took Vogue), this is the Heart and Soul( Now that THE BEAT is Gone) of an Esoteric Experience and the Saga of the True Music Aficionados. If You Still Enjoy CDs or Entertain the Comebacks of Both Records and Cassette Tapes, this is the Place to begin Your Search. I’ve Always Loved this Store..even in it’s New Location.
It’s good if you want records
The store itself, is a little cluttered.
However, they have pretty fair prices, and some great stuff!
Plenty of CD’s, cassettes, vinyl records of course.
Big complaints from everyone is the grumpy man. Not a huge deal to me, as I’m going for the records.
Definitely recommend at least checking the place out.
Friendly and great selections.
They have some nice CDs and DVD movies that I could appreciate but the selection was not that great and it was more like a upscale yard sale to be quite honest
Crook offered me $7 for Rubber Soul first press a long with signed Eddie Money Album. Took advantage of me and made it seem as if my collection was worthless. The owner is a crook. Bigger man very quiet.
Soooo rude! Stated he didn’t want my “seconds” after I told him I had sold some to another store. He was so late in returning my initial call to sell, he missed the opportunity to get first pick. And how does he know the vinyls I had left were not what his clients might want. He didn’t even listen to me when I offered classical records which he might buy as I hadn’t sold any to the other store so there were no “leftovers”. Then he hung up on me. Certainly not the way to do business. I wouldn’t buy anything from him even if the item was worth $100,000 and he charged a dollar.
Really friendly staff who go above and beyond to take care of you! Always the go-to place for any music needs or repairs!!
This music store has always done me right. From guitar string replacement to buying a guitar, their personnel always guide me to the right product. They are moving to a different location so the mom and pop’s fee will be surely missed.
Great staff. A pretty diverse selection. It’s gotten less eclectic over the years, bummer. Go local when you can, competitive with the big box music stores.
Good service
These folks are always great. You have to be good with informal, but it’s great because you’re just chatting about instruments with other people who love instruments. You going to Guitar Center? Skip’s is 10 minutes away…go there after before you buy.
Skip’s is a cool place to chill at. The service is good staff is grate.
Was very rude! I just called to find out how to sell my clarinets and they told me I had to go somewhere else so I asked do you know where they are located and they straight up said throw it into google, it’s not my job to tell you the location of music stores and hung up I didn’t even get a chance to ask for the store names!
NOT FOR METAL PLAYERS! No 7-strings at all and no pro gear. Not one high gain amp head or 4×12 cabs and I did not see any multi fx pedals, HEADRUSH, HELIX, Tone Master, Axe FX, Fractal, etc. ♂️ The store has a total Guitar Center look and vibe yet less options and poor utilization of floor space. Bummer.
First off, there are some very knowledgeable sales staff here. The lutheir does great work as well. The amp tech leaves something to be desired. I buy lots of guitars and amplifiers. I don’t like wasting money, I do my best at doing my homework before I purchase. I called and talked to the amp tech who first tells me he tries when I asked him if he was the tech. I tried to have a simple conversation about tube amp reliability issues. I wasn’t asking him to bash a company, just simply make some suggestions on some amps that he does not have to repair all the time. I also wanted to know if pcb’s are worth it repair wise or handwired. All I got was attitude and him pushing me to the sales department. You claim you are for local musicians, if we can not have a honest discussion before I once again blow another 1000 dollars or more for another amp, what’s the point in me coming to skips music for my needs? My money is accepted everywhere. I have many options. I like to support American businesses and local shops. This is the second time this business has waisted my time. I definitely did not deserve attitude. Since there is a lack of professionalism, I will not be back.
18. Bay Phoenix Studios
Address: 3400 Cottage Way Ste G2 #5054, Sacramento, CA 95825 , Arden-Arcade , California , United States
