was introduced to Ellie&Eva Company in the mid 80s
while looking for Chinese New Years decorations for family and friends. Since then I’ve been a regular customer for strings, picks, sometimes just for conversation, maybe play some bass, bend some notes on a Gu Zheng The place is ecclectic.
When friends come from out of town they always enjoy visiting the shop to check out their singular collection – from traditional Chinese instruments to rock-star-signed electric guitars.
A unique shop in Chinatown. The only one like it in the world.
String Instruments
As I was sightseeing through San Francisco’s China Town, I just happened to look inside a small store. (Found out it is a string instrument store)
The artwork on the front row of acoustic guitars caught my eye.
If your looking for out of the ordinary string instruments, definitely stop by and talk to Alan (He is one of the pictures) and if your lucky, he might introduce you to his 96 year old father who still works there.
Repaired my mom’s pipa for a very low price. It’s a very honest business and the guy working there is clearly very passionate about his work. 10/10 would recommend. Before and after pictures attached. He did an amazing job.
3. Michael’s Marimbas
Address: 1635 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109 , Chinatown , California , United States
4. Guitar Solo
Address: 230 Townsend Street between 3rd &, 4th St, San Francisco, CA 94107 , Chinatown , California , United States
This place is awesome. I made a trip out from Sacramento to get some stuff, in hopes of being able to find some music I’ve been looking for for a year. Well they didn’t have it, but they helped me find out it’s out of print and Peter actually helped me find it. Super helpful. Also, their products are great.
Bill was kind enough to show me around and tuned several guitars for me to play. Some excellent builders instruments are on display. I highly recommend for any guitar aficionado.
La verdad todo iba bien hasta q el señor q me atendo se empeso a desesperar por q no se hablar ingles a lo cual me eyudaba con mi telefono para poder comunicarnos pero el señor se porto muy mal , aun q la verdad la gutarra q compre fue de mi agarado para mi q estoy empesando
Very nice collection of guitars and ukuleles and accessories, plus a fantastic store manager
Great place to buy or sight-seeing string musical instruments. Nice and kind staff that is ready to help and give advices to the costumers.
Don’t let them sell your instruments on consignment. It will take you years to get the money once they’ve sold it. I know several people who have done this and they all had to wait a very long time for the money once the guitar was sold.
Crabby guy works the counter here. A no go even if they have good stock.
Rang the doorbell. Man slowly came to open the door, no hello, no welcome. We looked around, saw two great guitars, pointed at them excitedly to each other, and were completely ignored until we left empty handed,
5. 101 Music
Address: 1414 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133 , Chinatown , California , United States
This is an amazing record store. There’s no pandering to any sort of crowd, it’s loosely organized, and there is the serene joy of sifting through crates of records to find a gem. The records that we got were all in good or great condition, too!
Don’t go with a goal in mind, go with a sense of adventure.
Could of spent the day there…great selection at reasonable prices
Opened Late but someone called me back. So I’ll do 3 stars till I can check it out.
Cute place with great selections for music lovers or street stores hunters. The owner is knowledgeable and nice.
Bought good stuff there. Almost Dead, Airplane and Westcoast Psychedelic. Good prices, good guy, good conditions…felt fine there.
Recommended.
I called for info about a record I wanted to see if they had in stock. I opened with “Hi, I googled you, how are you” and he said “a bit busy”. I started to explain what I was after and then I realized he had hung up on me. How do you run a business like that?
Not impressed at all. If you are looking for used records, no need to check out this store. Staff member did not respond to my greet when I came in so that’s not a reason for visiting as well…
They do have a nice collection but the people that work there are not very nice. I went to buy a slip mat for my new turntable and when I got in there the guy was on the phone and refused to acknowledge me for about 5 mins he was just talking about what records he was selling online. I waited patiently and even found a slip mat that was on the side where the merchandise was. It was definitely used but they had about a dozen of them. Finally the guy got off the phone and rudely asked what I wanted, when I said I wanted to buy a slip mat he told me they weren’t for sale. I went out of my way to support a small business and really got treated poorly.
6. Guitar Center
Address: 1645 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94109 , Chinatown , California , United States
They said if i sleep with a guitar pick under my pillow id wake up a guitar player
Best guitar center I’ve been to yet. Huge selection
Loved the experience! Helped by friendly and quite knowledgeable staff.
Friendly staff. No parking nearby.
Um paraíso para músicos e amantes de guitarra! Foi de encher os olhos. Bom atendimento.
Get more buddy rich drumsticks other than that we’re good …for now.
That bad.
I could have ordered all my audio equipment from Amazon and have it arrive at my door step but wanted to give the brick and mortar guy some business. I thought customer service would be part of the experience. I couldn’t be more wrong.
I was informed that they would email me as soon as my order arrived. After about 10 days, I called. My stuff had been sitting there for quite some time.
I drove 10 miles in traffic and hunted for parking. When I walked through the door, I felt a bunch of bad attitude. So sorry you musicians have to work for a living! Please forgive me for not looking like a starving artist. I apologize for giving you my money.
Jason disappeared to gather my order. He was gone for a while so I wandered around the store. When and if he returned, did he look for me to say “here it is?” or “thank you”? Nope. I found a big box unceremoniously sitting on a counter. Where was Jason? Was this even mine? Is the order complete? Should I grab it? Is there a receipt? Someone? Anyone? Help?
That place was a slap in the face. It doesn’t bode well for the other brick and mortar guys because that turn off was enough to send me back to the convenience of Amazon forever.
If you’re a drummer go somewhere else if you can. Nothings in stock, drum room looks abandoned
Absolutely the most unprofessional store I have ever been to. The speakers I rented I was not able to look at before I left the store because my rental took over an HOUR to pick up and I was running extremely late to my event at that point. I was only able to use 1 speaker because the stands I rented were completely nonfunctional and on top of that neither had a cotter pin making them both completely unsafe to set up. I am thankful to have had my own functioning speaker stand on hand to at least set up the 1 speaker. I now need to refund my client who paid for 2 functioning speakers and stands. This guitar center refused to refund me and I have already initiated a credit card charge back to make up for that. Not to mention both speakers looked like they were thrown off a bus, image attached. If you want to rent the most absolutely trashed equipment you’ve ever used and to be treated like garbage by a store manager make sure to stop by!
7. Flute World
Address: 1500 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133 , Chinatown , California , United States
A must-go place for flute and flute music lovers. The store’s interior design is beautiful and very relaxing. They have a huge selection of instruments. I had an in-store flute trial appointment. Lindsay spent a lot of time working with me trying and blind-testing different flute and headjoint combinations. She was kind and super helpful. I was able to find the flute that really speaks to me. Lindsay is also a great flute player! For anything to do with flute or flute music, I will recommend Fluteworld San Francisco without any hesitation.
I went in to buy a gift, don’t know much about flutes, but the staff is really sweet and helpful!
I recently visited Flute World to buy my daughter a flute, she is a music major at SJSU. We arrived to just see what flutes they had and possibly try-out a flute to buy. William, one of the best people that I have met period, welcomed us in to see the flutes. We spent about 2.5 hours with him and my daughter left happy and with the flute that best suited her after trying several of them. William provided lots of insight about the various flutes and is an absolute asset to Flute World!
The girl that was here before was great – the new guy, not so much. This store is definitely going downhill.
8. Play Now Music & Media
Address: 890 California St, San Francisco, CA 94108 , Chinatown , California , United States
I found a instrument from Real Guitars in an online search. Called them up and they answered my call, took my order, and shipped it to me very quickly. The instrument was a great price and in the advertised condition. I had a very positive experience with Real Guitars. Recommended! 🙂
Definitely one of the best vintage guitar shops in the city. Acoustic and electric. Good variety.
Ben and Chris are no nonsense guitar knowledgists they will advise and help you buy the right intrument and amp to suit your needs or if you are a not sure buyer you will get friendly help, on the other hand they will also sell your gear forthe best reasonable price
Father and son team really know guitars! It’s like stepping into a time machine. Cool guitars and, if you need your guitar serviced, this is the place.
It seems there’s an okay selection of guitars there.. but I had to leave when this obnoxious dude plugged a guitar and it was so loud that The owner had to yell to talk to the customer he was helping .
A [real] guitar shop! Not a big box distribution outlet. Great vintage selections. Nice ol’ wise staff. They don’t make’em like this anymore
When I called, an employee just hung up after speaking with very little interest. I was just about to buy a guitar here but after this conversation I’m definitely not going to.
Never opens when he says he’ll be open. Unreliable and frustrating.
I have bought a Gibson ES125t 1964. Im not an expert, I just liked it. They sold it to me without telling me anything about the details im about to unveil.
It has nails covering up an old repair, and it needs a huge overwhole. They could have say something but the old man choosed not to…. because he knew I wouldnt notice.
Well done fellas, here is my review and I hope many other guys like me read it before buying something from you. There is no dignity in making money that way.
I will never ever buy anything again from you.
10. Gaea Schell Music & Duo Lunare
Address: Union St, San Francisco, CA 94133 , Chinatown , California , United States
Great experience with Ann which was really patient and helpful
We purchased a beautiful piano here and had a great experience. The associate was very helpful in making sure to share options with us that fit our budget and had the right sound. We selected a real beauty which will be enjoyed for decades.
Great selection of Yamaha pianos. Wonderful staff! Garry and Ann were amazing. Bought a Yamaha at a great price. Very happy!
Yamaha Pianos Selling
Music Exchange
We had a great experience with Gary at Music Exchange. He is very nice and patience. Finally, we purchased a digital piano for my daughter a couple weeks ago. She really loves it. It is the best recommendation for us!
The crew of delivery was on time, unpacked and set it up before delivery. That saved our time.
However, we have two things to complain. They missed the bundle of piano accessories and they did not take out their shoes walking through our carpet flooring. That was not a good experience for us because we never met the delivery wearing their shoes or without shoe covers walking through our unit.
We called Gary for help regarding the piano accessories. Gary is very helpful sending us the supporting immediately. Excellent work, Gary!
We really wanted to see some pianos and were ready to spend good money, but apparently this store is by appointment only. It’s a Saturday noon, and the store hours are till six and there is a seller inside, who opened up the door just to let us know that he will not let us in, because we don’t have an appointment… to buy what they offer. Your loss.
We were in the market for grand. We came to the store and associate refused to let us in since we didn’t have an appointment. Guess what? There are other, more hospitable stores in the Bay Area. If you want to sit alone in the empty store without customers, please keep up.
12. Found Inc
Address: 200 Pine St, San Francisco, CA 94104 , Chinatown , California , United States
